VDM Metals

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VDM Metals Holding

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1930
Seat Werdohl
management Niclas Müller, Frank Morris, Rolf Schencking
Number of employees 1,900 (FY 2016/17)
sales € 875 million (FY 2016/17)
Branch Metal and electrical
Website www.vdm-metals.com
As of May 31, 2019

Company location Werdohl, Plettenberger Strasse

The VDM Metals Group (formerly Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke ), which belongs to the Spanish Acerinox group and is based in Werdohl, is a manufacturer of corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant and high-temperature- resistant nickel alloys , cobalt and zirconium alloys and high-alloy special stainless steels. The company is the world market leader for nickel sheets and strips, which are used in the chemical process industry, the oil and gas industry, in aviation, in automotive engineering and in electronics / electrical engineering. VDM Metals has production facilities in Unna ( smelting works, forge and bar adjustment ), Altena (sheet metal / bar production) and Werdohl (administration / wire / strip production) and Siegen . The company employs around 2,000 people worldwide.

history

Origins

United German Metalworks on the Rhine in Duisburg (Photo from the 1960s)
Share of the United Deutsche Metallwerke AG dated March 20, 1934 for RM 1000

The original United Deutsche Metallwerke AG (VDM) was created in 1930 through the takeover of Heddernheimer Kupferwerk and Süddeutsche Kabelwerk AG in Frankfurt by Berg-Heckmann- Selve AG in Altena . The merger was initiated by the metal company , which had been the main shareholder of Heddernheimer Kupferwerke since 1893 and which also took over the majority of the new group of companies. The global economic crisis had forced the previously competing companies to consolidate. The new company had a share capital of 30 million Reichsmarks and had branches and production facilities in Heddernheim , Gustavsburg , Mannheim , Nuremberg , Cologne as well as in Altena , Werdohl and Duisburg . The group companies remained independent under their previous name (e.g. Heddernheimer Kupferwerk GmbH ), but the production program was redistributed to the individual plants according to material groups. In March 1934, the VDM relocated its headquarters to Frankfurt am Main. The beginning of the armament of the Wehrmacht increased the demand for light metal products by leaps and bounds. By 1939 the number of employees at VDM had risen to 21,000, mainly due to the manufacture of controllable pitch propellers for air force aircraft .

After 1945

Because of the great importance of the VDM for the war economy, almost all buildings and factory facilities were severely destroyed in the air raids on Frankfurt am Main during the Second World War . At the end of the war, production also collapsed completely, all plants were shut down on the instructions of the Allies T. dismantled. It was not until 1946 that the gradual reconstruction and switch to civilian production began under the direction of Wilhelm Kirmser . At the beginning of the 1950s, VDM had become the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of raw, semi-finished and finished products made of non-ferrous metals and alloys. The upswing reached its peak in the 1960/61 financial year. After that, the company continuously lost market share.

The crisis after 1966

As early as 1966/67, no more dividends could be distributed. One of the main reasons for the difficulties was the fragmented corporate structure of six independent companies that did not allow a uniform strategy and investments. In 1969 the previous plants were merged into seven business areas

  • Copper and copper alloys , Werdohl (Werdohl, Frankfurt, Duisburg and Nuremberg plants)
  • Guiding material , Mannheim (Frankfurt and Gustavsburg plants)
  • Prefabricated parts , Frankfurt am Main (plants in Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg and Nuremberg)
  • Nickel and special materials , Altena (Altena and Duisburg plants)
  • Leichtmetall , Frankfurt am Main (plants in Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Werdohl)
  • Plastics processing , Frankfurt am Main (the former Continentale Metall GmbH)
  • Packaging , Nuremberg (Nuremberg plant)

Despite the restructuring and some takeovers in the 1970s, sales continued to decline. The company reacted to this with rationalization measures, a realignment of the production strategy, the sale of individual company shares and the shutdown of unprofitable productions. As a result, the number of employees fell from 14,200 (1970) to 6,700 in 1979. After a dramatic deterioration in the results in the 1980/81 financial year, the parent plant in Frankfurt-Heddernheim was closed on March 31, 1982 after 129 years. The last 1,700 jobs were lost. In the following years, VDM gradually separated from all remaining production facilities and investments and renamed MG Vermögensverwaltung AG in 1988 .

On the several square kilometers large factory premises in Frankfurt-Heddernheim and Frankfurt-Niederursel, the new districts of Riedwiese and Mertonviertel were created after extensive soil renovation . The former Nuremberg VDM site in the Schweinau district hit the headlines in the mid-1980s when, despite massive criticism, the city of Nuremberg approved the demolition of the listed Art Nouveau buildings in order to pave the way for a DIY store with flat roofs.

ThyssenKrupp VDM in Altena

Development since 1988

In 1988/89 what was then Krupp Stahl initially took over a third and later 100 percent of the shares in VDM Nickel-Technologie AG. This division was the result of the merger of the Werdohl and Altena plants to form the Nickel division in 1974. In the following years, Krupp VDM - as the company was called from now on - initially took over Precision Rolled Products (PRP) with production sites in Florham Park (New Jersey) and Reno (Nevada) and, on October 1, 2009, the activities of the sister company ThyssenKrupp Titanium. From then on, VDM was part of ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division and traded under the name of ThyssenKrupp VDM . After the sale of the stainless steel division of ThyssenKrupp to Outokumpu in December 2012, VDM also belonged to Outokumpu and operated temporarily under the name Outokumpu VDM . However, as part of the approval under competition law, the European Union made it a condition to sell the Italian Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) to a third party. After no buyer could be found for AST in the course of 2013, it was announced at the end of November 2013 that AST would be reintegrated into the ThyssenKrupp Group together with VDM. Since March 1, 2014, VDM has been part of the ThyssenKrupp Group again and has operated under the independent name VDM Metals since then .

In April 2015 ThyssenKrupp announced the sale of the VDM Group to the financial investor Lindsay Goldberg; the sale was completed on August 1, 2015. In March 2016, VDM Metals announced that it would close titanium production at the Essen site, after having previously searched in vain for a buyer or partner for the plant. A total of 75 employees were affected by the closure.

In April 2018, Lindsay Goldberg announced that she wanted to sell VDM to the Luxembourg competitor Aperam . VDM Metals was valued at € 596 million including debts. In December of the same year, the sales process was canceled due to antitrust concerns from the European Commission. In November 2019, the Spanish Acerinox Group announced the purchase of the VDM Metals Group. The stated enterprise value was € 532 million, including pension obligations and liabilities. The transaction was completed in March 2020.

Inventions and material developments

Aluminum chrome steel

Metal catalyst from Emitec in M-winding (inner catalyst) with additional ring catalyst (outer catalyst)

One type of steel that VDM has been producing since around 1990 is aluminum-chrome steels such as u. a. VDM Aluchrom 4 18 Y Hf ( material number 1.4737) and VDM Aluchrom Y Hf (material number 1.4767). This material combination of aluminum and steel ensured the breakthrough in metal catalytic converters . The addition of up to 6.5% aluminum enables the washcoat to be applied later (porous aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) plus oxygen storage components , such as cerium (IV) oxide) to be used when coating the car catalytic converters with the precious metals holds up well. In addition, the addition of aluminum enables the permanently hard soldering of the rolled up steel foil to one another as well as the permanent connection with the metal jacket. The aluminum-chromium steel foils for the catalytic converters are now rolled down to a few micrometers without cracks or other defects occurring.

Crofer 22

In 2003, the company announced that, with the iron-chromium alloy Crofer 22 APU, it had developed a material for the first time that had the previously mutually exclusive properties (1) good high temperature resistance, (2) high electrical conductivity and (3) lower thermal properties Coefficient of expansion combined. In 2011 a further developed version, Crofer 22 H (material number 1.4755 - X1CrWNbTiLa22-2), was brought onto the market. Crofer 22 H contains between 20 and 24 percent chromium as well as other alloying agents such as tungsten, niobium, titanium and lanthanum. The material is characterized by high corrosion resistance at temperatures of up to 900 degrees Celsius, good electrical conductivity of the oxide layer and high mechanical strength at application temperature. The material concept, which was developed jointly with Forschungszentrum Jülich , is specifically geared towards the requirements of high-temperature fuel cells. In 2012, the material was awarded the Steel Innovation Prize of the Steel Federation.

Alloy C-264

The superalloy Alloy C-264 was developed by VDM Metals and presented in 2018. In addition to the alloy element nickel, the alloy contains 25 percent chromium, 20 percent cobalt, around 5.5 percent molybdenum, 1.1 percent aluminum and 1.7 percent titanium. Various tests have shown that the material in the solution-annealed and hardened state achieves higher hardness values and lower creep rates than, for example, Alloy C-263 (material number 2.4650; UNS number N07263). The application temperature is up to 900 degrees Celsius.

Alloy 699 XA

In June 2018, a nickel-based alloy developed by VDM Metals with 29 percent chromium and 2 percent aluminum was presented, which is particularly characterized by its metal dusting resistance. The material has the material number 2.4842 or UNS number N06699.

swell

  1. ↑ https://www.vdm-metals.com/de/unternehmen/news-und-events/newsarchiv/single/vdm-metals- stellen-sich-organisatorisch-neu- auf
  2. ↑ https://www.vdm-metals.com/de/unternehmen/ueber-vdm-metals/geschaeftsfuehrung/
  3. ↑ https://www.presseportal.de/pm/64034/3913440
  4. ↑ https://www.presseportal.de/pm/64034/3913440
  5. ↑ http://www.mav-net.de/Aktuelles/Firmen/Firmen%25202015/detail.403.html
  6. ↑ Outline of the VDM Nürnberg-Schweinau ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Contribution to the internet portal of the St. Leonhard / Schweinau eV citizens' association @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bv-leonhard-schweinau.de
  7. ↑ Another severe setback for ThyssenKrupp. Die Welt, November 29, 2013, accessed January 14, 2014 .
  8. ↑ http://www.vdm-metals.com/de/unser-unternehmen/news-und-events/archiv/single/outokumpu-vdm-firmiert-zukuenftig-unter-vdm-metals
  9. ↑ http://www.stahl-online.de/index.php/thyssenkrupp-verkauf-vdm-gruppe/
  10. ↑ https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/de/newsroom/pressemachrichten/press-release-48098.html?id=182402
  11. ↑ http://www.stahl-online.de/index.php/vdm-verkauf-bestaetigt/
  12. ↑ http://www.vdm-metals.com/de/unser-unternehmen/news-und-events/archiv/single/vdm-metals-gibt-titanproduktion-am-standort-essen-auf/news-page/1 /
  13. ↑ http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/essen/vdm-metals-macht-essener-titan-werk-dicht-id11641069.html
  14. ↑ Aperam: Aperam announces the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement with Lindsay Goldberg to acquire VDM Metals , press release of April 11, 2018 (English, pdf)
  15. ↑ A bang! The sale of VDM Metals to Aperam failed. Märkischer Zeitungsverlag, December 12, 2018, accessed on May 19, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Acerinox agrees signing of a share purchase agreement to acquire 100 percent of VDM Metals from Lindsay Goldberg Vogel. Acerinox SA, November 7, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Acerinox completes acquisition of VDM Metals. VDM Metals, March 17, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 .
  18. ↑ https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/de/presse/art_detail.html&eid=tk_pnid930
  19. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vdm-metals.com
  20. ↑ High-temperature alloy VDM® Alloy C-264. Matmatch, accessed December 7, 2018 .
  21. ↑ VDM Metals presents a new material for turbochargers. KEM Automobile Construction, July 3, 2018, accessed July 9, 2018 .
  22. ↑ https://www.vdm-metals.com/de/unternehmen/news-und-events/newsarchiv/single/vdm-metals- stellen-neue-metal-dusting-bestaendige-legierung-auf-der-achema- vor

Web links

Commons : ThyssenKrupp VDM  - collection of images, videos and audio files