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Arnold Umformtechnik GmbH & Co. KG Carl-Arnold-Straße 25 74670 Forchtenberg, Germany http://www.arnold-fastening.com/
Contact Ms Sara Megerle +49 7947 821312

The Untertürkheim model makes noises as far away as Japan.

(PresseBox) (Forchtenberg-Ernsbach, )
Screw fastenings could be much cheaper. But costs do not reduce with the price of the part alone, according to the experts at screw manufacturer Arnold Umformtechnik - and they are backed by companies such as DaimlerChrysler and Mahle. "It is important to think about the process and not just the cost of the individual part", said Roland Bopp of DaimlerChrysler AG. And Bopp is not just anyone. Some years ago he took on the role of "small parts optimisation" (SMO) manager at the car manufacturing company. This project, and its interactive function with automotive research and development, was so successful that the term has been adopted by Japanese engineers. The objective was to reduce costs, cut throughput times, and increase quality. Bopp created a "round table" consisting of no more than seven people. Besides the design engineers, the round table consisted of the technical purchaser, the quality assurance manager, the assembly and production engineers, and the parts supplier, contributing its specialist expertise in fastening technology. This prevented any department from simply reducing their "own" costs only to create more for another cost centre. The small parts optimisation (SMO) teams massively reduced the number of different small parts per vehicle. For example screws are restricted to just three tensile strengths and two surface qualities. The unit prices have been reduced considerably by increasing batch sizes. But the main point is that the handling is much more straightforward. Previously, one vehicle contained around 23,000 reference items. The round table has managed to obtain a good 57% of all its small parts using only 1,200 SMO numbers. "Perhaps one day we'll achieve 70 percent of SMO parts", conjectured the DaimlerChrysler manager. The SMO parts include new and special designs, but only those with a high savings or quality assurance effect. Bopp's approach is clear: if you want to reduce the cost of fastening technology, you have to look at the overall production and assembly process. For this reason, experts in the field such as Arnold Umformtechnik GmbH & Co. KG in Forchtenberg, Germany, with whom Bopp is in constant touch, need to be included in the design process at a very early stage.

Reinhard Barth, Product Manager at Arnold Umformtechnik, takes up the story: "Smaller companies could do what a big company such as Daimler is doing even more effectively," he said encouragingly. According to him only 8% of the cost of a screw fastening is down to the cost of the part itself. Over 50% of the cost is taken up with the preparation work such as drilling or tapping, 20% in staff costs, and a further 8% in tool costs. The objective must therefore be to reduce the system costs: "Only by looking at a fastening as a whole can effective cost savings be made." Barth mentioned some examples: A manufacturer of lamps increased its order for fasteners by 30% over the previous year, yet paid only 13% more for them. They managed to do this by drastically cleaning up the assortment of articles: This meant a reduction in the number of materials supplied from 54 to 30, and so the average unit price fell by 14%. The same thing happened for a car seat manufacturer: With the help of Arnold Umformtechnik, they saved at least 250,000 euro, by improving their joining technology, introducing logistics concepts such as consignment storage and Kanban, and cutting out 13 reference items. There is just as much savings potential in the company's self-tapping screws, which when screwed into a core hole, form their own nut thread. DaimlerChrysler is already using this type of screw in 50% of its applications. Arnold Umformtechnik offers Taptite 2000, which, with its improved thread geometry, is able to apply preload forces with almost the same process reliability as metric screws. Product Manager Thomas Jakob explains the savings effects that can be achieved in another example, showing a cost analysis made by Mahle Filter Systems GmbH of Stuttgart. The Mahle study assumes pre-cast core holes and comes to the following conclusion: A Taptite 2000 can reduce the manufacturing costs for an automatically fitted screw fastening by up to 80%, and that of a manually fitted fastening by up to 65%.

Arnold Umformtechnik GmbH & Co. KG

The ARNOLD Group – solutions which connect
Whereas the Arnold name has always signified and still does stand for “fasteners”, in recent years the range of products has expanded.

Today, Arnold is a group of companies supplying a comprehensive range of fastener products and related services besides the parent company ARNOLD UMFORMTECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG, Forchtenberg-Ernsbach in Germany, members of the Arnold Group include subsidiaries Arnold & Shinjo, also based in Forchtenberg-Ernsbach, Germany, and ARNOLD Technique France, based in Lyon, France. In 2003 the overall group, employing just under 500 people, achieved a sales turnover of over Euro 80 million. The transformation from a purely manufacturing company into a comprehensive service provider to the fastener industry began in the mid 1970s, when the company decided to conccentrate on manufacturing very high-quality technological fasteners. As it entered the higher quality fastener market, the company faced new challenges. Today Arnold works with major companies in the automotive and electrical industries, both at home in Germany and abroad, and becomes involved early on as their customers develop and design new parts. First of all this requires intensive on-site consultation along with comprehensive customer services, and secondly it requires highly qualified employees who can rise to, and meet the demands of the market.

•To be able to meet the particular demands of each of the industrial sectors, Arnold has divided its marketing activities into automotive and trade and industry divisions. Thus, customers can call upon specialist teams able to offer customised advice in order to provide innovative solutions.

•To meet the challenge of such development partnerships, our qualified staff develop the best possible fastener solutions by visiting customers at home and abroad, and implementing the results of their visits at our own engineering design and development departments.

•By constantly analysing industry applications, the products themselves, and users´requrements, ARNOLD is always in an excellent position to be able to develop new solutions to problems and incorporate thm into the development process. So, with ARNOLD´s own production expertise, we are able to produce top quality innovative products and individual industry solutions that set new market standards. Furthermore, ARNOLD is an important and integral part of the Supply Chain. Working very closely with OEMs and their suppliers, ARNOLD is able to react very quickly to changes in the market, and to incorporate the knowledge gained into enhanced products for customers. A Pre-Sales and After-Sales service covering Key Account Management, modern logistics systems and customer seminars rounds off the range of ARNOLD services.

The Arnold Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Würth Group, which with over 50,000 employees and more than 320 companies world-wide operates on a global basis with earnings of over 6 billion euros. So, against that background, the Arnold Group represents a secure partner in the best possible position to serve the global requirements of the market.


Die ARNOLD Gruppe – Lösungen, die verbinden
Wurde der Name Arnold in der Vergangenheit noch oftmals automatisch mit dem Begriff „Verbindungselemente“ gleichgesetzt, so hat sich dies in den letzten Jahren grundlegend geändert.
Heute ist Arnold eine Unternehmensgruppe zu der neben der Muttergesellschaft ARNOLD UMFORMTECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG, Forchtenberg-Ernsbach (D), noch die Töchter Arnold & Shinjo, ebenfalls Forchtenberg-Ernsbach (D), und Arnold Technique France, Lyon (F), gehören. Die Unternehmensgruppe erwirtschaftet mit knapp 500 Mitarbeitern über 80 Mio.€ Umsatz. Der Wandel setzte bereits Mitte der 70er Jahre ein, als man sich auf die Herstellung von anspruchsvollen Verbindungselementen konzentrierte. Mit dem Eintritt in das Marktsegment der höherwertigen Verbindungselemente kamen auch neue Herausforderungen auf das Unternehmen zu. Arnold arbeitet heute national und international mit den „großen“ der Automobil- und Elektroindustrie zusammen und wird von diesen frühzeitig als Entwicklungspartner in Entwicklung und Konstruktion von Neuteilen eingebunden. Dies bedingt zum einen eine intensive Betreuung vor Ort und umfassende Dienstleistungen für die Kunden und zum anderen hoch qualifizierte Mitarbeiter, welche den Anforderungen des Marktes gerecht werden können.
Das Unternehmen Arnold hat sich diesen Herausforderungen mit Erfolg gestellt:

•Damit die speziellen Anforderungen der einzelnen Branchen erfüllt werden können, ist man bei Arnold dazu übergegangen den Vertrieb in die Sparten Automotiv und Industrie + Handel zu gliedern. So entstanden Spezialistenteams, die den Kunden mit individueller Beratung innovative Lösungen anbieten können.
•Um dem Anspruch der Entwicklungspartnerschaft gerecht zu werden, erarbeiten qualifizierte Mitarbeiter national und international vor Ort beim Kunden und in der eigenen Konstruktions- und Entwicklungsabteilung die optimale Verbindungslösung.
•Durch die kontinuierliche Analyse der Anwendungsfälle, der Produkte und der Anforderungen der Anwender ist ARNOLD in der Lage selbständig neue Problemlösungen zu entwickeln und diese in den Entwicklungsprozess mit einfließen zu lassen. Verbunden mit dem ARNOLD eigenen Produktions-Know-how entstehen so innovative Produkte und individuelle Branchenlösungen die neue Marktstandards setzen. Des weiteren ist Arnold ein wichtiger Integrationspartner in der Supply Chain. Durch die enge Zusammenarbeit mit den OEMs und deren Zulieferer ist ARNOLD in der Lage, bei Entwicklungen in der Zuliefererindustrie auf wichtige Veränderungen des Marktes hinzuweisen. Ein internationaler Pre- und After-Sales-Service der u.a. moderne Logistiksysteme, Key-Account-Management und Kundenseminare umfasst, rundet die Palette der Dienstleistungen ab.

Die Arnold Gruppe selbst ist ein 100%iger Bestandteil der globalen Würth-Gruppe, die mit über 50.000 Mitarbeitern und über 320 Gesellschaften weltweit über 6 Milliarden Euro erwirtschaftet. Durch diesen Hintergrund stellt die Arnold-Gruppe für jeden Kunden einen sicheren Partner dar, der die globalen Anforderungen des Marktes optimal bedienen kann.

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The publisher indicated in each case (see company info by clicking on image/title or company info in the right-hand column) is solely responsible for the stories above, the event or job offer shown and for the image and audio material displayed. As a rule, the publisher is also the author of the texts and the attached image, audio and information material. The use of information published here is generally free of charge for personal information and editorial processing. Please clarify any copyright issues with the stated publisher before further use. In case of publication, please send a specimen copy to service@pressebox.de.