With warm congratulations on this prestigious award, we started our conversation. Can you tell us where the certificate is located that acknowledges your successes in the Toolmaker of the Year competition?
HF: "The certificate adorns our reception area and reminds us daily of our achievements."
The jury was impressed with weba's involvement in the further development of hot forming tools. What are the advantages of hot forming over cold forming, and how has your company engaged in this technology?
HF: "The advantages of hot forming compared to cold forming are clear. The significant reduction in component weight with hot forming meets the lightweight construction requirements of the automotive industry perfectly. Additionally, the technology offers new possibilities in component design with excellent formability and low forming resistance. For this reason, we have driven the development of the technology in our company and can show significant success, especially in the areas of Tailor Tempering and TRB/TWB (Tailor Welded Blank / Tailor Rolled Blank)."
Improvements in cycle times and energy efficiency were other aspects positively evaluated by the jury. How do you and your team achieve such improvements?
HF: "The goal of our development department is to optimally align the tools with the process requirements of our customers. Some developments arise from preliminary discussions with customers, others from our own initiative, driven by the motivation to explore new methods and concepts."
How does your company handle the issue of staff qualification and development, especially in regards to the job enrichment at weba praised by the jury?
HF: "The high technological specialization, continuous growth, and rapid internationalization of our company lead to increasing qualification requirements. Therefore, we rely on comprehensive training and consistent further development of our employees and have established training centers at our two European locations. In tailor-made training programs, we train our future experts across locations, both in the production area and in engineering."
To conclude our discussion, we would like to know: How do you see the future development of your company?
HF: "We are proud of our successes and look forward to the future with confidence. Our commitment to continuously develop innovative solutions in the fields of hot forming and forming technology remains strong. This is essential to meet the dynamic and steadily growing demands of our industry and to strengthen our leading position. A key element of our strategy to achieve these ambitious goals continues to be the ongoing training and qualification of our employees."
