fischer group cooperates with Impression Technologies Ltd. to manufacture hot formed aluminium components

The fischer group has announced a strategic partnership with Impression Technologies Ltd. (ITL), the developer of HFQ® technology (Hot Form Quench) to produce weight reduced aluminium structural elements with high levels of strength.

The fischer group is one of the most important suppliers of stainless steel components in complex shapes, such as exhaust manifolds or special tube systems. The fischer group works together with some of the world’s biggest OEMs in the automotive industry. The agreement between the two companies will enable the fischer group to manufacture complex aluminium components with the help of HFQ® technology and thus be able to meet the demands by OEMs in fast growing markets such as electric vehicles.

This partnership is primarily aimed at supplying customers from the European automotive industry through fischer Hydroforming GmbH. In future, OEM customers around the globe will be supplied by the fischer group plants in Mexico and China. This is an important step within the lightening-fast development towards a comprehensive HFQ® supply chain, which will be in place from the second half of 2020 onwards in order to meet the demands of OEMs worldwide.
Jonathan Watkins, CEO of ITL, made the following statement regarding this announcement: “We are very pleased to have entered into this strategic partnership with the fischer group. As a result, OEMs in the automotive, aviation and aeronautic industries will have access to sturdy, light and cost-efficient structures produced using HFQ® technology. We are looking forward with great pleasure to working together with fischer, resulting in the creation of a worldwide HFQ® supply chain.”
Dr. Stefan Geisler, CEO of fischer Hydroforming, said: “This partnership with ITL gives fischer the unique opportunity of supplying our customers from the automotive sector and industry in general with components made from a revolutionary forming process. This will enable us to further extend fischer’s comprehensive technical expertise and its wealth of production experience. We are convinced that thanks to HFQ® technology, we can offer our customers various sustainable options which will enable them to simplify designs and simultaneously reduce weight, cost and system complexity.”
Further information on HFQ® is available at www.hfqtechnology.com

About fischer Hydroforming GmbH
Founded in 1969 in Germany, fischer Hydroforming GmbH is a fully owned subsidiary of the fischer group. The fischer group has developed into a worldwide leading supplier of tubes and other precision components, which are produced using various ferritic and austenitic stainless steels. The fischer group offers its customers single source solutions, e.g. services such as simulation and simultaneous engineering as well as tool design, prototype manufacturing and large series manufacturing. Through its eight sites in North and South America, China, Europe and Africa, it serves different markets, such as the automotive industry as well as the aviation and aeronautic industries with sales of more than €800 million per year. fischer Hydroforming supplies some of the largest automotive OEMs in the world with exhaust manifolds and complex tubing systems in addition to other products.
Further information about the fischer group is available at www.fischer-group.com

About Impression Technologies Ltd
Impression Technologies was founded in January 2013 with the aim of marketing HFQ® technology. HFQ® technology enables high-strength standard grade aluminium alloys to be formed in a single press operation into complex light-weight structures. The pre-shaped aluminium sheets are heated and formed at high speed, then quenched in the press tool blanks and then artificially aged to achieve optimal strength. Impression Technologies currently manufactures parts for six different vehicle platforms.
The company’s team consists of experienced application and design engineers who work together with the customer right from the start of the project in order to jointly extract the full potential from this pioneering technology. Impression Technologies has all the equipment at its disposal to manufacture prototypes and produce small series in-house and thus support customers when using HFQ® technology. This makes the company the first operator of a HFQ® manufacturing plant worldwide.
The advantages of HFQ® technology include the huge increase in flexibility when designing components, which results from the use of HFQ® design tools in interaction with commercial design software as well as the new design possibilities which the HFQ® process offers regarding material and component.

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