Investment for greater capacity and superior quality: Schweißdraht Luisenthal GmbH launches operation of new copper plating plant

Saarstahl subsidiary Schweißdraht Luisenthal (SDL) has commissioned a new copper plating plant. A total of around EUR 5 million has been invested in the plant. The plant has two state-of-the-art copper-plating lines and, together with the previously existing plant that likewise features a two-wire line, will double the production capacity of the welding wire specialist while also further improving quality.

“The new plant provides us with one of the most advanced copper plating centers in the world,” said Dr. Klaus Richter, Chief Technology Officer of Saarstahl AG. “This will enable us to further extend our technological competitive edge in the manufacture of our high-tech products.”

Schweißdraht Luisenthal is a specialist for wire rod and bar steel for gas-shielded welding of hard surfacing and tool steels as well as for wire for thermal spraying in the areas of conventional spray coating and for various processes in the spray bore coating of engine piston cylinders.

One line of the new plant will be reserved for the copper plating of cylinder bore coating wire (CBC wire). This high-tech wire is used to coat the piston tracks of engines, which increases their efficiency while reducing their consumption and thus helps cut CO2 emissions. The second line will be used to expand copper-plating capacities in the area of welding consumables.

“The plant forms the new heart of the company,” SDL Managing Director Marc Philipps said. “By doubling our production capacity, we can further improve our delivery performance and offer customers our complete range at an even higher level of quality.” Tom Niemann, Chief Sales Officer of Saarstahl AG, added: “With this high product quality and its focus on sustainable service, Schweißdraht Luisenthal is now positioning itself even more strongly as a desirable partner to the automotive industry.”

Investments have also been made in the periphery of the plant. Among other things, the production hall now has a lighting system that automatically adjusts the brightness in a room to ensure optimum lighting conditions. “While investing in the new high-tech plant, it was important to us to also focus on the employee and to make work both more pleasant and even safer through ergonomic measures,” Marc Philipps said.