History of voestalpine Giesserei Linz GmbH
Steelfoundry
The production of mechanical engineering products such as rotors, lathe beds, parts for mechanical press brakes, supports for saw blades, mould parts began in August 1945. Ingot moulds were also produced for the steelworks requirements.
The first orders for steam turbine parts were received, slag buckets and throat stoppers were manufactured for blast furnaces, and castings were produced for the automotive and tractor industries.
At the beginning of the 1950s, new smelting trials were run. VOEST’s gray iron and steel foundry was the biggest foundry in Austria in terms of its output and the most up to date in terms of its equipment. Peak utilisation of the capacity was temporarily reached with the production of light-alloy and high-alloy parts for steam and water turbines.
In 1960 the company was engaged in test methods for detecting faults in castings using ultrasound. This gradually ushered in a new era focusing on quality characteristics.
voestalpine Giesserei Linz GmbH has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of voestalpine Stahl GmbH since 1 April 1999.
Non ferrous metal foundry (NEM)
The Non-ferrous metals foundry (Nicht Eisen Metallgiesserei) has developed from being a small jobbing foundry at the end of the 1940s into a system supplier which pro-duces all types of sliding elements and operates far beyond the borders of Austria.
Due to the poor availability of copper in the post-war years, the Alzen 305 material was developed in 1954. The Alzen bearing material is equivalent to many bronze bearing materials. After a relatively short time, Alzen was used in many machines and plants and became widely used in the automotive industry. Bearing shells of sometimes remarkable proportions were cast.
Production of maintenance-free sliding elements made from WF 750 began in 1983. The breadth of the range and the diversity of models offered was rapidly tailored to our customers’ requirements and now covers 3,300 items.
The development of standard cam units using NEM’s WF sliding plates began in 1998. The cam range underwent continuous development and was adapted to the increasing requirements of tool construction. Today it includes roller cams, horizontal cams and aerial cams with substantial proportions of up to 1600 mm.
In 2000 and 2001 a dedicated building was constructed for the NEM due to the con-stantly increasing demand for sliding elements and cams and the related need for increased capacities.
