Herrmann Ultraschalltechnik GmbH & Co.KG (Herrmann Ultraschall) is a leading specialist for ultrasonic engineering and welding of thermoplastics and metals with a worldwide presence in 20 countries. The main headquarters is based in Karlsbad, Germany, located just between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. The company delivers ultrasonic welding machines and systems to various industries like Automotive, Medical, Food and Hygiene.
Sustainable technology – decades of experience
Herrmann Ultraschall draws from almost 60 years of expertise in ultrasonic engineering and machine building. It all began in 1961 when Walter Herrmann, the founder and father of the current CEO Thomas Herrmann, came up with the first and at that time revolutionary technically safe ultrasonic generator for ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic materials. Today the heart of the company is still its electronic, acoustic and software technology. Ultrasonic welding means joining without adhesives, screws or heat from an outside source. During the process, material is strategically melted by means of ultrasonic vibrations so that a cohesive or form-fit joint is produced. With a potential to save up to 70% of the energy used by other joining techniques, ultrasonic welding has always been a sustainable technology where the weld tool stays cool and the melting process is initiated inside the weld seam. As economic production method with short cycle times, ultrasonic welding ensures a large degree of process control and repeatable quality results.
CEO Thomas Herrmann says: “We see ourselves as “trusted advisor”. We want to offer the most economic and sustainable solution for our customer’s weld application. This is best done when the customer visits our “ultrasonic campus” with four laboratories and sees for himself what we can offer. Each business unit has a large laboratory for feasibility tests, process development and production simulations. Our future success will depend on our ability to even further increase customer-orientation. This is the key topic of a huge internal culture change called “Culture Journey”. The Culture Journey is being rolled out within the entire organization and aims at a new understanding and level of collaboration and customer focus. It started with establishing a mission statement, we call it our WHY, and four core values which are passion, appreciation, integrity and resilience. Our WHY is “Bonding more than materials” and it means that we not only weld and join our customers’ materials but we also want to bond among colleagues and with our customers and stakeholders in a whole new way.”
The main business unit at Herrmann Ultraschall, called PLASTICS, sells machines and systems to automotive suppliers, medical and consumer companies. Welded products are multiple automotive applications for the interior, exterior and the motor as well as medical parts like blood filters, handles and luer ports or household items made from plastics.
The second business unit, called PACKAGING, supplies systems to ultrasonically seal packaging materials like pouches, bags and pods. Especially sensitive fill goods like salad, cheese, sweets and moist animal food benefit from the advantages of this sealing technology like tools which stay cold and an unparalleled way to seal through contamination thus ensuring tight seals. Among Herrmann Ultraschall’s customers are well-known global players in the food industry.
The third business unit, called NONWOVENS, delivers systems to global hygiene and medical producers for lamination, cutting and perforating of nonwoven products like diapers, face masks and wound care.
And lastly the fourth business unit METALS started last year and delivers ultrasonic welders to weld non-ferrous metals like copper and aluminum. New applications from the e-mobility market like wire harnesses and lithium-ion-batteries are emerging.
Following the megatrends digitization and industry 4.0
The fully digital ultrasound generator, which is the heart of every welder, generates the ultrasonic vibrations purely digitally and can therefore be controlled by software. Integration into the customer’s production line and communication with higher-level control systems – as a requirements for industry 4.0 – is possible without problems. Process data can be stored and evaluated via software tools.
A slimmed-down, but powerful and networkable generator variant especially for machine builders in the packaging, automotive and consumer goods sectors has been supplementing the portfolio for four years. The share of the components business with automation companies has thus been significantly increased.
With the second generation of the top level HiQ DIALOG ultrasonic welder for injection-molded parts the company is currently developing a new dimension in communication and ergonomics. The design of the new machine is completely focused on safe and easy operation. The welder can be configured in a “tailor-made” way according to customer and application requirements. Tool changes are fast and easy with a sophisticated on-screen assistant that guides the operator step by step.
Investment into the future
In 2018 the company has invested 35 Millionen Euro in a large building addition and a complete restructuring of the premises in Karlsbad, Germany, into the largest ultrasonic campus worldwide. One hundred new jobs have been created over the past two years.
For more information visits www.herrmannultraschall.com
