Hydraulico is a family-owned small medium enterprise (SME), existing since 1946, with the headquarter located in Denmark focused on the supply and the servicing of press solutions for the metal forming industrial sectors around the world, with special success in Europe and North America.
Hydraulico is a leader in several niches involving the techniques of deep drawing metal sheet and forging. Our core strategy is to grow and expand a differentiation focus through solutions that exceed our customer expectations by providing a best manufacturing experience and a maximized profit per part. To achieve this goal, the company sells from tailor-made integrated solutions where capabilities, productivity, and flexibility are met in what we call the “sweet spot” down to stand-alone customized presses and on-site press upgrades.
The key to our success is our high customer orientation from the sales process to the execution and the complete lifetime of the equipment. This is what we call “a 360° service company”. For this purpose, we enhance personal relationships by means of project management and service excellence. With the slogan “We want happy customers only”, our company focuses on tailor-made solutions in all its products, thus benefits from a significantly high customer loyalty.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Hydraulico; Hydraulico’s core business are hydraulic presses for the metal forming industry. Through this type of production technology, Hydraulico structures its business in three strategical units.
- SERVICE: Experience tells us the best way to achieve highest uptime possible is by having a service contract with us which is revised yearly according to the developments at our customers.
- UPGRADE: Hydraulico counts on a few hundreds of press upgrade cases on its shoulders, proving that it is possible to renew partially or completely hydraulic presses of any brand, on customer’s site, within only 3 weeks, and providing a complete guaranty. Hydraulico Upgrades (LINK)
- PRESSES AND PRESS LINES: In terms of new equipment Hydraulico focuses on niches that are typically too small for the big competitors, and too complex for the small ones. To do so the company invests heavily in process know-how and upscales its scope of supply to production lines covering full processes, thus taking all the risk off the customer’s plate. This is done thanks to a remarkable financial strength, active networking, and developing win-win partnerships with customers but also with best-fit suppliers of peripheral/related equipment.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
Hydraulico; We have improved our patented and unique Electronic Shimming System™. This system is composed of an added-on control unit (no matter the brand of the customer’s press) and a custom-made tool installed under the customer’s lower die. With this improvement, we have created a version III that adapts to the new product trends of the stainless-steel kitchen sinks (tight corners). The technology will allow our customers to stabilize the deep drawing process, making it easier to automate, as well as reducing change-over time drastically. Furthermore, this technology can provide competitive advantage for customers in other segments such as deep drawn bathtubs (greater product depth) and brazed plate heat exchangers of relevant size (perfect embossing).Hydraulico presentation video
On the other hand, and in connection with COVID 19 restrictions to travel, we have also developed our HydraulicoLink. This is a service platform that among other functions, allows us to trouble-shoot remotely by means of Virtual Eyes On (VEO). This means that our Customer Support Center can see how the equipment reacts to our instructions, which the customer executes in real time. This reduces the need for on-site assistance while avoiding long down-time and expensive travelling. HydraulicoLink
E.E: What is our product ranges?
Hydraulico; Our SERVICE is exhaustive as detailed further up, and flexible. Our priority is to provide value to the customer by adapting to its needs while boosting its output at the minimal cost.
Quality presses last a lifetime, and therefore, they require regular maintenance. At Hydraulico we understand the value of uptime and reliability better than anyone. Hydraulico develops tailor made service plans so that allow your maintenance cost to remain stable and predictable while minimizing unexpected problems, breakdowns,and losses. This approach allows the customer to enjoy peace of mind, reduce its risk, and increase its profit.
Our solution is to combine systematic proactive press inspections and regular planned service with a highly experienced Customer Support Center which provides extensive time coverage and enjoys increased remote trouble shooting capabilities (HydraulicoLink). The scope of our service will always depend on the contractual agreement of each customer. It can go from the most basic needs such as press inspections, adjustments, and safety assessments, up to full partnership where the responsibility is centrifuged to us, thus Hydraulico taking in charge tasks such as predictive plans, process optimization, customer training, energy efficiency assessments, and among others, spare parts management.
We certainly have a highly experienced team, and the required tools to make our customer’s profitability grow via service. Maintenance is not an expense but the investment with the fastest payback. For those customers that do not have this mindset, we also have upgrades. If it has to do with hydraulic presses, no matter the brand, we want to be in it.
Our UPGRADES vary in scope. We can legalize a customer’s press via what we call a Safety Upgrade, but we can also increase the reliability of the press by upscaling to a Control Upgrade, or even do the previous at the same time we maximize uptime and performance via a Full Upgrade (including piping and hydraulics) – everything is done on customer’s site. With this product range, the customer can save from 30% up to 70% if comparing with acquiring a brand-new similar press. These savings are calculated before considering additional savings in civil works, costly transportations, craning services, and future avoidance of downtime as well as the benefits of potential new functionalities, higher output, spot-on accuracy, and energy savings.
Our PRESS SOLUTIONS can go from stand-alone presses, typically from 500 up to 10000 tons up to full turn-key solutions involving de-coiling systems, servo-driven automation, industrial robots, computerized lubricating systems, furnaces, and when applicable even tools/dies. As a matter of fact, Hydraulico holds leading positions in automated solutions for rail switches forging, pre-forming of blades for jet engines and turbines, and deep drawing of sinks and bathtubs.
Link to Plate Heat Exchanger press line
Link to Rail Forging line brochure
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active? (Market stage)
Hydraulico; Hydraulico is mostly focused on Europe and North America from a geographical perspective. This corresponds to the highest industrialized markets which justifies the increasing relevance of our UPGRADE and SERVICE businesses. Fortunately, these Business Units allow us also to target new customers (we can service and/or upgrade any hydraulic press brands in the world). We are also experiencing higher demand for automated Turnkey solutions, field in which we can outcompete premium competitors due to our flexibility (Network), process knowhow and successful project management.
E.E: What can you tell us about Market trends?
Hydraulico; The niche orientation of the company is sufficiently diversified to keep us busy at all times. E.g. we are experiencing a boosting income of projects within rail switches forging which is booming in Europe and Asia, but on the other hand the aerospace market is suffering from travelling limitations. The household market is busy but has rather become an upgrade and service market within our geographical targets due to the fact they still have significant left-over production capacity, which is fine with Hydraulico’s strategy and vision.
Additionally, we have key customers with whom we have developed highly competitive solutions within the niches of plate heat exchangers (a growing market worldwide) and aluminum extrusions.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed? (Innovative products)
Hydraulico; Our latest production cell for jet engine and turbine blades, with destination Japan, is not just a double horizontal servo hydraulic upsetter (unique and groundbreaking Hydraulico concept), but also provides high-speed forming with the slide, which allows the customer to move existing supply contracts to this new press without having to reomologate the process. This is a big saving for the customer, who in this case, did not just acquire the press, but also two robots, a rotary hearth electric furnace, and an autonomy buffer to stock input parts.
Additionally, in a rail switches forging context, we are providing an advanced data management system to provide full traceability of the parts and its corresponding forging and manufacturing parameters, which includes also a highly efficient heat treatment for rail hardening. An Italian customer is being delivered a complete production line as we speak.
E.E: What estimates do you have for 2021? (News for 2021)
Hydraulico; Hydraulico is glad to state that not only 2019-2020 were years of strong business growth, but after landing a new order for a complete rail forging line going to Poland, we can be sure that 2021 will also be an excellent year. This is great news as generalized uncertainty and limitations on international mobility have not helped at maturing capital investments. Furthermore, the previous means that we are by far the most experienced turn-key supplier in rail switches forging in the world, we have consolidated a full renovation of our management team (in 2015-2020), and that we will overcome the COVID 19 crisis with good results.
Carles Angla, Sales Director – Exports
Torben Bo Nielsen, Area Sales Manager and Business Developer
HYDRAULICO A/S (Link)