SF Tooling Group invests for growth and new opportunities
BUSINESS INSIGHT
From electric vehicles to industrial equipment, many metal components take their shape in a die – a specially designed mould used to form molten metal. For more than 60 years, SF Tooling Group has developed and manufactured these tools for customers across different industries. Now, as manufacturers look for lighter components and more efficient ways to produce them, SF Tooling Group is investing in the next generation of increasingly large and complex dies.
Headquartered in Laichingen, Germany, SF Tooling Group is part of Storskogen’s Industry business area and a global supplier of high-pressure die-casting dies. Since becoming part of Storskogen in 2021, the company has invested in its operations in Germany, China and the US, expanding its offering to include large-scale giga dies.
“The investments in our facilities have opened new opportunities for SF Tooling Group. We are seeing growing interest in gigacasting, and the investments have put us in a position to respond to that demand and continue growing the business”, says Siegfried Heinrich, CEO of SF Tooling Group.
Expanding into gigacasting
Gigacasting uses the same basic process as traditional die casting, but on a much larger scale. Molten metal, often aluminium, is injected into a large mould to create the finished component. In the automotive industry, for example, giga dies can be used to produce large structural parts of a vehicle, such as sections of the underbody, in a single piece. Instead of producing many smaller parts that then need to be assembled, a single large component can be cast in one step. This can simplify production, reduce the number of components and lower weight.
The technology is particularly relevant for electric vehicles, where lightweight structures are important, but its development also reflects a broader trend towards larger and more complex cast components and more efficient production. Although still relatively new, gigacasting is gaining traction as manufacturers explore these opportunities.
SF Tooling Group identified the potential of gigacasting early and expanded from primarily producing smaller dies to developing and manufacturing giga dies as well. To support this expansion, the company has invested across its international operations. A new tool shop in Haiyan, China, was opened in 2022, followed by a new production hall in Laichingen, Germany, in 2023. These investments have increased SF Tooling Group’s capacity to manufacture large and complex tools, including giga dies weighing up to 200 tonnes. SF Tooling Group is also continuing to invest in the US, which is an important market for the company.
Support enabling growth
The expansion has been driven by SF Tooling Group’s local management, with Storskogen supporting the strategy through investment financing and strategic discussions. When establishing the Chinese operation, SF Tooling Group was also able to draw on knowledge from LNS Group, another Storskogen Industry company with experience of operating in China.
With expanded production capacity, a presence across three continents and the ability to manufacture increasingly large and complex dies, SF Tooling Group is well positioned to capture new opportunities as manufacturing technologies continue to evolve.
Read more about SF Tooling Group: https://schauflerfischer.com/
Cay Nasner,
Head of Business Area Industry DACH
[email protected]
Cay Nasner is Head of Business Area Industry in DACH, based in Germany. Before joining Storskogen, Cay was heading different mid-sized companies.
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