Resource-saving production at Tielke with injection molding machines from WITTMANN BATTENFELD

Anton Tielke GmbH & Co. KG based in Attendorn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is firmly committed to protecting the environment and saving resources in manufacturing its products. This is why the first all-electric machine from WITTMANN BATTENFELD’s EcoPower series, which was delivered at the beginning of June, is greatly appreciated at Tielke, in particular for its energy efficiency and cleanness.

In June this year, Anton Tielke GmbH celebrated its 75th anniversary. The company was established by Anton Tielke in1939, beginning with the production of hardware components made of iron and other metals, among others for customers from the automotive and aircraft industries. The family-owned enterprise with a workforce of 25 employees has now been successfully engaged in plastics processing for more than 50 years, making plastic parts from all commonly available thermoplastic resins and thermoplastic elastomers, with part weights ranging from 0.1 to 1,400 g. Tielke’s main customer base includes the heating and sanitary installation, electrical goods and building construction industries, but also a few selected automotive customers. Its main market is Germany and neighboring foreign countries.

In addition to customized products made to customers’ specifications, the company manufactures quite a sizeable product range of its own. For example, it produces caps and stoppers to cover sensitive drillings and tubes and to protect threading against moisture, dust, soiling and damage in transport and storage. These parts are extremely resistant to acids, alkali, alcohol, grease, solvents and heat. Tielke also makes the directgreen™ brand plant system. This is a combination of plant containers with breathable, water-permeable pot covers, which are primarily used for nursery and hedge plants or high-stem trees, and – equipped with an integrated water tank – as transport containers and stands for Christmas trees.

Tielke offers everything from a single source, from prototyping to series production. It also operates its own mold-making shop. High quality standards and, above all, closeness to customers are vital, long-term success factors for the company, which has been certified according to DIN ISO 9001.

Tielke also takes pride in its certification as an “energy-conscious” company, implemented by ICG Zertifizierung GmbH at the beginning of 2014, since the long-term protection of the environment and saving of natural resources are major concerns for the company’s majority stakeholder and Managing Partner, Dipl.-Ing. Ingo Rüggeberg, and are consequently a central guiding principle of its corporate philosophy. Therefore investments in modern, energy-efficient production equipment are made on a regular basis, too.

An energy consultant was called in 2013 for joint preparation of a concept to further improve the company’s balance of energy. “This year we have already realized a 10 % increase in sales so far, compared to last year, with power consumption remaining on the same level”, Ingo Rüggeberg explains proudly. And this is why the outstanding attributes of the newly acquired all-electric EcoPower 55 from WITTMANN BATTENFELD are greatly appreciated at Tielke. At first, Ingo Rüggeberg could hardly believe that such a machine as the all-electric EcoPower could operate without cooling and almost without lubricant, since it requires oil only for its toggle system. The EcoPower 55/130, equipped with a TEMPRO plus D temperature controller from WITTMANN, came after a hydraulic machine with a ServoPower drive and WITTMANN sprue picker, which had only just been delivered in the fall of the previous year, and whose compactness and high energy efficiency were welcomed with great enthusiasm at Tielke.

The cooperation between the two companies dates back to the very beginning of plastics processing at Tielke. Tielke’s production of thermoplastics started off with a “BSKM 10 VP” from 1957, built at the former BATTENFELD plant in Meinerzhagen / Germany. Today, BATTENFELD machines from the Plus series, toggle machines from the TM series and machines from the hydraulic HM series are operating at the Attendorn facility in addition to the EcoPower 55 and HM 110 ServoPower already mentioned, with clamping forces ranging from 25 to 500 t.

Apart from the machines’ technical capabilities, their quality and energy efficiency, the costs also play a vital part for Tielke, with the main emphasis being not so much on the acquisition costs, but primarily on the machines’ total life cycle costs. The availability of technical support is also a major consideration. But Ingo Rüggeberg and his long-standing authorized representative Ralf Dingerkus particularly appreciate the personal contact to the company and the excellent support provided by the sales team. “Mutual trust and continuity in cooperation have top priority for us”, says Ingo Rüggeberg. “And these factors are an absolute given at WITTMANN BATTENFELD in addition to the high quality and technological maturity of the machines.”

Source: WITTMANN BATTENFELD