Innovative locking technology for the automotive industry using state-of-the-art injection molding machinery from WITTMANN BATTENFELD

The REUTTER Group based in Leutenbach, Germany is one of the leading producers of radiator, fuel tank and oil pipe locking systems and AdBlue® filling systems made of plastics for the automotive industry. To manufacture its products, REUTTER relies entirely on injection molding machines from WITTMANN BATTENFELD.

Today’s REUTTER GmbH started out as Reutter Metallwarenfabrik in Waiblingen, Germany, which was founded in 1912. In 1960, the company began to move towards the automotive industry. In 1980, production was started in Austria, where the first injection molding machines from BATTENFELD were installed at the St. Johann / Pongau facility only 7 years later. The acquisition of this technology marked the beginning of efficient mass production.

At the turn of the millennium, the company’s sales activities expanded to North America. In 2008, REUTTER SK was established in Myjava, Slovakia, where it has been operating a completely new production plant since 2013. This was followed by additional production plants in Mexico and India. A joint venture in China and a possible extension of the Slovakian facility are planned for 2016.

The REUTTER group currently realizes more than 48 million Euros in sales with about 600 employees and shows annual growth rates between 5 and 6%. With its innovative locking systems, it supplies both the passenger car and truck industries. In the area of cooling water tank caps equipped with a valve function for pressure compensation, REUTTER is the global market leader. Its locking systems go to automobile manufacturers around the world.

A special strength of REUTTER is the development and production of complete system solutions in the area of AdBlue® filling systems and tank locking caps for passenger cars, pickups, trucks and vans as well as agricultural and building construction machinery. To meet the stringent requirements from customers in all of these areas and to ensure safety, REUTTER operates its own technical lab. Here, filling tests with all commonly available fuel nozzles are carried out via an in-house refueling system. Safe filling of the tank is ensured by an integrated magnet inside the filler neck. Special locking cylinders prevent the highly corrosive medium from leaking out. The company works with special simulation systems to achieve optimization already at the development stage.

The REUTTER group not only meets exacting demands from its customers, but also sees itself primarily as a product development partner for its customers and strengthens its market position by setting benchmarks with its own product development projects.

In Slovakia, REUTTER currently employs 300 people. This makes REUTTER SK based in Myjava the largest production facility of the REUTTER group. 36 of the just under 70 BATTENFELD injection molding machines installed at REUTTER are located in Myjava. The machines are hydraulic models of the BATTENFELD CDC series and successor models of the proven HM series with clamping forces ranging from 45 to 180 tons. The machine delivered most recently, an HM 180/1000, is equipped with a W818 robot from WITTMANN and a ServoPower drive system, and thus corresponds to the state of the art with regard to handling and efficient energy management.

At REUTTER, the machines from WITTMANN BATTENFELD are appreciated in particular for their reliability, easy maintenance and simple operation via the UNILOG B6 control system. Short set-up times also play a major part for REUTTER and present no problems with the machines from WITTMANN BATTENFELD. “Making innovative products which meet the high quality standards of the automobile industry also requires innovative and reliable machine technology”, explains Alexander Schuckmann.

Besides the quality of the machines, customer support is another vital aspect for Alexander Schuckmann and his plant manager Juraj Mala. In addition to technical advice and customer service, this includes the on-site training programs for machine operators offered by WITTMANN BATTENFELD. Alexander Schuckmann expresses this as follows: “Quality standards include the quality of cooperation. WITTMANN BATTENFELD has maintained its high standards over many years of cooperation with our company not only in terms of know-how and the quality of its machinery, but also in terms of after-sales service, and will be our first choice of machinery partner for a possible extension of our production plant in Slovakia.”

Source: WITTMANN BATTENFELD