ZOLLERN Wins the European Aluminium Award 2012

ZOLLERN has been honored with the European Aluminum Award 2012, category Consumer products – innovation.63 entries from 12 different countries were received.

ZOLLERN wins the European Aluminium Award 2012

At the world’s largest Aluminum show ALUMINIUM in Dusseldorf, Germany, the European Aluminum Award was given for the eighth time in a row. The Award addresses products or projects in which aluminum has been applied in an innovative manner. Therefor it is the highest European award in this field. 63 entries from 12 different countries were received and finally judged by a independent international jury, headed by Prof. Laurens Katgerman, of the Technical University of Delft

This year the victory in category ‚Consumer products – innovation‘ was given to ZOLLERN who has applied for the price with its rear swing forks made of aluminum investment casting for BMW racing bikes. The jury gives their reasons for choosing ZOLLERN by: “In competitive sports the need for high reliability and rapid development is paramount, yet expensive. This solution is proof to the Jury that both weight and cost reduction can be combined with the necessary reliability and performance specs while choosing aluminum as lightweight material. A successful combination of process and material.”

The awarded rear swing forks are being used by BMW for its Superbike World Championship bikes since 2011. The rear fork from ZOLLERN, produced in the Soest plant, replaces the previous year's milled part, and saves up to 20 per cent of its weight. Other advantages are less undamped suspension and improved handling.

The new fork was developed in cooperation with the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team, alpha Racing GmbH & Co. KG and EDAG, and manufactured by ZOLLERN. The result was a component made of A 357 aluminium, measuring 650 x 260 x 350 mm, and weighing less than 6 kg.

ZOLLERN was initially approached in January 2010, and the first three parts were ready for testing in April. The entirely cast part replaced the original milled version and, after thorough testing and optimisation, was approved for series production in October 2010. Pete Goddard, Ex Superbike rider and now a development engineer at alpha Racing says: "ZOLLERN has turned out to be an excellent partner. They're totally professional, and we were blown away by the results of their manufacturing method.“

High-tech aviation technology applied in motor bikes

To manufacture the high-stress part, ZOLLERN uses its patented SOPHIA® process that's ideal for the job and otherwise used by the company in aviation and military engineering. What's special about the SOPHIA® technology is that it precisely manipulates the micro-structure of the material by controlled cooling after casting. That means the molten metal solidifies faster and more evenly than in conventional investment casting. Through the targeted control of the cooling process, the thick-walled and thin-walled areas can be cooled in the same amount of time. This produces a fine-grain, dense cast structure with exceptionally good static and dynamic strength properties. It enables the production of thin-walled cast parts with large surfaces as well as extreme leaps in wall thickness at the narrowest tolerances, combined with top surface and material quality. All this means the wall thicknesses of the BMW fork could be reduced to less than 2 mm. Markus Schmidt, the alpha Racing development engineer responsible for the fork, pinpoints specific aspects, saying: "Apart from the extreme lightweight construction, we were able to modify the design quickly, without extra tool costs, and directly using the engineering master data. It gave us the scope to apply the feedback from our drivers straight into the design of the part."

ZOLLERN company profile

With a company history dating back over 300 years, ZOLLERN counts among the pioneers of the metal industry and has left its mark on the industry since the beginning.

At 15 manufacturing sites and/or branch offices in Europe, Asia, North and South America, more than 3,000 employees develop, produce, and take care of a range of innovative metal products.

The company is headquartered in Sigmaringendorf-Laucherthal, Germany and is divided into five business areas: foundry technology, drive technology, plain bearing technology, special profiles, and mechanical engineering elements. Over the total value creation chain, the group offers its customers special solutions in its core business areas of energy and power production, automotive, shipping, construction, and mechanical engineering.

Through offering a comprehensive service along with its complete sales and service network, ZOLLERN is represented in every industrial region of the world.

Manager Magazine includes ZOLLERN in its list of 1000 German world market leaders at position number 231. In the 2011 financial year, the ZOLLERN Group achieved a turnover of just under 600 million Euros.