Overview

AluReport spoke with CEO Dr. Helmut Kaufmann on the occasion of the 50th issue of AluReport to discuss the magazine’s origins, AMAG then and now, and how AluReport can help to counter short-termism. AluReport: Dr. Kaufmann, AluReport is your baby. Tell us how it all began. HK: In 2007, my colleagues and I were appointed to the Management Board: Gerhard Falch as CEO, Gerald Mayer as CFO and myself as COO. At that time, AMAG was still part of the Constantia Group. We conducted a strategic process and determined that we wanted to position AMAG as a premium supplier of flat aluminium products and recycled cast alloys, with specialty products accounting for a significant proportion of our portfolio.

An interview with Prof. Peter Uggowitzer - AluReport: As a long-standing member of the Supervisory Board, and in particular as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, you will undoubtedly have followed AMAG’s development very closely. How would you assess the company’s current level of scientific expertise compared to the situation a decade and a half ago? PU: In response to your first comment, I’d like to say that I’ve been connected to AMAG through professional and personal contacts since 2007, so for 17 years now, and have followed the development of the company’s R&D activities very closely over this period. If I had to give the company a grade for the progress it has made in developing its scientific expertise over the last decade and a half, it would have to be “outstanding”.

Since its foundation, AMAG has made impressive progress in its primary aluminium activities. The company was founded as a smelting plant and began producing primary aluminium in 1939. As the years went by, AMAG adjusted its strategy in response to changing market conditions. In the 1980s, the state-owned company was restructured as it was no longer efficient to operate the smelter on site. In the course of this restructuring, the decision was taken to transform AMAG into an international aluminium corporation, shifting its focus away from primary aluminium production and towards metal processing.

In 2008, the aviation industry faced existential challenges as the financial crisis began to take hold. From one day to the next, the optimism fueled by the development of revolutionary new concepts like the Airbus A380 and Boeing’s Dreamliners quite simply disappeared. It wasn’t long before the impacts on supply chains became apparent. OEMs responded to cancellations from airlines by reducing and postponing their aircraft construction plans.

First things first: AMAG has delivered on its promises in recent years. By making large-scale investments - from expanding its recycling center and foundry to commissioning new hot and cold rolling mills and a continuous heat-treatment furnace with a passivation system to opening the Center for Material Innovation (CMI) - it has become a full-range supplier to the automotive industry. As a result, AMAG has established itself as a supplier for the automotive and transportation industry.

Heat exchangers can be found in wide-ranging situations in which the transfer of thermal energy plays a decisive role. The manufacture of heat exchangers predominantly relies on aluminium brazing materials. These are advanced, high-quality, multi-layered composites made from a core alloy clad on one or both sides with an AlSi brazing alloy. AMAG has produced these composites for over 40 years using a sophisticated roll cladding technology. This solid-state pressure welding process produces a tight metallurgical bond between the brazing solder and the core bars, which facilitates outstanding soldering results in downstream processing of the material.

When the first issue of AluReport was published in 2008, the liberalization of the electricity and gas markets in the years before had begun to give rise to a new awareness of energy as a topic. The number of providers had increased significantly, and new categories of suppliers were emerging. Nevertheless, energy widely remained little more than a vague, gray cost factor, with little need to give thought to its availability.
Few people were interested in the origins of energy or in energy labeling systems. At that time, securing an energy supply meant selecting gas and electricity suppliers and agreeing a contract for a handful of years. The electricity infrastructure on the Ranshofen site dated back to the era when AMAG was founded, comprising a 110 kV switchgear operated by the Austrian Power Grid (APG) and 110/20 kV transformers owned by AMAG.

When the first issue of AluReport was published in 2008, AMAG had already been focused on increasing the energy efficiency of high-temperature processes at its foundries for some time. While the introduction of the ISO 50001 energy management system in 2013 added a further dimension to these efforts, the vision of climate-neutral foundry operations had still not been formed. Nevertheless, AMAG faced up to the challenge of actively shaping this transformation several years ago and is now taking decisive action to prepare itself as effectively as possible.

In the early 1990s, the smelter in Ranshofen was decommissioned, with the site since shifting its activities to the production of high-quality cast and wrought aluminium alloys based on the use of solid metals and with a focus on recycling. At the same time, a clear focus on our customers has remained the foundation of our corporate philosophy and promotes long-term cooperation in a spirit of partnership. In addition to its role as a product supplier, AMAG also considers itself an innovator, a technology specialist, an expert consultant on the entire production chain and a manufacturer of sustainable products. Reducing CO₂ emissions has become an increasingly important objective in recent years. In this context, transporting cast alloys in a liquid state can help to reduce associated CO₂ emissions.
Adopting such a holistic perspective makes it possible to continuously optimize the benefits for our customers. AMAG casting has significantly increased its turnover by focusing on this crucial factor and aims to increase its sales volumes to exceed 100,000 tons in the years ahead.

Logistics is a crucial link between AMAG’s production activities and the subsequent processing of sheets and plates by its customers. But what exactly does this complex field involve? And how have its processes and technologies changed over the last decade and a half?
After its privatization, AMAG focused on its core competencies of casting and rolling. In 1996, AMAG founded Speditionsservice Ranshofen GmbH (SSR) in partnership with the German corporate group Preymesser with the aim of maintaining its high standards of professionalism in its supply chain.