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Tradition and InnovationProducts made of aluminum die casting are a part of our everyday life: you don’t always see them at first glance - but you can’t do without them. From day one, the fascinating material of metal was in the focus of all work at heba - and it has been that way since 1920 when Wilhelm Hesse founded our company in Lüdenscheid, Germany. It all started with manufacturing protective tin figures and rear lamps for bicycles by moulding aluminum in dies. Today, after more than 85 years of company history, we are a reliable global business partner for precision products made of aluminum die casting. This is why the chronicle of our longstanding heritage reflects the dynamics of heba. We have always been able to find new ways to link expertise to technical advancement. In the 60’s of the 20th century, we added zinc and aluminum die casting to the production to react to the needs of the market. We added a wide variety of useful downstream processes in order to be able to provide ready to assemble products to our customers. 1982 marks another milestone in heba’s corporate chronicle. Setting up zinc metal-working was a logical consequence of our specialization in aluminum die casting. In the 90’s, we were among the first to have casting production in Germany with robots and trimming presses expanded to fully automatic casting cells. Once again, we expanded our facilities in 2002 allowing us to purchase two 800 t die casting machines and two central melting units. They supply liquid aluminum to the foundry in addition to the decentral melting furnaces at the die casting machines. During all these stages of expansion, we also kept our tools state-of-the-art. In May 2011, leading managers of heba took over the W. Hesse & Bauckhage GmbH by a management-buy-out. Hereby, an alternation of generations occurred. Our target ist to continue proven systems and the long-lasting experience of the heba employees and transform the heba Alu-Druckguss GmbH into an innovative and simultaneously experienced business partner for our customers. In spite of the fact that we have grown to a staff of more than 100 persons, we have kept our administration lean to cut red tape and maximize flexibility. |
Historical emblems
For several centuries heba had been producing fender figures for the bicycle industry.
Well-known brands
Plenty of companies with well-known brands use heba aluminum die castings to reflect their corporate design.
Past tradition
Fender figures like shown here are very rarely today due to current safety requirements.
Progress
Other parts have been replaced by modern shapes, but still aluminum die casting is the material of choice.
Historical cutlery
In former times the French royal court house produced cutlery out of aluminum; at this time aluminum was equal to luxury and more expansive than gold.
Helpful tools
Today the use of aluminum die casting for cutlery is unusual in our region and typically replaced by stainless steel.
