Insight

Originally established in 1890 as a wire processing company, Hermann Rahmer GmbH & Co KG, better known as HERA, has invested heavily in its production capabilities to supply customers worldwide with a growing range of products – including a renewed focus on stamped parts – suitable for a variety of industries.

Based in Kirchhundem, Germany, HERA has recently added a 300 tonne eccentric press, as well as an automatic wire processing machine to its production line, to help the company expand its stamped parts offering. “Seizing an opportunity within the market, we have invested over
€1 million in new machines to expand our production capacity and produce a wider range of material thicknesses, as well as more complex products,” outlines Marc Schreiber, CEO of HERA. ”For our customers, this means greater reliability, stable prices, high-quality standards, as well as an ever growing range of high-quality diverse products – with a further expansion already planned later on in the year.”

The company is now able to supply customers in Europe, North America and Central America with stamped parts in various materials from 0.2mm to 5mm, bent wire parts from 0.5mm to 12mm, as well as assemblies combined from punched parts and bent wire parts, plus
cold formed parts. The finished solutions are suitable for use in a variety of sectors such as the automotive, electrical and the construction industries. 

HERA also places great emphasise on the quality of its products with dedicated in-house testing capabilities, including an extensive range of testing equipment from calipers and torsion testing systems to 3D measuring machines. The company also carries out regular audits in accordance with IATF 16949:2016, DIN/ISO 9001:2015 and DIN/ISO 14001:2015 standards. 

Alongside the quality assurances that the business can provide, HERA places great importance on a localised supply chain.  “As a local company in the heart of Europe, we are increasingly successful with our lean cost structure, even in the face of eastern European competition,” explains Marc. “The distances to our customers are often very short, as are the distances to our material suppliers, who are based in Germany or neighbouring countries. As a result, delivery times are short but the quality is high and, ultimately, every company has to ask itself whether the goods from distant countries are really more favourable from an overall cost perspective.”  

Marc continues: “There are also many other benefits to our localised supply chain. As an SME we are extremely flexible, which is a huge advantage for our customers. We are able to react quickly to meet changing requirements and, with an in-house toolmaking department, we can meet customer demands quickly.” 

This flexibility also enables HERA to work closely with customers right from the development and design stage. Through its continuous investments, HERA has placed itself in a strong position to better seize opportunities in the market, as well as give the business the flexibility it needs to respond to any and all customer demands.