COVER STORY

THE ROBERT SCHRÖDER GROUP – A NEW PART OF KAMAX

Since February this year, Robert Schröder Group has become a part of KAMAX due to acquiring an 85% majority stake. The company is a manufacturer of precision parts in and outside the automotive industry. KAMAX is thus expanding its product portfolio as well as its expertise in new areas and applications, especially in the important e-bike and e-drives markets. In total, the Robert Schröder Group has three locations in Germany and Poland as well as a joint venture in the USA with around 280 employees.

Wuppertal/Germany

190 employees

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Remscheid/Germany

45 employees

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Bydgoszcz/Poland

40 employees

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Rose City, MI/USA

10 employees

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The Robert Schröder Group specializes in the further processing of cold formed parts by turning, milling, grinding, gear cutting and assembly. In addition, the company has capacities and know-how for the in-house production of complex cold-formed parts (called non-bolt products/NBP at KAMAX). “There are only a few companies that specialize in both machining as well as cold forming,” emphasizes André Casel, managing director of Robert Schröder and since his apprenticeship as a cutting mechanic, part of the company. This makes the group the ideal complement to KAMAX‘s new strategic orientation, which aims to produce other complex formed parts in addition to classic fasteners.

Independent of the combustion engine

Unlike our company, products for combustion engines account for only ten percent of the Robert Schröder Group‘s sales. The other parts are used either for e-bikes, safety and comfort elements in cars (regardless of the drive), and industrial, agricultural and construction machinery transmissions. In recent years, there has been an average growth of seven percent per year in sales of these products, and even the corona crisis was well weathered. This makes the Group an ideal partner for the future of KAMAX.

The Robert Schröder Group, on the other hand, benefits from the size of KAMAX or as André Casel sums it up: “For us the cooperation with the KAMAX Group means a long-term perspective, the possibility to grow internationally and at the same time to remain independent. This is an important signal for our employees and customers. Even for me personally as I can continue to help shape the successful development of our company.”

Sales development of Robert Schröder in €

History

The Robert Schröder company began producing turned parts in 1948. From the 1950s onwards, production focused primarily on hand tools (e.g. screwdrivers) and thread-cutting ratchets. Although production of these parts has since ceased, today‘s manufacturing techniques are largely based on them. The Polish plant was originally part of the largest Eastern European bicycle combine with 6,000 employees and became part of the group in the 1990s primarily because of its qualified employees and the affiliated vocational school. When machined and turned parts faced major competition from classic cold forming, the former screw manufacturer Hein & Co. in Remscheid was integrated into the group in 2005. Today, the combination of cold forming and the other manufacturing techniques enables the production of complex precision parts for cars, bicycles and transmissions in industry and agriculture.

Selection of Robert Schröder products

Closure element for the convertible roof of the Ford Mustang

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Employee training

Shortly after the announcement of the cooperation between KAMAX and Robert Schröder, the collaboration quickly gained momentum. Despite the corona restrictions, employees from the Secondary Operation of the Homberg plant were able to visit the Robert Schröder site in Wuppertal to get a first insight of the production technology. This knowledge transfer helps to set up similar production lines at KAMAX, e.g. for cams and bushings.