A Nordic giant - this press line is enormous. The Volvo car corporation has ordered what is the biggest hydraulic press line to date with robot automation from Mueller Weingarten. Its dimensions and performance figures are impressive.

The five-stage press line measures 80 x 22m with the bolsters and rams measuring 5m long and 2.80m across.

Further characteristics include fully automatic die change using moving bolsters to the left and right as well as sophisticated four-part production in one press cycle.

'Volvo deliberately chose hydraulic presses because it was looking for flexibility,' grinned the new director of the Hydraulic Presses Business Unit, Manfred Wischnewski, describing the sales success.

On this press line, Volvo is intending to produce body parts from both steel and aluminum.

The presses will be produced and pre-assembled in Weingarten and Erfurt in 2007.

The press line will then be taken into operation at the Olofstrom, Sweden, plant in early 2008.

'This is the third hydraulic press line order that Mueller Weingarten has succeeded in attracting this year.

It's a good sign that demand for hydraulic presses is once again picking up strongly and that OEMs are increasingly taking on board the advantages of hydraulic presses in their new investment policies,' continued Wischnewski.

After two rather hard years, Wischnewski is therefore forecasting significant sales growth for 2006 and, above all, in 2007.

'We used the slack period for a thorough overhaul of the design of our machines.

This is why we're now well prepared to cope with the increasing number of projects on the market.' He is relying not only on large hydraulic press lines but also on product innovations for hot forming and the newly developed ZE press series for medium press forces.

'This press series will appeal above all to medium-sized companies that need specific solutions for their particular segments,' explained Wischnewski.