What do airbag igniters, batteries, insulin pens, light switches and sensors have in common? They all contain stamped and deep-drawn parts made by Stücken in Rinteln, Germany. The company is just one of the many "hidden champions" that come to HANNOVER MESSE in order to establish links with development engineers, designers and purchasers from all over the globe. They aim to make products better. Their innovative solutions will be on display in halls 3, 4 and 5 from 1 to 5 April 2019.

"In their role as development partners and innovators, component suppliers are the backbone of modern industry," confirms Olaf Daebler, Global Director Industrial Supply at HANNOVER MESSE. "The strength of HANNOVER MESSE lies in its ability to present all the relevant processes and materials at a single venue and thus offer customized solutions for every conceivable requirement."

Listening to customers is central to Stüken's corporate philosophy. "An understanding of individual requirements provides the basis for creating perfectly tailored solutions," says Nils Petersohn, Managing Director of Hubert Stüken GmbH & Co. KG . "This presupposes a close dialogue between experts." Frequently visitors come to a trade show and discover a component that closely approximates to their requirements. "Our customers appreciate our ability to produce deep-drawn components with high deformation ratios and non-standard contours," Petersohn explains. "We are also the first choice for small-sized deep-drawn components with challenging geometries, as well as deep-drawn components made of non-ductile materials." In this context, Stüken has developed an advanced multistage cold forming process for titanium. This facilitates the efficient production of slim and elongated titanium components with complex geometries, thus opening up new possibilities in product design.

Stücken's deep-drawn components frequently offer a low-cost alternative to complex lathed parts. In addition, deep-drawing technology opens up new potential for material savings and lightweight design. In pursuit of enhanced product characteristics, Stücken has developed and patented a process for the surface hardening of austenitic stainless steel parts. "Although our components function in the background, they play a vital role in a subassembly or in the entire finished product," Petersohn emphasizes. "There is hardly a sector or an engineering product that does not depend on components from Stüken."

The same applies to mbo Osswald , an enterprise based in Külsheim-Steinbach/Germany. The company's fastenings and connectors are used in countless applications, including the skilled trades, mechanical engineering and the automotive sector. The purpose of mbo Osswald products is to connect at least two components, thus enabling a given force to be transmitted. "We pay attention to the entire supply chain," says Lothar Winkler, Head of Sales and Marketing at mbo Osswald. "We cooperate with our partners over a period of many years, use selected raw materials and deploy modern and efficient production technology – for small-sized batches as well as mass production."

mbo Osswald is committed to expanding its digital services portfolio. A central element is an online shop featuring 3D models, product data, information about prices and availability, plus an ordering function. Online configurators deliver real-time price quotations – for a single product or for large batches. Lothar Winkler sums up his company's philosophy as follows: "We aim to make life easier for developers, innovators and procurement specialists."