Gerhardt and RR Rotary merge European production of solid rotary dies

Gerhardt International, a supplier of rotary converting tools, and RR Rotary, a supplier of solid rotary dies, have merged their European facilities for the production of solid rotary dies. The merger took place on July 1. As a consequence, Gerhardt International will discontinue its production of solid rotary dies at the locations in Kastrup, Denmark and Haarlem, Holland. The new joint production will operate under the name GR Production A/S.

This alliance means that Gerhardt’s production of solid rotary dies has been moved into RR Rotary’s production facilities in Herlev, near Copenhagen, Denmark. The majority of the production staff from Gerhardt are now working at the Herlev site. This site will provide Gerhardt with the familiar Gerhardt 7 star solid dies and high blade solid dies.  Furthermore, the alliance enables Gerhardt to promote and supply the RR Rotary range of solid rotary dies and other products on a global scale. RR Rotary will also have the opportunity to offer its customers access to the Gerhardt product range i.e. 7 star dies, magnetic cylinders and flexible dies.

The Gerhardt International headquarters have been moved to Herlev also, but there will be no implications for other Gerhardt sites around the world. The two companies will maintain separate sales organizations, so this merger will have no effect on how customers are being serviced on a daily basis.

‘For Gerhardt this is a huge leap into new market segments, because we can now offer a full range of flexible and solid rotary dies – not only for narrow web applications – but now also to industries such as automotive, electronics, medical and small packaging. This merger will enable us to maintain our focus on solutions and continue to offer high quality solid dies to existing customers,’ said Klaus Damberg, group president and CEO of Gerhardt International.

‘This joint venture ensures the necessary economics of scale in our combined production facility, enabling us to supply cost efficient tools for Gerhardt customers as well as our existing customers,’ said Ole Rydahl, president of RR Rotary. ‘We can now offer our expertise in solid rotary dies that cut through materials up to 5mm thick, for the benefit of Gerhardt’s customers.’

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