„Performance is the crucial factor“

Industrias Huerta: Manufacture automotive parts more efficiently

For decades, the Madrid-based company Industrias Huerta S.A. used mechanical Bihler systems to produce its wire and stamped-and-bended parts. However, to manufacture new components for the automotive industry, this long-established company has now invested in a GRM-NC. The system is not only paying for itself in economic terms but is also enriching the parts manufacturer with a whole range of new production capabilities.

Industrias Huerta, which was founded in Madrid in the 1950s, specializes in the development, manufacture and marketing of technical metal parts that are used in the electrical and mechanical solutions produced in a wide variety of industries. While Industrias Huerta’s product portfolio has constantly changed with the times, the company’s motto has always remained the same: “Our customers and their needs have always been our top priority” explains CEO Valentín Huerta, son of the company’s founder José Huerta. “We offer high-quality products at competitive prices together with – and this is absolutely characteristic of us – an exceptionally high level of customer proximity, service and support. I like to use the analogy of the hotel sector to illustrate what I mean: We are not a 1,000-room hotel with faceless guests where every room looks the same, but a small, elegant boutique hotel that knows its guests personally and gives them individualized attention.”

Mechanical systems have proven their worth

To bring its customer projects to fruition, Industrias Huerta relies primarily on its in-house design and toolmaking department, which can draw on 50 years of experience to accompany customers during product development. However, for the subsequent manufacture of the components, the company has long put its faith in Bihler Technology and it now has a total of approximately 30 machines. These are mostly mechanical systems, which provide Industrias Huerta with the best possible way of achieving its high component requirements. Their precision, robust construction and durability mean that many years have passed without the company having any need for new Bihler systems.

Back to Bihler

But the times are changing and, with them, so too are the products that Industrias Huerta manufactures and the markets it serves. To allow it to offer more complex parts in the automotive sector, in particular, the company purchased a new GRM-NC type stamping-and-bending machine. It uses the system, which arrived at the company in December 2022, to manufacture clips and fastenings for vehicle interiors along with a number of other products. “Even though we haven’t bought any new systems for years, we went back to Bihler for this project,” says Moníca Huerta Rodriguez-Osorio, who is responsible for finance at Industrias Huerta. “The analyses and calculations that we performed before taking this step showed that the GRM-NC was exactly the right system for us and the investment has been well worthwhile.”

From strength to strength

This new acquisition was not only driven by the fact that it would have been impossible for Industrias Huerta to manufacture the new, highly complex vehicle components using its existing systems. Instead, the outstanding level of performance offered by the GRM-NC was another crucial factor. As a result, the system, whose linear tooling was developed in-house by Industrias Huerta, functions as an integrated, end-to-end machine that is able to perform every step in the production process. This includes the intake of the strip material as well as the stamping, bending and thread-cutting operations and the output of the finished component. Another important consideration is the machine’s high operating speed, which is able to achieve throughput of up to a maximum of 60 to 80 parts per minute. “For us, another benefit of this machine lies in the fact that we can now manufacture even small and mid-sized runs much faster and more flexibly, something that wouldn’t have been conceivable in the past due to the long setup times of our mechanical systems,” stresses Raul Sánchez, the engineer responsible for the system at Industrias Huerta.

Value added for the future

The new GRM-NC is now running successfully in practical applications at Industrias Huerta. Valentín Huerta and Moníca Huerta Rodriguez-Osorio sum things up as follows: “We are very pleased with the new system and our customers also appreciate the quality of the components that we manufacture on it. However, the machine also offers us a lot of value-added for the future because it quite simply gives us access to new manufacturing capabilities that we didn’t have in the past. This means that we can supply our customers with new components in the best possible quality and at an attractive price.”