On July 26, German plantmaker SMS Siemag announced that it is integrating the employees of one of its smaller rivals, Gesellschaft für aero- und thermodynamische Verfahrenstechnik (gatv), as a separate department into its newly created ‘Thermal Processing Engineering' division in Düsseldorf, which was established to enhance SMS Siemag's competences in the field of heat treatment of flat products.
SMS acquired gatv, which specializes in aerodynamic and thermodynamic process engineering, on July 1. gatv designs, manufactures and supplies process plants for foil and strip processing lines worldwide, above all for the aluminum and steel industries. Its annual business volume is in the range of €5-8 million.
"One of the aims of the division is to expand our competences in process technology installed in strip processing lines for aluminum and steel", said the executive vice president of the division, Dr. Fritz Brühl.
SMS Siemag and gatv have been in a number of cooperative ventures in the past. For example, gatv is providing the complete process engineering for the color coating line for aluminum and steel strip, which is currently being erected in Turkey by SMS Siemag for ASAŞ Alüminyum.