Steel wire with a history

Hörle Wire has a history that goes back 102 years. But in February 2018, it all nearly came to an abrupt end. Sections of the 20,000 square metres of factory space burned down. How’s the company doing today? We met with HW’s CEO and production manager to find out.

Axelent and Hörle Wire have been collaborating for several years. Mutual respect has resulted in a collaboration that Jesper Bundgaard, CEO of HW, prefers to describe as a partnership. This partnership is also one of the reasons why Axelent’s products are installed in the company’s newly built factory. Both machine guards and collision guards have been installed.

How do you find collaborating with Axelent?

“Collaborating with Axelent is great. Both companies are in similar positions. We deliver not only to Axelent, but also to other companies in the same industry, just like Axelent buys wire from suppliers other than us,” Jesper explains.

Markus Sykora, production manager, interjects:
“When we buy machines, machine guards are often included, but two years ago we bought several kilometres of mesh walls from Axelent and we’ve been pleased with them. Then we had the fire, which complicated matters.”

“When rebuilding the factory, we ordered new machines in a more organised manner than before. Instead of getting machines from several different manufacturers, we decided to use a single supplier to achieve better logistics in terms of both spare parts and service. We applied the same principle to our choice of machine safety, with the added preference of local presence. Axelent’s range makes the company a complete supplier when it comes to machine guards and interior fitting safety, which was perfectly in line with our new philosophy.”

How has the fire affected you?

“Well, let’s put it this way. The fire affected all of us in different ways. It’s been a tough chapter for many of us, but now we’re turning over a new leaf and looking to the future,” says Jesper.

"We have a factory that works exceptionally well. Although the new layout has fewer production lines, they’re faster, more modern and more reliable. We’ve also altered the order of the lines, and we now have a more efficient flow through the entire factory,” says Markus.

What do you think of Axelent’s products?

“First off, it’s great to see an immediate link between our product and the machine guard. Axelent’s mesh walls are, in the best-case scenario, made using our wire, and so seeing our machines extruding wire behind Axelent’s machine guards clearly and perfectly highlights our collaboration. If a visitor asks what our wire can be used for – I can simply rest my hand on the machine guard,” says Jesper contentedly.

“Another favourite is the column guards fitted to our pillars. We’ve already benefited from them, and we’ve even replaced damaged parts. Extremely useful and practical! A third favourite is the rounded corners that we’ve chosen for some of our machine guards (X-Guard Contour).”