Urwahn, a bike manufacturer that we discovered through its collaboration with TRUMPF (now ATLIX), establishes a new status quo for local, technologically leading frame and wheelset production with the “smart bike factory”.
The concept that emphasizes a “made in Germany” production is supported by a collaboration that Urwahn extends with ROLAND Werk GmbH, manufacturer of wheelsets and components. At the heart of this concept lies 3D printing, engineering expertise, automated wheel building and digitalized workflows.
What once began as a classic supplier relationship has evolved into a strategic partnership on equal footing. “We are no longer talking about a conventional supplier set-up, but about an integrated part of our value chain,” explains Leonard Harreß, COO of URWAHN. “For us, ROLAND is both a local hero and a technology partner. Together, we no longer think of wheelsets as mere components, but as an integral part of a smart bike factory, where quality, automation, digitalisation and flexibility come together.”
In combination with URWAHN’s 3D-printed frame platforms, this results in wheelsets and bicycles that are perfectly matched to one another, in terms of performance, weight, safety and function. The close coordination extends from design and engineering, through testing procedures, all the way to shared standards in quality assurance and traceability.
“URWAHN challenges us in the best possible way,” says Heiko Plorin, Managing Director of ROLAND. “We work in short cycles, with high variance and a clear focus on quality. That forces us to rethink processes, reduce set-up times, further develop our automation and remain flexible at the same time. This is precisely what makes the partnership so valuable – it pushes both of us forward technologically.”
The alliance between the two companies is exemplary of a new generation of industrial collaboration in the spirit of lean manufacturing and nearshoring. Instead of relying on long supply chains and anonymous mass production abroad, a regional production network is emerging in which short distances, direct communication and shared responsibility become the norm.
The result is products that do not just carry the label “genuinely made in Germany”, but substantiate it in practice, with clear advantages in quality, responsiveness and sustainability.
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