UNIFE

www.unife.org

The European Rail supply industry was formerly represented by three associations: AICMR (Association Internationale des Constructeurs de Matérial Roulant), AFEDEF (Association des Fabricants Européens d'Equipements Ferroviaires), CELTE (Constructeurs Européens des Locomotives Thermiques et Electriques), all were based in France.

With the creation of the single market in 1993, there became an urgent need to focus on European transport matters, so the three associations decided in 1991 to merge into UNIFE, the Union of the European Railway Industries.

In 1992, UNIFE moved to Brussels. Today it directly represents nearly 60 leading European companies responsible for the design, manufacture, maintenance and refurbishment of guided land transport systems, subsystems and related equipments.

UNIFE has 16 National Organisations as associated members representing another 900 railway supply companies.

The European rail supply industry generates around 60 Billion Euros in revenue per year and employs 130 000 people. UNIFE members manufacture 70% of the world-wide production of rail equipment.

ERWA

ERWA is the UNIFE Railway Wheels Committee – created in 2004 when its members, 11 companies from 9 different countries, all of them European producers of railway wheels and wheelsets – Bochumer Verein
Verkehrstechnik, Bonatrans, CAF, Gutehoffnungshütte Radsatz, Lucchini Sidermeccanica, Lucchini Sweden, Lucchini UK, Radsatzfabrik Ilsenburg, Valdunes SAS, and Valdunes Belux – decided to leave the status as a self
contained association (created on 2001) and moved under the broad wings of UNIFE to build up a committee under the same name.

The ERWA members are highly committed to supporting the railway industry in the promotion of railway, by contributing to improvements in wheels and wheelsets through a focus on safety, reliability and economic
efficiency.

Today the activity of the committee also includes the definition, adaptation and implementation of advanced technologies.

RINGROLLERS

Ringrollers is internationally renowned as one of the leading forged railway tyre manufacturers in the world. The company has the largest fully automated axial/radial ring mill on the African continent, allowing accurate production of tyres and seamless rings.

The company was established in 1972, and today forms part of the DCD-DORBYL Group which is considered the largest mechanical engineering concern in southern Africa, with a diversified product range. Ownership of DCD-DORBYL, is spread between Investec who owns 48.32%, Siyahamba who owns 38.2% and a management trust which owns 13.48%.

As a forging company serving the medium engineering sector of the industry, Ringrollers serves the tyre, tram tyre, petro-chemical and seamless ring markets. Its
18 000 m² facility in Springs is 40 km from OR Tambo International Airport.

Continual research and development takes place within the company. Ringrollers actively engages the market, looking at ways to enhance and optimise products through engineering and alternative material selection.

Ringrollers is the South African representative for a range of imported forged wheels for the railway industry.

The Ringrollers manufacturing facility incorporates world class technology and state of the art equipment and machinery.

The facility houses two ring mills, one of which is a fully CNC ring mill with the capacity of rolling up to 4000 mm OD and up to 3.8 t, and with a 140 t radial and 125 t axial capability.

The company operates four presses, with the largest having a 2500 t capacity, and the others with a 630 t, 750 t and 2000 t capacity respectively. The heat treatment facility comprises an austenitising furnace, an oil quench tank and a tempering furnace.

To complement this set-up, Ringrollers has a machine shop with eight CNC machines, an NC drill, five manual machines and a saw bay. Materials handling equipment includes overhead cranes and forklifts.

Ringrollers produces safety critical products, making quality a top priority. The company has stringent quality control procedures in place and all products are sent through the in-house inspection facility.

Ringrollers is ISO 9001:2000 accredited and is licensed by the API (American Petroleum Industry). It is also OSHAS 19001 accredited by Moody International. The company is committed to the implementation of quality and environmental management systems.

In line with the DCD-DORBYL commitment to innovation, Ringrollers invests substantial resources in its research and development programmes. Research generally extends to effective rolling strategy development. This allows the company to profile rolls a wide variety of
shapes with minimal material allowances.

In this way, Ringrollers ensures structurally improved material properties and competitive pricing without sacrificing quality. The company is currently involved in the development of products for specialised off-road vehicles.