Gerhardt International A/S, a supplier of rotary converting tools, and RR Rotary A/S, a supplier of solid rotary dies mainly for the packaging, hygiene, and medical markets, have merged their European production facilities of solid rotary dies. As a consequence of this merger, Gerhardt International will discontinue its production locations of solid rotary dies in Kastrup, Denmark, and Haarlem, the Netherlands. Gerhardt’s production of solid rotary dies has been moved into RR Rotary’s production facilities in Herlev, near Copenhagen, Denmark.

The new joint production will operate under the name GR Production A/S.

The majority of the production employees from Gerhardt now work at the Herlev site. This site supplies Gerhardt with the Gerhardt 7 star solid dies and high blade solid dies. Furthermore, the alliance enables Gerhardt to promote and supply the RR Rotary range of solid rotary dies and other products on a global scale. RR Rotary will also have the opportunity to offer its customers access to the Gerhardt product range: 7 star dies, magnetic cylinders and flexible dies.

Gerhardt International’s headquarters also has been moved to Herlev, but there will be no implications for the other Gerhardt sites around the world, according to a company announcement. Gerhardt has production facilities in the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, the USA and Australia. The two companies will maintain separate sales organizations.

“For Gerhardt this is a huge leap into new market segments, because we can now offer a full range of flexible and solid rotary dies – also outside narrow web applications – to industries such as automotive, electronics, medical and small packaging. This merger will enable us to maintain our offering of high quality solid dies to existing customers,” says Klaus Damberg, group president and CEO of Gerhardt International.

“This joint venture ensures the necessary economies of scale in our combined production facility, enabling us to supply cost-efficient tools for Gerhardt customers as well as our existing customers,” says Ole Rydahl, president of RR Rotary, adding, “And we can now offer our expertise in solid rotary dies that cut through materials up to 5 mm thick for the benefit of Gerhardt customers.”