History

1991: Development of friction stir welding by TWI in Cambridge

1997: The friction spot welding process is being developed.

2003: Dr. Axel Meyer, Christoph Schilling and Alexander von Strombeck found RIFTEC GmbH, based in Geesthacht.
The entrepreneurs had previously worked for years in the Joining Technology Group at the GKSS Research Centre, where they gained extensive experience in the development and application of innovative friction welding processes. At a time when friction stir welding was still in its infancy, they were working intensively on its further development and were active in industrial contracted research right from the start.

2004: Friction stir welding is used in medical technology for the series production of very high vacuum-tight composite entrance screens made of aluminium and stainless steel.

2004/2005: Series production of drying trays for the food industry begins.

2006: Series production of cooling plates for industrial plate freezing plants starts.
In the same year, series production of friction stir welded tailored blanks (aluminium blanks made from sheets of different thicknesses) is launched for the Audi R8.

2007: RIFTEC GmbH doubles its production capacity to keep up with the constantly growing demand in the metals processing industry.
This year also marks the start of production of eco-fans, which encompasses not only friction stir welding of perforated plate cylinders, but also material procurement, forming, mechanical processing and surface finishing.

2008: Series production of another product for the food industry starts:
Friction stir welding is used to weld a finger protector onto slicers for the retail food trade – a sheet metal-profile combination that meets the most stringent hygiene requirements.