Ronal AG is a manufacturer of

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

s for

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s and

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to ...

s, with its headquarters in

Härkingen Härkingen is a municipality in the district of Gäu in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Härkingen is first mentioned in 1080 as ''quendam comitatum nomine Härichingen in pago Buchsgeowe situm (Kopie)''. In 1101 it was mentioned ...

, Switzerland. The company employs more than 8000 personnel and produces both cast and forged wheels. The company is active in both the

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

and aftermarket for cars and commercial vehicles. Ronal AG has thirteen wheel production facilities, two factories for tool manufacturing, a logistics center and has its own sales locations in eleven countries. The company produces approximately 21 million wheels annually for the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industry ...

and its own brands Ronal, Speedline Corse and Speedline Truck. Ronal AG develops and produces its own production tools. This takes place at the sites Cantanhede in Portugal and

in Switzerland. Härkingen is home to both the headquarters and Ronal's own research and development centre. SanSwiss GmbH, a manufacturer of shower units, based in

Forst Forst may refer to: Communities In Germany *, in the district of Aachen *Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg *Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg * Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria * Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenk ...

in Baden Württemberg, also belongs to Ronal Group. Ronal AG headquarter

History

Ronal was founded in Germany in 1969 by Karl Wirth. The entrepreneur and

Formula V Fórmula V is a Spanish pop musical quintet founded in 1965 in Spain. The musical style is very much in the style of 60's rock similar to the Beatles and Monkees. In the late 1960s the band experienced enormous popularity in Spain and Latin Am ...

driver saw a need for aluminum wheels. Wirth thus became one of the pioneers of light alloy wheels on the global market. The first factory was opened back in 1978 in France. In 2007 Ronal AG purchased Italian wheel manufacturer Speedline, which covers the commercial vehicle segment including trucks, trailers and buses. This helped the group expand into the

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

and

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

sectors as well as into weight-optimized

flow forming Shear forming, also referred as shear spinning, is similar to metal spinning. In shear spinning the area of the final piece is approximately equal to that of the flat sheet metal blank. The wall thickness is maintained by controlling the gap bet ...

technology. 83

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

titles have been won on Speedline Corse wheels. In 2012, Ronal expanded its range to include forged wheels with the majority stake in Fullchamp in Taiwan. In 2013, Ronal AG joined forces with the Australian company, Carbon Revolution, to launch the first one-piece

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

wheel on the European market.

Divisions

*OEM: Original equipment manufacturing for automobile manufacturers around the world *Cars: Aftermarket parts sold with the brands Ronal, Speedline Corse and Carbon Revolution *Commercial vehicles: OEM and aftermarket parts for trucks, buses and trailers with the brand Speedline Truck *SanSwiss: High quality shower units. The brand owns production plants in Germany, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Romania.

Technology

Ronal AG works to make the wheels lighter with technologies such as flowforming,

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...

, undercuting and

. Furthermore, Ronal AG uses process for the surface finishing like multi color rim (MCR),

pad printing Pad printing (also called tampography) is a printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a 3-D object (e.g. a ceramic pottery). This is accomplished using an indirect offset (gravure) printing process that involves an image being transfe ...

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

and

diamond cutting Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and ...

and

polishing Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material accordin ...

External links

References

{{reflist Wheel manufacturers Auto parts suppliers of Switzerland Swiss brands