EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Salzburger Aluminium Group (SAG) is a leading manufacturer of aluminum components, based in Lend, Austria. As a technology innovator, SAG is the leader in the new aluminum casting technology called Rheocasting, currently being used in the automotive industry.
Rheocasting is a die casting innovation, which offers countless benefits compared to the conventional high pressure die-casting. The main difference is in the process of production because the aluminum is processed in a semi-solid state. The controlled heat and constant adjustments results in a better grain structure, less shrinkage, less porosity and many more benefits, which in turn lead to a competitive advantage regarding weight, consistency and stability.

Goal

The goal of the project was to identify new application fields for Rheocasting outside the automotive industry. To ensure feasibility, the suggested application fields had to meet stringent criteria, such as minimum production numbers and industry profit margins. 

Methodology

Using the community-based technological competence leveraging (TCL) method, our project followed the four main stages of the process. Firstly, we identified the technologies benefits through a division in attributes and benefits. This step is very important to understand, which benefits really matter for the end customer to identify possible trade-offs. Secondly, after identifying the core use benefits, our search for application fields started. During this stage, we were using various creativity techniques to come up with possible fields of interest and find problems to which Rheocasting would be the perfect solution. Conducting expert interviews and constant reorganizations were the main focusses during this period. Thirdly, we assessed the strategic fit as well as the benefit relevance for all identified application fields and shortlisted them for a more detailed analysis. Lastly, three application fields were selected by SAG to further analyze them regarding the market, competition and strategic consequences. 

Results

This extensive process has led to 72 application fields. In total, we conducted 40 expert interviews with different experts from 14 relevant industries. To not only focus on the Austrian market, we made the effort to identify experts from 7 different countries. These different and diverse insights gave us the opportunity to not only focus on easily associated application fields, but to dig deep and have innovative ideas. These 72 application fields were ranked using the strategic and benefit criteria, which lead to 21 shortlisted application fields.  

Based on the input of the project partner SAG, three use cases for Rheocasting were analyzed in more detail. As a result, we were able to identify the most promising application field and present our project partner with potential strategies for entering that field. 

Cooperation Partner

• SAG – Salzburger Aluminium Group
  Lend 25, 5651 Lend
  Austria
  www.sag.at 

Contact Person

• Besmir Meierschitz - besmir.meierschitz@sag.at

Student Team

• Maria Böck

• Jan Pytela

• Andreas Schildenfeld

• Martin Gottfried Feldbauer

• Stefan Ljubotina

• Florian Gradinger

Project Manager

• Klaus Marhold, Ph.D.

• Sophie Quach, MA