Production of High-
Pressure Fuel Lines
Nova Swiss grows its size, capabilities and list of reference customers
Nova Swiss, the trademark of Nova Werke AG, a Swiss enterprise specializing in
high-pressure diesel engine components, has recently inaugurated its restructured
Effretikon headquarters.
The company is part of the Swiss MK Holding SA (owned by Nova’s CEO Martin
Knechtli) together with Ceramaret SA and Bieri Hydraulik AG.
The restructuring project, worth about US$9 million, was established in 2003 to
face the growing business the company has experienced during the past years.
Remo Oppliger, manager of the Engine Components and High-Pressure
Technology division, explained that the company’s growth dates back long before
common rail fuel systems came into use. Expansion is rather due to the specialization of the company in the field of high-pressure engine components that attract
new customers. Considering the company’s reference list — Caterpillar, GE, EMD,
MAN Diesel, MTU/DDC, Rolls-Royce, Wärtsilä, just to name a few — it gives an
idea of its worldwide business.
The aforementioned investment was necessary to completely restructure and
redesign the 10 000 m2 shop floor. This investment includes all infrastructures necessary to streamline production flow and ensure the cleanliness of the working environment. On top of this, the company has invested an undisclosed amount of
money to modernize production means by purchasing new automatic machining
centers, bending machines, laboratory equipment, etc.
The restructuring process was completed in the fall of 2006 and has allowed for
the doubling of production in the same
physical space, leaving the possibility
to grow a further 20 to 25%.
However, as Oppliger explained,
business has grown more than forecasted back in 2003 when the present plan
was decided. In 2006 the turnover
reached US$32 million. The engine
components and high-pressure technology division accounts for 85% of
the business, while surface coatings
(for gas turbine hot gas path) and valve
revisions cover the remaining 15%.
The great majority of the production,
95%, is exported. Production is carried
out at the Effretikon company’s headquarters and also by the Nova Werke
AG subsidiary of Cesson in France,
whereas the Dortmund, Germany,
facility is primarily a sales office.
If the company has doubled its
turnover during the last five years, the
present forecast is to double the production output again in the next four to
five years and new space has to be
planned quickly. This expansion
should be in the same Effretikon industrial area, possibly across the street.
The reason for such success, which
dates back to the beginning of the
1990s — when the general economy
was somewhat in a depression stage
and worldwide competition was very
aggressive — has to be found in the
commitment the company made with
its customers. Nova policy has been
crystal clear, working only with OEMs,
and assisting them in development and
engineering of the components needed
for their new engines in a partnership
agreement. Nova is supplying all high-pressure components connecting the
fuel pumps to the injectors of high- and
medium-speed diesel engines.
They are also supplying engine manufacturers with starting valves and distributors to crank large diesel and gas
engines with cylinder bores over 150
mm and powers above 750 k W.
Products of the high-pressure division
are so-called standard components such
as needle valves, fittings, tubes and mem-brane-type compressors, but also special
high-pressure systems for gas and liquid
applications up to 10 000 bar.
