Powder metallurgical valve seat rings and valve guides for the automotive industry – developed and manufactured since 1954.
Bleistahl GmbH & Co. Holding KG
Wetter (Ruhr) · Gelsenkirchen · Cachoeirinha (BR) · Westmead (ZA) · Taicang (CN) · Battle Creek (US)New on Amplifa
About BleiStahl
BleiStahl is a globally active automotive supplier (Tier 1) headquartered in Wetter (Ruhr), specializing in powder metallurgically manufactured valve seat rings and valve guides. The company develops its own materials and formulations to customer specification and produces along the process chain of material mixing, green compact pressing, sintering in the belt sintering furnace, machining and heat treatment. Powder metallurgy enables so-called pseudo-alloys and multi-layer components with functionally separated material layers that cannot be produced by melting metallurgy. In addition to valve train components, BleiStahl sees itself as a materials factory and manufactures parts with properties such as wear resistance and thermal and electrical conductivity in mass production to automotive standard. In addition to its headquarters with production and development center in Wetter, the company operates production sites in Gelsenkirchen, Brazil, South Africa and China as well as a sales location in the USA.
- Site
- Wetter (Ruhr)
- Processes
- Material mixing (powder mixing to customer formulation), Green compact pressing (pressing), Sintering (belt sintering furnace), Machining, Heat treatment, Manufacture of valve seat rings (powder metallurgical), Manufacture of valve guides (powder metallurgical), Manufacture of multi-layer components (multi-layer material layers)
- Materials
- HFM®, COMO® 4-350 HWL, HEL®55, AR®25, Brass, Powder metallurgical alloys (lead-free, formerly lead-containing), Powder metallurgical alloys (lead-free)
- Certificates
- IATF 16949:2016, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 50001:2018, IATF 16949, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 9001
- Founded
- 1954
- Employees
- 501-1,000
- Industries
- Automotive supply industry (Tier 1), Powder metallurgy / materials for other industries (wear resistance,
- 01
Material development / custom formulation
- 02
Material mixing
- 03
Green compact pressing
- 04
Sintering (belt sintering furnace)
- 05
Machining
- 06
Heat treatment
- 07
Support with post-processing / series production
Materials & Processes
Powder metallurgical alloys (lead-free)
Formerly lead-containing solid lubricants have been fully replaced by lead-free alternatives; used as valve seat rings and valve guides.
HFM®
Proprietary sintered material for valve seat rings with properties tailored to the valve/seat ring tribological system.
COMO® 4-350 HWL
Proprietary material formulation for valve train components combining wear resistance and thermal conductivity.
HEL®55
Proprietary sintered alloy for wear-resistant components in combustion engines.
AR®25
Proprietary material formulation for powder metallurgical series components to automotive standard.
Brass
Material for valve guides, produced at the Westmead (South Africa) site.
Locations
Wetter (Ruhr)
DEHeadquarters, production and development center (since 1954)
- Lot size
- Series production
- Materials
- Powder metallurgical materials (HFM®, COMO®, HEL®, AR®25)
- Presses/press tooling for green compact pressing
- Belt sintering furnace
Gelsenkirchen
DEProduction site (since 2019)
- Materials
- Powder metallurgical materials
Cachoeirinha
BRProduction (since 1974), among others supplier to Volkswagen
- Materials
- Powder metallurgical materials
Westmead (near Durban)
ZAProduction of brass valve guides (since 2003)
- Materials
- Brass
Taicang
CNProduction (since 2015; expansion Phase II 2026)
- Materials
- Powder metallurgical materials
Battle Creek (near Detroit)
USSales and customer service North and South America (since 2012)
Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material mixing (powder mixing to customer formulation)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials (proprietary formulations) |
| Green compact pressing (pressing)Forming | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials |
| Sintering (belt sintering furnace)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials |
| MachiningMachining | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials, Brass |
| Heat treatmentHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials |
| Manufacture of valve seat rings (powder metallurgical)Casting | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials, HFM®, COMO® 4-350 HWL, HEL®55, AR®25 |
| Manufacture of valve guides (powder metallurgical)Casting | – | – | – | – | Powder metallurgical materials, Brass |
| Manufacture of multi-layer components (multi-layer material layers)Casting | – | – | – | – | Pseudo-alloys (powder metallurgical) |
2 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belt sintering furnace | – | – | – | – | – |
| Press tooling/presses for green compact pressing | – | – | – | – | Wetter (Ruhr) |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality & Certification
BleiStahl manufactures to automotive standard and is certified to IATF 16949:2016; environmental and energy management are certified to ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 50001:2018.
| Evidence | Wetter (Ruhr) |
|---|---|
| IATF 16949 | |
| ISO 14001 | |
| ISO 50001 | |
| ISO 9001 |
History
- 1954
Founding of BleiStahl by Dr. Max Köhler after developing a self-lubricating, powder metallurgical, wear-resistant valve seat ring; enabled aluminum cylinder heads in the VW Beetle
- 1956
Start of series production in Wetter
- 1971
Michael Köhler takes over management (2nd generation); expansion to the entire European automotive industry, solutions for lead-free fuels
- 1974
Founding of BleiStahl Brasil Metalurgia S.A. (Cachoeirinha), among others supplier to Volkswagen
- 1995
New product: powder metallurgically manufactured valve guide; Dr. Ekkehard Köhler takes over management (3rd generation), internationalization
- 2003
Founding of BleiStahl Manufacturing South Africa (Pty.) Ltd. in Westmead near Durban; brass valve guides; joint venture activity in China
- 2011
Founding of BleiStahl Powder Metallurgy Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
- 2012
Founding of BleiStahl North America in Battle Creek
- 2014
Opening of the Bleistahl museum and school lab in Wetter
- 2015
Founding of BleiStahl Powder Metallurgy Parts (Taicang), relocation from Shanghai
- 2019
New production site Gelsenkirchen in the former Vaillant halls
- 2025
Completion of the HydroConnect project: hydrogen-fired thermal afterburning in the belt sintering furnace, real-time CO2 accounting
- 2026
15 years of the China site and groundbreaking for Phase II expansion in Taicang