What are the largest and oldest German companies, and where are they headquartered?
Riding and push lawn mowers need the right blades if they are to work properly. Shredders, feed mixers, and presses used in modern agricultural settings also cannot do without sophisticated cutting tools. Based in Diemelstadt, Germany, Jäkel is one of the leaders in Europe for high-quality blades.
(Text: Dagmar Haas-Pilwat, photos: Julia Unkel)
All production tools for the various cutting products are developed and manufactured in the in-house tool shop. The company processes 6,000 metric tons of steel annually, which it uses to manufacture nearly 2.8 million parts. The majority of them used to be made of wear-resistant spring steel, which is susceptible to breaking, or very tough boron steel, which does not hold an edge well.
Successfully tested
However, this year, a pioneering innovation proved its mettle in the fields and meadows of Germany and abroad. The family-owned and run company developed JADU-H1, a specialty steel, together with the thyssenkrupp Steel division.
Frank Jäkel explains, “We wanted a hybrid product that combines the properties of spring and boron steels.” He has run the company at his brother’s side since 2001. It had to be a steel that could hold an edge and remain sharp as long as possible without breaking immediately after hitting stone. “It was a tremendous challenge that we mastered together,” states Christian Sohrab, Head of Sales of Specialty Products for Steel’s operation Sales Industry at thyssenkrupp. An analysis was performed to design a basic concept to show how a steel with these properties could look like.
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No blade left uncut by this blade – farming equipment for hay and grain harvesting with blades from Jäkel.
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
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The product range is wide at Jäkel. There are cutting blades of all shapes...
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
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... and sizes.
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
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Visiting customers does not have to be a torture (l. to r.): Udo Jäkel, Frank Jäkel, Andreas Beil (thyssenkrupp Stahlkontor), and Christian Sohrab (thyssenkrupp Business Unit Industry).
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
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An employee working for Jäkel GmbH changes the coil, keeping the material flowing in the Diemelstadt production hall.
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
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Lined up for inspection
(from left): Frank Jäkel, Christian Sohrab (thyssenkrupp Business Unit Industry), Udo Jäkel, Andreas Beil (thyssenkrupp Stahlkontor).
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We gladly provide free of charge the images included in our media library for use within daily use in the press (including magazines published weekly or monthly). In any case, condition precedent for this is that when using them, you refer to our company as the source in the immediate vicinity of the image material used and in the customary manner (© thyssenkrupp Steel Europe). If a different author is indicated, this must be stated. You are only authorized to process images to the extent that this is technically mandatory for the specific publication (e.g. black/white instead of in color in a monochromatic daily newspaper) and/or to the extent you only change the size proportionally, without using only part of the image, or to stretch, compress or modify it in any other way or to deform it. Every other processing and use is only admissible after prior written approval (email to: [email protected]). We request to be provided with an author’s copy free of charge and promptly after the respective publication of print media, with films with a digital version in a customary playback format on a generally readable data carrier. Where the image material is used online, you shall provide us with the detailed URL of the respective website and make this website accessible to us. close
Working together
Next came the precision strip specialists from Precision Steel after trial runs at the Dortmund testing facility. They sent the required 30 metric tons of steel for the first batch. “We made adjustments until our partner thyssenkrupp Stahlkontor in Krefeld could process the sheets on the hot-strip line,” recounts Sohrab. “Cutting to length was very demanding for us,” explains Andreas Beil, the man in charge. “The new property – particularly tough, yet wear-resistant – required many changes to the manufacturing parameters.” It was the only way to attain a consistent level of quality while producing a steel that was ready for production.
“In particular, our risk was having the JADU-H1 be too brittle. The market is unforgiving,” explains Jäkel. All efforts, from the manufacture of the molten metal to cutting to length of the finished material, were carried out together until a solution was found. The Jäkel brothers pointed out that this is not always a given. They genuinely admired how a large steel company could dedicate time and effort to a special request from a specialized business and drive innovation in the process.
Together, they managed to do the impossible by developing JADU-H1: an affordable specialty steel. 30,000 blades have been sold this year, and customers have given “very positive” feedback after completing the first harvest of the season, according to the Jäkel brothers. This successful venture makes spirits soar high: “We want to further optimize and expand our newly patented steel,” boast Frank and Udo Jäkel. That’s why the ‘H’ in the product’s name is followed by a ‘1.’
