May 31, 2023 9:00 CEST 6 min read
Since switching to SSAB’s Strenx® 700MC E steel, Gsodam, an Austrian manufacturer of vehicles for timber transports, has reduced trailer weight by up to 20 percent. The result of building light and durable is timber trailers with increased load capacity.
Situated in the town of Teufenbach, Austria, with its rolling hills and green valleys to the north of the Alps, Gsodam Fahrzeugbau was founded by Georg Gsodam in 1918. Nowadays, the company, which started out as a farrier for shoeing horses and other animals, manufactures trailers and vehicles for timber transports. It began using Strenx® 700MC E steel from SSAB eight years ago.
“For us, the top priority is satisfied customers, and that means maintaining high quality. To succeed in this, we need good employees and safe, reliable partners – like SSAB,” says Elisabeth Gsodam, Georg Gsodam’s granddaughter and the current owner of the business.
After the horses and livestock came the tractors, trucks and trailers. Elisabeth Gsodam’s father built the facility in Teufenbach in 1975 and she and her business partner took over in 2004. Elisabeth is the third-generation Gsodam to lead the family business and, lately, members of the fourth generation are also getting involved.
Elisabeth Gsodam and her partner have modernized and expanded the business. In 2009, they acquired the company’s second location in nearby Knittelfeld.
For the last three decades, Gsodam Fahrzeugbau has been producing vehicles, superstructures, and trailers for timber transports.
“We’re very innovative,” emphasizes Gerrit Pirker, Gsodam Fahrzeugbau’s co-owner & Managing Director. “We make vehicles – trailers for tandem, two-axle, three-axle, telescopic, with cranes, without cranes – whatever the customers need to carry out their assignments.”
Pirker explains that Gsodam Fahrzeugbau only uses branded products for all its components – from the brakes to the lighting and, of course, the steel.
These days, all Gsodam Fahrzeugbau trailers are made from Strenx® 700 steel. Going forward, the plan is also to use Strenx® for the subframes of timber vehicles.
“We use Strenx 700MC E, so the products are really light and durable – ready for a long service life,” Pirker says.
“For us, the top priority is satisfied customers, and that means maintaining high quality. To succeed in this, we need good employees and safe, reliable partners – like SSAB.”
Elisabeth Gsodam, current owner of the Gsodam business
The company came across Strenx® 700MC E after having worked with SSAB and its Hardox® wear plate product for some time. Pirker says he and his colleagues started looking for new ways to reduce the weight of the trailers about eight years ago.
“Building light is a major challenge in our business,” he explains. “This is especially true in our market here in Tyrol, where the vehicles have to drive through checkpoints on a daily basis. That’s why we started looking at Strenx 700MC E to make our vehicles even lighter.”
Pirker describes SSAB as a “good and important partner” that has been involved in supporting the design of Gsodam Fahrzeugbau vehicles – through construction and production – to ensure a “tip-top” end product.
Before it goes into production, SSAB’s Strenx® 700MC E steel is first delivered to Gsodam Fahrzeugbau’s partner Filli in Klagenfurt. They use 3D plans to cut the pieces, before delivering them to Knittelfeld and Teufenbach, where they are processed.
“We’re fast and flexible and ready to receive quick delivery of our cut parts once construction is complete. Furthermore, SSAB is always on hand to advise and take action if needed,” explains Pirker.
Since partnering with SSAB and Strenx® 700MC E steel, Gsodam Fahrzeugbau has noticed that the cutting is straighter and more precise than with other steel manufacturers. This, in turn, allows them to avoid the need for bending work.
“By switching to Strenx 700MC E, we’ve been able to reduce the weight of our trailers by around 10-20 percent, thus increasing the load capacity by between 100 and 400 kg,” admits Pirker.
“Strenx 700MC E behaves very well during welding and cutting, with hardly any deformations,” he continues. “And as it arrives tailored from our partner, we’re able to process it directly, saving time and money.”
Gsodam Fahrzeugbau has been a member of the My Inner Strenx® customer program since February 2020.
“The certification is a great award and challenge for us – we’re very proud of it,” says Pirker, adding: “Not everyone is suitable for this partnership, but SSAB evaluated us in various ways to see if we were. We sent them drawings and constructions, which they tested and decided we were a fit – which also makes us very proud.”
Last but not least, as a result of the My Inner Strenx® membership, the company’s geographic reach and catchment area has also expanded.
“Gsodam is now known far and wide!” exclaims Pirker. “Through My Inner Strenx, many customers in Europe have taken notice of us because everyone knows that being certified by My Inner Strenx means you deliver perfect quality.”
No matter where you are located, we have local support that can answer your questions.
Strenx® performance steel can make your products stronger, lighter, safer, more competitive and more sustainable.
My Inner Strenx® is a program for manufacturers who possess the drive to make the best possible products using Strenx® performance steel.
What a difference an upgrade makes. When the NTT Group switched from Hardox® 450 to Hardox® HiAce wear steel, it significantly extended the service life of its sliding wear plates – especially in the acidic conditions.
Meet the ZETA 24 J, a cutting-edge truck-mounted platform with 10 meters of working height and 12 meters of outreach. Built with Strenx® steel, it offers exceptional versatility and unmatched safety for operators, and redefines aerial work platforms.
By adopting Hardox® 500 Tuf steel as its primary material, Indonesian manufacturer PT Sanggar Sarana Baja has increased dump truck payload capacity by up to 20 percent. The upgrade also means reduced carbon dioxide emissions for its end customers.