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Tailored solutions to:
save weight, reduce cost, improve material utilization and consolidate parts.

How it all began

Monroe Facility Aerial
North American Headquarters
Monroe, Michigan

TWB Company, LLC was formed in 1992 as a joint venture between Thyssen Stahl AG and Worthington Industries. Thyssen developed laser welding of automotive body panels in the early 1980’s and Worthington is a leading steel processor in North America. TWB has largely developed the tailor welded blank market in North America since its inception and is currently the leading manufacturer of tailor welded products in the NAFTA region. TWB has 7 strategically located North American facilities supporting JIT production and services to all our customers. In addition, our parent company ThyssenKrupp Steel has another 9 global facilities throughout Europe and Asia that TWB has leveraged for technological and customer support. TWB and ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks combine to create the largest and most advanced tailor welded product company in the world.

Tailor Welded Products for weight and cost reduction

Tailor welded blanks have evolved from same gauge steel sheets welded together to different thickness and / or strengths that are joined together to consolidate stampings and achieve cost effective weight reduction. There are over 18 welded blank applications and over 46 welded coil applications identified for body structures and systems today. Tailor welded blanks and coils are the link between high safety requirements and affordable weight reduction. Tailored products allow the combination of different steel grades and thicknesses exactly where they need to be. They are lighter, require less material and assist in consolidating production operations. The process has evolved continuously to the extent we have a large family of tailored products, which has expanded from blanks to tubes to tailor welded coils. In the past 15+ years TWB has developed these products into a key success factor for the automotive industry and beyond.

Advantages at a glance

  • Weight reduction
  • Cost reduction
  • Part consolidation
  • Lower capital cost – having only one part to stamp means one die set is needed and there is less assembly
  • Improved crash performance through the use of tailor welded products
  • Elimination of overlapping joints improves corrosion behavior
  • Optimized nesting provides optimum material utilization
  • Elimination of sealing compound provides improved recycling
  • Improved forming behavior for difficult forming parts
  • Improved dimensional variation with part consolidation


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