To us innovation stands for new or different solutions that satisfy customer needs and result in products or production processes, organizational processes or new ways of doing business. Our research and development efforts play a major role and are focused on three pillars: generating knowledge through applied research, new product development and product optimization. Research is cost-intensive, but innovations and newly generated knowledge create added value for our customers and company.

Our new R&D structure has linked all production units in order to shrink the time to market for new product development. We have established global R&D competence centers in Europe that provide targeted excellence in the fields of applied research and product development for global applications of consumables. Outside Europe our regional R&D centers communicate closely with all others to share knowledge and accelerate development of tailor-made solutions for local market requirements. This setup places us closer to our customers and makes us more attentive to their ever-changing needs. It also secures our market leadership in the competitive welding industry. Expertise is an important success factor for us. A key component was the founding of an efficient steering committee structure that includes the Management Board, executive management, R&D heads and specific group key functions. This ensures that our entire global innovation process functions smoothly and that our innovation pipeline is constantly kept full to replace ageing products and processes. These and many other measures underline our objective to promote a culture of  innovation culture within our company.

Fully driven by the market, we continually develop technically advanced welding solutions and collaborate with more than forty scientific research partners in Europe and the United States. We are a leading industrial player. Our excellent R&D network in the voestalpine Group and our extensive metallurgical expertise foster development of new customer solutions with clear USPs and competitive advantages in the welding consumable industry. One such innovation originates in our close cooperation with the voestalpine Steel Division. The so-called alform® welding system features tailored welding consumables that meet the highest requirements in the welding of the high-strength hot-rolled steels and heavy plates in the alform® series of voestalpine. The field of high-strength alloys is another of our core R&D areas featuring nickel-based, heat- and corrosion-resistant materials and overlaying and brazing alloys. 

Our labs provide services to external and in-house customers such as quality assurance, application engineering, contract testing and research & development. Modern machines and well-trained employees are the key to reliable results.

Quality assurance, testing and the development of newly developed filler metals must be carried out in certified testing labs. Specific customer requirements are met in the modern and well-equipped labs at voestalpine Böhler Welding. Our welding labs are indispensable in the testing of newly developed filler metals. Such metals are also tested during the development phase in order to determine product properties and levels of quality. Test welds are additionally performed for the purpose of acceptance tests. Special analyses are particularly necessary for high-alloyed and medium-alloyed filler materials and can only be conducted using modern equipment such as that in the chemistry lab at voestalpine Böhler Welding Germany. Regular and successful participation in international round-robin tests document our comprehensive expertise. The chemistry lab of voestalpine Böhler Welding Germany has been certified since 2012 in accordance with internationally recognized standards DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 (D-PL-17123-01-00). In order to meet the requirements of pertinent the applicable standards and regulations, filler materials must be tested for their mechanical suitability. Our material testing labs provide a wide spectrum of non-destructive, mechanical and metallographic tests. If required, testing can be performed in the presence of an independent certification institution and/or the customer.