AP&T introduces AP&T TemperBox® as a unified offering for the global automotive industry. Together with GEDIA, the company is making its press hardening technology for tailored properties available to OEMs and suppliers looking to combine hard and soft zones within a single component, with support covering both design and series production.
TemperBox is a furnace-based technology in which material properties are controlled locally before forming and quenching. By using masking elements inside the TemperBox, thermal radiation is selectively shielded in specific areas, creating different temperature profiles within the same blank. After press hardening, fully heated zones become hard and load-bearing, while shielded zones retain ductility and energy-absorbing properties.
This makes it possible to produce components with controlled transitions between hard and soft zones, without combining different materials or thicknesses. The result is greater design freedom while reducing overall production complexity.
Design freedom with improved safety and reduced weight
For the automotive industry, TemperBox enables a more consistent approach to crash performance, weight optimization, and material efficiency early in the design phase.
“To optimize factors such as crash performance and weight, engineers need to decide early on where soft and hard zones are required. With TemperBox, this can be achieved in a single blank, without combining materials or compensating in later stages,” says Dr. Christian Koroschetz, Head of Products, Business Development and Marketing at AP&T.
This is particularly relevant for modern vehicle platforms, where electrification and battery systems place new demands on body structures. In safety-critical components, precisely controlled zones are essential for both occupant protection and structural integrity.
From established technology to a broader market offering
TemperBox has been in use for many years, and GEDIA has played a key role in industrializing the process and applying it in series production for international OEMs.
AP&T and GEDIA have now decided to make the technology accessible to a wider range of manufacturers.
“We know that OEMs see significant risks in single sourcing. That’s why we want to enable more players to use this technology at scale,” says Christian Koroschetz.
A collaboration that broadens the supplier base
GEDIA’s decision to share its process expertise is unusual in the industry. Their goal is to create the conditions for a broader base of manufacturers capable of meeting OEM requirements, thereby reducing vulnerability in the supply chain.
“For this technology to succeed at scale, we are prepared to grant more players access to it. We want to contribute to this, as it strengthens the long-term competitiveness of OEMs’ body structures,” says Burkhard Vogt, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at GEDIA Automotive Group.
AP&T serves as the single point of entry, coordinating the overall solution and managing confidentiality through contractual agreements and structured ways of working.
TemperBox® Engineering Package from concept to series production
At the core of the offering is the TemperBox® Engineering Package, which brings together technology, process expertise, and production into one integrated solution.
AP&T is responsible for the complete press hardening line, including TemperBox, furnaces, servo presses, automation and line safety.
GEDIA can contribute deep insight into the process and how to achieve stable, repeatable series production.
The work can begin early in the development phase, where part layout, including hard and soft zones, formability, and crash requirements are evaluated. Forming and process simulations then verify manufacturability and define how tooling and masking must be designed to achieve the intended temperature control and material properties.
Through a structured approach and defined confidentiality agreements, AP&T provides what Christian Koroschetz describes as “peace of mind”—ensuring that technology, process, and production work seamlessly together, while the customer can stay focused on their product.
“In the long run, this is about making advanced press hardening accessible to more manufacturers, and in doing so contributing to improved crash safety and fewer fatalities on the road,” Christian Koroschetz concludes.