VDL Groep is going to produce bicycle frames

Photo caption (l-r): Jos Schutte (innovation lead QWIC), Sander van Herpt (sales VDL Bike Frame Technologies), Edwin Willems (Senior Vice President VDL Group), Taco Anema (founder and CEO QWIC), Bas van der Leegte (Senior Vice President VDL Groep), Egemen Tumturk (COO QWIC) and Jason Koevoet (VDL Bike Frame Technologies).

VDL Groep, the industrial family business headquartered in Eindhoven, is set to manufacture and supply aluminium bicycle frames. The new venture, VDL Bike Frame Technologies, is putting the finishing touches to a fully automated production line. This investment involves millions of euros. From this summer, production will commence on this line at VDL Steelweld in Breda. QWIC is the first customer of VDL Bike Frame Technologies. Over the next three years, VDL will supply 50,000 bicycle frames to this Dutch bicycle brand. Other bicycle brands have also already shown interest in frames ‘from their own soil’.

By bringing the production of bicycle frames back to Europe, VDL Bike Frame Technologies helps customers significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Currently, bicycle brands mainly rely on deliveries from Asia for their frames. This less sustainable supply chain is also associated with long lead times, expensive transportation, and substantial inventories. By sourcing components such as forging and casting parts exclusively from Europe, VDL Bike Frame Technologies is ‘shortening the chain’. “Thanks to a fully automated production process, which VDL Groep has extensive experience with in other applications, we can produce competitively in the Netherlands,” says Jason Koevoet from VDL Bike Frame Technologies. “Because we are agile and flexible, we can also quickly respond to new projects and other market demands.”

'Important milestone'

Taco Anema, founder and CEO of QWIC: “We are proud to announce today a long-term strategic partnership agreement with VDL Groep for the automated production of e-bike frames from QWIC in the Netherlands. This marks an important milestone for QWIC, as we strive to develop ourselves as a leading brand in the market. The collaboration contributes to our goals to control our supply chain, improve quality, shorten lead times, and accelerate product innovation. With VDL Groep's expertise in advanced manufacturing methods, we are optimising our premium products for efficient production. Local frame production makes us more flexible, innovative, and sustainable. This results in better products for our customers.”

‘Concurrent manufacturing’

Chief Executive Willem van der Leegte: “The Netherlands is of course the ultimate cycling country, but the foundation of the bicycle, the frame, is mainly produced outside Europe. With VDL Bike Frame Technologies, we are also bringing this production back to our country and enabling our customers to reduce their CO2 footprint significantly. Thanks to our fully automated production line, we can produce competitively. We are proud of this collaboration with the Dutch QWIC, a leading brand in the market.”

Belgian Cycling Factory

Belgian Cycling Factory (BCF), the parent company of the Belgian bicycle brands Ridley and Eddy Merckx, also has plans to source frames from VDL. In collaboration with designers from BCF and engineers from VDL, a frame has been developed, initially for e-bikes, that focuses on manufacturability in Europe. Additionally, VDL Fibertech Industries in Hapert will produce a carbon fork for a new cyclocross bike model that BCF will unveil in 2024. A prototype of this new fork has already been tested. The materials and manufacturing technologies used by VDL in the production process are also suitable for other bicycle components, such as seat posts and handlebars.

Ambition

Currently, the production line of VDL Bike Frame Technologies in Breda has a capacity of 70,000 frames per year. The ambition is to expand the modular production process depending on market demand. Jason Koevoet: “In Europe alone, more than 22 million bicycles were sold in 2021, and this market is growing. The vast majority of frames for all those bicycles are still produced in Asia, and the bikes are then assembled in Europe.”

About QWIC

QWIC is a rapidly growing manufacturer of premium design e-bikes. The producer is active in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. QWIC's ambition is to reduce current mobility issues and environmental pollution by developing innovative electric bicycles. With modern design and the use of the best components, QWIC elevates its e-bikes to a higher level every year. This is demonstrated by the many awards QWIC has recently won, such as the AD Bicycle Test 2021, the ElektroRad Test 2022, and internationally recognized design awards such as the iF DESIGN AWARD 2020, the Red Dot Design Award 2020, and the German Design Award 2022.
www.qwic.nl