Industrial Competence Delivered Globally How Thompson supports a global portfolio, with local expertise

The Thompson PR direct drive series is specially designed to friction weld piston rods and cylinders for both OEM and Tier 1 manufacturers. These machines are used by many of the leading names in the yellow & green goods industry, cylinder manufacturing companies as friction welding is a repeatable, robust and accurate process.

Compared to conventional welding techniques, friction welding requires no consumables (gases and wire) or skilled operators.

The Thompson PR series is highly versatile, not only meaning pre-chromed piston rods, eyes and clevises, but also hydraulic cylinder caps and flanges can be joined on a single machine. The machines are easy-to-use, offering intuitive, tailor-made HMI process control software, wide range of flexible work holding solutions and variety of efficiency enhancements.

To download our piston rods and cylinders leaflet, go to our download centre.

The Thompson DP direct drive series is specially designed to friction weld all types of drill pipes and drill rods. Configured with application relevant options such as ID and OD flash removal solutions, ultralight quick-change tooling, infinite length capability and standard automation packages. The DP series has been the choice of many worlds leading manufactures of drill pipe and drill rods.

Direct drive friction welding offers the best possible bond coupled with a repeatable, robust and accurate process. All machines are equipped with the highly acclaimed intuitive Thompson Welder software offering total traceability.

The machines benefit from an open architecture design making them easy to automate. KUKA UK also offer a range of dedicated robotic automated solutions for load/unload.

To download our drill pipes and drill rods leaflet, go to our download centre.

The Thompson AX direct drive series solutions are the choice of axle manufacturers worldwide. The solution is available in double ended (DE) or single ended (SE) configurations and includes features such as flash or upset removal, component marking for total traceability and dedicated automation packages.

The DE machines are available in three different sizes to accommodate light, medium and heavy-duty axles. They can also be configured to accommodate either drive or trailer (beam) axles with removeable support tooling for the axle housing. Featuring a unique flexibed design the machines have proven to offer fast cycle times along with being robust, accurate, reliable and repeatable.

The machines benefit from an open architecture design with no visible tie bars making them easy to automate. KUKA UK also offer a range of dedicated robotic automated solutions for load/unload.

To download our drive and trailer axles leaflet, go to our download centre.

The Thompson EC direct drive series solutions are specifically configured for joining bi-metallics for electrical connectors. Common applications include power distribution, rail, EV vehicles and lightning conductors for the construction industry. Friction welding has been proven to offer the best bond in terms of integrity and conductivity for material combinations such as copper to aluminium where traditional fusion methods are not an option.

Thompson EC machines commonly feature quick change work holding solutions, pre-weld part preparation and fast cycle times.

The machines benefit from an open architecture design with no visible tie bars making them easy to automate. KUKA UK also offers a range of dedicated robotic automated solutions for load/unload.

To download our connectors for the electrical industry leaflet, go to our download centre.

The machines benefit from an open architecture design with no visible tie bars making them easy to automate. KUKA UK also offers a range of dedicated robotic automated solutions for load/unload.

To download our piston rods and cylinders leaflet, go to our download centre.