Thompson is able to trace its origin back to 1834, several decades ahead of the industrial revolution. In 1969, it became part of the NEI Group, which comprised a wide range of engineering capabilities including friction and robotic welding systems, all the while contributing to the history of friction welding. Today, Thompson manufactures a range of high-quality rotary friction welding machines that satisfy even critical parts manufacture across industries such as oil and gas, exploration, power generation and automotive.
Over half a century of industrial joining
In 2023 Thompson celebrates 60 years of providing innovative rotary friction welding solutions across industry. From the very small, to the very large, in some cases components up to 15 meters in length, product integrity is at the core of everything we do, especially so given some of the critical parts that we are trusted with manufacturing. Cost mitigation, waste reductions, speed of manufacture and experience in bi-metallic material bonding are all USP’s associated with the rotary friction welding solutions delivered under the Thompson brand.
Our experience dictates that there shall always be a solution for our customer’s joining needs, whether bar-to-bar, bar-to-plate or tube-to-bar. We have been delivering such solutions for decades, either through the provision of a rotary friction welding machine, or via our subcontract welding service, our of our Halesowen facility.
Some of the applications into which our rotary friction welding expertise is applied, can be seen below.
Download application brochures and read more about these applications in more detail, below.
Please note, to download the below brochures, you will be redirected to our download centre.
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.
History and heritage
The story of Thompson Friction Welding is a fascinating one and it adds to the wider history of friction welding. The name is firmly embedded in the industrial heritage of the UK’s Black Country. Our timeline here gives a more detailed overview of the evolution of the brand, and how 60 years later, the name is still synonymous the world over with quality and expertise.
Where is the Black Country?
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, in central England. It became industrialised during its role as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution.
In 1834, an era of industrial innovation, William Thompson established a boiler making company in the Black Country. Over the next four generations, Thompson would become part of our industrial heritage.
During this time the company prospered and managed to continue developing in a fast-paced era that saw the invention of the telephone, the typewriter, the gramophone and the light bulb. William’s son John also took control of the business.
Between 1880 and 1909 Thompson’s employee headcount increased exponentially from 50 to 600, including the first female employee.
Having pioneered the union-melt submerged arc-welding process, Thompson was the only company approved by Lloyds for the manufacture of forge welded pressure vessels.
By this time, Thompson employed 6,000 people and it started to expand production into the power generation industry.
During 1963, Thompson Friction Welding was established for the manufacture of drive and trailer axles for heavy goods vehicles. Later in 1969, Thompson became part of Clark Chapman Limited and later integrated into the Northern Engineer Industries group (NEI).
Thompson Friction Welding becomes part of the KUKA Group, manufacturing Thompson Friction Welding machines, built by KUKA, in the Black Country, UK.
Contacting our customer support team is quick, and easy. In addition, we are committed to providing comprehensive after-sales services.
Thompson has found its solutions utilised all over the world, offering precision manufacturing to various sectors of industry.
Advanced welding solutions
KUKA is a leading supplier of intelligent automation solutions, that stand for innovation and ideas.
As an integral part of of the KUKA group, Thompson Friction Welding can expand its manufacturing solution capabilities with the addition of automated robotics from a global industry leader.
