Westfalen AG
| Westfalen AG
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | October 11, 1923 |
| Seat |
Munster , Germany
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| management |
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| Number of employees | 1,837 (2019) |
| sales | EUR 1.85 billion (2019) |
| Branch | Gases, energy supply, filling stations |
| Website | www.westfalen.com |
The Westfalen AG , headquartered in Westphalian Münster is a trading company in the field of liquefied gas ( Westfalen gas ) and fuels as well as a manufacturer of industrial gases .
Company history
1923-1945
On October 11, 1923, the oxygen works AG was founded by Wilhelm Albert in Münster . The first line of business was the production of oxygen for oxy- fuel welding and cutting. In the following year, oxygen production began with its own air separation plant.
The second branch, Westfalen Fuels and Lubricants , was founded in 1925. Two years later the first Westfalen petrol station opened on Albersloher Weg in Münster. At the beginning of the 1930s, the company's own petrol station network was further expanded, so that around 100 Westfalen petrol stations existed in 1938.
In 1936 the development of the company premises on Industrieweg began, where two years later a new air separation plant, a large tank farm and an administration building were put into operation. After the outbreak of the Second World War and until the end of the war, the filling station area was administered by the Berlin Central Office for Mineralöl GmbH .
In early October 1943, oxygen systems and gasometers were badly damaged by an air raid . Company founder Wilhelm Albert died on November 30th, 1943, whereupon his son-in-law Josef Fritsch and his son Herbert Albert took over as successors on the board.
1945-2000
After the war, the reconstruction of the destroyed air separation plant began. From 1946 onwards, the founder's sons managed the company for the next 30 years: Herbert Albert as commercial director and chairman of the board , August-Wilhelm Albert as board member and technical director.
The third branch of operation, liquid gas (Westfalengas), was founded in 1954. The liquid gas was transferred to bottles at the Münster-Gremmendorf plant , where a new liquid gas transfer plant and acetylene production facility were put into operation two years later .
The construction of a new tank farm with an oil port on the Dortmund-Ems Canal in Münster-Gelmer was completed in 1966. With the outbreak of the oil crisis in 1973/74, there were severe slumps in the mineral oil business.
Herbert Albert died on June 20, 1974, and Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert and August-Wilhelm Albert took over management. The latter died three years later. With this, Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert took over the chairmanship of the board.
In 1988, the term oxygen plant was deleted from the company register, the company name in the commercial register was now Westfalen AG . A year later, the takeover of KDE Kälte Zubehör Handelsgesellschaft , Wannenwetsch GmbH and Ernst Rückwarth GmbH & Co. KG, the largest acquisition in the company's history to date, followed . In the same year the first foreign company was founded in the Netherlands , in 1995 in Poland , 1999 in Belgium and France .
Development since 2000
In 2000 a hydrogen production plant was put into operation in cooperation with SRS Lubricant Refinery Salzbergen GmbH . In the following year, the foreign subsidiary Westfalen Gas Schweiz GmbH was founded , based in Eiken in the canton of Aargau. In 2005 the Austrian subsidiary was founded.
In 2006, Westfalen AG took over the Kuwait Petroleum Deutschland GmbH petrol stations operating under the Markant brand .
The sixth foreign subsidiary followed in 2010 in the Czech Republic . In the same year, the Westfalen Group made the largest foreign investment to date: the air separation plant in Le Creusot , France , started production.
In September 2012, as part of the “S1000plus” project supported by Westfalen AG, it was possible to drive 1,365.5 kilometers on LPG without refueling.
The company has been offering natural gas and electricity nationwide since November 2012 .
In May 2014 the eleven-storey Westfalen Tower office tower was inaugurated on Industrieweg in Münster.
In July 2015, the Westfalen Group acquired the majority stake in Medica Technik GmbH - a specialist company for homecare , medical and rehabilitation technology with headquarters in Brachbach in Siegerland .
The Westfalen Group's board of directors was expanded in July 2016 by Meike Schäffler and Torsten Jagdt.
Westfalen AG has been operating the first hydrogen filling station in the Münster area since the beginning of December 2016 .
At the end of 2016, the company received the “ Work and Family Audit ” certificate .
In September 2016 the company celebrated the 50th anniversary of the port tank terminal in Münster-Gelmer . In addition to the Gelmer port tank farm, essential parts of the previous production site in Münster-Gremmendorf are to be relocated by 2019 .
In mid-March 2017, Renate Fritsch-Albert was elected to the Westfalen Group's Supervisory Board . From the beginning of April 2017 until his death in October 2017, Alexander Fritsch-Albert was a board member of the Westfalen Group.
On July 13, 2018, Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert moved to the Supervisory Board of the Westfalen Group after more than 40 years as CEO and was elected Chairman of the Board. Thomas Perkmann has been CEO of the Westfalen Group since September 1, 2018.
By the year 2019 created the Krefeld port a large LPG - tank farm of Westphalia group.
Business areas
Gases area
Since it was founded in 1923, Westfalen AG has developed from a regional to a European-oriented supplier of technical gases , with branches , sales offices, warehouses and plants as well as subsidiaries in France , Benelux , Austria , Switzerland and the Czech Republic . The product range includes over 300 standardized gases and gas mixtures - including industrial gases , refrigerants , laboratory gases, food gases, gases for medical, pharmaceutical, inhalation , testing and measuring gases, laser gases and welding and welding gases .
In a special gas center, analysis gases are also produced according to recipes specified by the users. The special gas center has been accredited as a test and calibration laboratory since 2006 .
The range of industrial gases includes argon , carbon dioxide , oxygen , nitrogen , hydrogen and compressed air in common purities. High-purity gases such as argon, helium , oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, synthetic air, nitrous oxide (laughing gas), methane and propane are offered as special gases . The gases used for medicine, pharmaceuticals and inhalation are liquid and gaseous oxygen for ventilation and nitrous oxide for anesthesia . In the food industry , gases are used for cooling , freezing , hydrogenating , foaming or packaging .
Air separation takes place in the Westphalian Hörstel in the Tecklenburger Land , in Laichingen (near Ulm ) and in Le Creusot in France . The Westfalen AG special gases center is also located in Hörstel, where pure and special gases including helium are filled. Hydrogen is generated in Salzbergen by means of steam reforming . In Münster-Gremmendorf was acetylene produced and bottled.
Energy supply area
Liquid gas of the Westfalengas brand (DIN 51622) has been available on the German market since 1954 . It consists of at least 95 percent by volume propane and propene and five percent by volume of the components ethane , butane and butane isomers. It is obtained from the extraction of crude oil and natural gas and as a refined product in refineries .
Westfalengas is used in private households and companies to generate heat; It is used as an energy source in industry, trade and agriculture . Even under low pressure (around 8 bar ), 260 liters of gaseous gas become one liter of liquid gas. This means that large quantities can be stored and transported in a space-saving manner. Residential complexes or settlements can be equipped with their own supply network.
As LPG and propellant gas , Westfalengas is used to drive engines. Since the gas mixture burns with almost no residue, vehicles such as forklifts can also be operated in buildings.
Westfalen Autogas is available at around 900 public filling stations of various brands and companies. Thus, the company's German market leader . Westfalen-Autogas differs from fuel gas for heating purposes in that it has a higher butane content: in summer the mixing ratio is 40 percent propane and 60 percent butane, in winter the ratio is exactly the opposite.
The Energy Supply division offers solar thermal systems and components under the Solacept brand .
The company has been offering natural gas and electricity nationwide since November 2012 .
The company is a partner in Fht Liquid Gas Trading and Transport GmbH & Co. KG.
Gas stations area
Westfalen AG operates around 260 branded petrol stations in Germany - mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony . In addition to power and lubricants the Westfalen petrol stations offer many other products and services such as car wash , automotive and tire service. Many stations are equipped with compact market , Bistro features or other offers for travelers.
Westfalen obtains fuel exclusively from German refineries. In addition to the fuels Super plus , Super 95 E5, Super 95 E10 and diesel , the company offers LPG , natural gas , E85 biopower and charging current as drive energies at many stations . Alternative drive energies therefore take up a large part of the Westfalen petrol stations. Motor oils for gasoline and diesel engines are available under our own brand and from Castrol .
The Westfalen AG fleet card is called the Westfalen Service Card . This fuel card is accepted at over 5,500 Westfalen, Agip , Aral , Avia , Markant, OMV and Total petrol stations .
Westfalen Group
A total of 23 subsidiaries and associated companies in Germany , Belgium , France , the Netherlands , Austria , Poland , Switzerland and the Czech Republic are united under the umbrella of the Westfalen Group - with over 20 European production locations.
Company logo
A central component of the Westfalen AG word-image brand is a jumping, white horse on a red background, reminiscent of a Westphalian horse . Between the founding of the company in 1923 and 2001, the horse jumped to the left in the logo , the overall image was heraldic . During the redesign in 2001, the lines of the horse were greatly reduced and the heraldic elements removed, the clearly slimmed-down horse now jumps to the right.
literature
- Armin Berninghaus: Chances used. The 85-year success story of Westfalen AG. Philippka-Sportverlag , Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-89417-197-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Annual Report 2019. Retrieved on August 3, 2020 (PDF; 17.4 MB).
- ↑ Gregor Mausolf: 1,365.5 kilometers with LPG without refueling ( memento from July 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: HTW-Online. No. 97, November 2012 edition. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ↑ Oliver Koch: Neighbors compete with the municipal utilities. In: Münstersche Zeitung , November 17, 2012.
- ↑ Karin Höller: A tower with symbolic power . In: Westfälische Nachrichten , May 8, 2014. Accessed July 21, 2014.
- ↑ Jürgen Stilling: Westfalen AG leaves a deep valley behind. July 14, 2015, accessed August 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Personnel changes at Westfalen AG. June 16, 2016, accessed August 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Helmut P. Etzkorn: "The stuff that dreams are made of". December 5, 2016, accessed January 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Westfalen AG certified as a family-friendly employer. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Karin Höller: Largest transshipment point for the region. September 23, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Westfalen Group leaves Gremmendorf. February 13, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017 .
- ^ Rhea Healy: New Westfalen appointments future-proof family-owned company. April 12, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017 .
- ^ Mourning at the Westfalen Group. October 30, 2017, accessed November 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Mirko Heuping: Balance of Westfalen AG: Fritsch-Albert joins Supervisory Board. July 17, 2018, accessed September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Jürgen Stilling: Thomas Perkmann is the new boss of Westfalen AG: a new addition to the Westfalen family. August 30, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Norbert Stirken: Westfalen Group builds gas tank farms in the port. December 21, 2016, accessed January 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Gases, Service and Know-how. P. 2ff.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Gases, Service and Know-how. P. 6.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Gases, Service and Know-how. P. 6.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Gases, Service and Know-how. P. 7.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Gases, Service and Know-how. P. 13.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Westfalengas: Think further, go further. P. 3.
- ↑ Westfalen AG: Westfalengas: Think further, go further. P. 2.
- ↑ Dr. Martin Steffan: Westfalen AG remains the market leader in LPG. . In: Das Autogas Journal , July 22, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ Armin Berninghaus: Opportunities used. P. 171.
- ↑ Oliver Koch: Neighbors compete with the municipal utilities. In: Münstersche Zeitung , November 24, 2012.
- ↑ Katja Joho: Fuel cards for company cars: “The trend is towards a second card”. April 4, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018 .
- ^ Armin Berninghaus: Opportunities used. P. 36.
- ↑ Hertener Allgemeine: Company history: Westfalen-AG presents unusual company chronicle ( memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
