Aliaxis Germany
| Aliaxis Germany GmbH
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1863 |
| Seat |
Mannheim , Germany
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| Website | www.aliaxis.de |
The Aliaxis Germany GmbH , formerly FRIATEC GmbH, a company based in Mannheim . Aliaxis Germany is one of the oldest industrial companies in the Rhine-Neckar region . Aliaxis Deutschland GmbH (formerly FRIATEC) has been part of the Aliaxis group of companies, with headquarters in Brussels, since 2003 . Aliaxis is a manufacturer of plastic piping systems for construction, industry and utilities.
history
In 1863 Otto Reinhard founded a brick factory near Friedrichsfeld . The choice of location was guided by the clay deposits under the sand dunes, the availability of cheap labor in the surrounding villages and the transport links, because Friedrichsfeld had been the intersection of the Baden main railway with the Main-Neckar railway since 1846 . Only four years later the brickworks was liquidated again. Also in 1863, Julius Friedrich Espenschied took over a cement factory in Mannheim-Jungbusch . During the Wilhelminian era boom there was a shortage of workers in Mannheim, so that Espenschied took over the fallow land in Friedrichsfeld in 1873 and opened a branch in which pipes, troughs and tubs were made from cement and clay. In 1878 Espenschied made the daughter independent as the Portland cement and clay factory in Friedrichsfeld .
The cement production rapidly lost importance and the factory focused on the production of Tongutröhren . Together with the clay factories in Frechen and Bitterfeld it was possible to break the English monopoly. To ensure the supply of raw materials, clay pit fields in Waldhilsbach, Unterschwarzach, Aglasterhausen, Eberbach and Darsberg were acquired by 1890. Towards the end of the 1880s, the production of chemical stoneware for the up-and-coming chemical industry, such as BASF and Hoechst, began . In 1886 200 workers were employed.
| year | Company name |
|---|---|
| 1878 | JF Espenschied Portland cement and clay factory in Friedrichsfeld |
| 1890 | Badische Thonröhren- und Steinzeugwarenfabrik AG, formerly JF Espenschied |
| 1894 | German stoneware factory for canalisation and chemical industry |
| 1961 | German stoneware and plastic goods factory for sewage systems and chemical industry Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld |
| 1972 | Friedrichsfeld GmbH Steinzeug- und Kunststoffwerke |
| 1985 | Friedrichsfeld GmbH ceramic and plastic works |
| 1993 | FRIATEC AG ceramic and plastic works |
| 1997 | FRIATEC Aktiengesellschaft |
| 2018 | FRIATEC GmbH |
| 2019 | Aliaxis Germany GmbH |
In 1889 the company ran into liquidity problems. The Bonte bank in Berlin then took over the majority of the shares, but left Espenschied as director. When there were differences about the financing of the share swap, he was dismissed in 1892 and replaced by Otto Hoffmann. Hoffmann, a trained technician and businessman, shaped stoneware up to the First World War . He put stoneware production on a new scientific basis and was in constant exchange with several technical universities. Products from Friedrichsfeld received gold medals and diplomas at the world exhibitions in Antwerp, Paris and Turin as well as at several international exhibitions. By 1913 the company supplied sewer systems for 180 German cities, including Berlin, Munich and Hanover, and exported to almost all countries in the world. In 1914 770 workers were employed.
The rise was only briefly interrupted by a major two-month strike in 1912. The emerging unions had chosen the Deutsche Steinzeugwarenfabrik as the “main arena” to exemplify the demands for more wages, the introduction of paid annual leave and the recognition of the unions as negotiating partners. After a hard labor dispute, the workers were essentially able to get their demands through. The upheavals of the First World War were more abrupt . The demand for sewer products collapsed, but the share of chemical stoneware in total sales rose to 70 percent, which was supplied in particular to the armaments industry. The ratio reversed again after the war and the 48-hour week was introduced in 1919. In 1926 the Cremer Group took over the company.
In 1928 a high of 915 employees was reached, until the global economic crisis stalled the economy. By 1932, sales had been quartered and the number of workers had sunk to 238. During the Nazi era , the company was brought into line. In the Second World War , many workers were drafted into the Wehrmacht. 130 forced laborers had to work in the plant. Despite the numerous air raids on Mannheim, the factory grounds far to the east were spared and only damaged by artillery fire in the last days of the war.
Production was resumed in autumn 1945 and exported abroad for the first time two years later. In 1958 there were 1000 employees and the market share in Germany was twelve percent. At the same time, a structural change was emerging. The German stoneware industry was unable to meet the needs of the booming construction industry. The first market shares were lost to cement and later also plastic pipes, which can be manufactured more quickly and flexibly. In 1955, the processing of plastics began in Friedrichsfeld as well.
A major fire on Christmas Eve 1961 destroyed parts of the plant. It was rebuilt with new production facilities, but then one got into the first post-war depression. Some old systems and the branch in Muggensturm were shut down by 1968. At the same time, society became more critical of ecological issues. For decades, the carbon burn in the girder to compact the stoneware resulted in several hours of sooty smoke being released. Coal firing was therefore switched from coal to oil and later gas and the chamber ovens were replaced by tunnel ovens, so that the factory became smoke and soot-free in 1971. The nine chimneys were removed except for one.
In 1976 Friedrich Reutner joined Friedrichsfeld GmbH as managing director and became sole managing director in 1983. Reutner led the former stoneware company out of an existence-threatening crisis with new products and sectors. The stoneware pipe production continued to lose importance and was finally discontinued in 1982. New materials such as oxide ceramics, silicon casting or PVC gained in importance, but could not compensate for the losses. In the following years, the product range was adjusted and at the same time investments were made in new materials. The Degussit department had already been taken over by Degussa in 1977 . She strengthened Frialit's own oxide ceramics department. The medical technology division was rebuilt. Numerous old buildings and halls were demolished in 1984/85 and replaced by new buildings. The turnaround succeeded, albeit with a 40 percent reduction in workforce. In the years 1985 to 1988, the return was always over 10 percent. Equity could be increased from 10 to 22 percent. Investments rose from DM 1.5 million in 1982 to DM 13 million in 1988.
As a result, the number of employees rose again to over 2500 and the individual company became a group with 42 companies. In 1990 the company was converted into a stock corporation and three years later renamed FRIATEC . In 1995 the company went public. Two years later, the Cremer Group sold its shares. Flowtex founders Manfred Schmider and Klaus Kleiser became the main shareholders . Only a short time later they sold their shares again. After several changes of ownership and the sale of the Friadent medical division in 1999, Friatec has been part of the Belgian Aliaxis Group since 2003 . The parent company took over the foreign companies. In 2005 the last small shareholders were settled in a squeeze-out and Friatec withdrew from the stock exchange. On November 1, 2007, the company sold the fittings division in St. Ingbert to Th. Jansen-Armaturen GmbH. The former Rheinhütte Pumps division was transferred to Rheinhütte Pumpen GmbH on January 1, 2016 as part of a spin-off.
literature
- Hansjörg Probst: 130 years of company history: From Steinzeug to FRIATEC . Mannheim 1993, ISBN 3-87804-228-0
- Friedrich Reutner: Turn around: strategy for a successful restructuring . Landsberg am Lech 1991, ISBN 3-478-31543-3
- Friedrich Reutner: Restructuring of a traditional company . Journal for Business Administration: ZfB. Gabler, Wiesbaden 1986, ISSN 0044-2372 , ZDB -ID 201074-4 . - Vol. 56.1986, 12, pp. 1170-1181.
- How Friedrichsfeld became a pearl . Mannheim city in the square, booklet XXI, year 90/91.
- Friedrichsfeld makes big leaps . Mannheim Morning, January 23, 1990.
- A revolution from above , Verlag INDUSTRIEMAGAZIN, No. 5, May 1989.
- Gottfried Cremer: men of business . Address at the Annual General Meeting on July 30, 1987 in Munich.
- Reform of the head and members . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 20, 1985, No. 67/12 D.
- Ceramic has displaced stoneware . Mannheim Morning, Nov. 30th / 1st Dec 1985.
- The ruin is alive . manager magazin, issue of December 1, 1991, p. 252.
Web links
- Official website
- Christian Deutsch: The miracle of Friedrichsfeld
- Peter Fischer: The era of chemical-technical stoneware
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '32.2 " N , 8 ° 34' 2.5" E