Optibelt

Arntz Optibelt Group
legal form	KG
founding	1872
Seat	Höxter, North Rhine-Westphalia
management	Reinhold Mühlbeyer, Konrad Ummen
Number of employees	approx. 2300 worldwide
sales	EUR 272 million (2017)
Website	www.optibelt.com

The Arntz Optibelt Group , headquartered in Höxter ( North Rhine-Westphalia), focuses on the development, production and sale of drive belts, pulleys, rubber sheets and elastomer films. The group of companies is represented worldwide with eight production sites and 33 sales offices. It employs a total of more than 2200 people.

Business areas

The company is divided into the four business areas Power Transmission, Material Handling, Automotive Technology and Elastomer Solutions.

Power transmission: V-belts, toothed belts, ribbed belts, power belts, harvest belts, plastic round belts, special belts and pulleys for use in a wide variety of industries

Material handling: Toothed belts, flat belts, plastic round belts and V-belts for use in the food and packaging industries

Automotive Technology: High-performance V-belts, toothed belts, power belts as well as repair kits for cars and commercial vehicles as well as tension and deflection pulleys

Elastomer Solutions: technical elastomer films, X-ray protection films as well as fitness and strength bands.

Company history

The beginnings

In 1872 Emil Arntz founded the Höxter rubber thread factory in Höxter , a small production facility with only ten employees. The aim was to produce elastic threads, which at that time were in high demand in the industry, but which had previously had to be imported from England. The company grew rapidly and the range was quickly expanded to include brake pads, floor mats and ice packs. The leap into the European market was made with dental rubber for prostheses. When Emil Arntz died in February 1909, his son Richard took over the management. He modernized and expanded the plant extensively.

Years of war and crisis

When the First World War broke out in 1914, all raw rubber stocks were confiscated. Production had to be stopped and the factory closed. Richard Arntz only resumed business in 1918 with the support of his brother Oskar. But the global economic crisis in 1929 brought the market to a standstill. Richard Arntz died in 1934 and Paul Kuhlo, a grandson of the company's founder, took over management.

New beginning, expansion and internationalization

The "Höxtersche rubber thread factory" survived the Second World War without sabotage and looting. It was one of the first companies to receive a license to resume production. As the demand for rubber thread had collapsed, she began to manufacture V-belts. In 1948 the first V-belt left the factory under the name Optibelt . The name became a trademark in the industry. In 1959 Arnulf Ummen, the great-grandson of the company founder, took over the management. He expanded the plant, introduced new technologies, opened sales offices in numerous major German cities and founded numerous international sales companies. In 1968 the Arntz Belting Company Ltd. first overseas manufacturing facility opened in Northern Ireland. In 1975 the "Höxtersche rubber thread factory" was renamed "Arntz Optibelt KG". The Arntz Optibelt Group has been expanding since 1995 and further production facilities have been set up in Ireland, China, Romania and the Netherlands.

Locations

The group has production sites in Germany (Höxter, Bad Blankenburg, Rinteln), Ireland, France, China, Romania and the Netherlands. There are sales companies in Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and Turkey.