Bott (company)

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Bott GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
founding 1930
Seat Gaildorf , Baden-Wuerttemberg
management Jan Willem Jongert, Clive Woodward
Number of employees approx. 950 worldwide
sales 136 million euros (2018)
Branch Vehicle equipment, factory equipment
Website www.bott.de

The Bott GmbH & Co. KG is developing a group of companies that European at three sites in-vehicle equipment, factory equipment and workstations for the global market and produced. The group's headquarters are in Gaildorf in the Schwäbisch Hall district (Baden-Württemberg).

Key figures

The Bott group of companies employs around 950 people worldwide and achieved sales of around 136 million euros in 2018. Around two thirds of sales are generated abroad. The group has been producing at its headquarters in Gaildorf, since 1980 in Bude in Great Britain and since 1996 in Tarnazsadány in Hungary. In addition to the three production sites, the group includes ten further branches and sales companies. Bott also has sales offices in Glinde near Hamburg (2013), Leverkusen (2016), Wilnsdorf near Siegen (2016), Hanover (2018), Munich (2018), Fredericia in Denmark (2014), Wiener Neudorf in Austria (2017), Cumbernauld in Scotland (2003), Bolzano in Italy (1984) and Paris in France (1980) as well as an installation center in Ashby de la Zouch in England (1999). The company has license partners and cooperations as well as around 130 sales partners on three continents. The group's portfolio includes six product brands with around 15,000 items.

history

In 1930 Wilhelm Bott founded a mechanical workshop in a mill near Gaildorf / Großaltdorf. The company manufactured turned and precision parts for the automotive industry. Customers included NSU, Magirus , Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union. In 1940 the company employed 70 people. Bott was involved in the war economy from 1941 . Forced laborers were also employed at times . The company was spared war damage.

Agricultural property belongs to the establishment. This was managed during and after the Second World War and ensured the survival of the family and employees. In the immediate post-war period, Bott first used aircraft scrap from the nearby US military airport to make things for everyday use, such as spaetzle and potato presses, strainers, saucepans and ladles, but also fittings for cow and horse harness and spare parts for potato beetle syringes. Cement bricks and aerated concrete blocks for the reconstruction were also burned. Little by little, the old business connections were re-established with the approval of the occupation authorities. After the currency reform in 1948, Wilhelm Bott used the economic upswing to expand business activities and get involved in new business areas. Initially, the focus was on the production of spinning rings and lubricating equipment. The company soon specialized in precision metal parts and assemblies with its own toolmaking facility. At the same time, a hardening shop with a large painting line for heat and surface treatment was built.

As a brick supplier for the under construction but insolvent Metropol cinemas in Heilbronn , Wilhelm Bott took part in the auction of the cinemas and was awarded the contract. He built the cinemas into flourishing movie theaters with branches in other cities and communities in the region, most recently with 18 cinemas out. The proceeds from the cinemas ensured the company's liquidity until 1989. Bott was able to invest in extensions and the expansion of production.

Wilhelm Bott died unexpectedly in 1965. Son-in-law Klaus F. Klingler took over the management. In 1967 Gerhard Schick became the second managing director and commercial director. From 1969 onwards, the company focused on the operational and vehicle equipment begun by Wilhelm Bott and from 1981 onwards. In 1976 the first foreign branch was established in Paris. By 1998 Bott had completely reoriented itself. The movie theaters, the precision parts production and the hardening shop were given up, unprofitable business areas dissolved.

The cinemas later became the nucleus for the company Bechtle GmbH, co-founded by Gerhard Schick, later Bechtle AG. While looking for a tool management program for Bott and a merchandise management system to manage candy sales for the movie theaters, Schick came across mechanical engineering student Ralf Klenk from the technical advisory service at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (now Heilbronn University ). After the successful introduction of the programs, Bechtle GmbH was founded by Gerhard Schick and Ralf Klenk, named after an employee of the cinema operations. After leaving the company, the then managing director Gerhard Schick exchanged his shares in two of Bott's subsidiaries for Bott's 100 percent stake in Bechtle. Bechtle AG's accounting is still based in Gaildorf today. After the successful IPO, Bechtle developed into a company with billions in sales.

1980 Bott took a stake in Lockpanel Ltd. in Bude, UK, which produced perforated wall systems, workbenches and storage cabinets. Lockpanel was then taken over by Bott and is now known as Bott Ltd. In 1984 the company entered the southern European market with the establishment of an Italian sales company in Bolzano. A year later, a second production facility was inaugurated at the Gaildorf site, and the third followed in 2000.

With the acquisition of a factory for production and assembly in Tarazsadány in Hungary, Bott expanded his business activities in the direction of Central and Eastern Europe. Due to the good market situation in Great Britain, the company built a second production facility in Bude in 1999 and an installation center for vehicle equipment in Ashby de la Zouch, which were expanded in 2001 and 2002 respectively. In 2003, Bott founded a branch in Falkirk in Scotland, which in 2005 moved to expanded premises in Cumbernauld.

In 2007 Bott set up an installation center for vehicle equipment at the headquarters in Gaildorf. In 2008, a new office building was built at the British headquarters in Bude. The installation center in Ashby la Zouch was continuously expanded until 2016. In 2013 a training center was inaugurated at the headquarters in Gaildorf.

Klaus F. Klingler managed the company until 2003. Klaus Wüst was his successor. In January 2005, in a difficult economic situation, Clive R. Woodward, Head of Bott's UK branch, and Reinhard Wollermann-Windgasse took over the management of the group of companies. In 2018, the group achieved the highest turnover in the company's history with around 136 million euros.

Today Bott supplies customers in 30 countries around the world. Customers include industrial companies such as Daimler, Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, Bosch, Siemens, AEG, Miele, Zeiss, EnBW, RWE, E.ON, Kärcher and Trumpf.

Corporate structure

Until 2004, Bott was a purely owner-managed family company . After the death of Wilhelm Bott, the shares were transferred to the daughters Inge Klingler, Sonja Bott and Hanna Stoll. In January 2005 the shareholders transferred the management of the group to the managing directors Reinhard Wollermann-Windgasse and Clive R. Woodward.

Together they carried strategic and operational responsibility for the areas of development, production, sales, human resources and finance across all Bott companies. Within the local companies, they were supported by other members of the management team.

Today, Bott is still predominantly owned by the family members of the founder. Reinhard Wollermann-Windgasse acquired shares in the company in 2009 and has been a partner ever since. Jan Willem Jongert joined the Bott Group in January 2018 as managing director and management spokesman. In this position he succeeds Dr. Reinhard Wollermann-Windgasse.

Products

Bott produces vehicle and factory equipment, tool walls and holders as well as assembly workstations. The vehicle equipment consists of shelves and cupboards with removable elements, for example storage boxes, service cases and carrying boxes. The load is secured by elements on the load-bearing components of the facility and on additional lashing rails. The facility is modular.

Bott produces and sells modularly combinable workbenches, system cabinets, drawer cabinets and storage cabinets made of steel for industry and trade. In addition, Bott produces accessories such as perforated and slotted plates as well as the appropriate tool holders, for example hooks and shelves made of steel. The panels are used as free-standing, mobile or wall-mounted elements. They can be used in vehicle equipment, factory equipment and assembly workstations.

Bott sets up individual assembly workstations or entire production lines for industry, which are connected to one another via roller conveyors. Bott also supplies system cabinets in ESD design, corresponding transport trolleys or transport lines between the workstations.

Sponsorship

The Johanna and Wilhelm Bott Foundation, founded by Johanna Bott on December 19, 1986, promotes outstanding achievements in the final classes of the Realschule and the Gymnasium in Gaildorf, youth exchanges with foreign countries, scientific research projects, home history and sponsors non-profit associations pursue charitable or church purposes. In addition, it supports cultural, church, sporting and school projects as part of the foundation's idea. The foundation is the main sponsor of the annual Youth Eurocup, an international U17 indoor youth soccer tournament in which the current soccer world champions Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Shkodran Mustafi performed at a young age. Bott sponsors teams in motorsport. The British subsidiary is also active in sponsorship. Bott Ltd. sponsors, for example, the physically disabled dressage rider Emily Skerrett and the Bloodhound SSC project.

literature

After removing an unusable document, other unsuitable entries are also noticed, e.g. B. two (apparently verbal?) Interviews without information on the publication (printed work / link / audio / video link etc.) Please check completely and revise if necessary. needs revision. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

  • Bott story. Chronology from 1930 to 2010. Bott-internal listing.
  • Hans König: With diligence and perseverance from a one-man business to an industrial company. Wilhelm Bott (1900-1965). In: Forgot? Famous? Immortal? People from the Limpurger Land. Life pictures from five centuries. Publications on local history and local history in Württembergisch Franconia. Published by the Historisches Verein Württembergisch Franken, Volume 16, Schwäbisch Hall 1998, pp. 24-25.
  • Interview with Inge Klingler, conducted on July 3, 2015
  • 5 good reasons to talk to Bott about precision parts and assemblies. Company brochure 1989
  • Bott. Company brochure in two languages, 1989
  • Grown rapidly. Stayed on course. 30 years of Bechtle AG 1983–2013. Bechtle AG, November 2013
  • Interview with Erich Schüler, Chairman of the Johanna and Wilhelm Bott Foundation, on June 15, 2015
  • Foundations in Heilbronn-Franken, Pro special edition 2007 of the pro magazine for the Heilbronn-Franken region, Eppinger Verlag OHG Schwäbisch Hall, p. 74
  • Hans Buchhofer: Inge and Klaus F. Klingler celebrate their golden wedding in a small group, in: Haller Tagblatt, March 19, 2015
  • Record turnover: Gaildorf company generates two thirds of its income abroad , in: Rundschau (Südwest Presse), January 29, 2016
  • Manfred Stockburger: Down-to-earth early riser with hunting instinct, in: Heilbronner Voice, December 12, 2013
  • Jerome Umminger: Don't talk. Tackle it, in: w.news, business magazine of the Heilbronn-Franken region, issue 8, 2011
  • 10 years of Feuerstein in Hof / Leithaberge. In: Baumaschine, Baugerät, Baustelle, Edition 7–8 / 1999, pp. 48–49
  • 25 years of Feuerstein. New (Jack) -bott vario van racking. In: Baublatt. Austria, November 2010, pp. 21-23
  • 25 years of Feuerstein. In: Der Österreichische Installateur, 11/2010, p. 18

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c [1]
  2. ↑ Jürgen Stegmaier: Strong through flexibility. in: Haller Tagblatt (Südwest Presse), January 21, 2017
  3. ↑ a b c Hans König: With diligence and perseverance from a one-man business to an industrial company. Wilhelm Bott (1900-1965). In: Forgot? Famous? Immortal? People from the Limpurger Land. Life pictures from five centuries. Publications on local history and local history in Württembergisch Franconia. Published by the Historisches Verein Württembergisch Franken, Volume 16, Schwäbisch Hall 1998, pp. 24-25.
  4. ↑ a b c Bott story. Chronology from 1930 to 2010. Bott-internal listing
  5. ↑ a b c d Interview with Inge Klingler, conducted on July 3, 2015
  6. ↑ Grown rapidly. Stayed on course. 30 years of Bechtle AG 1983 - 2013. Bechtle AG, November 2013
  7. ^ Manfred Stockburger: Down to earth early riser with hunting instinct, in: Heilbronner Voice, December 12, 2013
  8. ↑ Bott. Company brochure in two languages, 1989
  9. ↑ Space created for further education and training, in: RegioBusiness, September 22, 2013, archive link ( Memento from October 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ New partner at Bott in Gaildorf, in: News for the economy. Information for decision-makers in the Heilbronn-Franken region, January 31, 2009, [2]
  11. ↑ Jürgen Stegmaier: In March, Bott management changes, in: Südwestpress, January 18, 2018, [3]
  12. ↑ Foundations in Heilbronn-Franken, Pro special edition 2007 of the pro magazine for the Heilbronn-Franken region, Eppinger Verlag OHG Schwäbisch Hall, p. 74
  13. ↑ Bott supports the 26th Youth Eurocup, press release from January 30, 2015, [4]
  14. ↑ [5]
  15. ↑ Bude's Emily Skerrett to push for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after given a new mibility scooter, in: Bude & Stratton Post, July 27, 2016