FFT Group

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FFT Produktionssysteme GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
founding 1974
Seat Fulda , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Tristan Pfurr (CEO), Peter Walper (CFO), Volker Stark (COO)
Number of employees 2601 (2017)
sales 856 million euros (2017)
Branch Plant construction
Website www.fft.de
As of December 31, 2017

FFT production systems in Fulda

The FFT Production Systems GmbH & Co. KG is a German plant engineering company based in Fulda . The company offers production systems for industries such as the automotive and aerospace industries . FFT stands for "Flexible Manufacturing Technology". The company, founded in 1974, has been a subsidiary of the Chinese Fosun group since 2019 .

history

Foundation as Faust production technology

In 1961 the Rabofsky pleating machine factory, based in Berlin / West, established an additional plant in Mücke (Merlau municipality, West Germany) to provide security during the Berlin crisis . The Rabofsky company was a branch of the Berlin parent company and manufactured machines for the textile industry from 1961 to 1974 . Since the two owners Rabofsky and Bock had no successors, Gerhard Faust, Horst Eckard and Bruno Frey became shareholders on January 1, 1974 under the company name "Faust Fertigungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG" (FFT for short) with a focus on the manufacturing technology in the automotive industry re-established. The focus was on welding systems, mechanization systems, electronic control gauges and special machines. At that time, the automotive industry had a great need for automation in production. The company expanded through its portfolio. The portfolio at that time consisted of spot welding, shielding gas and stud welding systems as complex production lines or individual systems, production programs in robotics, conventional individual structures, assembly systems for strut and front axle assembly, window, sealing and foil bonding systems, electronic control gauges and devices. In the first year, FFT achieved sales of around EUR 20 million with around 200 employees. A year later the subsidiary Tesmaco SA was founded in Valencia. After opening a sales office in Burgbrohl, the shareholders built an assembly hall with 1,000 m² in Mücke in 1978.

In the automotive industry, flexible welding robots were increasingly used, which replaced the expensive welding presses. These welding robots could only weld the side panels, doors and flaps, but not the complex floor streets. In 1981 FFT developed the first portal robot KOSY3 from the known welding processes and robot technologies. This now enabled the partially flexible production of floor assemblies. In the same year, FFT patented the first automatic system for positioning and gluing windows on the body. This development is in principle the basis of today's fully automated pane installation. The property right was first registered as a utility model on October 16, 1981 in Germany and then extended to other countries. In 1985 FFT received a major order worth DM 60 million. In order to make the order possible, FFT built a second assembly hall with 1,000 m². Furthermore, another office building was erected within three years and shortly afterwards a third assembly hall with 3,000 m² and a technical office with 2,000 m².

International growth

In 1987 the partner and managing director Gerhard Faust sold his shares. This increased the shares held by Horst Eckard and Bruno Frey from 33% to 45%. The new managing director Reinhold Schiele received the remaining 10%. In this context, the company was renamed "FFT Flexible Manufacturing Technology GmbH & Co. KG" in the same year. During the 1990s, the company established various branches nationally and internationally.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), the first flexible production system was developed that replaced the shuttle system with new robot technology. This resulted in the entry into flexible production. FFT also looked for cooperation with Wergzeugkombinant in Schmalkalden and founded FFT Flexible Manufacturing Technology Schmalkalden GmbH & Co. KG in 1990, taking over 65 employees. Today the site has over 200 employees and is responsible for the manufacture and procurement of components in Europe. The subsidiary EDF Innovative Klebetechnik near Bregenz, Austria was also acquired. In addition, an additional sales and service base, FFT France, was set up in Paris. At the turn of the year 1995/1996 Rainer Gößmann took over the management of the company. He is expanding his management team to include Manfred Hahl and Peter Walper. In 1996 two subsidiaries were founded, FFT México SA de CV with its own production facility in Puebla, Mexico, and FFT España Tecnologías de Automoción SA, based in Valencia, Spain. In the same year, FFT Flexible Fertigungstechnik Engineering GmbH & Co was founded. KG in Cologne. In 2000/2001 a production and assembly hall with 10,000 m² and an office building with 4,300 m² project space were built in the Fulda-West industrial park.

Restructuring and sale to Aton

In 2003, "FFT EDAG Produktionssysteme GmbH & Co. KG" was founded with headquarters in Fulda-West and was taken over 100% by EDAG AG in Fulda. In 2005 FFT Production Systems SRL was founded in Campulung, Romania.

In 2006 Lutz Helmig and his holding company Aton took over 100% of EDAG and thereby its subsidiary FFT. In 2012 FFT became a 100% subsidiary of Aton GmbH, i. H. a sister of EDAG. With this change, FFT has the three subsidiaries, FFT Production Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China and FFT Production Systems, Inc. in Spartanburg, USA from EDAG and the BBZ vocational training center in Fulda from Aton.

In 2014 the company was renamed "FFT Produktionssysteme GmbH & Co. KG". With the expansion of the project office in Fulda-West, the capacity doubled to 700 employees at the headquarters. In the same year the FFT Group took a stake in the companies EDAG Werkzeug + Karosserie GmbH and EKS InTec GmbH. In 2016 the new subsidiary FFT Produktionssysteme Polska Sp. Zoo was founded in Poznań, Poland.

In the automotive industry, FFT has taken an important step towards the realization of lightweight construction and jigless body construction with the development of the carbon fiber gripper . With this technology, FFT has put the world's first flexible lightweight framing system into operation under the name “FFT Smart Body Production” in Fulda. In addition, FFT implemented the first human-robot collaboration (HRC) system in the shell.

The aviation business has been part of the company's portfolio since 2006. In 2014 FFT founded a test department in Bremen to expand its aviation portfolio. In May 2015, FFT opened a project office in Everett, USA.

Sale to Fosun

In June 2018 it was announced that the Chinese group Fosun FFT would buy from Aton. The legal transfer to Fosun took place on May 29, 2019.

Subsidiaries and locations

Germany

  • EKS InTec GmbH, Germany
  • EDAG Werkzeug + Karosserie GmbH, Germany
  • Scherwo Steuerungstechnik GmbH, Germany
  • BBZ Mitte GmbH, Germany
  • Locations: Fulda, Mücke, Schmalkalden, Eisenach, Bremen, Weingarten, Nordenham, Gauting

More Europe

  • FFT Espana Tecnologias de Automoción, SA, Spain
  • FFT Production Systems SRL, Romania
  • FFT Produktionssysteme Polska Sp. Oo, Poland
  • FFT Ciratec bvba, Belgium
  • Locations: Valencia (Spain), Campulung (Romania), Poznań (Poland), Diepenbeek (Belgium)

China

  • FFT Production Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., China
  • Location: Shanghai

America

  • FFT Production Systems inc., USA
  • FFT México SA de CV + Servicios FFT Mex. SAde CV, Mexico
  • Locations: Spartanburg, Everett (USA), Puebla (Mexico)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "Logical step": FFT Group from Fulda sold to Chinese multinational Fosun. In: Fuldaer Zeitung , July 13, 2018, accessed on October 10, 2019.
  2. ^ FFT Production Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd .: 首页. In: www.cn-fft.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Further and advanced training | BBZ in the middle of Fulda. In: www.bbz-mitte.de. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Educationcenter BBZ Fulda from 2012 part of the ATON subsidiary "FFT" // Osthessen | News. In: osthessen-news.de. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  5. ↑ FFT will take over the BBZ Fulda next year . ( osthessen-zeitung.de [accessed on October 13, 2016]).
  6. ↑ Topping- out ceremony at FFT - doubling of the office space in the industrial area . ( osthessen-zeitung.de [accessed on October 13, 2016]).
  7. ↑ FFT think tank expands its retail space . In: www.fuldaerzeitung.de . ( fuldaerzeitung.de [accessed on October 13, 2016]).
  8. ↑ FFT expands project office space by 4,000 m² | R + S group. In: www.rs-ag.net. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  9. ↑ EKS InTec GmbH. In: www.eks-intec.de. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  10. ↑ dewy communication: FFT Produktionssysteme GmbH & Co. KG. In: cfk-valley.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Robots for aerospace composites. In: www.fanuc.eu. Retrieved October 13, 2016 .
  12. ↑ FFT sold to FOSUN. Retrieved June 19, 2018 .
  13. ↑ ATON sells its stake in FFT GmbH & Co. KGaA ("FFT") | ATON GmbH. Retrieved July 10, 2018 .