Franke Holding

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Franke Holding AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1911
Seat Aarburg , Switzerland
management Patrik Wohlhauser
( CEO )
Thomas A. Erb
( Chairman of the Board )
Number of employees 8,866 (2017)
sales 2.076 billion CHF (2017)
Branch Kitchen and sanitary technology, coffee machines, food service systems
Website www.franke.com

The Franke Holding is a global provider of products for the household kitchen , the large kitchen and hygiene sector . The group of companies employs around 9,000 people and generated sales of 2.076 billion Swiss francs in 2017 . The owner Michael Pieper is number 580 on the Forbes list and is therefore also one of the 10 richest Swiss.

Field of activity

The activities of Franke Holding are divided into the areas of Franke Kitchen Systems, Franke Foodservice Systems, Franke Water Systems and Franke Coffee Systems . Franke Kitchen Systems is the world's leading provider of kitchen systems ( sinks , hoods , taps , cooking hobs , ovens , etc.). Franke Foodservice Systems supplies kitchen systems and services for quick service restaurants, Franke Water Systems produces washroom and sanitary systems for public and semi-public areas and Franke Coffee Systems produces fully automatic, professional and semi-professional coffee machines .

history

Foundation phase

In 1911 Hermann Franke founded a plumber in Rorschach ( Switzerland ). The economic boom in industry and construction at the end of the 1920s led to the addition of a sanitary installation department. Franke began with the manufacture of stove tops, skylights and dormer windows . In the 1930s, the first sink units were made in nickel, metal and later in stainless steel. Franke built a new factory with offices and a residential building in Aarburg (Switzerland). The first series production followed, as well as the first fully welded , seamless sink unit. Hermann Franke died on January 25, 1939. His son Walter Franke took over the business. The Second World War led to great difficulties in obtaining materials. In the post-war years, Franke expanded the factory facilities and manufactured complete kitchens. Franke began exporting products to neighboring European countries.

expansion

Franke expanded the business and became the market leader in state-of-the-art sinks. In 1950 the washroom and sanitary systems product group was firmly anchored with a comprehensive range of products for the public and semi-public sector. Components for engines were also built for the first time. Franke made its first foreign investment in Germany and in 1955 had 500 employees. In the late 1950s, Franke doubled production. The factories were expanded. The area “large kitchens” was created. In 1961, 750 people worked for Franke. In the next twelve years Franke experienced further expansion: 13 new subsidiaries and two license companies were founded. In 1972 Franke built and installed the first kitchen for McDonald's in Munich. In 1974 the company had 2,600 employees. In 1975 Franke changed hands. Walter Franke's friend and business partner Willi Pieper took over the company. Four subsidiaries and two license companies were added. In 1979 the Franke compact sink system was launched. At the end of the 1980s, Franke was split into divisions .

Further development

  • 1989: When Michael Pieper joined the group management, the replacement at the top of the group was initiated and the expansion into a global group of companies continued.
  • 1990: The board of directors and shareholders of Franke Holding AG decided on an investment program to bring the Swiss operations of the group up to a higher level of technology by 1994. The British Carron Phoenix Holding, in Norway the Lino S / A and in 1992 the Spanish Soberana were taken over.
  • 1993: Founding of companies in the Czech Republic and Poland.
  • 1994: Takeover of the Finnish-Swedish Hackmann-Meka, the American IRC Parts & Supplies and the Polish Gastopol.
  • 1995: Takeover of the German Blefa GmbH in Kreuztal and a minority stake in the Russian sink manufacturer AO Stamor in St. Petersburg.
  • 1996: Acquisition of the American Federal Home Products Division, opening of a production plant in Heshan City, China and opening of an information center in Aarburg.
  • 1997: Acquisition of the Brazilian company Douat Inox. Ltda. and takeover of the Italian Safer SpA
  • 1998: Takeover of the Canadian Kindred Industries, Ontario. Franke AG changes its name to Franke Schweiz AG.
  • 1999: Acquisition of Stainless Holding Inc., O'Brian Budd and Met-Tec Installations Ltd. and takeover of the South African City Metal Products Ltd., construction of a plant in India.
  • 2000: Takeover of Niggemann Foodservice Technik GmbH & Co. KG in Bochum, and the Dutch company V. Swinkels BV
  • 2001: Franke took over the Danish A / S Panda Stål and the British Ezra Hatton. Franke concentrated more on the previous core lines and took extensive cost-saving measures. The workforce fell by 235 to 5246 employees. In order to remain competitive in the long term, the company is increasing investments by 23 percent to 51.8 million Swiss francs due to the declining sales figures.
  • 2002: The bathroom furniture production of Franke Romont AG and the department for cooking appliances and large kitchen equipment combined in Salvis AG were sold. Franke acquired the German Bremer Kaffeemaschinen GmbH. The sanitary program was expanded with the takeover of the English company W&G Sissons Ltd. expanded. The group divisions now include Franke Kitchen Systems including Franke Washroom and Sanitary Systems, Franke Foodservice Systems (formerly Contract Group) and Franke Coffee Systems.
  • 2003: Franke merged the steering system business with that of Adval Tech. The Franke Group brought its subsidiaries Lanz Industrietechnik and Adval Tech and two Styner + Bienz companies into the joint venture.
  • 2004: The Franke Group took over 49 percent of Finfaber SpA, the holding company of the Faber Group based in Fabriano, Italy, and the American coffee machine sales partner Espresso Spezialist, Inc. in Seattle.
  • 2005: Franke took over the Faber Group completely. The two South African Water Heating Systems companies Supa Heat Geysers (Pty.) Ltd. and The Geyser Company (Pty.) Ltd. and the German AquaRotter GmbH are acquired. In addition to the industrial holdings (Forbo, Adval Tech, Rieter, Feintool), Franke Holding AG was integrated into Michael Pieper's family holding company.
  • 2007: Franke acquires the South African Defy Appliances (Pty) Ltd. with 3'500 employees.
  • 2010: Realization of the Franke Artemis Group: The industrial business is divided into the Franke Kitchen Systems Group and Franke Commercial Systems Group. The non-industrial areas are combined in the Franke Asset Management Group and the Franke Artemis Real Estate Group.
  • 2012: Alexander Zschokke becomes the new CEO of the Franke Artemis Group. His 66-year-old predecessor Michael Pieper is retiring from his position in order to “concentrate fully on his task as chairman of the management of Franke Artemis Holding AG”, writes Franke in a press release.
  • 2013 Franke Artemis Management AG is renamed Franke Management AG, the name Franke Artemis disappears again
  • 2018: Change of CEO at the Franke Group. Patrik Wohlhauser takes over the management.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c [1]
  2. ↑ Key figures. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .
  3. ↑ [2]
  4. ^ Franke Group. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Zschokke new CEO  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / drs.srf.ch  
  6. ↑ Commercial Register of the Canton of Aargau Entry from January 2013  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / ag.powernet.ch  
  7. ^ History. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .