Hettich (company)
| Hettich group of companies
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. oHG |
| founding | 1888 |
| Seat | Kirchlengern , North Rhine-Westphalia |
| management | Jana Schönfeld and Sascha Groß |
| Number of employees | 6700 (2019) |
| sales | 1.1 billion euros (2019) |
| Branch | Furniture hardware manufacturer |
| Website | www.hettich.com |
The Hettich Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of furniture fittings . The company's headquarters are in the East Westphalian town of Kirchlengern .
In 2019, 6,700 employees worked for Hettich worldwide, including more than 3,600 in Germany. The company is represented in 24 countries with its own subsidiaries. Hettich is 100 percent family-owned.
Company history
Founding of the metal industry in 1888
Karl Hettich founded a metal trade in the Black Forest in 1888 and developed the so-called “buck machine” for bending anchor hooks for pendulum clocks . After the company's founder died in 1894, his widow and later the eldest son Franz Hettich continued the business with six employees. Franz Hettich later recognized market opportunities in hinges for small watch cases and developed products for this segment. In 1921 Franz Hettich involved his four brothers Paul, August, Ferdinand and Josef Hettich in the company.
In 1928 August Hettich developed the first fully automatic rod hinge machine for the production of piano hinges .
Founded in Herford in 1930
In 1930 Paul Hettich GmbH was founded in Herford , a center of the furniture industry. With seven employees, rod hinges were produced for the furniture industry. In 1933 the production of wood screws was started and in 1936 the product range was expanded to include cabinet tubes. The 50th anniversary of the parent company in the Black Forest was celebrated in 1936. The workforce in Herford had grown to 50 employees.
On November 24, 1944, around 80 percent of the buildings and a large part of the machines in Herford were destroyed by bombs. In the last days of the war, the company lost its boss Paul Hettich. The authorized signatory Alfred Günter continued the business. After the war, production was restarted in 1945 with 25 employees.
Reconstruction in Herford
After the ONI GmbH was acquired by Paul Hettich & Co. together with the authorized signatory Alfred Günter in 1953, profile hinges made of brass and light metal were produced with 13 employees. The managing partner was Alfred Günter. 160 employees celebrated the company's 25th anniversary in Herford in 1955. The subsidiary Kunststoff GmbH was founded in Herford in 1958 for the production and sale of technical plastic injection molded parts, decorative grilles and foils as well as fittings in self-service packaging. Helmut Hettich managed the new company. In 1959, the third generation took over the management, led by Anton Hettich.
In 1959 a turnover of 8 million DM was achieved with 200 employees, the company Franz Hettich KG in Alpirsbach achieved a turnover of 14.5 million DM. A systematic expansion of the production program took place and own developments led to numerous patents .
Expansion of the company
In 1962 a branch was established in Heppenheim . In 1964 the industrial site in Kirchlengern with 35,000 m² was acquired and formed the basis for a new operational plan. At that time the company had 280 employees. In 1966 the company's headquarters were relocated from Herford to Kirchlengern. The Herford plant was continued under the management of Siegfried Hettich.
Franke GmbH & Co. KG in Weilstetten was acquired in 1968 together with Alfred Günter. Bed fittings, connecting and construction fittings were manufactured with 85 employees. Hans-Dieter Günter, son of Alfred Günter, became managing director of Paul Hettich & Co. together with Anton Hettich. In 1970 the company Helmut Sundermeier GmbH was founded in Bünde to increase the capacity in toolmaking. In 1971 the workforce of the entire company had grown to 900 employees.
At the sister company, which in the meantime had the name ONI Günter & Co., the shower partitions product group was incorporated under the brand name Koralle. In 1974 the Hettich Group employed 1,100 people, and the high-rise warehouse and distribution center in Kirchlengern followed. Foreign subsidiaries were also set up in France, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Worldwide it was exported to over 80 countries. The company August Strothmann GmbH & Co. KG in Gütersloh was taken over in 1977. With 90 employees, exterior fittings were produced under the management of Bernhard Hettich. In 1979 Ewikon GmbH & Co. KG was founded in Frankenberg (Eder) to manufacture sprueless injection molded parts and a majority stake was acquired in Richard Heinze GmbH & Co. KG in Herford, which was later taken over in full. In 1986 Hettich Beschläge GmbH & Co. was founded as a sales company for trade and craft. In 1987, further sales companies were established in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and England. The umbrella brand Hettich International was introduced worldwide in 1991. In the same year the Japanese subsidiary was founded.
Concentration on the core business
The turning point in the company's growth came in 1992 and a focus on core competencies took place. The Heinze injection molding company and the Koralle company were sold. In 1994 part of the production was relocated to a subsidiary founded there in the Czech Republic. In 1995 the company was restructured and given a holding structure with independent, decentralized companies. Over 4,000 employees worked for Hettich in 15 countries. This was followed by the establishment of subsidiaries in Poland and Italy and the start of production in Russia. In 1996 the Brazilian company Plastipar Industria, today Hettich do Brazil, was acquired and integrated into the Hettich Group. A production facility was also set up in China. The logistics center in Kirchlengern went into operation in 2005 . After 55% of the shares had been in stranger hands for 17 years, Anton Hettich, together with his two sons Rainer and Andreas Hettich, returned the company to family ownership in 2005.
Hettich counts companies from all over the world among its customers, such as B. American Woodmark, IKEA , Miele or SieMatic .
literature
- Florian Langenscheidt, Peter May (Ed.): Lexicon of German Family Businesses , German Standards Editions, 2009, ISBN 978-3-8349-1640-2 , pp. 411-412.
Web links
- Hettich
- “No reason to give up because of the crisis” , handelsblatt.com dated February 5, 2010, accessed on July 30, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Andreas Hettich will lead the Hettich Group as Chairman of the Advisory Board from January 1, 2020 - Hettich. Accessed January 2, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Press release: Balance sheet 2019. Hettich Holding GmbH & Co. oHG, March 26, 2020, accessed in 2020 .
- ↑ a b Florian Langenscheidt , Bernd Venohr (ed.): Lexicon of German world market leaders. The premier class of German companies in words and pictures . German Standards Editions, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-86936-221-2 .
- ↑ Organization. Hettich Holding GmbH & Co. oHG, accessed on April 14, 2017 .
- ↑ a b hettich.com/Untern Firmengeschichte ( memento of the original from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ernst Huber: The Hettichs - Success Story of a Schramberg Family. In: Museum and History Association Schramberg e. V. (Ed.): D'Kräz 25, anniversary edition 2005. Contributions to the history of the city and space of Schramberg. , Pp. 197-211.
- ↑ Florian Langenscheidt, Peter May (Ed.): From the best family. Over 100 exemplary German family businesses , 2012, pp. 244–247.
Coordinates: 52 ° 12 ′ 10.9 ″ N , 8 ° 37 ′ 29.5 ″ E