Hoppecke batteries

Accumulatorenwerke HOPPECKE Carl Zoellner & Sohn GmbH
legal form	GmbH
founding	1927
Seat	Brilon , NRW , Germany
management	Marc Zoellner
Number of employees	> 2,000
sales	EUR 425 million
Branch	Manufacturing
Website	www.hoppecke.com/de

The Accumulatorenwerke HOPPECKE Carl Zoellner & Sohn are a German battery company based in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Brilon and 27 subsidiaries in Germany and abroad, which manufactures industrial batteries in the B2B sector .

The origin of the name Hoppecke can be traced back to the settlement on the river Hoppecke in the place Hoppecke .

Hoppecke is also the brand name as a word and figurative mark for numerous products such as nickel-cadmium batteries, lead batteries, lithium batteries and devices for the production and maintenance of accumulators , traction, signaling and diesel starter accumulators .

The company also has its own battery service and offers energy as a rental model.

history

1927–1936: The founding years

Aerial view of the Brilon-Hoppecke site

The history of the Sauerland family company "Accumulatorenwerk Hoppecke Aktiengesellschaft" begins before the actual year of foundation. As early as 1920, Dominit, a company belonging to the Dynamit Nobel group, was producing lead-acid batteries “on Hoppecke Berg” . Six years later Dynamit Nobel sold the battery factory to the battery company Accumulatoren Fabrik Aktiengesellschaft in Hagen , which immediately shut down the factory. Otto Dörffer, commercial director of the closed plant, was looking for comrades-in-arms to continue the accumulator production on site. He turned to the Brilon district administrator Heinrich Jansen . He in turn contacted his friend, a Cologne merchant, Carl Zoellner, senior manager of the Cologne company Friedrich Zöllner, Ores and Metals. The district administrator managed to interest Carl Zoellner in the project.

Hoppecke logo around 1927

Carl Zoellner signed the statute of the new stock corporation on September 27, 1927 in the Hotel Rosenbaum in Brilon . Carl Zoellner, his sons Ernst and Hellmuth, Hermann Traugott from Niedermarsberg, the district of Brilon and the community of Hoppecke took over the shares in the new company . As a company logo, the entrepreneur chose two green fir trees, the trunks of which are united by a crossbar to form a large "H". The headquarters of the main administration became Cologne , which was also the residence of the Zoellner families.

After the establishment, a piece of land was acquired on the Arnsberg – Kassel road. At the end of the year, three months after it was founded, nine workers and ten salaried employees were already working for Hoppecke. The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on February 15, 1928.

The company's factory gate in 1927

84 workers were available for the further construction of the plant. Also in February, the first works council was elected in accordance with the law that came into force in 1920. In the summer of the same year, series production of radio and car batteries started. A few weeks later, light batteries and other types of accumulators will follow . Shortly thereafter, the company began manufacturing batteries for almost all areas of application. As a result of great dissatisfaction with the supply agreements and pricing behavior of the suppliers of hard rubber fittings, the first expansion of the company takes place in 1929 with the construction of a box press shop.

The sales department headed by authorized signatory Karl Zündorf is based in Cologne, so that the German market can be served from a central and convenient location. In the first three years of operation, the average number of employees was 189 and the annual turnover was 1.3 million Reichsmarks. In 1929 the company had a turnover of 2.9 million Reichsmarks , generated by 201 employees.

After the founding years, the world economic crisis and the austerity policy of Reich Chancellor Brüning also made themselves felt at Hoppecke in 1931 and 1932 . Sales collapsed from 3.0 million Reichsmarks (1930) over 2.3 million Reichsmarks (1931) to 1.8 million Reichsmarks (1932). Despite the decline in sales, the number of employees remained more or less constant, and investments continued despite the lack of orders. One example is the acquisition of a battery factory in Budapest , from which the Eastern European market was served. The Hoppecke plant received its own rubber factory in 1933, which was used to determine the quality and price of this important raw material itself and to ensure the continued employment of the employees.

The Hoppecke batteries factory in Brilon-Hoppecke around 1933

When Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933, there was initially an economic upswing, brought about by job creation measures and fiscal measures such as motorizing the population with the help of tax policy and the pressure on automobile manufacturers to build cheap cars. The number of automobiles alone rose from 0.76 million in 1933 to 1.87 million in 1939 - exports still have to be added. From 1934 the factory is fully employed with 273 employees. Customers include, for example, Daimler-Benz , Ford , Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz , AEG , Siemens , Reichsbahn , Reichspost and municipal power plants. The most important products are starter , emergency lighting, batteries for radio equipment, lighting and stationary batteries.

For administrative reasons, the Zoellner family bought all of the company's shares that were not in their possession in 1936 and changed the company's legal form. The stock corporation became a limited partnership , the name of the new company: Accumulatorenwerk Hoppecke Zoellner & Co., Cologne.

1937–1946: The war period

The first decade of Hoppecke's history was successful, despite difficult economic conditions. In 1939 the company took over a battery company in Vienna and exported batteries to East Asia. In 1939 Hoppecke was given a new name: Accumulatorenwerk Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Sohn.

In 1943 and 1944, an average of 450 people were employed at Hoppecke. Hoppecke survived the war relatively unscathed. From the autumn of 1943 until May 1945, Hoppecke forced laborers and were forced laborers assigned. Most of the very young people came exclusively from Poland and the Ukraine , their number fluctuates between 40 and 80. They are housed on the company premises. In 2000, Hoppecke joined the federal foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility, Future” founded by German industry and made a six-figure financial contribution. The foundation capital is intended to help alleviate the consequences of the injustice on the forced laborers who are still alive.

In 1940 Carl Zoellner was 75 years old. On this occasion, he founded his own pension fund - a measure that was rare for medium-sized companies at this time . The regulation stipulated that employees who had been with the company for at least 15 years would receive a pension when they retire at the age of 65 (or due to incapacity for work), which will continue to be paid proportionally to surviving family members after their death. The minimum pension was 115 Reichsmarks - a high amount compared to the monthly wage of a worker, which was around 200 Reichsmarks. The company founder died three years later. His son Ernst became the sole managing director, his son Hellmuth a personally liable partner of Hoppecke.

Budapest is captured by the Russian army, the factory there is lost without compensation. The offices of the sales management in Cologne are completely destroyed by bombs, the small sales team moves to Hoppecke, which is less threatened by the war. On May 8, 1945, American troops occupy the Hoppecke plant. Shortly afterwards it is placed under the supervision of the British occupying forces . Their first official act is to forbid the owner and the workforce from entering the plant. The British maintain this ban for eight weeks, then Hellmuth Zoellner and the management obtain a production permit after talks. Batteries are needed again due to the considerable need for starter batteries, and Hoppecke is the only battery factory in Germany that has not been bombed out and can start production immediately. The raw materials that are still available and discarded old batteries are primarily used as production materials. The employees returning from captivity were also integrated into the production process, so that at the end of 1945 293 employees were again working in the factory and in sales.

The main customers at the time included, for example, Deutsche Post , Deutsche Bahn and the occupying powers themselves, who in particular need starter batteries.

1947–1956: The new beginning

Starter battery from the Hoppecke brand

After the end of the war, Hoppecke was able to produce batteries again relatively quickly and enter into delivery commitments. Despite the difficult market situation, Hoppecke employed 343 people again at the end of 1946, and 369 a year later.

With the currency reform , the majority of state management measures were lifted. The controlled and rationed economy was coming to an end, and the social market economy took its place. In 1948, the sales department was outsourced to an independent sales company. For this step, which was reversed in 1969, and for the return of sales to Cologne in 1957, the greater proximity to important customers and the residence of the Zoellner family are decisive.

From the 1950s onwards, the German accumulator industry developed parallel to the rapid upward trend in the German automotive industry. In 1950 there were around two million motor vehicles of all types in Germany (including one million motor vehicles), in 1960 there were already eight million (five million) and in 1970 15 million (15 million). The export quotas of the German automotive industry will soon exceed the domestic sales figures. In the period from 1948 to 1956, Hoppecke employed 400 people almost continuously. Turnover figures are documented again for the period from 1950 onwards: Turnover doubles from almost 7.7 million DM in 1950 to 14.2 million DM in 1956. In the mid-1950s, company management begins to optimize production processes and working conditions . This creates new guidelines and works agreements. The most important of these concern the introduction of piecework pay and analytical job evaluation.

1957–1966: The growth phase

Construction of the “Plant South” at the Brilon-Hoppecke site

The new decade was also characterized by growth at Hoppecke, driven by the flourishing automotive industry. But Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Post also started investing in infrastructure. As industrialization progresses , so does the turnover of forklift manufacturers . The number of employees increases from 420 to 573 in the same period. Hoppecke has been making investments within the scope of its possibilities since 1947. These are essentially limited to unavoidable replacement investments. There is no capital available for further activities and indebtedness is out of the question for corporate management.

In 1960, major expansion investments were made for the first time in order to secure market shares. A first decision concerns the production of starter batteries and industrial batteries (traction and stationary batteries). Both product lines are spatially unbundled in order to create new production capacities. Since there is no more space on the original factory site between the federal road and the railway line, the company management acquires a new site south of the railway line. A large production hall was built on this site in 1962 in which starter battery plates were manufactured and starter batteries were assembled. The installation of unformed (not yet precharged) plates in the battery boxes and the subsequent charging of the batteries in a container loading point represent a major step forward. The created production capacities are not yet sufficient to meet market demand. A second phase of construction began and was completed in 1966.

Hoppecke also developed further in terms of technology in the 1960s, as some examples show:

In 1960 the first raw material recycling plant goes into operation. It is the forerunner of the later lead recovery system, which will grow in importance from an economic and environmental point of view.
The tube plate for traction batteries invented in Sweden is adapted to the Hoppecke technology and introduced. The life of the batteries is significantly extended.
Hoppecke develops, designs and builds the first tube plate filling machine.
Composite separators made of plastic replace the wooden boards (wood veneers) and rubber separators used for insulation.

1967–1976: operational problems

At the beginning of 1967 the Friedrich Zöllner company in Cologne got caught up in the maelstrom of embezzlement and speculative transactions by some senior employees . The collapse of the Berlin copper refinery , with which the company maintains business relationships and therefore has to report high losses, is related to the criminal machinations .

Since the Friedrich Zöllner company has been owned by Ernst and Hellmuth Zoellner since the death of the two sons of the company's founder Friedrich Zöllner at the end of the 1940s and the high losses cannot be compensated from the company's assets, the Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Son accumulator works voluntarily in order to keep the name Zoellner towards customers and to save Hoppecke from bankruptcy . Despite considerable financial burdens, Hoppecke survived the family support campaign.

Through an open information policy and through their reliability, the Zoellner family wins the trust of employees, business friends and banks. The greatest vote of confidence is the fact that the works council proposes a temporary wage cut to the workforce. Homeowners among employees are even willing to mortgage to be registered in favor of the company on their homes. This help does not have to be used, because the Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) secures the liquidity of Hoppecke with an extraordinary loan and thus the maintenance of business operations and production.

Ernst Zoellner resigns from his position as managing director at Hoppecke at the age of 67. His 28-year-old son Claus, who studied in Aachen and at Stanford University in the USA , took over sole management of the company on April 1, 1967. This sends a clear signal towards the future viability of the company through an expansive business policy, which is based on the one hand on the significantly increased production capacity through the new south plant in Hoppecke. On the other hand, it is supported by the economic upswing in Germany at the end of the 1960s. In the next ten years the turnover increased from 26.2 million DM (1967) to 102.6 million DM (1976), the number of employees rose from 573 (1967) to 1,033 employees (1976). This rapid increase also leads to the hiring of the first employees from southern Europe in 1970.

In 1969 the Westdeutsche Landesbank took a 25 percent share in the company's capital. The chairman of the bank's board of directors, Ludwig Poullain , becomes chairman of the advisory board of the Hoppecke accumulator plant. Klaus Murmann and Erich Grüter are appointed to further advisory boards .

In 1967, the new starter batteries in polypropylene boxes and with so-called mono lids went into series production for the first time in the modern production facilities of the south plant . A revolution in the battery market, as these are the first starter batteries in the world to be installed as standard in PP boxes. Plant III is built in 1971. A spacious social building will be erected between Plant South and Plant III. Despite the capacity expansion through the south plant, the company management is soon again faced with the question of where the increasing demand for starter batteries should be produced. Further expansion at the main plant in Hoppecke is no longer possible. Based on strategic considerations, the company management is looking for a location in the middle of Europe, which should also be close to important industrial centers, in Nonnweiler-Otzenhausen in Saarland .

In autumn 1971 the foundation stone was laid for the new plant, which has a total of 5,500 m² of built-up area. The first starter batteries are built on November 2nd, 1972 - 35 employees are present at the start of production. In 1978 the production area was enlarged to 9,000 m². At this point in time, around 100 people are already employed. 1976 followed the installation of the new COS system (= cast on strap), with which the flag connection during the element production was automated for the first time. Ten years later, the loading point is converted to an automatic handling system with pallet loading. In 1990 the continuous plate production (KPH) follows, in which the grids are poured over a casting drum in an endless belt and pasted in this state before they are separated and stacked. In 1994 a project started with the aim of establishing a continuous flow production from the grid to the ready-to-use battery. In 1984 the Otzenhausen plant was given a second pillar with the production of lithium primary cells and batteries.

Two variants of the AquaGen recombiner

At the end of the 1960s, Hoppecke began to deal with the topics of battery maintenance and corrosion in the battery environment. The aim is to develop a maintenance-free battery. In 1971 the Research & Development department provided the solution with the AquaGen recombiner. The process eliminates the need to top up with water for years. It also extends the service life of the battery considerably, prevents corrosion and the formation of hydrogen gases ( oxyhydrogen ) in the vicinity of the battery. The AquaGen catalyst (also known as the recombiner) is very popular, but does not prevail in the starter area due to space and cost reasons. For this reason, it is of great importance for stationary batteries.

Due to the strong sales and turnover growth, new organizational structures and personnel management concepts are needed. The following changes and measures are therefore being initiated:

Establishment of an executive committee with clearly defined responsibilities.
Introduction of the "Management by Objectives" management system in order to specify delegation and responsibility and to optimize internal coordination processes.
In 1973 the company magazine “Der Verbinder” was published for the first time, creating a connection between the target groups of current employees, former employees, business friends and external partners.
In November 1973, the company suggestion scheme (BVW) was introduced in the company on the basis of a works agreement in order to serve technical progress, to make work easier, to prevent accidents, to increase efficiency and profitability and to promote cooperation.
Participation in company activities also includes the participation of employees in company results and capital. In line with this, the management concluded a company agreement with the general works council in 1974 on “asset accumulation through profit sharing”. The model provides for an annual profit-sharing scheme, most of which remains with the company as an employee loan. Hoppecke becomes a pioneer among medium-sized companies in Germany in the field of corporate wealth creation.

1976–1986: joint venture

In 1977, the anniversary year, the Accumulatorenwerke Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Sohn (that's the official name) are in good shape. A small company has become one of the large and technologically leading accumulator manufacturers in the Federal Republic, a major employer in the Sauerland region. Sales were over DM 113 million, the workforce numbered 1,101 at the end of the year, and the products were exported to over 70 countries worldwide. In the anniversary year, the company had achieved both the highest turnover and the largest number of employees in its 50-year history.

The opening of the new Unis Tesla car battery plant in Brčko came about in 1974 through a cooperation agreement between Hoppecke and the Yugoslav company Unis . Hoppecke brings its know-how for the production of high-performance and modern car batteries to this plant.

After the starter battery housings and covers have been made of polypropylene since 1967, intensive development is being carried out in the direction of expanding plastics technology. It will soon be possible to offer train light batteries in foamed sets based on the so-called TSG process. From 1977 traction batteries are also offered in structural foam boxes. In 1979, Hoppecke added charging technology to its product portfolio, initially through the purchase of the charger manufacturer AUTOLA in Hanover , later through cooperation with other charger manufacturers and own developments. These activities result, for example, in the HOC charger and an "on-board charging system" as well as the Hoppecke-ULG universal charger with microprocessor control . Something was also happening in the area of lead-acid batteries. For example, the low-maintenance traction battery "trak S" came onto the market in 1980, a significant further development of the Hoppecke-trak with the following advantages: cell containers and lids made of plastic (welded together), patented pole lead-through, maintenance-free and pluggable cell connectors, high availability due to various influences.

Another example of the broadening of the technological basis is the establishment of DAUGHoppecke Gesellschaft für Batteriesysteme GmbH in 1980, a joint venture between Hoppecke and DAUG Deutsche Automobilgesellschaft . DAUG is a joint venture between Daimler-Benz AG and Volkswagen AG that has developed an alkaline battery system on a nickel-cadmium basis and wants to transfer it to industrial production. Hoppecke is the partner for this and is also responsible for marketing. At the Hanover Fair in April 1983 DAUG-Hoppecke presented its new product, the Hoppecke FNC nickel-cadmium accumulator with fiber structure maintenance electrodes for high demands in stationary use. The FNC cells and batteries are manufactured in a rented production hall near the main factory.

In 1985 DAUGHoppecke received the Battery Council International's innovation award for this technological breakthrough. 1984 two large trade fairs are used for the presentation of new products: The new lithium-manganese dioxide high-performance cell or battery is presented at the Hanover Fair. In contrast to the lead or FNC accumulator, it is a primary battery that is not rechargeable. These batteries are mainly supplied to the German Armed Forces and produced in the Otzenhausen plant.

At the automechanika 1984, Hoppecke presented the innovative duplex starter battery, which has been the technological determinant for many years. Two systems are integrated in one battery. One system is the newly developed double lid. It ensures that the active inner workings of the battery (for example the acid mist) do not penetrate outside and that external influences (for example water) do not diffuse inside . The second system is that the battery is locked. It is therefore one hundred percent maintenance-free and tilt-proof. The latter is of great importance for the assembly capability on the assembly lines in the automotive industry.

In 1981, a pensioners' association for former Hoppecke employees was founded in Hoppecke with the support of the management and personnel management. The association has set itself the task of maintaining the loyalty of the alumni to "their" company beyond their active professional life.

1987–1996: Crisis in the European battery industry

1987 Hoppecke celebrates its 60th company anniversary. The new Hoppecke decade begins with two fundamental decisions. One relates to the adoption of written corporate principles and guidelines in 1987. The other relates to the introduction of a new divisional organization on January 1, 1988.

The decision to implement corporate principles was made in December 1985. A few months after the corporate principles were published, Hoppecke developed a new form of organization. While the functional dimension previously determined the interaction in the company, from January 1988 the product and the product area will determine the organization. Now the two large divisions, starter batteries and industrial batteries, have their own responsibility for results and form the main pillars of the organization. Previous central areas such as R&D, controlling or human resources will retain their central policy competence, but will primarily be converted into service centers.

Battery with VliesTec technology

The company relies on fleece technology in the development of sealed and therefore maintenance-free lead-acid batteries. With the FNC-recom cell, the first gas-tight and also maintenance-free nickel-cadmium battery is brought onto the market, the new application possibilities for FNC technology, for example as aircraft batteries, for traction applications, for vehicles with hybrid drives or for use in the mobile power supply. The commissioning of the KPH system in Otzenhausen and the new Hoppecke trak air traction battery are also important historical achievements for Hoppecke. As a result of the acid mixing with the aid of air during charging, this battery guarantees significantly longer operating times than conventional products. The worldwide recognition of the high standards of Hoppecke technology are the license agreements concluded or extended in the 1990s with starter battery manufacturers in Jordan , Turkey , the USA , Portugal and South Africa .

The company's growth is reaching its limits due to the exhausted production capacities in the Hoppecke, Otzenhausen and Bar le Duc plants . The planning for additional production possibilities has already progressed when Claus Zoellner from the Treuhandanstalt Chemnitz, the administrative and recycling authority of the state-owned enterprises of the former GDR , founded Zwickauer Batterie GmbH , i.e. the starter battery division of the legal predecessor VEB Grubenlampen- und Akkumulatorenwerke Zwickau (GAZ) , after lengthy negotiations , can acquire.

Then the Hoppecke Sachsen-Batterie GmbH was founded, which bought the assets of the Zwickauer Batterie GmbH and took over 300 employees. In addition, 30 training positions are guaranteed. The deal between Treuhand and Hoppecke was completed on January 1, 1992; production under the new flag began on January 6, 1992. As early as May of the same year, all production was converted to the Hoppecke Duplex range. The generous production areas and the expandable infrastructure of Hoppecke Sachsen enable the starter battery production located in the Hoppecke plant to move to Zwickau in the winter of 1992/1993, where the production capacity is increased in the following years from 0.4 in 1991 to 2.7 million starter batteries per year . The move frees up production space in Hoppecke that will benefit the industrial batteries division.

The great crisis in the European battery industry began in 1992 and then broke out in 1993. There is overcapacity, which is causing prices to fall. The Hoppecke group of companies, which has been in the red like the rest of the industry since 1993, is responding to this difficult situation with a double strategy. Externally, this aims at a pricing policy with a sense of proportion, maintaining quality standards and additional offers of logistical services. Internally, with the support of the management team and the works council, the company management is launching the largest cost-cutting program in the company's history. From 1992 to 1996, cumulative savings of more than 70 million DM.

Overall productivity (measured in sales per employee) increases by 90 percent over the same period. Of course, these enormous efforts have an impact on the number of employees, which fell by around 200 to 1,152 employees (as of December 31, 1996) in the same period.

In the fourth year of the crisis (1995), the strategies described show that the “turn around” will succeed. Further measures are necessary to stabilize the company's situation in the long term, such as B. intensive customer care and safeguarding the cost savings achieved.

To make costs more flexible, the following measures should be mentioned as examples:

Late 1980s / early 1990s: Development and expansion of a key account management (KAM) also in the industrial battery sector
1994: Conclusion of a new company agreement on the company suggestion scheme
1995: Implementation of a new logistics concept for the starter battery replacement business. This means entering into the outsourcing of your own logistics areas to external service providers
1995/1996: Further development of the flexibilization of working hours through the entry into (again) extended weekly working hours for production employees

This collective bargaining policy of the metal and electrical industry, i. H. Hoppecke is no longer willing and able to support an increase in collectively agreed wages and salaries within 1995 of over 10%, including the reduction in working hours to 35 hours per week. In May 1995 the company left the regional collective agreement and terminated its membership in the employers' association . Of course, this step does not end the collective bargaining agreements. But it means the beginning of taking collective bargaining policy into your own responsibility and aligning it with Hoppecke's concerns. Initially, however, only a so-called recognition collective agreement is concluded with the collective bargaining partner. In return, the works councils accept, among other things, cost-saving working time regulations. In the next few years these approaches will develop into a “real” company collective agreement. In 1996, Hoppecke again achieved a slightly positive result and thus achieved the “turn around”.

1997–2008: recovery and growth course

Towards the end of the 7th decade, the battery industry is slowly recovering from the economic adversity of 1993 to 1995. From 1996 onwards, Hoppecke is back on the growth path. At the beginning of 1997, Hoppecke took over the shares held by Daimler-Benz and Volkswagen in the joint venture DAUG-Hoppecke Batteriesysteme GmbH. This makes the company a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accumulatorenwerke Hoppecke. Your new name: Hoppecke Batterie Systeme GmbH (HBS).

In 1998, special decisions are made towards the future. At the beginning of the year, the Claus Zoellner family bought back the shares in Westdeutsche Landesbank - the company is 100 percent family-owned again. Marc Zoellner's entry into the company management gives this event a special weight. The third event is the introduction of the Hoppecke management system, which consists of several elements such as position evaluations, target agreements, talks about potential, qualifications and variable remuneration.

The conclusion of extended in-house collective agreements for the Hoppecke and Otzenhausen locations follow, which form the basis for an extension of working hours in the productions. In 1998 the fully automatic production of traction cells with the so-called FTZ system goes into operation at the Hoppecke plant. In this highly automated assembly line, lead is joined together for the first time using an arc welding process.

In 2000, Hoppecke brought the vlies.tec battery to the automotive OEM market, which was awarded the “automechanika” innovation prize. The product is a maintenance-free battery in which the electrolyte - i.e. the acid - is fixed in a micro-glass fiber fleece. This prevents the acid from leaking out. Due to the better utilization of the cell volume as a result of the pressed cell installation, specifically higher outputs can be achieved with the battery. In 2001, Hoppecke established its own production facility on the Zwickau factory site.

Between 1999 and 2000, sales increased by 38 million DM to over 422 million DM - 50 percent of this was starter battery sales. During this period the workforce grew by 130 to 1,420 employees. Despite the positive business development, the Hoppecke group of companies is heading towards an existential strategic decision. The shareholders recognize that a prerequisite for further involvement in the automotive division (starter batteries) would mean a significant expansion of production capacities. There are two alternatives: Either keep the automotive business and give up their economic independence - or concentrate on the industrial battery business. The decision was made to sell the automotive division to the US car battery manufacturer Johnson Controls .

The separation from Automotive on October 1, 2001 opens up new perspectives for Hoppecke: With a stronger capital base, the market positions in the technologically demanding industrial battery markets can be further expanded. In the course of the sale, the corporate and corporate structure of the Hoppecke group of companies will also be reorganized. The individual operating companies are now lined up under the non-operating holding Accumulatorenwerke Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Sohn GmbH. The largest of these is Hoppecke Batteries GmbH & Co. KG, which is responsible for the production and sale of lead-acid batteries and is home to all central areas of the group of companies.

In the industrial battery business, Hoppecke is orienting itself as a supplier of customer-specific systems - Hoppecke Battery Systems has already proven itself in the rail business and has advanced to become a strategic supplier to Siemens. The newly founded Hoppecke Technologies in Zwickau is the foundation for future battery systems and applications based on special software and electronic components. The new trak power series of chargers, which will be developed in 2005, is an entry point in this direction. With this device and its new charging technology as well as innovative monitoring systems and automated battery changing stations, Hoppecke positions itself as a partner for planning, setting up, expanding, optimizing and maintaining charging stations for all logistical challenges.

In 2003 and the following years, Hoppecke became a supplier of stationary lead-acid batteries to numerous European telecommunications companies such as Deutsche Telekom. In the same year, the new small traction market segment is set up. These products are mainly sealed block batteries.

At the end of 2003, Hoppecke signed a company collective agreement for the companies Hoppecke Batteries, Hoppecke Battery Systems and Metallhütte Hoppecke. In addition to the further developed working time component, this provides for, among other things, a result-related remuneration and an annual minimum increase in collective wages. One year later, the increase in the weekly working time in the production areas to 40 hours and an improvement in the company pension scheme from January 2005 will be determined.

The Hoppecke plant in Wuhan, China (2006)

The Wuhan plant in China will go into operation on September 28, 2006 . The group's turnover in this decade has risen from 82 million euros in the 1997 financial year (excluding automotive sales) to around 300 million euros in the 2008 financial year (which ended on March 31, 2007). New challenges for the coming years are, for example, the battery-fuel cell hybrid project for in-house material transport or the takeover of the patent portfolio of the former HBS parent company DAUG and the establishment of HBS as the world's only know-how carrier and licensor of the FNC Technology. On the other hand, one of the challenges is to continue Hoppecke's rise to a European player with a comprehensive sales and service network throughout Europe. A qualification offensive for all Hoppecke employees worldwide and the establishment of the Hoppecke Academy have a supportive effect.

Business areas & products

"Motive Power Systems": Industrial trucks , driverless transport systems and small traction

The “trak” product family includes batteries and charging technologies. The offer also includes the establishment and optimization of charging stations through to battery replacement systems and fleet management systems.

"Reserve Power Systems": IT / Telecom, UPS , (nuclear) power plants , safety lighting, signal systems, diesel start, solar, stationary battery charging technology, DC / AC power supply devices, ZSV-BEV power supplies for hospitals, battery monitoring, lithium-ion (LiOn ) Battery systems.

The development and sale of stationary battery systems and off-grid energy sources with lead-acid, nickel technology or nickel-metal-hydride technology as well as regenerative energy technologies

“Special Power Systems”: rail and metro systems, electric buses, driverless transport systems

Batteries for extreme requirements (heat, cold and vibrations) are custom-made for customers using FNC (fiber structure nickel technology), metal hydride technology or high-current lead components.

"Research and Development": Research on modern battery technologies such as lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride has been carried out at "HOPPECKE Advanced Battery Technology GmbH" in Zwickau since April 2011. The company is a member of the BMBF innovation alliance LIB2015.

Environment and social commitment

Education and training model

The company provides training in industrial, technical and commercial professions in the dual system . In the company's 80-year history, a total of almost 800 young people had been trained up to 2006. In 1979/1980 the training workshop was replaced by a learning center with an integrated training room, which was later integrated into the mechanical workshop .

In 2002 the Hoppecke student program was launched. Here students who have previously completed an apprenticeship at Hoppecke will continue to be looked after by the Hoppecke personnel management.

Further training and development of employees are further priorities. This was realized with the establishment of the “Hoppecke Academy” on April 1st, 2006, which puts the Hoppecke employees in charge of lifelong learning. The aim is to train employees at least once a year through seminars and training courses.

Environment & recycling

Metallhütte Hoppecke batteries

The careful use of resources has been anchored in the company's principles since 1987. By taking back and recycling old batteries around the world, Hoppecke makes a contribution to environmental protection through recycling. With the resource-saving approach from environmentally friendly development to energy-efficient solutions to certified waste management companies, Hoppecke perfectly closes the cycle. No lead is lost. Metallhütte Hoppecke GmbH & Co. KG is a legally independent unit in the Hoppecke parent plant with the task of collecting used lead and lead scrap from its own production process and on the market as well as recovering metallic lead that is fed back into the production process. The metal smelter ensures that by recycling the old lead, a scarce raw material is conserved and brought into an environmentally friendly economic cycle. The first lead regeneration plant was put into operation at Hoppecke as early as 1960, and in 1976 the third lead regeneration plant went into operation.

The filter system for cleaning the exhaust air is even more massive than the smelting system. It was also renewed in 1976 and continuously optimized. In 2004 a new, two-stage filter system was installed. The process exhaust air is first cleaned in a wet scrubber before it is released into the environment via the exhaust air filter.

literature

Hoppecke company chronicle, publisher: Accumulatorenwerke Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Sohn GmbH, first edition 2007 (chronicle for the 80th company anniversary)
Hoppecke company brochure
Kraft Sachisthal: 25 years of the Hoppecke accumulator factory . Hoppenstedts Wirtschafts-Archiv, Darmstadt 1952.
We Accudemiker - 50 years of Accumulatorenwerke Hoppecke Carl Zoellner & Sohn . 1977.
St. Hubertus-Schützenbruderschaft 1850 e. V. Hoppecke (Ed.): Hoppecke - "History of our Village", Volume 1 (2000) and 2 (2003) .