Invacare
| Invacare Corporation
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | US4612031017 |
| founding | 1979 |
| Seat | Elyria , United States |
| management | Matthew E. Monaghan, CEO |
| Number of employees | 4,200 |
| sales | 966,497,000 USD (as of 2017) |
| Branch | Rehabilitation and hygiene market |
| Website | www.invacare.de |
| As of December 31, 2017 | |
The Invacare Corp. is an international group of companies that produces and sells products in the field of medical technology . The Invacare Group is headquartered in Elyria , Ohio .
History of the Invacare Group
The origin of the company can be found in a new company founded in 1885. At that time, the Fay Manufacturing Company , founded by Winslow L. Fay in Elyria (Ohio), began to produce tricycles for people with physical disabilities. It went to Arthur L. Garford in 1891, who hired George Cushing Worthington to manage the factory. In 1899 the company was renamed Worthington Manufacturing Company and in 1907 it was renamed Worthington Company . In 1917 the company merged with the Machine Parts Company to form the Colson Company and in 1933 it was renamed the Colson Corporation . In 1953, the Pritzker family from Chicago acquired the Colson Corporation and relocated the company headquarters to their hometown. Four years later, which belongs still about wheelchair production in Elyria was bought by three longtime employees and Mobilaid Inc. renamed. In 1971, Mobilaid Inc. and Invalex Company were acquired by Technicare , a medical technology company based in Cleveland . The two companies merged and the Invacare Corporation was created. It was bought by Johnson & Johnson in 1978 .
Today's Invacare company was founded in 1979 by A. Malachi Mixon, then Marketing Vice President of Technicare, and at the beginning of 1979 it was still part of the Johnson & Johnson Group, but was to be sold. Mixon, now president of Invacare Corporation, organized a small group of investors to acquire Invacare for $ 7.8 million. In 1982 Invacare launched the first motorized wheelchair with a computerized control system. Mixon also expanded its sales network and product line, which from then on also included oxygen concentrators. The company went public in 1984 and, at the same time as it was established in the European market for products for home care, was given a new direction. To this end, a British manufacturer of patient aids was acquired. Mergers with other companies in Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal followed. Invacare also expanded through mergers with companies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The product line also expanded steadily. In 2000, the company was already the market leader in home care products.
Invacare has grown from three factories to 30, from 300 employees to over 6,000, from net sales of 19 million US dollars to 1.7 billion US dollars. It became a NYSE Corporation, which is one of the " Fortune 1000 ". The corporation has production sites in 14 different countries and sells its products in around 80 countries around the world.
In 2008 the company relocated the manufacture of many parts and products to low-wage countries; it produces its own brands in two factories in the People's Republic of China. In 2010, Invacare still employed 1,300 people in Ohio, after hundreds of job losses there since the mid-2000s.
Invacare Germany
In 1985 Invacare merged with Günter Meier GmbH, a German manufacturer of electric wheelchairs, resulting in Invacare Deutschland GmbH, which has been based in Porta Westfalica since 2005 . 180 people are currently employed at the Porta Westfalica site. The central development and production of electric wheelchairs and electric vehicles for the European market is controlled from here.
In 2004, Aquatec, a manufacturer of bathtub lifters , which was founded in 1981, was integrated into the Invacare Group and the Alber company was acquired. a. manufactures electric wheelchairs and mobile stair climbing aids. Since 2006 Invacare has been selling its products through the Invacare sales and marketing organization, which is located in Isny im Allgäu and is also responsible for Invacare Austria and Invacare Switzerland as well as for the company küschall AG. Initially, sales ran under the name Invacare Aquatec GmbH , and since January 1, 2012 under Invacare GmbH. In the same year Invacare GmbH expanded its technical service at the Isny location. "InvaService" is intended to support specialist dealers with additional services. Aquatec claims to be the market leader in the bathtub lift segment.
Brands
The family of brands includes aids for mobility , home care and institutional care. In Germany, in addition to products from the umbrella brand, products from the Alber, Aquatec, Dolomite, Rea, küschall, Top End and Matrix brands are also sold. Product development takes place using a so-called two-point strategy, so that all brands offer both simple tools and multifunctional products that are individually adaptable and, for the most part, compatible with each other.
Products
The Invacare umbrella brand comprises electric wheelchairs , electric vehicles and manual wheelchairs as well as products for oxygen therapy . Furthermore, walking aids , nursing beds , anti-decubitus mattresses and patient lifts are offered. Bath lifts and transfer aids as well as toilet and shower systems have been manufactured under the name Aquatec since the 1980s . The development, manufacture and sale of the products is based in Isny im Allgäu. The Swedish brand Dolomite develops, manufactures and sells walking frames , rollators and walkers . Rea , based in Sweden, is a manufacturer of manual wheelchairs that are built for passive users: The brand specializes in the development and manufacture of multifunctional and lightweight wheelchairs . The küschall brand, on the other hand, focuses on the development and manufacture of rigid and foldable active wheelchairs . In 1986, the Swiss wheelchair manufacturer Rainer Küschall received, among other things, the award for the best design from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for the "Champion 3000". With Top End , Invacare operates a label for athletic people with disabilities. The Florida- based manufacturer sells various sports and active wheelchairs for tennis, basketball, table tennis and badminton players as well as for sports fencers. Also racing wheelchairs and hand cycles are part of the product range. Matrix manufactures ergonomic back shells for wheelchairs.
Sponsorship activities
The company sponsors athletes in disabled sports and social projects for disabled people in German-speaking countries.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Employee numbers at Invacare GmbH on invacare.de
- ↑ Information on hmenews.com
- ↑ Company profile of the Invacare Group on invacare.com
- ↑ a b Invacare on company-histories.com
- ↑ Information on erstzu-wem.de
- ↑ a b Information on hoovers.com
- ↑ a b Invacare CEO Mixon suffers small stroke, takes medical leave. on Medcitynews.com
- ↑ Jay P. Pederson: International Directory of Company Histories. Volume 47, St. James Press, 2002. pp. 163-168. (Company history)
- ↑ Greater Cleveland Partnership criticizes Gov. Ted Strickland's Invacare campaign ad. on cleveland.com
- ↑ a b History of Ulrich Alber GmbH Online, html
- ↑ a b Company history of Invacare Deutschland GmbH ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2013 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. on invacare.de
- ↑ a b Rolf Schmid: Invacare Aquatec builds on the specialist trade with a large range of products. ( Memento from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Interview InvaService ( 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. (PDF; 503 kB) on invacare.com
- ↑ Visiting Rainer Küschall ( 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. . In: Rehabilitation meeting. No. 2, 2005, pp. 20-25. (Company portrait küschall AG)
- ↑ Invacare Sponsoring company website ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2013 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. on invacare.de
- ↑ Report on lz.de
- ↑ Report on noz.de from July 20, 2012
