Kaldewei

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This article covers the Kaldewei company. For the historian, see Gerhard Kaldewei ; for other meanings see Kaldewey .

Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. KG
legal form	GmbH & Co. KG
founding	1918
Seat	Ahlen , North Rhine-Westphalia
management	Franz Kaldewei (CEO) Patrick Nussmann Christian Graap Roberto Martinez
Number of employees	around 700 worldwide (2011)
sales	around 200 million euros (2011)
Website	www.kaldewei.com

Kaldewei company headquarters in Ahlen

The Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. KG (proper spelling: KALDEWEI) is a family owned company that specializes in the production of high quality bathroom solutions made of steel enamel has specialized. The design of the more than 600 bathtubs, shower surfaces and washbasins in the Kaldewei portfolio is developed in the company's own design center and in collaboration with internationally renowned design offices and has been awarded over 150 prizes. The only production site is at the headquarters in Ahlen , North Rhine-Westphalia . In the area of ​​enamelled bathroom solutions, the manufacturer has developed into one of the world's leading manufacturers of bathtubs, showers and washbasins. Today Kaldewei is present in over 80 countries worldwide, with twelve branches in China, England, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Spain, Southeast Asia, the Czech Republic and the USA. The company is managed in the fourth generation by Franz Kaldewei, employs over 700 people worldwide and generates around 50 percent of sales abroad.

Company history

In 1918, Franz Kaldewei founded Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. in Ahlen. Initially, the company manufactured raw materials for the enamel industry, such as washing tubs and frying pans. Milk cans and dairy equipment later complemented the product range.

When his son Heinrich Kaldewei joined the management team in 1928, production was focused on steel enamel bathtubs , the manufacture of which began in 1934. At that time, tubs were welded together from several parts.

As of 1939, Kaldewei, as part of the military industry, produced high- explosive grenades in caliber 8.8 cm and 10.5 cm, coordinated by the Osnabrück-Recklinghausen Armaments Command. From 1942, the company used forced labor from Eastern Europe. At the end of the 1980s, the work cards of Soviet citizens were evaluated in a school project on forced labor in Ahlen, 95 of whom were employed in the Kaldewei enamelling plant. In 2011, Kaldewei handed over its archive documents to the Westphalian Economic Archives , where the company's history was to be processed.

In 1957, with the help of a hydraulic drawing press, Kaldewei succeeded in producing a "seamless" bathtub for the first time, that is, from a single steel plate without welds. This was then enamelled. In the same year the company put the world's first hydraulic bathtub press line into operation. As a result, productivity increased and the seamlessly drawn steel-enamel bathtubs almost completely replaced the cast bathtubs, which had been very popular up until then.

In Germany, Kaldewei was the first industrial company in the sanitary industry to use robots in series production in 1972, which ensured a computer-controlled, constant application of enamel. Even today, Kaldewei is the only bathroom manufacturer in Germany that produces its enamel in the company's own melt.

After the death of his father, Franz-Dieter Kaldewei took over management of the company as the sole shareholder in 1973 and continued to modernize Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. In 1989 the world's largest reversible furnace was put into operation.

Specialist engineers optimized the press lines for bathtubs for speed and flexibility, and so in 1992 the world's most powerful press line for bathtubs was put into operation at Kaldewei. In 1994, the Superplan model was the world's first floor-level shower surface made of steel enamel. In 2008, production started on a press line for shower surfaces and shower trays. Under the direction of Franz-Dieter Kaldewei, the company invested in further quality improvement, in the expansion of service and warranty, and relied on design as a central cornerstone of the corporate philosophy. In addition to developing in its own design center, Kaldewei began working with renowned design firms in 1974. The variety of models expanded.

On August 1, 2008, Franz Kaldewei joined the company as managing director. He is supported in his activities by the commercial director Patrick Nussmann, the technical director Christian Graap and the director sales Roberto Martínez.

Under Franz Kaldewei, the company is focusing on expanding its market position in international competition, digitization and sustainability. In 2010, Kaldewei received the “Brand of the Century” award. In 2014 the product line “Masterpieces” was introduced. It includes high-quality freestanding designer bathtubs made of steel enamel. In 2015, Kaldewei expanded its product portfolio and the “Meisterstücke” product line to include washbasins made of steel enamel, which won several design awards in the following years.

sustainability

In 2009, the company was the first German bathroom supplier to submit an environmental product declaration (EPD). This voluntary certification, which includes a life cycle assessment of the products, was renewed by Kaldewei in 2014 by the independent Bauen und Umwelt Institute.

In 2017, the company was awarded the international “Green Good Design Award” for designing sustainable products. In 2018, the manufacturer also started a long-term cooperation with the nature and environmental protection organization WWF. Kaldewei supports the WWF marine protection program, which works to reduce plastic waste in the oceans.

Products

The Kaldewei product range extends from bathtubs, shower surfaces and washbasins, all of which are made from steel enamel , to six different whirlpool systems, right through to assembly systems and accessories for bathtubs and shower trays.

The company is the only manufacturer with its own enamel development department and production. Based on a recipe that Kaldewei developed itself, the material Kaldewei steel enamel combines the special properties of steel and enamel: in addition to exceptional durability and longevity, bathroom solutions made from Kaldewei steel enamel are demonstrably easier to clean than conventional products. Bathroom solutions from Kaldewei have a 30-year guarantee.

The bathroom solutions are developed in our own design center or in collaboration with internationally renowned design offices such as Sottsass Associati, Phoenix Design, Arik Levy, Anke Salomon and Studio Aisslinger and have received over 150 awards. Including 13 times the Red Dot Design Award - most recently for the Miena washbasin bowls (design: Anke Salomon) - or nine times the iF Design Award, including for the Miena washbasin bowls and the masterpieces Conoduo, Superplan Plus and Asymmetric Duo .

Kaldewei customers currently have more than 600 models in various dimensions and colors available, which, according to the manufacturer, allow them to find coordinated bathroom solutions for every room situation and size (“perfect match”). In addition to the classic sanitary colors for shower surfaces, selected bathtubs and all washbasins, Kaldewei offers a range of warm colors, the Kaldewei Coordinated Colors Collection.

Due to the ongoing trend towards floor-level showers, Kaldewei has over 50,000 product variants in its range of ten model series, five different surfaces, 34 colors and almost 60 different dimensions in the enamelled shower surface segment alone. Kaldewei also offers assembly solutions for different installation situations.

In 2017, the NexSys shower surface system was introduced, which is a complete, ready-to-install system in which all components are pre-assembled - including an integrated drainage channel and a sloping support. In 2018 NexSys received the “Iconic Award” in the “Product” category.

Today, Kaldewei is represented at all important international sanitary fairs and events such as the ISH, IFH, SHK and Salone del Mobile and supports architects, sanitary professionals and private builders with a variety of online tools such as the product configurator, an interactive planning aid or - as one of the very first sanitary ware manufacturers - with BIM data .

As “Brand of the Century” and “Corporate Brand of the Year” (German Brand Award 2016), Kaldewei is one of the strongest brands in Germany and is also among the top 50 German luxury brands.

The company's reference properties include the luxury hotel Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the Hotel Peninsula Shanghai and the Waldorf Astoria Berlin.

The main competitors in Germany are Villeroy & Boch and the Bette company. In Europe, the Spanish company Roca is the biggest competitor.

The Kaldewei Iconic World

On May 10, 2005, Kaldewei opened a two-storey training and exhibition center as an international meeting point for Kaldewei customers, especially architects, planners, wholesalers and plumbers: the “Kaldewei Competence Center”, which has been called “Kaldewei Iconic World” since November 2017. In addition to changing themed exhibitions on the first floor, the exhibition on the second floor provides an overview of the entire product range through a permanent presentation of bathtubs and shower trays. From there, visitors can view the enamel melt in the Kaldewei blast furnaces on a panorama platform.

The factory tour, during which trade visitors can experience the manufacturing process of Kaldewei steel, is part of the brand experience world that Kaldewei opened in the same building in November 2017. Here visitors get an insight into the four dimensions of the brand: holistic bathroom solutions, iconic design, global partnership and steel enamel. A multi-sensory tunnel guides you through the three audio-visual staged Kaldewei product worlds “washbasin”, “shower area” and “bathtub”. In the “Iconic Design” area, an exhibition of selected design icons, design studies and the latest developments conveys Kaldewei's understanding of design. In the “Material Experience” area, visitors can test the properties of the Kaldewei steel enamel material through experiments, such as the drop of a 7 kilogram bowling ball on a shower surface or the heating of a steel enamel plate with a jet flame at 1000 degrees Celsius. An interactive multimedia point in the “Iconic References” area shows a selection of reference objects from Kaldewei as a global partner.

The Kaldewei Iconic World also offers the possibility of specialist tradespeople training in face-to-face seminars. In a specially equipped training room in the basement, installers can install the various assembly or whirlpool systems in a practical manner. In addition, Kaldewei has been offering interactive webinars for specialist partners since 2017 - with live dialogues, PowerPoint presentations, practical demonstrations and the option of asking questions in real time in live chats.

Web links

• Kaldewei Germany
• Kaldewei: The bathtub captains ( brand eins , 6/2012)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jens Bergmann: The bathtub captains . brand eins Medien AG. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
2. ↑ Sally Fulls: The bathtub as a style icon. In: ad-magazin.de. Condé Nast Verlag, accessed June 3, 2018 . 
3. ^ Kaldewei: Kaldewei: Milestones in the company's history. Kaldewei, accessed on June 3, 2018 . 
4. ^ Silvia Danne: Love Brands: Communiting - Marketing 4.0 - SSP. This is how customers love your brand and become brand ambassadors . Ed .: Linde Verlag GmbH. Linde Verlag GmbH, p. 256 .
5. ↑ Sally Fulls: The bathtub as a style icon. In: ad-magazin.de. Condé Nast Verlag, accessed June 3, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten: Consistently on the way to becoming a global brand. In: Westfälische Nachrichten. Westfälische Nachrichten, accessed on August 31, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Kaldewei: Kaldewei: data and facts. In: www.kaldewei.de. Kaldewei, accessed on June 3, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Jens Bergmann: The bathtub captains. In: https://www.brandeins.de/ . brand eins Medien AG, accessed on June 2, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Sally Fulls: The bathtub as a style icon. Condé Nast Verlag, accessed June 3, 2018 . 
10. ^ ^{A b} Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. KG: Data & Facts . 2018 ( Brochure [PDF; 973 kB ; accessed on June 2, 2018]).
11. ↑ Jürgen Gojny: The armaments industry during the Second World War in Ahlen as reflected in the reports of the armaments commandos Osnabrück and Recklinghausen . In: Münsterland , yearbook of the Warendorf district. 55th year (2006), ZDB -ID 1288088-7 , pp. 298-306.
12. ↑ 70 years of the Westphalian Economic Archives: The historical archive of the Kaldewei company enriches the "memory of the regional economy" as the 200th company inventory , press release of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association of October 10, 2011.
13. ↑ Ralf Ostermann: Difficult chapter: Companies in the Nazi era . In: The Bell of March 20, 2012
14. ↑ Sanitary journal: 100 years of Kaldewei. Sanitary journal, August 10, 2018, accessed August 16, 2018 . 
15. ^ Kaldewei: The history of Kaldewei in numbers. In: www.kaldewei.de. Kaldewei, accessed on June 3, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Katrin Montiegel: From company to brand . Ed .: Space and Living. No. 08/2015 .
17. ↑ Construction links: Kaldewei magazine. (PDF) In: Baulinks.de. Retrieved August 16, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Self-confident approach, new catalog, redesigned website ... 360 ° Kaldewei. In: Baulinks.de. August 30, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2018 . 
19. ↑ A&W Magazine: Kaldewei delights the juries of renowned design awards with the masterpiece “Centro Duo Oval”. In: A&W magazine. Retrieved August 16, 2018 . 
20. ^ Kaldewei: Kaldewei: The history of Kaldewei in numbers. In: Kaldewei.de. Retrieved June 3, 2018 . 
21. ^ Institute Building and Environment e. V .: Published EPDs. In: https://ibu-epd.com/ . Retrieved on August 16, 2018 . 
22. ↑ WWF and Kaldewei: WWF and Kaldewei cooperate. In: https://www.wwf.de/ . Retrieved August 16, 2018 . 
23. ↑ TÜV Rheinland: Test report no. 3045023_70.1, Products division “Business Stream Products”, LFGB / Konsumgüter - LFGB / Consumer Products, 2012 .
24. ↑ Jens Bergmann: The bathtub captains. Retrieved June 2, 2018 . 
25. ↑ JC Berndt, S. Henkel: Future-ready !: Lived identity in disruptive times - this is how companies become future-proof . Ed .: printamazig. December 20, 2017, p. 209 .
26. ↑ Heinze: Kaldewei - into the future with the fourth generation. Retrieved June 6, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Kaldewei: Perfect Match. Retrieved June 6, 2018 . 
28. ↑ Construction links: Seven new colors for Kaldewei floor-level showers. Retrieved August 18, 2018 . 
29. ↑ Detail: shower expertise for more than 60 years. In: https://www.detail.de . Retrieved August 16, 2018 . 
30. ↑ Heinze: Floor-level showers: Kaldewei NexSys opens up a new market segment. In: https://www.heinze.de . Retrieved June 6, 2018 . 
31. ↑ Iconic Awards: Iconic Awards. In: iconic-architecture.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018 . 
32. ↑ Kaldewei: Simply plan and implement. In: https://www.kaldewei.de . Retrieved June 3, 2018 . 
33. ↑ WEKA Industry Media: Kaldewei: Brand of the Century. WEKA Industrie Medien, accessed on September 8, 2018 . 
34. ^ V. Goebel: German Brand Award u. a. for Vorwerk, Telekom, Kaldewei, RTL II. New Business Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, accessed on August 18, 2018 . 
35. ↑ Luxury Business Day: Luxury Business Day 2018. Accessed August 18, 2018 . 
36. ↑ Carla Marconi: Steel enamel for beautiful bathrooms. In: https://www.ahgz.de . Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung, accessed on June 3, 2018 . 
37. ↑ arcade: Iconic World opens. In: https://www.arcade-xxl.de . Retrieved August 18, 2018 . 
38. ↑ arcade: 'Iconic World' opened. Retrieved August 18, 2018 . 
39. ↑ SBZ: New: Live webinar for installers. Alfons W. Gentner Verlag, accessed on August 18, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 45 ′ 52 ″  N , 7 ° 54 ′ 9 ″  E