Meiller (company)
| FX MEILLER vehicle and machine factory - GmbH & Co KG
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| founding | 1850 |
| Seat |
Munich , Germany
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| management |
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| Number of employees | 1788 |
| sales | 412 million euros |
| Branch | Commercial vehicle construction |
| Website | www.meiller.com |
| Status: June 2020 | |
The FX MEILLER vehicle and machine factory - GmbH & Co KG is a manufacturer of bodies for commercial vehicles , particularly tipper bodies for dump trucks . The company also produces hydraulics and elevator doors . Founded in Munich in 1850 , it is still family-owned today.
In addition to the main plant in Munich, there are plants in Karlsruhe as well as in Austria , Switzerland , Poland , the Czech Republic , Russia and France . Chassis and superstructures are coordinated with each other in cooperation with truck manufacturers.
history
In Munich, industrialization was already well advanced in 1850 when the blacksmith Lorenz Meiller, born in 1821, bought a property at Lilienstraße 3 in the Munich suburb of Au . In Weißach am Tegernsee, where he had learned the blacksmith's trade from his father Michael , he already owned a hammer forge . He bought more forges in Mauerkirchen near Endorf , in Bad Heilbrunn and one near Munich. First of all, picks, pickaxes and shovels were produced, and he was granted a license as an armorer . In 1861, winches for the forestry and construction industry were added to the forged tools. In 1881 the nephew Franz Xaver Meiller (1852–1935) took over the prosperous blacksmithing business.
In 1904, the course was set for the future when the first construction of a winch tipper was built on a truck. This represents the hour of birth of the “Meiller Kipper” . Only the manufacture of hand trucks and sack trucks was not enough, because a lot of mass should be moved with little force. The first truck winch tipper was invented, whereby two side winches were mounted on a truck, (literally :) "which manually lifted the loading bridge on one side by means of cranks and toothed racks". A tipping trailer followed three years later.
FX Meiller was awarded the title “Royal Bavarian Tool Manufacturer” by Prince Regent Luitpold in 1907 . The address book read: "Hammer and weapon smiths and winch makers" . The winches were needed to tilt the truck bed. Larger orders required an expansion of production and Meiller is building a new factory, because the tippers were exported across Europe and to Brazil . FX Meiller was appointed to the council of commerce due to his great social commitment . Before the First World War , heavy-duty vehicles with trailers for long material were produced.
In 1918, the factory site at Landshuter Allee 20 (then Hindenburgstrasse), previously leased by Benno Danner, was purchased in Munich . Swing axle trailers, brakes and vehicle lifting platforms were now manufactured. The sale of Meiller rack and pinion winches, with which tippers and truck trailers were equipped, was successful. From 1924 his two sons developed the first motor-driven hydraulic pump for a truck, which was ordered by Büssing . From 1925 onwards, the first hydraulic three-way tipper built by Meiller based on the patent from Jakob Wirz (Switzerland) was able to achieve a worldwide technical breakthrough. For the dock leveler, you didn't have to carry out the awkward hitching of the winch in order to tip on three sides. The hydraulics for this were produced in-house. The artisanal blacksmith's business had finally become an industrial company. 1935 died Kommerzienrat FX Meiller sen. His sons took over the company, with FX Meiller jun. (born 1885) continued the business.
With 500 employees, production could be maintained until 1944. a. of the Meillerwagens . From this point in time until the end of the Second World War, around 70 percent of the Meiller factory buildings were destroyed.
The remaining 100 employees began to rebuild immediately after 1945 . With a lot of improvisation , production gradually began, as production parts had been outsourced to Markt Schwaben. The power supply could not be maintained properly, so Ottenhofen temporarily brought a diesel engine and generator to Munich to generate electricity . In 1956, Meiller took over the majority of shares in Waggonfabrik Josef Rathgeber AG, which had its headquarters in Untermenzinger Strasse in the Moosach district of Munich.
In 1962, Franz Xaver Meiller (1885–1966) handed over management to the fourth “Meiller generation ”. His son of the same name took over the company. The economic miracle increased demand and from 1970 onwards, Meiller products were continuously expanded by taking over the Rathgeber company . The first hooklift came in 1972 and the Delta project was initiated on October 2nd, 1974 . At the time, it was considered the largest order to date. The Soviet Union ordered a total of 10,000 rear tippers . These were completed on November 19, 1976 and around 9,500 Magirus-Deutz trucks were equipped with them in order to use them in Siberian oil fields and for the construction of the Baikal-Amur highway .
In 1986 the company had around 2000 employees and in 1990 a factory was set up in Karlsruhe to cater for just-in-time deliveries . In 1993 a production facility followed in Slaný near Prague , Czech Republic . The 5th Meiller generation, Robert Meyer and Franz Xaver Meiller, have now also joined the company. In 1995 production was relocated from Landshuter Allee to the Moosach plant. A hydraulic rear wall for tippers was developed in 1997, and since then the drivers no longer have to get out of the truck.
In 1998 there were new developments of the two-way and rear tipper especially for the French market and the Benelux countries. As part of the company's European expansion course, the IFE vehicle technology division was taken over in 1999 . Two further production sites were set up in Austria.
Since 2002, spare parts can also be ordered online. A new hooklift with electronic control was also built. In 2004 the company acquired the tipper product group from Kögel vehicle works . In 2007, a new assembly plant was opened in Niepołomice, Poland. In 2011, Meiller Vostok (from Russian восток for east) was founded in the Russian growth market .
In June 2017, Meiller announced the purchase of the British tipper manufacturer Boweld Truck Bodies Ltd. known. The purchase gives the company its first access to the UK market.
Works
- Munich , Germany
- Karlsruhe , Germany
- Slaný , Czech Republic
- Oed-Oehling , Austria
- Rüthi , Switzerland
- Lipsheim , France
- Niepołomice , Poland
- Moscow , Russia
literature
- Marita Krauss : The royal Bavarian purveyors to the court. Volk Verlag, Munich 2008, on F. X. Meiller pp. 146–155. ISBN 978-3-937200-27-9
Web links
- History - the royal Bavarian purveyors to the court
- The story of Meiller
- Lastauto Omnibus , special issue 1986 - 100 years trucks, p. 136, Vereinigte Motor-Verlage
- Meiller website
- Internet presence of Meiller elevator doors
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 48 ° 10 ′ 49.1 ″ N , 11 ° 30 ′ 17.6 ″ E