SMS Meer

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SMS MEER GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1872
Seat Mönchengladbach , Germany
management Managing directors:
  • Marcel Fasswald (technology and handling)
  • Torsten Heising (Commercial Department)
  • Jens Barth (Sales)
Number of employees around 3,650 (status as of 2013)
sales around € 1.16 billion (as of 2013 financial statements)
Website www.sms-group.com

The SMS Meer GmbH , headquartered in Moenchengladbach, a division of the SMS group . SMS Meer is a global leader in plant and machine construction for steelworks and continuous casting technology ( long products ), pipe systems, profile rolling mills, forging technology, non-ferrous plants ( aluminum and copper ), heat technology and services.

The division has around 3,650 employees, and incoming orders in 2013 totaled 1,104 million euros. The company headquarters are in Mönchengladbach (Germany). The division also includes SMS Concast (Zurich / Switzerland), PWS (Ravensburg / Germany), Hertwich Engineering (Braunau / Austria) and SMS Elotherm (Remscheid / Germany). In addition, SMS Meer is represented worldwide with its own national companies. Most recently, a production site was opened in Shanghai / China in October 2010 (SMS Meer Engineering (China) Ltd.)

Range of services

The range of services offered by SMS Meer includes systems and machines for the areas of steelworks and continuous casting technology for long products, pipe systems, profile rolling mills, forging technology, non-ferrous systems, heating technology and service.

Steel works and continuous casting technology for long products

As part of the SMS Meer business area, SMS Concast develops and produces systems for the entire steel production process: from electric arc furnaces for melting down various input materials to secondary metallurgy systems and continuous casting. The company has specialized in systems for long products. Together with the other companies in the division, SMS Concast also offers so-called minimills, integrated steelworks with a directly connected rolling mill.

Pipe systems

SMS Meer is the world's largest plant and machine manufacturer for tube production. The division produces seamless tube systems, tube welding systems, spiral tube systems, radial forging machines for tube production as well as the corresponding finishing equipment.

Section rolling mills

In the section rolling mills, SMS Meer covers machines and systems for section and semi-finished product rolling mills, fine steel mills, as well as wire and bar mills. Typical products that are manufactured on systems from SMS Meer are reinforcing steel, beams, rails, wires and special profiles. SMS Meer also produces machines and systems for the production of bright steel.

Forging technology

SMS Meer offers hydraulic presses and extrusion presses, closed-die forges as well as ring rolling systems and machines. Customers use the systems to manufacture turbine blades for the aerospace and power plant industries, drive and axle components for the vehicle industry and profiles for the automotive, aviation and railway industries. Rings that are used in the mechanical engineering and automotive sectors, for example as roller bearings, as components of pressure-resistant tanks or in the construction of wind turbines, are manufactured on ring rollers. Wheels for rail vehicles are also produced on the systems.

NF systems

In the aluminum sector, SMS Meer is a full-range supplier in the field of aluminum casting equipment. The subsidiary Hertwich Engineering bundles the competencies in aluminum processing. The portfolio includes melting furnaces, homogenization systems, casting systems, ingot milling machines and band saws as well as ancillary equipment.

In the copper sector, SMS Meer sells systems for wire and tube production and for the manufacture of semi-finished products. This area also includes continuous casting plants for cast iron, precious metals and special alloys.

Thermal engineering

The two SMS Meer subsidiaries SMS Elotherm and SMS Meer SpA manufacture heating systems. In this way, workpieces are brought to processing temperature or products that have already been processed are hardened and tempered in order to improve the material properties. SMS Meer SpA offers gas or oil-fired furnaces, SMS Elotherm specializes in induction technology.

service

The service portfolio of SMS Meer includes technical services such as the commissioning of the plants, the supply of spare parts, modernization or emergency service, but also the professional training of the plant operators, support in the operation of the plants and consulting offers.

Company history

Founded in the 19th century

The roots of SMS Meer go back around 140 years: On December 10, 1872 the brothers Michael and Peter Meer founded the “Gebr. Meer Maschinenfabrik und Eisengiesserei oH ". They manufactured steam engines and mainly supplied the strong textile industry on the Lower Rhine.

Michael Meer died shortly after the company was founded. From then on, Peter Meer managed the company alone. He expanded the product range to include compressors and water pumps . In addition to weaving and spinning mills , customers now also included oil mills , mines and waterworks. During this time, Meer began to repair and maintain its products and thus also became a service company.

Peter Meer died in 1912. The sons of the two company founders, Willy and Hermann Meer, took over the management. During the First World War , the company produced armaments. After the end of the war, Karl Gruber, a new partner and technical director, joined the company in 1921. He introduced a new branch of production: the construction of plants for the production of seamless steel tubes. Mannesmann developed the process for manufacturing seamless steel tubes in the late 19th century, a quantum leap in tube production. In 1923, Meer delivered the first tube rolling mill to a customer in Düsseldorf, and two years later the first delivery was made to the United States.

Takeover by Mannesmann

In 1926, Meer was taken over by Mannesmannröhren-Werke , which had been interested in Meer since the early 1920s. “Maschinenfabrik Meer AG” was founded with a share capital of 1.8 million Reichsmarks and became the property of the Düsseldorf group.

Meer profited from increasing incoming orders and developed into one of the leading manufacturers of tube rolling mills within a few years. In 1930, together with Mannesmann and Kronprinz AG , Meer acquired the German patents for Assel rolling mills, further developed the method and achieved greater accuracy in pipe diameter and wall thickness. The tubes produced on Assel rolling mills could be used for the production of ball bearings and Meer became one of the main suppliers of the European ball bearing industry.

Arms production in World War II

At the beginning of the Second World War , the Meer Maschinenfabrik was integrated into armaments production. The factory was expanded and produced ammunition machines , piston machines for minesweepers and armor parts.

In August 1943, Maschinenfabrik Meer was badly damaged in a bomb attack. On the night of September 19-20, 1944, British bombers almost completely destroyed the plant. After the end of the war, the Allies split the Mannesmann industrial conglomerate into three parts.

Reconstruction from 1946

In the destroyed post-war Germany, the rebuilding of the company, which at that time belonged to the Mannesmann successor company STAMAG (Stahl- und Maschinengesellschaft mbH), turned out to be difficult. Not until 1948 was there enough money available again due to the currency reform and the Marshall Plan. The sea was growing rapidly with the global demand for steel and machinery that the Korean War sparked in the early 1950s. In 1953 the company employed 700 people again and had a turnover of around 25 million marks.

In 1955 the Mannesmann Group was merged again and Meer was integrated under the name "Mannesmann-Meer". In the period that followed, Meer invested heavily in research and development as well as in production capacity and employee training. The patented stretch-reducing mill in three-roller design with mechanical-hydraulic superimposition drive was one of the most important new developments of the post-war period.

In 1962, a new administration building was built in Mönchengladbach in Ohlerkirchweg, where the SMS Meer company headquarters are still located today. In 1966, Mannesmann decided to merge its core areas under uniform management and on January 1, 1967, Meer took over the management of all mechanical engineering companies in the group. During this time, the area grew steadily, including through several company acquisitions.

Integration into Demag

From 1972 onwards, Mannesmann gradually acquired shares in Demag , one of the largest mechanical engineering companies based in Duisburg. In 1973 Mannesmann took over Demag AG, from 1974 onwards Meer was integrated into the new company as "Mannesmann Demag Meer, branch of Demag Aktiengesellschaft". The early 1980s were marked by the structural crisis in the iron and steel industry. That also bothered the sea. The economy only recovered in the mid-1980s.

In 1990, Mannesmann acquired the license for the first private mobile network in Germany and in the following years developed into one of the leading mobile communications companies in Germany. As part of the restructuring, the corporate management decided to part with the industrial activities. In addition to Demag, this also affected business areas such as Rexroth, [Dematic] and Mannesmann Sachs. After 75 years of cooperation, the parent company was separated: On January 1, 1999, Mannesmann Demag's metallurgy division merged with “SMS Schloemann-Siemag” (SMS) to form "SMS Demag". At the time, SMS was jointly owned by the Weiss entrepreneurial family and the MAN group.

Development with SMS

Initially, Meer was integrated as one of eight business units in the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology division of SMS Demag. In 2000, Meer was spun off under the name "SMS Meer GmbH" and represented the "Tube, Profile and Copper Plants" division. At the same time, the market-leading aluminum specialist Hertwich Engineering and the Italian “SIMACSpA” (today SMS Meer SpA) as well as the “Section Mills” division were assigned to the division. The Mönchengladbach location was expanded. In 2002, the SMS Meer program was merged with the pressing and forging technology from SMS Eumuco. In the case of pipe welding activities for large diameters, the corresponding activities of the main competitor "VAI" have been taken over. With the acquisition of "SMS Elotherm", a company specializing in induction technology, the division rounded off its product range in 2003. The current name, "SMS Meer", was given to the division in 2006. Two years later, SMS Meer acquired the mechanical engineering program from Schumag and PWS Automatisierungs- und Elektrotechnik GmbH. On January 1, 2011, SMS Concast with 346 employees was organizationally integrated into the SMS Meer corporate division.

The Weiss family took over the remaining shares in the SMS network from MAN in 2007. In addition, the owners had already bought Siemens' holdings. The SMS group was completely family-owned again.

Locations

SMS Meer is present on all continents through its subsidiaries and agencies. The headquarters are in Mönchengladbach.

Locations in Germany are Mönchengladbach , Aachen , Witten , Remscheid and Ravensburg . In Europe, the group is in Austria ( Braunau am Inn ), Switzerland ( Zurich ), Italy ( Tarcento and Udine ), France ( Altkirch ), Great Britain ( Chesterfield and Bishop Auckland ), Russia ( Saint Petersburg and Moscow ), Romania ( Bucharest ) , Spain ( Barcelona ) and Ukraine ( Dnepropetrovsk ) present. The group also has branches or subsidiaries in North and South America and Asia.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annual Report 2012 of the SMS group
  2. ↑ Article in the Westdeutsche Zeitung of October 28, 2010  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: dead link / local-wirtschaft.rp-online.de  
  3. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio.html
  4. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/stahlwerke-stranggiessen-langprodukte.html
  5. ↑ Article “Successful Minimill Technology”, METEC messe daily, Stahleisen Verlag, July 2nd, 2011.
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 18, 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stahleisen.de
  7. ↑ Article "Plants for high precision automotive products", Tube & Pipe Technology 3/2011, Intras Ltd.
  8. ↑ Article “Two-stage spiral pipe plant”, Tube & Pipe Technology 3/2011, Intras Ltd.
  9. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/profilwalzwerke.html
  10. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/schmiedetechnik.html
  11. ↑ Article "Resource-Efficient Systems", Aluminum Praxis 9/2011, Giesel Verlag.
  12. ↑ Article “SMS invests 60 million euros”, Aluminum Praxis 10/2011, Giesel Verlag
  13. ↑ Article “SMS Siemag and SMS Meer - Successful equipment partners to the aluminum industry in the Gulf”, International Aluminum Journal 4/2011, pp. 34-39, Giesel Verlag
  14. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. , P. 66. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.alu-web.de
  15. ↑ Article “Hertwich Engineering casthouse masters”, Aluminum Times 9/2011, Modern Media Communications Ltd.
  16. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/ne-anlagen/aluminiumanlagen/ Lieferprogramm- aluminiumanlagen.html
  17. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/ne-anlagen/kupferanlagen.html
  18. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/waermetechnik.html
  19. ↑ Article "High efficient bar furnace sold to steel producer in western US", Tube & Pipe Technology 9/2011, Intras Ltd.
  20. ↑ http://www.sms-meer.com/portfolio/service.html
  21. ↑ Article “Maintenance with Method”, Maintenance 5/2011, Verlag modern industrie GmbH
  22. ↑ Cf. Friedrich-Wilhelm Henning, Die Industrialisierung in Deutschland 1800 to 1914, Munich, Vienna, Zurich 1973.
  23. ↑ Mannesmann-Meer: Manuscript on the topic of “Development History of Mannesmann-Meer” 1872–1970, arranged by Grunwald and Henle, 1970.
  24. ↑ Cf. Mannesmann-Meer: Manuscript on the topic of “Development History of Mannesmann-Meer” 1872–1970, arranged by Grunwald and Henle, 1970.
  25. ↑ Interview with Klaus-Werner Meer on November 5, 2010 in Mönchengladbach
  26. ↑ See profiles and portraits of Dr. Schmelzer, undated (possibly before 1948).
  27. ↑ See Die MEER Chronik, p. 6.
  28. ↑ See Die MEER Chronik, p. 7.
  29. ^ Mannesmann Archive: Meeting of the Supervisory Board of Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Düsseldorf on August 28, 1926.
  30. ↑ Man archive, M 17600: Letter to Director General Dr. Bierwes.
  31. ↑ See Horst Wessel, Continuity in Change. 100 years of Mannesmann 1890-1990, Mannesmann AG 1990, p. 240.
  32. ↑ See Horst Wessel, Continuity in Change. 100 years of Mannesmann 1890-1990, Mannesmann AG 1990, p. 241.
  33. ↑ Stadtarchiv Mönchengladbach, 29c 25/1551: Letter from the Remscheid City Council as the leading institution for immediate measures in the event of war damage, undated (probably in autumn 1943).
  34. ↑ Stadtarchiv Mönchengladbach, 29c 25/1551: Letter from the armaments command in Düsseldorf, Viersen branch, on January 24, 1945 about damage after the air raid on August 31, 1943.
  35. ^ Cf. Margit Sollbach-Papeler, Mönchengladbach and Rheydt 1939-1945, Hagen 1997, p. 39.
  36. ↑ See Hanno Bernett, From the unbundling to the restoration of old corporate structures - The corporate organization of German mining companies using the example of Mannesmann (1945 - 1958/9), Bonn 1991.
  37. ↑ Bundesarchiv Koblenz, B 109/4644: Letter from KfW to Meer, on September 3, 1949, subject: “Spätlese 1949”: Meer receives a loan of 500,000.00 marks. Originally requested were 1,500,000.00 marks.
  38. ^ HStAD NW 74 Ministry of Economics 198: Report of the Board of Directors (Mannesmann) on the business year from January 1 to December 31, 1955, p. 7.
  39. ↑ Mannesmann-Meer: A history of the development of technology 1872-1970, arranged by Grunwald and Henle, pp. 7-10.
  40. ↑ City Archives Mönchengladbach, 37/4/3: Sea Reports "Modern Rohrreduzierwalzwerke" Maschinenfabrik Meer AG 1954th
  41. ↑ Cf. article “The young people are particularly concerned” from the Westdeutsche Zeitung, 12th year - No. 244 of November 3, 1959.
  42. ↑ See Die MEER Chronik, p. 17.
  43. ↑ See article "Not facade and representation, this was about a functional building" from Rheinische Post No. 149 of June 30, 1962.
  44. ↑ See Horst Wessel, Continuity in Change. 100 years of Mannesmann 1890-1990, Salzgitter 1990, p. 370.
  45. ↑ Bundesarchiv Koblenz, B 102/278161, Vol. 1: Letter from Mannesmann CEO Dr. Egon Overbeck to Mr. Hans Friedrichs, Federal Minister of Economics in Bonn on January 24, 1973 (explanations on the merger with Demag AG).
  46. ↑ See Die Meer Chronik, p. 38.
  47. ↑ See Mannesmann Demag's annual report from 1983, p. 2.
  48. ↑ See Mannesmann Demag's annual reports from 1984-1987.
  49. ↑ See Handelsblatt No. 186 of September 28, 1998, p. 13
  50. ↑ See http://www.h-bensberg.de/html/familie_weiss.html , on February 22, 2012.
  51. ↑ See SMS Annual Report 2001, p. 33.
  52. ↑ See Mönchengladbach District Court, HRB 6596, page 2, entry number 7.
  53. ↑ See Die Meer Chronik, p. 55.
  54. ↑ See SMS Annual Report 2002, p. 6.
  55. ↑ Annual Report 2011 of the SMS Group  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sms-group.com  
  56. ↑ See http://www.h-bensberg.de/html/familie_weiss.html , on February 22, 2012.
  57. ↑ SMS Meer locations: Annual Report 2010 of the SMS group, pp. 102–105 (PDF; 4.2 MB)