SWF (automotive supplier)
SWF was an automotive supplier from Stuttgart - Feuerbach , later based in Bietigheim-Bissingen in Baden-Württemberg . SWF has been part of the French Valeo group since 1999 .
history
Founded as Spezialwerkzeugfabrik GmbH (SWF) in 1923, hand tools such as screwdrivers and drills were initially manufactured there. From 1926 the company manufactured electric direction indicators and from 1927 electric windshield wipers for the automotive industry. In 1936 Gustav Rau sen. the company. From 1938 the company traded under the name SWF-Spezialfabrik für Auto Zubehör Gustav Rau GmbH . Along with the glass manufacturer Kinon in Aachen put SWF since 1938 a fully heated antifreeze disc since 1939 Winker , the km for speeds up to 140 / h were constructed. In 1942/43 the SWF moved its headquarters to Bietigheim. ⊙
During the Second World War , up to 32 mostly Soviet and Polish slave laborers were assigned to the SWF , which was then classified as essential to the war effort , and they were housed in the Bietigheim transit camp .
After 1945, the SWF developed into a leading company in the auto accessories industry. It supplied the initial equipment for direction indicators , indicators and windshield wipers to most of the German automotive industry and specialist dealers.
In 1953, the SWF brand was presented at the Paris Motor Show - the first windshield washer system was offered in 1955. The plant in Bietigheim had to be enlarged due to the high demand and new plants were added. In 1954, Rau replaced the foot dimmer with the steering column switch and introduced the headlight flasher . After taking over the Andreas Veigel company in 1957, he also produced speedometers for Volkswagen . In 1955, Rau was the first German manufacturer to bring the windscreen washer onto the market and equipped 80% of all automobiles produced in Germany with it. For curved windshields, he supplied profiled wiper blades in resilient holders. At that time the company employed 3,200 people.
After the death of Gustav Rau sen. In 1960 a street in Bietigheim-Bissingen was named after him in 1963.
His son Gustav Rau sold the company to the ITT Corporation in 1972. The 150 employees at the time had grown to around 6,000 in the mid-1970s, working in nine plants of the SWF group of companies. Since 1972 the company has belonged to the global ITT association and has developed into one of the largest manufacturers of electrical car accessories for the automotive industry. In 1984 there was another name change to SWF Auto-Electric GmbH . SWF has been part of the French Valeo group since 1999 .
Wiper blades are still produced under the SWF brand . After moving into the new factory premises on Valeostraße ⊙ , the aging buildings of the abandoned plant on Stuttgarter Straße were demolished in 2013.
literature
- Annette Schäfer: Forced labor in Bietigheim 1939–1945 and the establishment and function of the “transit camp”. In: Sheets on the city's history. Issue 14, Bietigheim-Bissingen 1999
Map with all coordinates: