Schmid screws Hainfeld
The Schmid Schrauben Hainfeld GmbH is the only screw factory in Austria. The company produces almost 650 tons of screws, fasteners and special parts per month. With an export rate of just over 50%, the majority of goods go to trading and industrial companies worldwide.
| Schmid screws Hainfeld
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1842 |
| Seat | Hainfeld, Lower Austria |
| management | Andreas Gebert |
| Number of employees | 150 |
| sales | € 29 million |
| Branch | Metal processing |
| Website | www. Schrauben.at |
history
In 1842 a Johann F. Desmarest built a machine nail factory in Vienna on the square where the Austrian National Bank's car park is today . Over the years - due to the noise caused by the production - the company had to be relocated to Hainfeld . The metal goods were then produced there in five small factories along the Ramsau brook using the existing water power. These five plants were set up as hammer forges and supplied the flat iron , which was the starting material for the pencil production. Mainly nails and pens, but also shovels and scythes were made for the region.
In 1904 August Schmid von Schmidsfelden the Elder , who already owned a factory in Wilhelmsburg , acquired the Hainfeld ironworks. In the following years, the production of nails and wire was modernized, a pickling and wire drawing shop was set up. With the installation of water turbines and generators , an own power generation was built. Due to this own generation of electricity, it was possible to drive the machines with electric motors, whereby the electricity was generated exclusively with the company's own hydropower plants. Schmid & Sons employed 20 people at the time.
In 1908 the first head turning machines and thread machines were bought and the production of the first wood construction screws started. For years, the goods produced were brought to the Hainfeld train station in a single-horse wagon and from there distributed throughout the region. In 1934 the descendant of August von Schmid, Erich Schmid, became the sole owner of the screw factory. He named the factory after himself: Erich Schmid Hainfeld - ESH. He headed the company from 1934 to 1957. Under his leadership, the factory, which was largely destroyed in World War II, was rebuilt and the machinery was modernized at the same time. In 1939 an exchange agreement was made with an Austrian competitor, according to which the latter took over the wire pin production and in return gave up the wood screw production. After the mutual exchange of the machines, the wood screw production was now accelerated and manufactured on a machine park.
In 1953 the production of nuts, iron thread screws and sheet metal screws began. Otto Kurz, Erich Schmid's son-in-law, who had been with the company since 1951, took over management of the company after Erich Schmid's death in 1957. Wood screw production was further expanded.
In the following years, the machine park was gradually expanded and the production program expanded. In 1959 nuts, nut bolts , hinge bolts, frame bolts and adjusting screws were added to the production program. Furthermore, the production of high-strength screws began in 1965. Due to the growing product range and the good sales development, smaller halls were gradually added and staff added.
In October 1975 the first cheap screws from the Far East (China, Japan) came onto the market. According to older employees, the price of this product was said to have been so low that ESH bought and destroyed a large part in order to keep its own screw price. However, during this time ESH's debt rose to ATS 60 million.
With the establishment of a hot pressing shop in 1976, Erich Schmid became the market leader in the screw sector in Austria. With the new hot pressing shop, sleeper screws could now also be produced for the ÖBB and high-strength iron thread screws M30 with a length of 400 mm. In 1977, with 512 employees, the highest level of employment in the history of the screw factory was reached. At that time, Schmid was also the largest private employer in the Lilienfeld district .
In the 1980s, increasing sales figures made it possible to invest in machinery. Among other things, a nut press, a cross transport press, a CNC lathe and modern devices for monitoring the presses were purchased. In 1987 the product range already comprised 12,000 items, around half of which were custom-made products.
At the end of the 1980s, ESH was struggling with financial difficulties. Rising material costs and a continued high drop in prices due to imported goods from low-wage countries caused massive problems for the screw factory. In 1992, a compensation process was inevitable in order to keep the screw factory going. Further downsizing and a massive reduction in the product range were the result. Despite all the measures, the settlement had to be withdrawn at the end of 1992 and instead filed for bankruptcy.
After intensive negotiations with all parties, including Minister Viktor Klima , bankruptcy was averted and the screw factory was able to continue production. However, with immediate effect, the management was taken over by the GBI, the Federal Association for Industrial Policy. The first measures taken by the new management in 1993, in addition to reducing the product range and the number of employees, were also renaming the company to Schmid Schrauben Hainfeld GmbH. The work of the GBI managers had an impact and things started to improve again.
The restructuring phase of GBI ended in 1996 and Schmid Schrauben GmbH became a subsidiary of voestalpine Austria Draht Bruck (VAAD). VAAD is part of the Railway Systems Division of the voestalpine Group. At the end of the 1990s, a working group was formed with the goal of developing a new screw - the RAPID 2000 was created. The export share increased to 39.9%.
The austerity package for the construction industry put together by the government in 2001 hit SSH hard, as no more public contracts were awarded. The poor situation in the construction industry and the changeover from schilling to euros probably contributed to the deterioration in the economic situation. In 2004 SSH was bought by the large German company Würth .
From then on, Schmid Schrauben pushed the modernization of their own company with the purchase of new machines, including 5-axis turning and milling centers and turning centers, as well as the expansion and construction of the logistics center with over 6000 pallet spaces in order to be able to supply customers more quickly and efficiently. In mid-2010 a new screw brand was successfully positioned on the market. The “StarDrive GPR” brand was intended to appeal to new customers in the wholesale sector in particular.
In 2012, a lot of money was invested in a new corporate image. A new logo was created and the website and all advertising material were completely renewed. In order to do justice to the increasing export quota, the documents were offered in several languages from then on. In 2012, the new ETA certification was implemented. In 2013, the development of tools for screw production was accelerated in the in-house tool shop. In addition to the technical innovations in the machine park, the services for customers have also been expanded and specified. For example, customer workshops on the subject of application examples in timber construction are offered.
In 2017, around 150 employees produce almost 8,000 tons of screws and fasteners a year. The export quota is around 50%.
Products
- RAPID line: screws for structural timber construction , screws for wood-concrete composite , screws for on-roof insulation systems - with partial or full thread, countersunk head, washer head, hexagonal head or cylinder head
- StarDrive GPR: Screws for structural timber construction - with partial thread , countersunk head or washer head
- Assortment for the hardware store: multi-purpose screws, chipboard screws, DIN standard parts
- Custom-made products: fasteners, devices, tools, fasteners, multi-stage cold-forged parts
Web links
http://www. Schrauben.at/was-wir-verbinden-haelt/das-unternehmen/gestern
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schmid Schrauben Hainfeld GmbH, Leopold Heugner Chronicle: What we keep connecting - The company - Yesterday. Retrieved November 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Schmid Schrauben Hainfeld GmbH, Leopold Heugner Chronicle: What we connect holds - The company - News - 175years of Hainfeld. Retrieved November 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Schmid screws Hainfeld GmbH: world of screws - overview. Retrieved November 21, 2017 .