VVB machine tools and tools
The VVB machine tools and tools (WMW) was the association of the state-owned enterprises of the GDR from the machine tool and tool industry .
structure
WMW comprised the four combines :
- Machine tool combine Fritz Heckert Karl-Marx-Stadt (Heckert)
- Machine Tool Combine 7 October Berlin (Niles)
- Combine Forming Technology "Herbert Warnke" Erfurt (Erfurt)
- Tool combination Schmalkalden (Smalcalda)
| Combine | Heckert | Niles | Erfurt | Smalcalda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus |
Problem solving and production of machine tools for the processing of prismatic or housing-shaped parts |
Problem solving and production of machine tools for the machining of rotationally symmetrical parts |
Problem solving and production of machine tools for the forming processing of sheet metal and solid parts |
Production of tools, tool and workpiece clamps as well as tool maintenance machines |
| Products |
|
|||
| Number of establishments |
36 |
13 |
20th |
|
| Number of employees |
21,000 |
23,000 |
19,000 |
15,000 |
| Parent company |
VEB Werkzeugunion Steinbach-Hallenberg, |
|||
| other important companies |
|
|
|
|
| Research institute |
Research center for machine tool construction in Karl-Marx-Stadt |
Research center for forming processes in Zwickau |
Central research center for the tool industry in Schmalkalden |
history
The VVB WMW was founded in 1948 in Siegmar-Schönau (today in Chemnitz ) as an "association of state-owned companies in machine tool construction" for the state management and planning of machine tool construction in the GDR. WMW was based on the premises of the Wanderer-Continental office machine plant . The aim was to restore existing production capacities as quickly as possible, which had been severely decimated by the Second World War and the dismantling of production facilities by the Soviet Union until 1949 . At this point in time, there was an enormous demand for machine tools in the entire Eastern Bloc , as these represent the basis of production resources for heavy industry and many other industries. The organization and control of the machine tool industry based on the Soviet model was also one of the core tasks of VVB WMW. Willy Nebel was one of the first to help set up the association .
In 1968 VVB machine tools was dissolved. The successors were the three combines for machine tool construction and the combine for tools and devices. These were directly subordinate to the Ministry of Machine Tool and Processing Machinery of the GDR. With the establishment of the combine, the production organization was to be improved and production made more efficient. The products continued to be sold under the WMW brand. The number of incorporated businesses rose steadily. At the end of the GDR in 1989, a total of around 80,000 people were employed in the four combines.
Foreign trade monopoly
As the successor to the "German Internal and External Trade Machines" founded in 1948, the GDR's first central foreign trade company, the state-owned foreign trade company WMW Export held the GDR's foreign trade monopoly for machine tools and tools. The VE AHB "WMW Export" was founded in 1950 in Berlin as "WMW Export Machine Tools Metal Goods Tools German Internal and External Trade" .
Since machine tool construction is a very customer-oriented industry, the manufacturing companies were included in the trading activities of AHB WMW Export in contrast to other foreign trade companies. In this way, customer requirements could already be met during development, testing and manufacturing. At trade fairs, the AHB WMW Export represented all the companies organized in the VVB WMW.
In the 1960s approx. 55% of all machines produced in VVB WMW were exported, by the end of the GDR the proportion rose to 70%. The Soviet Union and the other socialist countries accounted for around 70–80% of total exports. Deliveries to socialist countries abroad were made according to strict planning specifications. In the Non-Socialist Economic Area (NSW) there was also great demand for the high-quality and innovative machines. The GDR tried to cover its urgent need for foreign currency through these exports . Due to the high export quotas, however, production was insufficient to meet the GDR's internal demand for machine tools, which led to the typical shortage economy . Inferior machines often had to be imported from other socialist countries.
WMW Export maintained customer service bases, so-called "technical-commercial offices" , in all of the countries that are important for export . In addition to salespeople and customer service engineers, fitters from the manufacturing companies were stationed there for customer contact. In non-socialist countries, WMW Export was represented and represented by private agents. An average of 250 sales engineers and over 200 service technicians were always on the road in over 25 countries.
logo
After the founding of the GDR, WMW was protected as a trademark for machine tools and tools in many countries. After German reunification , none of the associated companies continued to use the logo. In 1998 the Romanian machine tool manufacturer The Commercial Company Machine Tools SA changed its name to World Machinery Works SA and since then has been selling its machine tools under the old WMW logo, which has since been forgotten in Germany. The company managed to build on its successes under the trademark of the former global brand.
The Swiss Starrag Group , whose subsidiary Heckert GmbH emerged from the parent company of the Fritz-Heckert-Kombinat, has secured the worldwide rights to the WMW logo and sells machining centers specially tailored to the Indian market under this brand name. World Machinery Works SA only retains the trademark rights in Romania
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Historical Chemnitz: The Fritz Heckert Combine. Retrieved July 15, 2011 .
- ^ Beyermann: Kombinate in Thuringia - large enterprises in the socialist planned economy. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 15, 2011 . ( 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.
- ↑ Herwig Bohrtechnik: Chronicle. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 27, 2014 ; Retrieved July 15, 2011 . 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.
- ^ A b Förderverein Sächsisches Industriemuseum: The trade in machine tools and the foreign trade monopoly in the GDR (part 1). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 23, 2013 ; Retrieved July 15, 2011 . 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.
- ^ A b Förderverein Sächsisches Industriemuseum: The trade in machine tools and the foreign trade monopoly in the GDR (part 2). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 23, 2013 ; Retrieved July 15, 2011 . 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.
- ^ World Machinery Works SA: History. Retrieved July 15, 2011 .
