Vogtland cable factory
| Vogtländisches Kabelwerk GmbH
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|---|---|
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | August 1, 1919 |
| Seat | Plauen and Falkenstein in Vogtland |
| management | Johann Erich Wilms |
| Number of employees | approx. 350 |
| sales | 116.6 million euros (FY 2012/13) |
| Branch | Electrical industry |
| Website | www.voka.de |
The Vogtländisches Cable GmbH (VOKA) was founded in 1919 as a Saxon wire and cable Werke GmbH founded in Plauen.
VOKA is currently specialized in telecommunications cables and lines as well as signal and data lines. Electronics, measurement and control cables, solar cables and heat-resistant cables are also made from fiberglass. Production takes place at two locations in Plauen and Falkenstein in Vogtland.
Company history
Foundation and integration into the Siemens-Schuckert Group
On August 1, 1919, Sächsische Draht- und Kabelwerke GmbH began producing cables. For this purpose, the former linen factory Blanck & Co. on Schlachthofstrasse in Plauen was converted. The production program included rubber-insulated cables and textile-insulated telephone cables. In the following year, a second cable factory was incorporated in Falkenstein. At that time, only enamelled wires for the construction of electric motors and for the telecommunications industry were manufactured in this factory. Despite the economically difficult post-war period, Sächsische Draht- und Kabelwerke GmbH expanded to over 500 employees. In 1928 Siemens-Schuckertwerke GmbH took over the two plants completely and continued them as Siemens-Schuckert-Werke , Plauen management plant .
Expansion and destruction in World War II
With the increasing demand for lines, the Plauen and Falkenstein line continued to grow. In 1936, a five-storey administration building was erected on Breitscheidstrasse next to the production halls. Shortly before the start of the Second World War , over 900 people were employed in the line works. The production program at that time comprised power lines, telecommunications lines, field cables as well as far-field cables and enamelled wires.
The use of plastic became interesting due to the lack of raw materials during the Second World War . For this purpose, a textile company was acquired in Elsterberg in 1941 and converted for the production of plastic-insulated cables and wires.
In 1944, the highest number of employees to date was reached with around 1,050 employees. The turnover at that time was 14.4 million Reichsmarks . Towards the end of the war in April 1945, part of the building on Schlachthofstrasse was destroyed down to the ground floor during a bomb attack. There was considerable damage to machines and equipment. In the following year, the reconstruction and production of cables and insulated wires began.
Transition to public property and time in the GDR
On July 19, 1946, on the orders of SMAD, the works were transferred to the Soviet Electrical Corporation . The following year on March 1, 1947, the companies were transferred to the GDR's public property . The new name VEB Leitwerk Plauen was based on the previous name. After initial difficulties with the Siemens group, the company was managed by employees. During this time 480 people were employed with an annual turnover of 4.3 million Reichsmarks. In 1956 the Elsterberg plant was closed and the production of plastic pipes relocated to Plauen. As a result, the production of cables with rubber insulation was discontinued in 1963. The Falkenstein plant was also converted to the production of plastic pipes. The conversion was completed in 1966 with a mixing and granulating system for the production of insulating plastics, etc. On January 1, 1967, the line works was assigned to the new VEB Kabelwerk Oberspree (KWO) combine . At the time, the delivery program mainly comprised heavy current sheathed cables and ribbon cables as well as telecommunication and lighting cables.
Integration into the Wilmsgruppe and expansion
After the reunification of Germany in 1990, all businesses were privatized by the Treuhandanstalt . As one of the first privatized cable works, JE Wilms took over the operations in Vogtland. Since then, the company has been trading as Vogtländisches Kabelwerk GmbH (VOKA) . At this point in time, around 450 people were employed, including peripheral activities. In order to be able to expand the company, the city of Plauen acquired the adjacent slaughterhouse area with approx. 60,000 m² in 1994. For this purpose, the ruinous Schachthof buildings had to be converted and restored in accordance with the listed building standards . Here, an in-house copper wire processing facility was first set up in order to increase the vertical range of manufacture and to be able to react faster to the market. An important step was then the acquisition of the complete telephone outdoor cable production of Siemens AG . The production facilities were relocated from Neustadt near Coburg to the Falkenstein plant. For this purpose, new halls were built and an adjacent, disused textile factory was acquired and renovated. With this step, VOKA was able to distinguish itself as a renowned supplier to Deutsche Telekom and significantly expand its share.
On the former slaughterhouse site, too, things continued to the extent that the extensive renovation of the buildings allowed. This was followed by the expansion of internal telephone cables and finally a new data cable production for the highest demands. The plastics production installed in the main W1 plant has been modernized and a system for halogen-free plastics has been added in the new W2 . VOKA had thus developed from a pure cable factory to a fully integrated production site. As a logical step, a modern cable recycling system was finally installed, which enables the recycling of valuable materials to a large extent. In the first 20 years in the Wilms Group, VOKA's sales increased almost fivefold. Employment remained almost stable, depending on seasonal fluctuations due to modernization and automation.
Manufacturing program
The product range of VOKA GmbH includes almost 3000 different types, which are divided into the product groups external telecommunication and signal cables, internal telephone and fire alarm cables, control, measuring and regulating lines, data cables VOKA-LAN , Ethernet and industrial electronics cables, bus cables, glass fiber control cables , thermal and Compensating lines, jumper wires and stranded wires, solar cables VOKA Solar PV-Line and special cables with special approvals can be subdivided.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual financial statements for the 2012/13 financial year in the Federal Gazette
- ↑ File: Sketch of the factory building from August 1, 1919.jpg Sketch of the factory building with the words "Blanck & Co."
- ↑ In stock 30464 Local Contract Court Karl-Marx-Stadt
Coordinates: 50 ° 30 ′ 35.8 " N , 12 ° 8 ′ 34.6" E