Prym Group

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William Prym Holding GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1530
Seat Stolberg (Rhld.), North Rhine-Westphalia
management Ansgar Nonn, Stefan Hansen, Thomas Hör
Number of employees approx. 3300
sales € 382 million
Branch Industry (metal processing), consumer goods, textiles, automotive
Website www.prym-group.com

Prym plant on Zweifallerstraße in Stolberg
Weissenbach an der Triesting , Lower Austria, William Prym branch seen from the southwest (1908)
Weissenbach an der Triesting, branch of the William Prym needlework and chain factory , letterhead , 1894
Emergency money from Prym, Stolberg, signed by Hans Prym,
issue August 8, 1923
Old push-button tear-off map "Prym's Future" (front)

The Prym Group is the oldest industrial family company in Germany. The group of companies is based in Stolberg (Rhld.) , North Rhine-Westphalia . Its subsidiaries primarily produce needlework and sewing accessories, supply the clothing industry with fastening systems and accessories, and supply contact and connecting elements for the technology sector. The Prym Group has locations in Europe , Asia , Africa and America and is considered the world market leader in the production of snap fasteners .

history

Founding as a metal manufacturing company

The company was founded in 1530 by the goldsmith Wilhelm Prym (1490–1561) in Aachen as a family business for the production of brass and copper . 1642 was Protestant family in the Catholic Aachen in the time of Aachen religious riots the guild quite deprived why Christian Prym (1614-1683), as well as the known copper master families Amya , Hoesch , Peltzer , Schleicher , Lynen, of Asten and others to Stolberg relocated, where the management of the later Prym group still has its headquarters. Initially active as a copper master at the Roderburgmühle copper yard , Christian's grandson of the same name (1676–1747) acquired shares in the Dollart hammer, which his descendants expanded to include the hammer mills Salzrumpf and Derichsberger Mühlen . Thus the dollar hammer became the cradle of the later large company.

19th century: New focus on metallic haberdashery

In the 19th century, brass production in Stolberg lost its importance. In order to compensate for the associated losses, Prym developed the first finished products made of brass , iron and steel , which were soon produced mechanically. From 1859, William Prym (1811–1883) and his son Gustav Wilhelm (1839–1916) expanded the product range to include haberdashery , such as adhesive clips , buckles, chains, needles and threaders , which became the focus of production.

From the last third of the 19th century, both the technical facilities in Stolberg and the sales organization abroad, including those for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, were expanded . A branch was set up in Vienna I - however, the import of items that were still hand-made in Austria was subject to high customs duties that made the goods more expensive. Prym felt compelled to start its own production in Austria.

In 1887 the purchase negotiations for a rolling mill in Weissenbach an der Triesting , Lower Austria , had been idle for four years . On March 30, 1888, a branch was founded in Stolberg. In April 1888, Julius Prym (1857–1928), the second youngest son of William Prym, who died in 1883, was granted the official license for the “factory production of needled goods”. In the same year in Weissenbach the production of pins and sticky pins and, in 1889, chains began.

Since 1903, produced Prym under the brand name "Prym's future," the by Heribert Bauer 1885 invented push-button , the function by Hans Friedrich Prym was improved by an inserted into the head portion spring (1875-1965) (crown spring push button).

20th and 21st centuries: Development into an international group

During the Second World War, Prym reduced the production of haberdashery in Stolberg and Weissenbach and manufactured essential warfare materials, including turbine blades made of brass and ammunition components.

In the post-war years, the Weissenbach plant was under the administration of the Soviet USIA until 1955 , after which it was publicly administered by the State of Austria. In 1960 the Prym family was able to buy back the properties in Austria. The unexpected closure of the Austrian company took place "with full employment, good order situation and positive balance sheet" on July 1st, 1981. 161 employees were affected.

With around 4,000 employees, William Prym GmbH reached its highest number of employees around 1970. In 1972 Prymetall, the copper and copper alloy division of Prym, founded Schwermetall Halbzeug GmbH together with Wieland-Werke . Schwermetall commissioned a large copper roughing mill in Stolberg. In 2002 Prym separated from Prymetall; Foundries and rolling mills were taken over by Norddeutsche Affinerie (now Aurubis ).

In the recent history of the group there have been a number of acquisitions at home and abroad. In 1978, William Prym GmbH took over Newey Goodman, a British needle and haberdashery manufacturer with production facilities in Asia. Prym Newey emerged in 2001 as Prym Intimates, initially a joint venture with MAS Holdings subsidiary Stretchline, a textile company based in Sri Lanka that specializes in underwear. Since 2005, Prym Intimates has also had production facilities in China which are wholly owned by Prym Holding.

In 1986, Prym opened up a new business area with an initially 25 percent stake in Inovan, a German manufacturer of electromechanical components for the automotive industry, among others. William Prym GmbH has been the sole owner of Inovan since 1994.

In 1988, Prym acquired Schaeffer GmbH, a German manufacturer of snaps, fasteners and other clothing accessories, and the American company Dritz, a manufacturer of sewing accessories. In 1992 the Italian snap fastener manufacturer Fiocchi Snaps was acquired. In 1998, a joint venture with Bonduel Industries brought the French zipper manufacturer Eclair into the Prym Group. In 2001 Eclair Prym became a wholly-owned Prym subsidiary.

The European Commission , according to Prym was part of an international group of companies (including the British Coats Group and the Japanese zipper manufacturer YKK ), which had met from 1977 to 2003 agreements on prices and markets. In 2004 Prym and Coats were fined by the European Commission in the amount of 30 million euros each for a needle cartel that existed between 1994 and 1999, which were reduced in 2007 to 27 and 20 million euros respectively.

The investigation revealed further violations and in 2007 Prym, Coats, YKK and other companies were found to be separate violations of cartels in the areas of zippers, other fasteners and fastening machines, as well as haberdashery in general, which were fined totaling over 303 million euros were fined. Originally, a penalty of 40.5 million euros was borne by Prym. Although the company acted as a key witness for a cartel and obtained immunity for it and also cooperated willingly with the authorities with regard to the other cartels, this resulted in a fine of around 20% of the annual turnover of the Prym Group, together with the fine already imposed in 2004, while antitrust violations are usually punished with a maximum of 10% of the annual turnover.

Due to the necessary provisions, the company got into a difficult financial situation that could only be bridged through an extensive savings program and millions of loans from seven banks. In view of the threatened existence of Prym, the European Commission reduced the antitrust fine imposed in 2007 to EUR 15.5 million in 2011. In total, Prym still had to pay a fine of 42.5 million euros (27 million + 15.5 million). The antitrust proceedings were closed in 2015 after full payment.

As part of the restructuring of the Prym Group into a holding company , William Prym Holding GmbH was founded in 2010. In the years that followed, the Prym Group's current organizational structure was created with the business units Prym Consumer, Prym Fashion, Prym Intimates and Inovan. Today (as of 2018) Prym employs around 3300 people at 32 locations worldwide.

Business areas

In addition to haberdashery items such as snap fasteners, pins , safety and handicraft needles , locking systems and lingerie components, the Prym Group also produces contact elements for electrical connections and electronic components.

In 2015, the annual turnover of the Prym Group was around 382 million euros, the number of employees was 3300. Until October 2005, Prym was continuously managed by members of the Prym family.

The holding combines four business areas that operate independently on the market:

Prym Consumer

Prym Consumer produces and sells handicraft supplies for end consumers. In addition to needles , handicraft needles , sewing , embroidery and patchwork accessories, ribbons , trims , fasteners and other clothing accessories are also sold . Sales offices and production facilities are located in Europe, North America and Asia. Prym Consumer Europe covers Europe and Africa, Prym Consumer Americas North and South America and Prym Consumer Asia Asia and Australia.

Prym Fashion

Prym Fashion supplies the clothing, leather and textile industries with custom-made metal fasteners such as press studs, jeans buttons and rivets, zippers and trouser hooks . B. Cord stoppers and buckles and manufactures eyelets and discs for clothing and leather goods.

Prym Fashion also provides eyelets and washers for use in technical textiles such as tarpaulins , tents , awnings and packaging . In addition, the company offers presses and attaching machines for the further processing of its products by the customer.

Prym Intimates

Prym Intimates (formerly Prym Newey ) produces with over 700 employees in Sri Lanka , China and Indonesia bra closures , brackets and straps, rings and sliders, applications and other accessories for the lingerie industry.

Inovan

Inovan was founded in Birkenfeld in 1952 by Emil Kiefer and Fritz Ruf and has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Prym Group since 1994. Inovan produces contact materials, electromechanical contact parts and components, mechanical connecting elements and assemblies according to customer specifications. In the manufacture of these parts, the company specializes in material, surface, stamping, plastic, wire, connection and special technologies. Inovan components are used in the automotive industry , in electronics and electrical engineering , in household appliances , in information and communication technology , in medical and laboratory technology and in the generation of renewable energies . The more than 800 employees and 50 trainees generated a turnover of 128 million euros in 2016. Today Inovan has three plants in Birkenfeld, one in Stolberg, subsidiaries in China and Mexico and agencies in France , Italy , Austria , Spain and the Netherlands .

Others

The founding of the city library and swimming pool in Stolberg as well as social housing can be traced back to the financial commitment of the Prym family. On November 1, 1884, William Prym GmbH & Co. KG was one of the first companies in Germany to set up a factory health insurance fund, which later became today's Actimonda BKK . The workers' houses belonging to the Weissenbacher Prym plant still exist today as part of a settlement that bears the name Prymhäuser.

literature

  • Bert Fröndhoff: First the company, then the family ; Article in the Handelsblatt from August 6, 2007.
  • Andrea Prym-Bruck (Ed.): I need you: 100 years of Prym's press button , accompanying volume for the exhibition of the same name in Aachen 2003. Prym, Stolberg 2003, ISBN 3-00-011603-6
  • Joachim Kornelius, Bernd van Boeckel, Erwin Otto (arrangement): Thimbles from the William Prym works: the story of an old thimble production with images from the 1934 catalog , Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT), Trier, 1988, ISBN 3-922031- 96-X
  • Alfons Brammertz: home book of the market community Weissenbach an der Triesting - from then to today . Weissenbach market town, Weissenbach 1986
  • Alfons Brammertz: History of the William Prym company in Weißenbach an der Triesting . In: Our home , Volume NF 56/1985, St. Pölten 1985, p. 282–
  • Franz Willems: Prym, History and Genealogy , Guido Pressler Verlag , Wiesbaden 1968.
  • Karl Schleicher: History of the Stolberg brass industry . Home books of the city of Stolberg / Rhineland, issue 6. City library, Stolberg / Rhl. 1956
  • Walther Th. Prym: Ancestors and descendants of Gustav Isaak Prym, April 3, 1783 - January 8, 1832, brass manufacturer on the Dollart hammer and in Eschweiler, and his wife Emilie Lynen, November 2, 1791 - August 20, 1844 , Hamburg 1996, 5th, completely revised edition

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c cf. 2015 annual financial statements of William Prym Holding GmbH in the Federal Gazette
  2. ↑ Coordinates or location of the dominant factory building.
  3. ^ The world's oldest companies. The business of survival. The Economist, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  4. ↑ This is how Europe's large family businesses fare. Private Banking Magazin, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b F. Langenscheidt (ed.): Prym - The push button. In: Brands of the Century . The premier class of German products and services in words and pictures - from Aspirin to Zeiss. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-8349-0436-2 , p. 370 ( [1] ).
  6. ↑ P. May, F. Langenscheidt (ed.): Lexicon of German family businesses . GABAL, Offenbach 2014, ISBN 978-3-86936-530-5 , pp. 814 ([]).
  7. ↑ H. Simon (Ed.): Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century . The Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders. Springer, 2009, ISBN 978-3-86936-530-5 , pp. 358 .
  8. ↑ a b Our company history - tradition for almost 500 years. William Prym Holding GmbH, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b Brammertz: Heimatbuch. P. 67.
  10. ^ Brammertz: Heimatbuch. P. 74.
  11. ^ Brammertz: Heimatbuch. P. 76.
  12. ↑ The company. Schwermetall Halbzeugwerk GmbH & Co., accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Christoph Kapalschinski: Affinerie wins poker for Prymetall works. WeltN24 GmbH, November 20, 2001, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  14. ↑ a b Prym Intimates Historical Timeline. Prym Intimates, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Who we are - Timeline: 1995 Stretchline. MAS Holdings, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  16. ^ Who we are - Company Profile and History. Prym Intimates, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  17. ↑ History of Inovan. Inovan GmbH & Co., accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Schaeffertec - 140 years of company history. Schaeffertec GmbH, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  19. ↑ About Dritz - Our History. Dritz, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  20. ^ Giulio Fiocchi spa. Regione Lombardia, accessed January 24, 2018 (Italian).
  21. ↑ Stéphane Detaille: Une joint-venture de Bonduel avec Prym Fashion "Zip" dans les fermetures à glissière. Le Soir.be, May 13, 1998, accessed January 24, 2018 (French).
  22. ↑ EP history. Eclair-Prym SA, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  23. ↑ a b Antitrust law: Commission imposes a fine of more than EUR 303 million on zipper cartels. Press release. European Commission, September 19, 2007, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  24. ^ Commission imposes a fine on Coats and Prym for a cartel in the needle market and other hard short goods. Press release. European Commission, October 26, 2004, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  25. ↑ The court reduces the fines imposed on Prym and Coats for participating in a cartel in the needle market. Press release. European Commission, September 12, 2007, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Administrative fine guidelines. (PDF) Bundeskartellamt, June 25, 2013, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Christoph Schlautmann: EU leaves Germany's oldest company alive. Handelsblatt, April 1, 2011, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Prym concludes first group financing. The Treasurer - Finance News, August 21, 2015, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  29. ^ William Prym Holding GmbH. Online-Handelsregister.de, August 21, 2015, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Jürgen Lange: The Prym Group has become leaner. Aachener Zeitung, August 27, 2014, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  31. ↑ Prym Group - data and facts. William Prym Holding GmbH, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  32. ↑ Industrial company Prym. First the company, then the family. Handelsblatt, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
  33. ^ Prym Consumer. Prym Group, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Prym Fashion Products. Prym Fashion, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  35. ↑ Prym Fashion attachment technology. Prym Fashion, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  36. ^ Prym Intimates. Prym Intimates, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  37. ↑ Inovan - Technologies & Products. Inovan, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  38. ↑ Inovan - Industries. Inovan, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  39. ↑ Inovan - Facts & Figures. Inovan, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  40. ↑ Inovan - locations. Inovan, accessed January 24, 2018 .
  41. ↑ E. Koller-Glück, H. Zdrazil (Ed.): Art Nouveau around Vienna . Herold, Vienna 1985, ISBN 978-3-7008-0294-5 , pp. 21 ( [2] ).
  42. ↑ Permalink German National Library
  43. ↑ Permalink Austrian Library Association
  44. ↑ Permalink German National Library
  45. ↑ Permalink Austrian Library Association
  46. ↑ Permalink German National Library
  47. ↑ Permalink Austrian Library Association
  48. ↑ Permalink German National Library
  49. ↑ Permalink Austrian Library Association

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