Winkhaus (company)
| Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG
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| legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| founding | 1854 |
| Seat | Telgte , North Rhine-Westphalia |
| management | Sofie Winkhaus Tilmann Winkhaus Stefan Wemhoff |
| Number of employees | 2,100 (2018) |
| Branch | metal |
| Website | www.winkhaus.de |
The Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG is a Westphalian family business , headquartered in Telgte is located.
The company produces window fittings, mechanical and electronic locking systems , monitoring systems for windows and doors, security door locks as well as access control and time recording systems .
As of December 2018, the Winkhaus Group employed a total of around 2100 people. Winkhaus also holds 600 property rights and registrations with the German Patent Office (2004).
history
Founding years
August Winkhaus founded a hardware store ( commission business ) in Halver in 1854 . In 1862 the business was relocated to Hagen , as there were better transport connections and the location was suitable for future growth. In addition, August Winkhaus took over the sale of padlocks from a Düsseldorf company, which ceased production in 1866. In this situation, August Winkhaus decided to produce himself.
In 1869 his wife took over the management together with a non-family manager , as August Winkhaus died after a short illness. In 1873 the eldest son Rudolf Winkhaus entered the business at the age of 19. When a fire destroyed the production facility for the padlocks, the company was relocated to Münster in 1879 .
Late 19th and early 20th centuries
In 1888 Rudolf Winkhaus, who had taken over the management four years earlier, started manufacturing padlocks and other items. At the turn of the century, the production of small iron parts was stopped. The factory was on the outskirts of Münster on Bohlweg, directly on the Münster – Rheine railway line . Even before the beginning of the 20th century, Winkhaus exported the padlock to Asia Minor , Syria , Egypt and the Far East.
From 1903 Rudolf Winkhaus also produced Berlin ribbons, later also Düsseldorf ribbons and special window ribbons for export markets. At the beginning of the 20th century, many new machines were purchased to speed up and streamline work .
Time of world wars
August Winkhaus joined the company in 1914. At that time, 200 people were already employed at Winkhaus, and 70% of the production products were exported. During the First World War , production was initially completely stopped; later, military articles were manufactured on a small scale. After the First World War, production was resumed with 50 employees. Production was at full capacity again after a few years.
In 1922 the company was converted into a limited partnership , which was still managed by Rudolf Winkhaus as general partner . A year later, Erich Winkhaus joined the company as an engineer . In 1929 Winkhaus employed around 300 people, but was unable to expand due to the growth of the city of Münster. The factory was now located within Münster. In 1932, August Winkhaus therefore signed a lease agreement with the right of first refusal for the site of the current headquarters of Aug. Winkhaus GmbH and Co. KG in Telgte . Production began there in October of that year. In 1935 Winkhaus employed 450 people at both locations.
During the Second World War , Winkhaus mainly produced iron cores for cartridges . The company survived the bombing of Münster in 1943 largely unscathed, as company buildings were only slightly damaged. As after the First World War, the company recovered relatively quickly. As early as 1946, Winkhaus employed over 200 people again. In 1950, Wolfgang Winkhaus joined the company as the youngest son of August Winkhaus. When August Winkhaus died in 1951 at the age of 60, the Telgte community renamed the street where the Telgter site is still located today to August-Winkhaus-Straße in his honor.
Post-war period until the turnaround
In the 1950s, padlocks, bicycle locks, bicycle bells and building hardware were manufactured. In 1954 Winkhaus presented its first tilt and turn window fitting. In 1956, Winkhaus started producing the first cylinder locks under the brand name TOK with around 1000 employees . These have 5 pin tumblers and a galvanized steel lock bit . This new technology was also used in bicycle locks and padlocks.
In 1959, Erich Winkhaus died as an engineer and headed the company's development and production for 36 years. His son Hans Winkhaus joined the company in the same year. In 1960 a new location was opened in Herbern . The company name was changed to Aug. Winkhaus Telgte - Münster - Herbern . In 1964 the production of ribbons and fitschen was stopped. In the same year, the company presented the concealed turn-tilt window fitting, in which turning and tilting is selected using a button and the entire linkage is hidden.
In 1970 the workforce was around 1200, and Winkhaus presented the new VS locking cylinder, which with five to seven pin tumblers and eight locking pins offers greater variability. The 'Drehkipp Eins', which was introduced at the beginning of the 1970s, is a turn-and-tilt window fitting that can be operated with one hand without a button, and also offers all-round locking and thus greater protection against break-ins. In 1972 the bicycle bell production was stopped. In the 1980s, production was expanded to include security items that could be retrofitted, such as concealed peepholes, alarm locks and the like.
In 1981 Winkhaus Germany was renamed Winkhaus Technik GmbH . The logo was also changed in the same year . The three padlocks turned into a two-line signature, as it is still used today in a similar form. In 1982 the department for feeding systems was spun off from Winkhaus Technik GmbH and was now called Winkhaus Zuführ-Systeme GmbH . The company settled in Telgte on Von-Siemens-Straße. Further restructuring followed in 1985. Under the name Winkhaus Sicherheit-Systeme GmbH , the location in Münster produced locking systems , locking cylinders and mechanical security devices as well as alarm technology. Winkhaus Technik is still responsible for the turn-tilt fittings and drill-in hinges , but this has been converted into a GmbH & Co. KG.
The 1990s until today
In 1992 the foreign company Winkhaus Polska was founded. In 1996 Winkhaus opened its production site in Meiningen- Drei 30acker , initially with around 60 employees.
In 2001 the Trelock brand was sold through a management buy-out and continues to operate under the old brand name. The logo is made up of the old Winkhaus logo and the newly added Trelock name.
With Sofie Winkhaus, daughter of Wolfgang Winkhaus, the fifth generation of the Winkhaus family joins the management in 2003.
In 2004 the company celebrates its 150th anniversary.
In 2007, Tilmann Winkhaus, son of Hans Winkhaus, joined the company. This means that the fifth generation of the family company is fully represented in the company.
On September 1, 2007, the holding structure was dismantled and the two main branches, window technology and door technology, were combined with the former parent company, which from now on operates under the name of Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG.
In January 2008, Winkhaus Automation at the Everswinkel production site was replaced by “Dr.-Ing. Gössling GmbH ”based in Schermbeck .
In 2010, the Meiningen plant was expanded to include two new workshops and a dedicated electroplating line.
In 2013, the new construction of the Münster plant began in the Hessenweg industrial park. A modern company complex with around 15,000 m² gross floor area was built on a 30,000 m² site for the access organization area. It replaced the previous plant in Münster city center, which could no longer be expanded. After around 18 months of construction, the new location was ready for occupancy in July 2014. The now too small and aging company headquarters in the middle of Münster on Bohlweg was closed.
Locations / structures
The traditional family company Winkhaus has developed into an international company. Winkhaus Group with five locations in Germany maintains international subsidiaries and representative offices in several countries. Together with its partners, Winkhaus is represented worldwide.
There are five locations in Germany, three of which are manufacturing.
Telgte production site
The Winkhaus Group's largest manufacturing location is in Telgte. A total of around 600 employees work here. The activPilot window fittings are manufactured in Telgte. Some of the innovations in window hardware, such as B. the possibility of fully automatic window production were developed by Winkhaus.
Production site in Münster
In Münster, Winkhaus mainly designs and builds locking systems, but access control and time recording systems are also part of the production program. The 270 employees produce mechanical (e.g. keyTec N-tra, X-tra, RPE, RPS or RAP) and electronic locking systems (blueSmart or blueCompact).
Meiningen production site
Security technology for doors is manufactured in Meiningen , for example automatic door locks such as autoLock AV3 and blueMatic EAV3 as well as door locks with special burglar protection or panic locks for escape doors. After the production area was enlarged to 20,000 m², the product range was expanded to include window technology from 2010 onwards. The Meiningen site has around 360 employees.
literature
- Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG (Ed.): Winkhaus 1854-2004. Self-published, Telgte 2004.
- District home association Beckum-Warendorf / District Warendorf (ed.): 150 years of Winkhaus, in: Yearbook of the District Warendorf, 53rd year, Warendorf 2004, pp. 279–294.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b consolidated financial statements for the financial year from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018, via company register .de.
- ↑ a b Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG: To all customers of Winkhaus Automation. September 5, 2007, accessed April 17, 2010 .
- ↑ Kreisheimatverein Beckum-Warendorf / Kreis Warendorf (ed.): 150 years of Winkhaus , in: Jahrbuch des Kreis Warendorf , 53rd year, Warendorf 2004, p. 292 ('Facts')
- ↑ Example patent
- ↑ Kreisheimatverein Beckum-Warendorf / Kreis Warendorf (ed.): 150 years of Winkhaus , in: Jahrbuch des Kreis Warendorf , 53rd year, Warendorf 2004, p. 279ff (I. From trade to lock and fitting factory)
- ↑ a b I. From trade to lock and fittings factory, page 279ff
- ↑ Aug. Winkhaus GmbH & Co. KG: Company completes restructuring on September 1st. (No longer available online.) September 5, 2009, formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 17, 2009 . ( 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.
