Fichtel & Sachs
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Fichtel & Sachs Sachs has been a brand of ZF Friedrichshafen AG since 2011
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1895 |
| resolution | 2011 |
| Reason for dissolution | Incorporation into ZF Friedrichshafen AG |
| Seat | Schweinfurt |
| management | Peter Ottenbruch , CEO |
| Number of employees | 16,488 (2009) |
| sales | 1.832 billion euros (2009) |
| Branch | Automotive supplier |
| Website | aftermarket.zf.com/go/en/sachs |
Fichtel & Sachs was founded in Schweinfurt in 1895 and was a well-known German family company . As an independent company, the company's name was most recently Fichtel & Sachs AG .
In 1997 the automotive supplier was taken over by Mannesmann and renamed Mannesmann Sachs AG . As of 2001, Sachs was part of ZF Friedrichshafen as a subsidiary, ZF Sachs AG . In 2011, ZF Sachs, like other subsidiaries of the group, was legally merged with ZF Friedrichshafen AG and the independent business areas were integrated into the ZF divisions. Since then, Sachs has been a brand of ZF Friedrichshafen AG. The headquarters for development, production and sales of Sachs brand products remained in Schweinfurt. Today (2017) the Schweinfurt plant is the largest location of the automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen.
history
Ernst Sachs era
Company formation
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Fichtel & Sachs in the founding year
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Ernst Sachs with a high bike
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In 1894 Ernst Sachs made the first attempts at designing bicycle hubs , with the first patent on November 23rd for bicycle ball bearings with a sliding ball bearing surface . On August 1, 1895, Ernst Sachs (technical management) and Karl Fichtel (commercial management) founded the company Schweinfurter Precision Ball-Bearings Fichtel & Sachs as an oHG with an initial capital of 15,000 marks. First ball bearings and bicycle hubs were manufactured. In 1896 70 workers were already producing around 50 to 70 hubs a day.
World significant inventions
- 1889: Ernst Sachs' bicycle freewheel.
- 1903: Ernst Sachs coaster brake .
- 1903: Torpedo freewheel hub : bicycle component with integrated freewheel and coaster brake, by Ernst Sachs.
The hub gear was not invented by Fichtel & Sachs, but developed over decades. As a result, the conventional, modern bicycle with its basic components was developed by Fichtel & Sachs.
The birth of globalization
After the invention of the torpedo freewheel hub in 1903, Ernst Sachs was the first to come up with the idea of not having an end product patented, but only one component worldwide, without which no one could build a modern bicycle. At that time, this led to product piracy in China , with similar counterfeits of the torpedo freewheel hub.
After the invention of the well-known torpedo freewheel hub, which was preceded by eight years of design work and which was already so mature at the time that it has hardly changed over many decades, the company grew rapidly. 1905 already with 1,800 employees and a production of 382,000 torpedo hubs.
Rapid growth
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Sachs' father-in-law, Wilhelm Höpflinger , received a patent for the first usable ball cage, which is still used in the ball bearing industry today. Before the First World War, Fichtel & Sachs was one of the world's leading companies for rolling bearings , where Sachs registered over 100 patents, and for bicycle hubs. The switch to armaments during the war, when the number of employees rose from 5,000 to 8,000, gave a further boost to development.
Karl Fichtel dies in 1911. To counter the high tariffs, Sachs acquired a branch in Tschirnitz an der Eger in Bohemia in 1912 . A little later a subsidiary factory was established in the United States . During the four years of the war, the number of employees at Fichtel & Sachs rose from 3,000 to around 8,000. In addition to hubs and ball bearings of all kinds, armaments products were manufactured in Schweinfurt. Today's main plant (North Plant), between the main train station and Ernst-Sachs-Straße, goes back to a weapons and projectile factory that Fichtel & Sachs first built here, in what is now the eastern plant area.
In 1923, the year of inflation, the company was converted into a stock corporation . One of the company's holding companies, Sachs GmbH, was founded in Munich that same year . At the turn of the year 1927/1928 the number of employees rose to the preliminary high of 9,026. The hub production comprised 67% of the total production, the rest went to rolling bearings. Sachs founded a company pension scheme , Ernst-Sachs-Hilfe.
Interwar period
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Headquarters of Fichtel & Sachs AG by Paul Bonatz in 1933 (with ZF since 2001)
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Built-in motor
from Fichtel & Sachs |
On the eve of the Great Depression , Ernst Sachs sold the rolling bearing division with 3000 employees, which made up about half of the company, to the Swedish SKF . This merged together with the Schweinfurt Fries & Höpflinger AG, the Maschinenfabrik Rheinland from Krefeld , the Riebe works and the rolling bearing production of the Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken DWM, both in Berlin , to form the Vereinigte Kugellagerfabriken AG (VKF, from 1953 SKF GmbH). Sachs used the proceeds to pay off the Fichtel heirs and invested in future-oriented developments such as clutches , small motors and shock absorbers .
Now Sachs dedicated himself to the motorization of the bicycle . In 1930 the first Sachs engine was ready for series production. The small Sachs two-stroke engines with a capacity of 98 cubic centimeters, which many German two- wheel manufacturers built into their models, became famous for their reliability .
Willy Sachs era
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National Socialism
Ernst Sachs dies in 1932 and his only son Willy Sachs takes over the company. In 1937 he presented the Saxonette , a 60 cm³ motor that can be built into the rear wheel hub of bicycles at the automobile exhibition .
At the beginning of the Second World War the number of employees was back at 7,000. During the war there was no decisive change in the product range. Almost every German tank was equipped with Sachs couplings. Many of the 7,000 employees in 1944 were forced laborers .
At the end of the war, 67% of the production facilities were destroyed.
Early post-war period
In 1956 the company presented the semi-automatic transmission Saxomat .
From the end of the Second World War until the mid-1980s, Fichtel & Sachs also manufactured single-cylinder two-stroke gasoline engines with displacements of 50 to 400 cubic centimeters, which were called StaMo . From 1953 a single-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine was built under license by Holder , which was initially used with 500 and later with 400 or 600 cubic centimeters, mainly in single-axle tractors and small tractors.
successor
Consul Willy Sachs died in 1958. His son Ernst Wilhelm Sachs was appointed a full member of the board . In 1959 the Amortex SA branch is built in Sao Paulo . In 1960 the world's first air-cooled rotary engine (for stationary use) leaves the production line . From then until the mid-1970s, small single-disc rotary engines were produced. At the Schweinfurt site alone, there were now over 10,000 employees. In 1967 Ernst Wilhelm Sachs resigned from the company's executive board and together with his brother Gunter Sachs became deputy chairman of the supervisory board . Fichtel & Sachs was able to maintain a leading and, in some cases, dominant position on the world market with its four main products: small motors, bicycle hubs, clutches and shock absorbers until the 1980s.
In the 1960s and 1980s, Fichtel & Sachs took over various other traditional brands and manufacturers of bicycles and bicycle components, including Hercules , Rabeneick , Huret , Maillard and Sedis .
In 1969 the foundation stone for a second plant was laid in Schweinfurt, the southern plant in the new industrial area Hafen-West , which doubled the size of the plant premises. In 1971 the Sachs racing service was set up, with rally orientation and support. In 1973, the wide range of hubs was supplemented by the two-speed Torpedo-Automatic hub . After Gunter Sachs, his brother Ernst Wilhelm began a playboy life and had a fatal accident while heli-skiing in Val-d'Isère in 1977 .
1981 Foundation of Fichtel & Sachs (West Africa) Ltd. in Lagos in Nigeria , together with Salzgitter AG . In 1986 Fichtel & Sachs began developing prototypes for micro- cogeneration units and started 10-year field tests. The Senertec company in Schweinfurt emerged from Fichtel & Sachs and began production of the roof in 1996 , the first micro-cogeneration unit ready for series production. In 1990 the 500 millionth shock absorber rolled off the production line.
Mannesmann & Bosch / Siemens era
After the sale of the majority of the shares to the British GKN group was prohibited by the Cartel Office in 1977 - and the sale of the company was excluded for the next 10 years due to the death of Ernst Wilhelm Sachs due to a clause in his will - Gunter Sachs and his brother's daughters sold Ernst Wilhelm transferred the company to Mannesmann in 1987 . In 1991, the complete takeover by Mannesmann and the majority entry of Mannesmann at Boge AG, which was then headquartered in Eitorf , which was also completely taken over two years later.
In 1997 engine construction was discontinued or sold, and the production of bicycle hub gears and other components was sold to SRAM . Sachs Bikes took over part of the two-wheeler activities. In addition, Fichtel & Sachs was renamed Mannesmann Sachs that year . In the course of the Mannesmann takeover by Vodafone , the company went to a consortium of companies around Bosch and Siemens as part of the Mannesmann Atecs that had previously been founded .
ZF Friedrichshafen era
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Company logo 2001–2011
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ZF Development Center, 2002
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In 2001 Fichtel & Sachs was sold to ZF Friedrichshafen and renamed ZF Sachs in the same year . The traditional French chain manufacturer Sedis was sold on to the Indian bicycle & industrial holding Tube Investments .
A large development center was opened in the south of the plant in November 2002.
On August 1, 2011, the company was merged with ZF Friedrichshafen. With that, ZF Sachs ceased to exist as an independent company, and ZF Friedrichshafen continued to run the business and the Sachs brand.
The Schweinfurt plant south has been continuously expanded since it was taken over by ZF, with a plastics center and a development center for e-mobility . In 2017, the Schweinfurt site, with 9,500 employees, almost reached the highest level from the post-war period.
Products
Today's product range
The current production program of ZF Friedrichshafen AG's Schweinfurt works includes drive components such as clutch systems , torque converters , dual-mass flywheels , electric drives and complete modules for hybrid vehicles , as well as chassis components such as shock absorbers and damping systems for cars, trucks, motorcycles and rail vehicles.
Sachs engines
Fichtel & Sachs began manufacturing a vehicle engine with a displacement of 74 cubic centimeters in 1930. A model with 98 cubic centimeters followed as early as 1932. In the 1930s, the bicycle with the auxiliary engine " Saxonette ", stationary and boat engines as well as motorcycle engines were added to the range. After the war, the old engine range was supplemented by a large number of new designs with 50 cubic centimeters for mopeds, mopeds, small and light motorcycles. Motors with larger displacements were used in small and snowmobiles and motorcycles.
The stationary engine range was expanded to include two-stroke diesel engines and lawnmower engines with different displacements. The development of a series of Wankel engines in various sizes for the most diverse areas of application should be emphasized. After the company was taken over by Mannesmann, engine production was discontinued in 1997.
Bicycle components
Fichtel & Sachs produced its own bicycle component groups until SRAM took over the bicycle division in the mid-1990s. Sachs cooperated with Modolo for brake production and with Weinmann and Simplex for rear derailleur production .
Renak in Reichenbach
In 1944 the production of the torpedo freewheel hub was outsourced from Schweinfurt to Reichenbach in Vogtland . Production was interrupted at the end of the war. In August 1945 the company was taken over by the state government of Saxony and handed over to the USSR on November 1, 1946 ; some of it traded as Awtowelo . On May 1, 1952, it became the VEB vehicle parts factory Fichtel & Sachs, Reichenbach of the GDR . In 1956 the Renak brand was protected for VEB Renak-Werke (Reichenbacher hubs and clutch works). In the mid-1960s, the production of bicycle parts reached its peak with export to 40 countries, but it was throttled and exports stopped.
On July 1, 1990, the company was converted to RENAK-Werke GmbH. Products such as steering bearings, bottom brackets, idler sprockets and unbraked steel hubs have been discontinued. The production of the jet hub was taken over by Fichtel & Sachs AG. Under the administration of the Treuhandanstalt , the company was privatized in several areas.
The bicycle components division , which only produced the coaster brake hub Univers (Torpedo) and Speed (Jet) as well as aluminum hubs, was sold to the Flying Pigeon Bicycle Group Corporation (Tianjin) from China on April 1, 1994 and at the same time RENAK-International GmbH with around 30 employees founded.
On March 7, 1994 Reichenbacher Naben und Fahrrad-Components GmbH was founded and the production of the Enparlite hub generator (mechanically disengageable, with gear) was prepared. At the end of 1994, the Univers and Speed hub production, including the RENAK trademark, was sold by Flying Pigeon back to Reichenbacher Naben und Fahrrad-Components GmbH , which then shortened its name to RENAK Components GmbH .
See also
literature
- Wilfried Rott: Sachs - entrepreneurs, playboys, millionaires. A story of fathers and sons. Blessing, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-89667-270-3
- Thomas Horling: Cartel and Foreign Capital. The German rolling bearing industry in 1925–1932 . In: Yearbook for Franconian State Research , 66, 2006, pp. 521–562
- Andreas Dornheim: Sachs - Mobility and Motorization - A Company History . Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-455-50382-1
- Volker Ullrich: Golden years in the brown empire . In: Die Zeit , No. 42/2005
Web links
- Sachs website at ZF.com
- Photo album (partly historical) Fichtel & Sachs bicycle hub gears
- Data on Sachsmotoren newsachsmotor.de
- Information on Fichtel & Sachs stationary engines
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Key figures 2009. ZF Friedrichshafen, May 12, 2010, accessed on May 13, 2010 .
- ↑ a b ZF Friedrichshafen AG location Schweinfurt: with over 9,500 employees 2017/2018 largest location worldwide. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
- ↑ ZF Friedrichshafen becomes the world's second largest automotive supplier for the first time. In: automobilwoche.de. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Peter Hofmann: Fichtel & Sachs / Firmenchronik. In: schweinfurtfuehrer.de. Retrieved October 28, 2018 .
- ↑ a b History of Fichtel & Sachs. In: FahrradZukunft.de, Edition 17, February 2014. Accessed on October 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Wilfried Rott : Sachs - entrepreneurs, playboys, millionaires . Blessing, 2005, ISBN 978-3-89667-270-4
- ↑ purpose-marriage ( memento of May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 770 kB) Trekkingbike Magazin , 6/2005; Retrieved January 10, 2013
- ↑ Michael Sweatman: Sachs-Huret. Disraeli Gears, accessed May 8, 2014 .
- ↑ History of combined heat and power plants. Retrieved April 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Subsidiaries. Tube Investments of India, accessed May 8, 2014 .
- ^ ZF Sachs: Development center inaugurated in Schweinfurt . Auto service practice, November 25, 2002
- ↑ ZF is planning a plastics center . In: Schweinfurter Tagblatt , December 28, 2011
- ↑ ZF is investing 12.5 million in new buildings for e-mobility . In: Schweinfurter Tagblatt , June 26, 2017
- ↑ About us> Brief historical overview of the history of "RENAK" RENAK GmbH, Itzehoe , 2010–2017, accessed June 22, 2017.