Voith Hydro
 |
|
| GmbH & Co. KGaA (100% family-owned) | |
| Industry |
Industrial machinery, Automotive industry, Mechanical engineering |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Founder | Johann Mätthaus Voith |
| Headquarters | Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Dr. Hubert Lienhard (President and CEO) |
| Products | Power transmission and paper processing units(primarily involving gears and torque converters) |
| €58 million (2015/16) | |
| Profit | €29 million (2015/16) |
|
Number of employees
|
19,098 |
| Divisions | Voith Turbo, Voith Hydro, Voith Paper, Voith Digital Solutions |
| Website | Voith.com |
The Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA, which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-owned multinational corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations.
The Voith Corporate Group is led by the headquarters in Heidenheim, located in the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Here, the headquarters serves as a management-holding, with the executive board establishing general business strategies, taking overall responsibility for the groups operations, and providing support to the group’s affiliate companies.
The Voith GmbH has around 19,098 employees worldwide, with around 7,450 working in Germany. For the 2015/16 business year, the consolidated group had a volume of sales of €4.25 billion and profits of €29 million.
The Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA began as a small craftsman's workshop in the former Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1825, Johann Matthäus Voith took over this workshop from his father Johannes, which employed five craftsmen, and made tooling and spare parts for local mills. The same site used by the original workshop is now the home of the Voith GmbH Headquarters.
In the mid-19th century, Johann Matthäus Voith began developing machinery for spinning mills, wool re-processing and printing presses. In 1848, he began working with the Heidenheim paper producer Heinrich Voelter (1817–1887), with the common goal of mass-producing paper. At that time, series production of paper had failed due to the lack of rag-fiber which was used as the raw material. Wood however, being a plentiful renewable resource, was seen as an alternative. The very first patent for producing paper from wood pulp was awarded to Heinrich Voelter and Friedrich Gottlob Keller in 1846. Johann Matthäus Voith studied that patent, and then dramatically improved Keller’s design. As a result, the first Raffineur (Wood Pulp Refiner) was born in 1859 – a machine that significantly refined raw wood pulp and therefore greatly improved the quality of paper.
In 1867, Johann Matthäus Voith transferred control of the company to his son Friedrich, which had 30 employees. In that same year, Friedrich Voith officially registered the company in the local trading register for the first time under the name: Maschinenfabrik (Engineering Works) J. M. Voith. In 1869, Voith received his first patent for a wood grinder. This wood grinder was a major step forward for paper mills: allowing them to use economical, renewable cellulose-fiber, while improving paper quality, and setting the cornerstone for modern newspaper publishing. In 1881, Voith delivered the first complete paper-making machine to Raithelhuber, Bezner & Cie in Gemmrigheim, Germany. Voith's invention had opened an entirely new market, and a surge in new orders helped his company to rapidly expand. By the mid-1890s, Voith machines were available for every stage of the paper-making process.
...
Wikipedia