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The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for
hydropower plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
s and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Heidenheim an der Brenz, was founded in 1867.


Company history


Laying the foundations for industrial paper production

In 1825, Johann Matthäus Voith took over his father's locksmith's workshop in Heidenheim with five employees, mainly carrying out repairs to water wheels and paper mills. Around 1830 in Heidenheim, there were about 600 people working in 15 factories, mostly textile factories that had been established by wealthy merchants and publishers. The necessary maintenance and repair of the expensive machinery offered a source of income to several workshops, particularly the locksmiths and metalworkers in what was still a small town at the time. In 1830, Johann Matthäus Voith and his workshop were involved in the construction of a paper machine developed by Johann Jakob Widmann from Heilbronn. Voith developed the first wood grinders based on the patented design of
Friedrich Gottlob Keller Friedrich Gottlob Keller (born 27 June 1816 in Hainichen, Saxony; died 8 September 1895 in Krippen, Saxony) was a German machinist and inventor, who (at the same time as Charles Fenerty) invented the wood pulp process for use in papermaking. He i ...
. In doing so, he laid the cornerstone for the industrial enterprise Voith. As the company got bigger and bigger, so too did the private wealth of its owners. According to town council records dated September 28, 1849, the assets of Johann Matthäus Voith in 1849 amounted to more than 7,000  fl., and eight years later grew to an estimated 15,000  fl. In 1850 , Johann Matthäus Voith was summoned to serve on the town council, and in 1855, along with nine other Heidenheim entrepreneurs, he received a grant to attend the international exhibition in Paris. After 1850, the company, which had specialized in repairs like other Heidenheim-based metal workshops, began to replicate various machines imported from England. The workshop produced whatever the customers ordered. The transition from a small metalworking shop to a machine factory was completed when contracts were signed for the fabrication of machines for paper manufacturer
Heinrich Voelter Heinrich Voelter (January 1, 1817 in Heidenheim – September 13, 1887 in Heidenheim) was a German inventor and paper manufacturer. Heinrich Voelter grew up in Heidenheim and attended elementary school there, where he was taught by his grandf ...
. Since 1856, these machines had consisted of mechanical wood grinders (based on a patent originally sold in 1846 by
Friedrich Gottlob Keller Friedrich Gottlob Keller (born 27 June 1816 in Hainichen, Saxony; died 8 September 1895 in Krippen, Saxony) was a German machinist and inventor, who (at the same time as Charles Fenerty) invented the wood pulp process for use in papermaking. He i ...
to Voelter's father that Friedrich Voith improved upon and re-registered himself in 1868). From 1861, the machines were wood pulp refiners for crushing coarse wood chips. The result of this development was that the company started to specialize in machines for paper and
pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...
production. In 1863, a new metalworking shop was added and fitted with one of the few steam engines in Heidenheim. Until the development of cast steel, the machines were built from cast iron. It was difficult to transport cast iron, so the company built its own foundry. No figures have been preserved on the company's sales and profits at the time, but the physical expansion of the company is taken as proof of its good economic performance. In 1863, Friedrich Voith bought a share in a
bark mill Bark mills, also known as Catskill's mills, are water, steam, horse, ox or wind-powered edge mills used to process the bark, roots, and branches of various tree species into a fine powder known as tanbark, used for tanning leather. This powder ...
, where he set up the first research center for the production of wood pulp. After Voelter's paper mill was destroyed by a fire in 1864, Voith received its first major order for the fabrication of eight hollander beaters, which required building another machine hall. The company's name was changed from ''Mechanicus Voith'' to ''Mechanische Werkstätte und Eisengießerei'' (Mechanical Workshops and Foundry).


Industrial enterprise

The official founding date of the company J. M. Voith is January 1, 1867. At this point, the company employed around 35 people. On January 1, 1867, the only son of 63-year-old Johann Matthäus Voith, the 26-year-old Friedrich Voith, took over the business as the sole owner. Under his leadership, his father's workshop became a larger company and specialized in paper machines and the construction of water wheels and turbines. In 1869, Voith was granted the first patent for a wood grinder with a toothed loading rack. On November 18, 1869, the company applied for official registration in the
Commercial Register This is a list of official business registers around the world. There are many types of official business registers, usually maintained for various purposes by a state authority, such as a government agency, or a court of law. In some cases, ...
and changed its name to ''Maschinenfabrik und Eisengießerei von J. M. Voith in Heidenheim''. In 1871, the eight-year-old foundry was expanded. At that time, it had an annual production of 240 tons and employed an average of 19 workers, putting it roughly in the middle of all the foundries in Württemberg. By 1880, it was producing 380 tons with 34 workers on average; in 1890, 1,401 tons with 106 workers; and in 1900, 3,098 tons with 220 workers. At the turn of the century, the foundry had climbed from the mid-field to become the second largest foundry in Württemberg. Voith added another business segment to its existing product lines of paper machines and stock preparation technology – with the construction of a 100-HP Henschel-Jonval turbine. The sources available provide differing information on the relevant figures. The reason for this new turbine production segment was likely because the Heidenheim businesses were suffering from a lack of motive power due to the low supplies of iron ore and coal in the Württemberg region, and that well into the 19th century their largest energy source was hydropower from the River Brenz. During his studies, Friedrich Voith had examined producing hydropower energy. From 1873, the company was selling improved Francis turbines to industrial companies in Heidenheim in collaboration with Wilhelm von Kankelwitz (1831–1892), Professor of Mechanical Engineering at what was then the Stuttgart Polytechnikum (Institute of Technology). At the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna, Friedrich Voith and Heinrich Voelter exhibited the Voith wood grinder and received the "Progress Medal" for their development. In 1879  the first automatic speed regulator for turbines was built based on the designs of Voith engineer Adolf Pfarr. The first turbines were originally intended for the mechanical drive systems of machines. As electrification increased, water turbines served to produce electricity. In 1881, Voith fabricated the first complete Voith paper machine PM1, with a wire width of 2.35 m, for ''Raithelhuber, Bezner & Cie.'' in
Gemmrigheim Gemmrigheim is municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Gemmrigheim was first mentioned in historical documentation in 1085 as a possession of the , though the village was probably established in the 5 ...
. The first administration building was built in 1886. This was followed by a staff canteen in 1887 and another large assembly hall in 1889 that enlarged the factory grounds from 5,090 m2 to 9,590 m2. In 1896, a new machine hall was established for turbine construction. This was the first building to be located on the right bank of the River Brenz. In 1890, Voith began to supply high-pressure Pelton turbines (also known as impulse-type turbines). In the same year, Friedrich Voith was appointed by Karl I., the King of Württemberg, to his Council of Commercial Advisor. In 1892, Wilhem II., the last King of Württemberg, visited the private home of Friedrich Voith. At the time, Voith's mechanical engineering factory was the second largest company in Heidenheim. The king visited a total of four companies in Heidenheim. In 1892, the company had a workforce of 330 people, making it one of the largest companies in the
Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...
. In other centers of industrialization during this period, there were numerous social conflicts between companies and workers. Historians have proposed several reasons to explain why this was not the case among the large Heidenheim companies, including the traditionally close reciprocal relationships between commerce and farming and the fact that Heidenheim was still a small town.Anne Nieberding: ''Unternehmenskultur im Kaiserreich. Die Gießerei J. M. Voith und die Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co.'' C. H. Beck, München 2003, S. 35. It is assumed that the large proportion of women and children working in the textile industry could also have been a factor to explain why social democracy and trade unions were slow to become established in Heidenheim. The workers did begin to organize themselves, and in 1890, an office of the German Metal Workers Union was opened and a local branch of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) established. For 1904, the number of union members was estimated at 80 to 100. In the same year, a trade union "commission" was established to link the various trade unions that had been created for
printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jam ...
, woodworkers, construction workers and factory workers. Starting in 1893, J. M. Voith began building Pelton turbines. For Friedrich Voith, the fabrication of the impulse-type turbines was further progress from both an economic and technical perspective. He regarded contact with the research and development community as essential. In 1903, Voith received an order to build the largest turbines in the world: 12 Francis turbines each with 12,000 HP for power plants at
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...
in the US and Canada. The turbine segment at Voith expanded as more electric power plants were built. In 1904, the 50th paper machine left the Heidenheim plant. By 1913, 150 had been delivered. Another successful product was the vibrating screen, which separated the coarse shavings produced by the grinding machine. This was replaced in 1902 by a new centrifugal process. The year 1904 saw the opening of the company's first subsidiary in
Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. St. Pölten ...
(Voith Austria Holding), which was managed until 1944 by Walther Voith. In 1906 , the factory grounds were linked to the Heidenheim station by an industrial railway. Friedrich's eldest son had been managing the factory in Austria since 1904, and the second-eldest, Hermann, joined the management in 1906. The practical knowledge that had been applied so far was now increasingly being displaced by theoretical knowledge acquired through scientific education. For example, in 1907, Voith built a research and testing center for turbines in Hermaringen and another in Brunnenmühle in 1908. In the same year, the first hydraulic R&D center, Brunnenmühle in Heidenheim, started operating. Alongside the R&D center, Voith built Germany's first pumped storage hydropower plant. The elevated reservoir for the plant was located on top of the Schlossberg in Heidenheim and had a capacity of 8,000 m3. The turbine tests were carried out just 100 m below in the Brunnenmühle (water mill) in the Brenz valley. The increase in the number of Voith employees is a major reason why by 1908 there were already 800 trade union members in Heidenheim. Formerly there was said to be a good relationship between workers and factory owners in Heidenheim. This changed following the establishment of the German Metal Workers Union. That the conflicts at Voith began to accumulate before World War I is held to have been due to the management practices of the company rather than – as often claimed – because of the metalworkers' union official Sebastian Geiger. In 1910, a building was constructed to accommodate a modelmaking hall and a fettling shop, and in 1911, a new foundry was built. That same year, Voith built at its plant in St. Pölten in Austria what was at the time the fastest and widest paper machine for
newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
paper. In 1912, Friedrich converted the company to a general partnership and transferred most of his shares to his two sons. Walther managed the St. Pölten plant, Hermann took charge of the commercial side of the Heidenheim headquarters, and Hanns was responsible for the technical department. Friedrich Voith died in 1913 and just a month later, his third son Hanns was also included in the management team.Anne Nieberding: ''Unternehmenskultur im Kaiserreich. Die Gießerei J. M. Voith und die Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co.'' C. H. Beck, München 2003, S. 34. In 1913 , the company employed more than 3,000 people in Heidenheim and St. Pölten. In the same year, Voith built what at that time was the largest paper machine for newsprint, with a wire width of 5.2 m, for Holmen Bruks in Hallstavik, Sweden. The papers from the estate of Friedrich Voith include the financial statement at the end of the fiscal year 1912/1913. On July 1, 1913, the total assets of J. M. Voith in Heidenheim were around 15.9 million marks, and those of J. M. Voith in St.. Pölten around 4.4. million kronen or 3.8. million marks. The liabilities from loans were around 7.2. million marks in Heidenheim and around 2.4. million marks in St. Pölten. The deposits of the general and silent partners in Heidenheim combined totaled 7.3. million marks. As the company got bigger and bigger, so too did the private wealth of its owners. According to municipal council records dated September 28, 1849, the assets of Johann Matthäus Voith in 1849 amounted to more than 7,000  
florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
, and eight years later this was already estimated to be 15,000 florins. In 1909, in his capacity as a natural person, Friedrich Voith declared a private income of 913,405 marks and paid 5% of this in taxes, namely 45,670 marks.


Interwar years

After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the brothers decided on a strategic expansion of the company and got the drive technology segment operating. In 1922 , Voith started building gear transmissions where its long-standing expertise in
fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...
acquired in previous turbine projects provided an advantage. The breakthrough came with the help of Hermann Föttinger and his research into hydrodynamic energy transfers. In the same year, the first
Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to ach ...
, named after its inventor
Viktor Kaplan Viktor Kaplan (27 November 1876 – 23 August 1934) was an Austrian engineer and the inventor of the Kaplan turbine. Life Kaplan was born in Mürzzuschlag, Austria into a railroad worker's family. He graduated from high school in Vienna in 1895 ...
, left the Voith factory. In 1927, the Viennese engineer Ernst Schneider and the Voith company in Sankt Pölten applied jointly for a patent for the
Voith Schneider propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously ...
, which had been developed the year before based on the former's plans. This marine propulsion system, which also acts as a steering device, allows maneuverability previously impossible. Schneider's design was further developed and improved at Voith. In 1929, Voith developed the first hydrodynamic couplings based on the Föttinger principle. These were used Koepchenwerk, a pumped storage hydropower plant in
Herdecke Herdecke () is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located south of Dortmund in the Ruhr Area. Its location between the two Ruhr reservoirs Hengsteysee and Harkortsee has earned it the nickname ...
. This was followed by new drive systems for
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
and road vehicles. The company also made a name for itself with hydrodynamic transmissions and couplings for industrial applications. By 1934, Voith had delivered 11,525 turbines for hydropower and pumped storage plants with a total capacity of 7.9 million HP. Following the successful sea trials of the experimental vessel "Torqueo," which was equipped with a Voith Schneider Propeller for the first time, Voith Schneider Propellers were first used in Italy in 1937 for passenger transport in the narrow canals of
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
. At the World Fair in Paris in 1937, Voith won the "Grand Prix" three times for its exhibits of Voith Schneider Propellers and Voith turbo gear units. A year later in Paris, two
fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...
s fitted with VSPs went into operation on the
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...
.
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, began in 1939 and deprived Voith of the basis for its business. The export business halted. Total output was drastically reduced. The construction of paper machines in particular was decimated. 600 of the company's 4,000 employee died or went missing during the war. Following the death of Hermann Voith, Hanns Voith assumed the overall management of the Voith factory in Heidenheim in 1942. On April 24, 1945, the U.S. army occupied Heidenheim and issued an ultimatum that the town needed to be surrendered within an hour. As the deputy mayor could not be found, Hanns Voith personally arranged the peaceful handover of the town to American troops.


Reconstruction and internationalization

After World War II, Hanns Voith and Hugo Rupf made the company thrive again.Voith (Hrsg.):
Die Voith-Geschichte 2016
', S. 46, (PDF; 1,7 MB).
The delivery of a Voith turbine to Norway in 1947 was the first overseas order from the post-war period in Baden-Württemberg. Other major orders included the supply of eight Voith Schneider Propellers for the ''United Africa Co.'' in 1949, 46 Voith turbo gear units for Brazil and a paper machine for the Netherlands in 1951. The first Voith water tractor, known as "Biene" (bee), was also launched in 1951. Its triple-converter transmissions for long-distance
railcars A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
and DIWA bus transmissions put Voith at the forefront of technical development in 1952. In 1953 , the development and construction of paper machines reached new heights, when Voith built the fastest paper machine in Europe for the production of
newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...
for Feldmühle AG. With a speed of 600 m/min, it achieved a production capacity of 200 tons per day. In 1956, Voith opened a branch factory in Crailsheim, where it produced fluid couplings. In the same year, it exported the first turbo gear units to the United States. In 1957, Hugo Rupf became a managing director alongside Hanns Voith. He was the first manager of the company not a member of the Voith family. At the 1958 World Fair in Brussels, Voith was awarded a gold medal for the first turbo gear units for diesel-hydraulic locomotive drive systems built for Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Railways). In the 1960s, Voith became an internationally operating group and became a pioneer in paper recycling. The company worked with the Palm and Haindl paper mills to develop a new flotation deinking process to produce paper stock from recovered paper. In 1961, Voith supplied what was at that time Europe's largest newsprint paper machine with a wire width of 8.3 m to the Ahlström publishing house in Warkaus, Finland. Meanwhile, the first Voith variable speed fluid coupling was produced in Crailsheim. In 1962, the company supplied two spiral turbines, four storage pumps and two pump turbines for what was then the largest European pumped storage power plant in
Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...
. To expand the drive technology segment, an increase in production capacities was necessary. In 1963, the company's plant in Garching near Munich began producing automatic transmissions for buses. in 1964 , Voith established a subsidiary in
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
in Brazil. Between 1962 and 1966, the company acquired stakes in the Indian company Utkal Machinery and in Talleres de Tolosa in Spain, took over the tooling and paper machine manufacturer Dörries, and established sales offices in UK and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In 1966, Voith delivered the widest newsprint paper machine in the world to a customer in Sweden. This was followed by an order from the US for two of the world's largest Pelton (impulse-type) turbines with a capacity of 226,000 HP. Equally powerful were the four Francis turbines that Voith supplied to Estreito in Brazil. In the 1970s, Voith developed the Zentrimatic clutch and the Voith retarder for buses and trucks. In 1974, Voith established a company in
Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...
and in the same year acquired a majority stake in Morden Machines in
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. Two years later, Voith founded its first
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. After the death of Hanns Voith, Hugo Rupf became chairman of the management board in 1971, and from 1973, he led the company as Chairman of the Supervisory.


Acquisitions and Joint-Ventures

Voith entered the paper machine clothing market with its acquisition of Appleton Mills in 1983. In addition, in 1986 Voith took over the hydro operations of U.S. market leader
Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial setti ...
in
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, Pennsylvania. Within just a few years, the number of employees in the USA rose from just under 200 to over 1,300. In 1985, Voith opened a production facility in
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, India. In the early 1990s, different views among the family led to the splitting of the company's assets. The Hermann Voith side of the family withdrew, receiving a large proportion of the financial investments and the machine tool part of the business, The heirs of Hanns Voith retained the core business in paper machines, clothing, drive technology, turbines and maritime technology. This splitting of assets eliminated the debilitating stalemate in the Shareholders' Committee. At Voith, the focus shifted to expansion in the Far East, especially in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In 1994, Voith supplied turbines for the world's largest pumped storage hydropower plant Guangzhou II. Two years later, Voith supplied the largest fine paper machine in the world to Gold East Paper in Dagang District. New production facilities were opened in
Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong p ...
and
Liaoyang Liaoyang () is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of F ...
in 1996. Under the leadership of Michael Rogowski, who became spokesman for the management board in 1986, the principle of control from corporate headquarters was replaced by a management holding structure with independent corporate divisions. Other milestones were the introduction of the R 115 integration retarder in 1988 and the commissioning of Europe's largest
Deinking Deinking is the industrial process of removing printing ink from paperfibers of recycled paper to make deinked pulp. The key in the deinking process is the ability to detach ink from the fibers. This is achieved by a combination of mechanical ac ...
facility in Schongau, Germany in 1989. In 1994, Voith and Swiss company Sulzer merged their technical papermaking operations to create Voith-Sulzer Papertec. This also included the paper activities of the Krefeld-based company Kleinewefers Group, which Sulzer had only acquired in 1992. In 1998, Voith acquired a majority stake in this enterprise. In 1999, Voith acquired the technical papermaking operations of British company Scapa, making it one of the leading companies for paper machine clothing technology. The year 2000 saw the creation of ''Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation'', a joint venture of the two leading manufacturers of turbine and generator technology. At the helm of the company, Michael Rogowski transferred operational responsibility to Hermut Kormann in 2000. Under his leadership, the group grew to become a global player with orders totaling €4 billion and a workforce of 34,000 people. At the end of 2001, via the ''Voith Paper Holding'', Voith took over ''Jagenberg'' Jagenberg Papiertechnik in Neuss with its product lines including winders, cross-cutters and paper coating machines, as well as its manufacturing subsidiary Jagenberg Maschinenbau and overseas subsidiaries ''Jagenberg Inc.'' in Enfield, CT, USA, and Basagoitia in Tolosa, Spain. In 2002, Voith's Austrian subsidiary was fully incorporated into the Voith Group again as ''Voith Austria Holding AG''. As German Property it had been integrated into the
USIA Usia is a village in Kamsaar, Uttar Pradesh, India. It lies southeast of Ghazipur and east of Dildarnagar, close to the Bihar State border.USIA is a historical village of ghazipur as well as uttar pradesh, it was founded by 1. Barbal khan 2. ...
(Administration for Soviet Property in Austria) by Soviet troops in 1945. Following the
Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying p ...
in 1955 the company was an Austrian state-owned enterprise before Voith was able to recover its shares again over the years. Voith went from strength to strength in the field of technical industrial services. With a controlling stake in the Stuttgart-based DIW Deutsche Industriewartung, the foundations were laid for the Voith Industrial Services division. This division grew over the following years and further acquisitions were made, e.g., the Imo-Hüther Group and Hörmann Industrietechnik. At the end of May 2005, Voith Industrial Services strengthened its leading position in the market for technical services and acquired the U.S. Premier Group.Voith (Hrsg.):
Die Voith-Geschichte
', S. 70, (PDF; 1,7 MB).
In November 2008, Voith Hydro took over the small Austrian hydro company ''Kössler'', which was based in St. Georgen. In May 2006, the Voith Paper Technology Technology Center opened in Heidenheim. In
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
the Voith subsidiary Wavegen operated the world's first
wave power plant Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by win ...
, to feed electricity to a grid. The research activities in Inverness, Scotland, were discontinued in 2013. In 2008, Voith gathered with 200 customers and partners from all over the world to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the "Brunnenmühle" in Heidenheim, which had previously been upgraded at an investment cost of €20 million. The "Brunnenmühle" is the global R&D center for hydropower technology at Voith Hydro and one of the most modern test centers for hydropower plant components worldwide. Around 300 engineers work at Voith headquarters in Heidenheim and four other locations around the world, in São Paulo, Brazil; York, Pennsylvania, USA; Noida, India, and Västerås, Sweden. The "Brunnenmühle" is where Voith develops generators, turbines, control technology, shut-off valves and other hydro components. At the Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology trade fair in 2010, Voith Turbo and one of its rivals each presented for the first time a
rim-driven thruster The rim-driven thruster, also known as rim-driven propulsor/propeller (or RDP) is a novel type of electric propulsion unit for ships. The concept was proposed by Kort around 1940, but only became commercially practical in the early 21st century ...
for ships. Over an 18-month construction period, the world's most powerful single-engine diesel-hydraulic locomotive – the
Voith Maxima The Voith Group is a German manufacturer of machines for the pulp and paper industry, technical equipment for hydropower plants and drive and braking systems. The family-owned company, which operates worldwide and has its headquarters in Hei ...
– was developed. Since 2010, a large number of Voith Gravita shunting locomotives have been in operation at Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). In the same year, Voith celebrated the official opening of its new production and service center for the paper industry in Asia at Voith Paper CityVoith (Hrsg.):
Die Voith-Geschichte
', S. 71, (PDF; 1,7 MB).
in
Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong p ...
, China. Also in 2010, the world's first
wave power plant Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by win ...
went into commercial operation in Mutriku on the Basque coast. For this plant, Voith supplied Spanish energy utility ''Ente Vasco de la Energia'' (EVE) with the equipment for the 16 Wells turbine units, which have a total output of 300 kilowatts and produce enough power for 250 households. The "oscillating water column" technology used in Mutriku means that the turbines do not come into contact with water. Instead, a column of air is set in motion that drives the machines. The kinetic energy of marine currents is converted to electrical energy with the help of unshrouded three-bladed horizontal axis turbines. This kind of marine current turbine is physically similar to wind power turbines. Following the successful completion and in-depth analysis of the one-year test run in a model power plant near the South Korean island of Jindo Voith systematically continued its tidal current program with the construction of a one-megawatt machine on a 1:1 scale and developed the innovative low-maintenance tidal current turbine technology at the ''European Marine Energy Centre'' (EMEC) in Scotland to a commercial scale. Voith built a test turbine at its Heidenheim facility that was installed off the Scottish
Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
island of
Eday Eday (, sco, Aidee) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago. ...
from 2013 to 2015. On October 1, 2010, ''Voith AG'' changed its name and legal status to ''Voith GmbH''. In 2013, the most powerful generator-turbine unit in Voith's history went into operation at the Chinese hydropower plant Xiluodu on the River Jinsha. After a 72-hour test run, Voith handed over the first of three of these machines to the
China Three Gorges Corporation The China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG; ) is a Chinese state-owned power company, established on 27 September 1993. The company was responsible for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam-project, the world's largest hydroelectric power plant, t ...
. At 784 megawatts, the generator-turbine unit generates more power than the largest hydropower plants in the world. Upon completion, the total output of the three Voith units for Xiluodu will be roughly equivalent to the most powerful nuclear power plant in Germany
Gundremmingen Gundremmingen is a municipality in the district of Günzburg (district), Günzburg in Bavaria in Germany. It is well known for the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant. Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Station Gundremmingen is the location of the nuclea ...
. At the start of 2014, Voith Turbo announced that it was stopping the production of new locomotives. A total of 20 Maxima and 165 Gravita locomotives had been built at the company's Kiel plant. April 2014 saw the official opening of the Voith China Training Center. The vocational training and further education center in Kunshan (around 80 km northwest of Shanghai) is the company's largest training center outside of Germany. In the same year, Voith also celebrated the official opening of a new training center in Heidenheim, which every year provides training in 10 skilled commercial and technical occupations. Worldwide the company trains a total of 1,294 apprentices and students. In February 2015, it was announced that Voith in Germany and Austria would cut 800 jobs in the paper machine segment and close the Voith Paper plants in Krefeld, Neuwied and St. Pölten. In 2016, the sale of the Industrial Services division was completed. Under the new owners, Triton Partners the business was split into two separate and independent brands. Since 2017, the service business for the automotive sector has been operating as
Leadec Leadec provides technical services for the automotive and manufacturing industries. The company, which is headquartered in Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is ...
, while the process and power plant industry segment became known as ''Veltec''. On August 1, 2017, ''Voith GmbH'' changed its name and legal status to ''Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA''. With more than 260 workforce and family parties taking place at over 160 locations, the year 2017 was all about celebrating the company's 150th anniversary. In fiscal 2017, all the company's shares in KUKA were sold. In the same year, Voith acquired a majority stake in the German digital services provider Ray Sono. In 2018, Voith partnered with Franka Emika to establish the new joint venture Voith Robotics, which is now managed solely by Voith. As part of this process, Voith acquired a stake in Franka Emika GmbH. As part of a realignment in 2022, Voith Robotics has discontinued its market activities.


Corporate structure

Voith is represented in around 60 countries and maintains a worldwide network of sales, service, production, R&D and administrative locations. Even in its early years, the company was focused on developing global business relationships. As early as 1903, Voith had supplied turbines for a hydropower plant on the American side of Niagara Falls and for the first Chinese hydropower plant Shi Long Ba. In 1923, the company delivered its first paper machine to India. In 1903, it established its first subsidiary outside Germany, at St. Pölten in Austria, and 10 years later its first subsidiary in the USA.Anne Nieberding: ''Unternehmenskultur im Kaiserreich. Die Gießerei J. M. Voith und die Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co.'', Beck, München 2003, S. 29–30
Ausschnitte
in Google Bücher.
Voith has had a presence in Brazil and India since the 1960s and in China since the early 1990s. Its key regions are Brazil, China, Germany, Europe, India and the USA. Even today, the Group is still entirely family owned, although since the 1960s, the heirs have been replaced in key management roles. The Voith family is currently one of the wealthiest families in Germany. According to Manager Magazin, the assets of the around 40 owners of the multinational corporation grew to €3.2 billion in 2012, but dropped to €2.2 billion in 2013. Voith is engaged in projects in the education, social welfare, sporting and cultural spheres. Its corporate responsibility commitments range from financial support for relief projects and sponsorships to corporate-volunteering activities. These are realized through ''Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA'' – in some cases in collaboration with charitable organizations and also through the foundation ''Hanns Voith Stiftung'' established in 1953, and the ''Fundação Voith'' set up in Brazil in 2004. With its
portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...
of production plants, products and industrial services, Voith serves five key markets: energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, and transport & automotive. Toralf Haag has been the company's chairman of the Corporate Board of Management. since October 24, 2018. The chairman of the Supervisory Board is Siegfried Russwurm His deputy is Alexander Schlotz, Chairman of the Joint Works Council of J.M. Voith SE & Co. KG. ''Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA'', which is headquartered in Heidenheim an der Brenz, is the operational management holding company for the Group. The Board of Management of ''Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA'' is responsible for the strategic management and operations of the Group. The Shareholders' Committee and Supervisory Board act as advisory and supervisory bodies, respectively. The latter is also the monitoring authority with respect to the Management Board. Voith's operations are organized into three corporate divisions: Voith Hydro, Voith Paper and Voith Turbo. The business operations of the subsidiaries of the corporate divisions are each managed by legally independent management companies. In addition, Voith had a 9.14% stake in
SGL Carbon SGL Carbon SE is a European company based in Germany. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of products from carbon. With 31 production sites around the globe (17 in Europe, 9 in North America and 5 in Asia), and a service network in ov ...
in Wiesbaden, and between December 2014 and July 2016, had a 25.1% share in
KUKA KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and systems for factory automation. It has been predominantly owned by the Chinese company Midea Group since 2016. The KUKA Robotics Corporation has 25 subsidiaries, mostly sales and servi ...
beteiligt. Voith's stake in SGL Carbon was reduced to just under 3% by December 2016.


Voith Hydro

Voith Hydro, previously ''Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation'', is a joint venture of Voith and Siemens Energy (35% share of capital). In October 2021, Siemens Energy announced that it would withdraw from the joint venture and sell its minority stake to the partner. Voith Hydro is a full-line supplier of equipment for hydropower plants of all sizes. Its range of products and services includes generators, turbines and pumps; measuring and control equipment and instrumentation; automation; hydropower plant upgrades; and services like maintenance and spare parts. Around a quarter of the energy generated by hydropower comes from plants operating with Voith technology. Voith products are used in many large hydropower plants like Niagara (1903), Macagua (1959 - 1963) in Venezuelam, here install 6 Francis Turbine, Itaipú (1976) and the
Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
(2003). The construction of the
Belo Monte Dam The Belo Monte Dam (''formerly known as'' Kararaô) is a hydroelectric dam complex on the northern part of the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. After its completion, with the installation of its 18th turbine, in November 2019, the inst ...
in the
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian part of the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
, in which Voith Hydro is also involved, began in January 2012. Experts expect that by its completion, it could flood up to 516 km2 of (mostly forested) land and displace 20,000 people.


Voith Paper

Voith Paper is a system supplier for the international paper industry that covers the entire paper manufacturing process. Most paper production worldwide is done on Voith Paper machines. Voith Paper offers * Solutions for the treatment of primary and secondary fibers (e.g., from recovered paper) * The supply of complete paper machines for all paper grades as well as rebuilds of individual
paper machine A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machin ...
s * Automation solutions for the entire paper manufacturing process, e.g., process and quality control systems, sensors and scanners * Paper machine clothing (e.g., forming fabrics), press sleeves, rolls and roll covers * Services from product service to optimization of entire systems * Technologies for the efficient use of all resources like water, energy and fiber, e.g., by using residues and wastewater for energy recovery * Air conditioning and process air systems as well as drying and
cooling technology Cooling is removal of heat, usually resulting in a lower temperature and/or phase change. Temperature lowering achieved by any other means may also be called cooling.ASHRAE Terminology, https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/free-resources/as ...


Voith Turbo

Voith Turbo is a supplier of mechanical, hydrodynamic, electrical, hydraulic and electronic drive and braking systems. Voith Turbo is the market leader worldwide for hydrodynamic transmissions. Within the Group, its core activities are as follows: * For energy and oil & gas industries: hydrodynamic
coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mov ...
s (fluid couplings), variable speed planetary gear units, turbo gear units, hydrodynamic torque converters and actuating and control technology * For industries including steel, mining and metalworking: Fluid couplings, hydraulic systems and components, Hirth serrations, high-performance cardan shafts, safety couplings and highly flexible couplings * For road vehicles:
automatic transmissions An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving co ...
for
Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es, hydrodynamic retarders, air compressors and VIAB turbo-retarder clutches as well as vibration dampers for
agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
* For rail vehicles: drive systems like turbo gear units, wheelset gear units, traction inverters, cardan shafts, cooling systems,
Scharfenberg coupler The Scharfenberg coupler (german: Scharfenbergkupplung, abbreviated ''Schaku'') is a commonly used type of fully automatic railway coupling. Designed in 1903 by Karl Scharfenberg in Königsberg, Germany (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the coupler ...
s and front ends * For
watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...
: Voith Schneider Propellers, water tractors, Voith Turbo Fin, Voith Linear Jets, Voith Inline Thrusters, Voith Radial Propellers


Research & development

In fiscal 2021/2022, Voith invested a total €213 million in boosting productivity and the strategic alignment of the Voith Group. In the reporting period (2021/2022), the investment ratio as a proportion of revenue was 4,4% of the consolidated revenue (4,5% in previous year). Of the total R&D expenditure, €5 million was capitalized. At the same time, amortization of €9 million was recognized on capitalized development costs. Voith's research and development activities have an international focus. The main R&D center is in Germany, but centers in America, Asia and the rest of Europe conduct specialized R&D projects in the respective Group Divisions. For example, the ''Tissue Innovation Center'', which was established in
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC ...
in 1994, was reopened in November 2011 following a major rebuild. In fiscal 2016/2017, Voith opened its own Voith Innovation Lab in Berlin to boost the process of innovation in the company.


Literature

* Matthias Georgi, Tobias Birken, Anna Pezold: ''Voith: 150 Jahre deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte'', Siedler Verlag 2017, ISBN 978-3-827501-11-0. * Anne Nieberding: ''Unternehmenskultur im Kaiserreich. Die Gießerei J. M. Voith und die Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co.'' (= ''Schriftenreihe zur Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte 9''), Beck, München 2003, ISBN 3-406-49630-X. * Hermann Schweickert: ''Der Wasserturbinenbau bei Voith zwischen 1913 und 1939 und die Geschichte der Eingliederung neuer Strömungsmaschinen.'' Dissertation der
Universität Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...
, Siedentop, Heidenheim 2002, ISBN 978-3-925887-19-2. * Voith GmbH: ''Mit guten Ideen voran – seit 1867: Die Voith Geschichte.'' Unternehmensbroschüre, Heidenheim, Januar 2013 / 2016 al
PDF-Datei; 76 S., 1,7 MB
oder au


References


External links


Voith Innovation Lab
{{Authority control Companies based in Baden-Württemberg German brands Locomotive manufacturers of Germany Auto parts suppliers of Germany Automotive transmission makers Engineering companies of Germany Companies established in 1867 Pulp and paper companies of Germany Water turbine manufacturers Engine manufacturers of Germany