WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH is a German manufacturer of heavy duty machine tools in the product lines milling, turning, boring, grinding and texturing. The internationally operating company has production and service sites in the USA, in China and India. The Headquarter of the company is situated in
Burbach,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Company history
In 1840, Heinrich Adolf Waldrich founded Maschinenfabrik H.A. Waldrich in
Siegen
Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...
, which was part of the Prussian province
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
at that time.
Initially, the company manufactured pumps, pulleys and fans for furnaces. The first steam engine was designed and manufactured in 1863, followed by the first turning machine. When the company founder Heinrich Adolf Waldrich died in 1879, his son of the same name took over the company management. During the following years, the company’s product portfolio was extended. The first roll lathe was manufactured in 1897, the production of the first roll grinders started in 1920. The company management was taken over by
Oskar Waldrich, the grandson of the company founder, after the
First World War
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 number of employees was 20 at that time. Under his management, new markets were developed. E.g. Maschinenfabrik H.A. Waldrich delivered the first machines to Russia in 1927. During the
Second World War
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 ...
, the production halls of the company were destroyed almost completely by bombing raids on Siegen in 1944.
The product line of portal milling machines was launched in 1961, when the company merged with Ingersoll Milling Machine Co., USA. Ingersoll brought the milling technique that originally came from America to the European market. Therefore, Waldrich Siegen-Ingersoll GmbH was founded. A new production hall was needed for the manufacturing of the high performance portal milling machines, due to the size and weight of the machines. Thus, a new production site with tool machines was built on the greenfield in Burbach. After completing the new building in 1981, the company’s headquarter moved from Siegen to Burbach. WaldrichSiegen had been acquired by Ingersoll in 1971. Waldrich Coburg was integrated in the concern in 1986.
After the insolvency of Ingersoll, USA, the companies WaldrichSiegen and Waldrich Coburg were acquired by the owner family of Maschinenfabrik Herkules in 2004.
[ ] The owners decided to sell Waldrich Coburg again in 2005.
Today, WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH is an independent and autonomous company within the medium-sized and owner-managed HerkulesGroup. In the future, WaldrichSiegen is going to appear jointly on the market with UnionChemnitz, which has been part of the HerkulesGroup since June 2011.
Developments
* Hydrostatical worm drives for turning and milling machines (1970)
* WaldrichSiegen master head concept (2009)
Products
WaldrichSiegen manufactures machine tools used for machining rolls and housings of heavy marine diesel engines, crankshafts etc. The product portfolio contains:
* Milling machines
* Horizontal lathes
* Vertical lathes
* Horizontal boring machines
* Grinding machines
* Texturing machines
Literature
*
*
External links
WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
References
{{reflist
Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia
Engineering companies of Germany
German brands
Machine tool builders
German companies established in 1840
Manufacturing companies established in 1840