Milestones in the history of the enterprise

The Schmersal Group expands its management team and appoints Michael Ambros as managing director of K.A. Schmersal GmbH & Co. KG.  In his new role, Michael Ambros is responsible for the Administration and Sales & Marketing divisions on a global basis.

In December, Schmersal founded an independent subsidiary in Japan. Tetsuya Horimoto was appointed Managing Director of the new Schmersal Japan KK.

On 1 January 2016, the Schmersal Group founded an independent service division under the name of tec.nicum. The experts at tec.nicum advise machine manufacturers and operators on all questions of machine safety and occupational safety. They also plan and implement complex safety solutions all over the world.

Schmersal Safety Control GmbH, which produces opto-electronic safety products, expands based on the positive development of the business. In November 2016, Safety Control moved into a new home in Mühldorf am Inn. Since then, production and logistics have been under one roof, which has improved the delivery service to the customers.

The Böhnke + Partner GmbH, a subsidiary of the Schmersal Group, is laying the foundations for a new administration and production building in Obereschbach, a district of Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.The new building covers the future demand for production space and provides room for long-term growth in employee numbers.

In China, too, the continued growth requires a completely new building in Qingpu / Shanghai, which the Schmersal Industrial Switchgear of the Shanghai Co. Ltd. (SISS) opens in August.

The Schmersal Group has taken over the control systems Boehnke Partner GmbH in Bergisch Gladbach, thus expanding the business area of lift technology to the important area of industrial automation. The headquarters of Boehnke + Partner is being expanded into a competence centre for lift technology.
Inauguration of the sixth production facility of the Schmersal Group.

The new Schmersal Group production site in Ranjangaon near Pune in India starts operation in October. Schmersal India Private Limited employs some 60 employees producing safety switches and lift switchgear for the Indian market in the new factory covering nearly 4000 m².

After two years of planning and construction, the Schmersal Group takes into operation the new European central warehouse in Wuppertal. The logistics centre has an area of 3,600 m² of space for a narrow aisle pallet warehouse with 1,800 pallet spaces, an automatic small parts warehouse (ASPW) with 26,000 spaces also for generous picking and packing areas. 

Laying of the foundation stone for the sixth production plant of the Schmersal Group. Schmersal India Pvd. Ltd., incorporated in 2007, will start producing safety switchgear and elevator components for the Indian market at Ranjangaon near Pune.

Start of the construction of the European logistics centre at Wuppertal.

The best business year ever in the company’s history. Approximately 1350 employees generate a turnover of 180 Mio. €.

Laying of the foundation stone for a new plant in Qingpu (Shanghai district), China. Schmersal Industrial Switchgear Co. Ltd. Meanwhile sets approximately 100 employees to work. A building complex with 9,500 m² production surface, a 4000 m² large warehouse and a five-storey administrative building with a floor surface of 1,700 m² is currently under construction.

With Dipl. Wirt.-Ing. Philip Schmersal, the third generation of owners enters the operational management of the Schmersal Group since the company was incorporated 65 years ago. Previously, Philip Schmersal already held multiple positions in the group, amongst other things as manager of the elevator technology business segment.

In January 2008, a special new building opened its doors on the business premises at Wuppertal. The company kindergarden started off with 18 kids and a challenging pedagogical concept: the natural curiosity and inquisitiveness of the children will be used to learn and acquire knowledge in a playful manner. The children are initiated for instance in languages (English being the second language in the kindergarten) but in (natural) science and technology as well.

In October 2008, the Schmersal Group took over Safety Control GmbH and its subsidiary Safety Protec GmbH located in Mühldorf/Inn, thus extending its safety-related optoelectronics product spectrum with high-quality and practical series. Both companies, which are the Centre of Competence for Optoelectronics from the Schmersal Group, are now operational under the name of Schmersal Safety Control GmbH.
 

Inauguration of the tec.nicum training centre.
Expansion of the production plant in China, where already more than 100 staff members are employed.

A manufacturing location in Shanghai/ China went into production, primarily supplying electrical control devices for lifts to East Asian markets.

Schmersal took over the Elan Schaltelemente GmbH & Co. KG in Wettenberg from the Schunk Group.

Schmersal took over steute Schaltgeräte GmbH in Löhne.

Generation change: The cousins Stefan and Heinz Schmersal took over responsibility for the management of the enterprise. Safety in System: Protection for Man and Machine determined the thoughts and actions of the company - with success.

The ACE Schmersal Ltda. was founded in Sao Paulo/ Brazil as a sales and manufacturing unit. ACE Schmersal today has about 200 employees producing safety control devices for the South American market.

Schmersal develops the first contactless magnetic switch.
As the automation of industry began to take pace, the focus of development and production in the 1960s was on switchgear for machine and plant Engineering.

The product portfolio was continually widened. Many of the control devices were used in safety-relevant applications, e.g. in zones subject to explosion hazards.

Immediately after the Second World War, the brothers Kurt Andreas and Ernst Schmersal founded a company which initially built components used in the production of lifts. In 1947 they began the production of mechanically-operated electrical control devices.