Type | Limited partnership |
---|---|
Founded | 1852 |
Headquarters | Albstadt, Baden-Wuerttemberg , |
Key people | Hans-Jürgen Haug (CEO), Eric Schöller and Markus Settegast [1] |
Revenue | Group: 742 mil. EUR (2021) [2] |
Number of employees | Headquarters: 2,203 (2021) [2] Group: 8,675 (2021) [2] |
Website | www.groz-beckert.com |
The Groz-Beckert KG is part of the Groz-Beckert Group based in Albstadt-Ebingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Groz-Beckert is the world's leading provider of industrial needles, precision components and fine tools as well as systems and services for the production and joining of textiles. Founded in 1852, the company is still family-owned. On 31 December 2021 the group of companies had around 8,700 employees, of which 2,203 worked at the headquarters in Albstadt. Groz-Beckert is the largest employer of the Zollernalbkreis. In the business year 2021 the company generated a turnover of 742 mil. Euro. [2]
In 1852 Theodor Groz opened a store for toys and fashion accessories with an attached needle workshop in Ebingen, today part of Albstadt. In the same year he produced needles for warp knitting and hosiery production for the first time. In 1871 Ernst Beckert founded the identically named company "Ernst Beckert" in Eibenberg, near Chemnitz, for the production of needles. In 1884 Ernst Beckert relocated his needle factory to Chemnitz. Already in 1888 Theodor Groz & Söhne founded their own health insurance fund for their employees – the precursor of today's BKK Groz-Beckert. In 1937 the two companies merged, laying the foundation of the present group of companies. At that time, Walther Groz was the Head of the executive board of the company. Today, besides the headquarters there are further production sites all over the world (Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Portugal, India, China, Vietnam, USA). Also sales affiliates can be found around the globe (Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Great Britain, Turkey, Mexico, USA, India, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore). [3]
From 1996 to 2018 the company was chaired by Dr. Thomas Lindner (* 1951), a descendant of one of the founders. [4] Since 2019 he has been Chairman of the Groz-Beckert Supervisory Board. [1] Lindner was also President of the VDMA from 2010 to 2013.
Groz-Beckert is producer of industrial needles and system parts for the knitting, apparel, shoe, nonwovens, and carpet industry (gauge parts tufting). In addition to that, the range of products includes weaving accessories like healds, heald frames, warp stop motions, and drop wires. In the beginning, these products were sold under the name "Grob by Groz-Beckert", now they go by "Groz-Beckert", and also machines for weaving preparation are part of the range. With its product group Customized Precision Components (CPC), formerly Ceramic Punching Components, Groz-Beckert went into a new field of application of precision tools. The products are carbide tools, punches, and dies for special machines as well as precision micro-components. Since the end of 2006 also cylinders and dials for circular knitting machines are produced (former SMC). Under the name of "SMG", another line of business produces and sells plastic ball bearings and components as well as first class plastic technology products. Also the brands "Eisbär by Groz-Beckert", Schmeing", "Knotex", and "Grob by Groz-Beckert" belong to the group. Today the following products are sold under the name of "Groz-Beckert":
In 2010 the company inaugurated its Technology and Development Center (TEZ) at its headquarters in Albstadt. Laboratories, a training center, development offices and seminar rooms as well as machinery for all important textile production processes are placed on an area of around 25,000 square meters.
At ITMA 2015, Groz-Beckert present products and services as well as its new booth concept with machines made of acrylic glass and for the first time, showcase its carding division. [5]
In September 2013 Groz-Beckert inaugurated its Health and Education Center (GEBIZ) at its headquarters in Albstadt. Besides "Kita und Grundschule Malesfelsen" - a day care center and a private elementary school, the GEBIZ also includes the "Vitalzentrum Malesfelsen", a health center for its employees and the BKK insurance fund members. It provides a prevention and training area with an attached wellness and relaxation room. In addition to that, the vital center includes a public physiotherapeutic office.
In total, Groz-Beckert invested around 17.5 mil. Euro into this project.
The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a "chain of cards"; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.
This timeline of clothing and textiles technology covers events relating to fiber and flexible woven material worn on the body. This includes the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, and manufacturing systems (technology).
A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the invention of the first sewing machine, generally considered to have been the work of Englishman Thomas Saint in 1790, the sewing machine has greatly improved the efficiency and productivity of the clothing industry.
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed and patented in 1785 by Edmund Cartwright. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by the Howard and Bullough company made the operation completely automatic. This device was designed in 1834 by James Bullough and William Kenworthy, and was named the Lancashire loom.
Fibre-reinforced plastic is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass, carbon, aramid, or basalt. Rarely, other fibres such as paper, wood, boron, or asbestos have been used. The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinyl ester, or polyester thermosetting plastic, though phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use.
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but using a sewing machine is also possible. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, and then filling in the framework thus created, as if weaving. Darning is a traditional method for repairing fabric damage or holes that do not run along a seam, and where patching is impractical or would create discomfort for the wearer, such as on the heel of a sock.
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
Ebingen is a town in the large district of Albstadt, district Zollernalbkreis, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, south of Tübingen and west of Ulm.
Albstadt is the largest city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Swabian Jura mountains, about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance.
Warp knitting is defined as a loop-forming process in which the yarn is fed into the knitting zone, parallel to the fabric selvage. It forms vertical loops in one course and then moves diagonally to knit the next course. Thus the yarns zigzag from side to side along the length of the fabric. Each stitch in a course is made by many different yarns. Each stitch in one wale is made by several different yarns.
A selvage or selvedge is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem or bias tape, to prevent fraying.
The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.
Complete garment knitting is a next-generation form of fully fashioned knitting that adds the capability of making a 3-dimensional full garment. Unlike other fully fashioned knitting, where the shaped pieces must still be sewn together, finished complete knitted garments do not have seams. The knitting machines' computerized instructions direct movement of hundreds of needles to construct and connect several tubular knitted forms to create a complete garment in a single production step.
Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.
Geo. Hattersley was a textile machinery manufacturer from Keighley, West Yorkshire in England, founded in 1789 and responsible for the Hattersley Standard Loom and other types of looms.
The Torrington Company was a firm that developed in Torrington, Connecticut, emerging as a rename from the Excelsior Needle Company. It used a "cold swaging" technique to create sewing machine needles and other needles from cold metal, and was the largest employer in Torrington. in addition to its main facilities in Torrington, it acquired a division, located in South Bend, Indiana.
A Muggeseggele or Muckenseckel is a humorous Alemannic German idiom used in Swabia to designate a nonspecific very small length or amount of something; it refers to a housefly's scrotum. It has been called the smallest Swabian unit of measurement and plays a similar role in northern Baden-Württemberg and Franconia.
The International Textile Machinery Association (ITMA) exhibition is an event in the textile industry, where manufacturers from around the world gather to showcase their latest developments, innovations, and advancements in textile machinery. It serves as a platform for professionals in the textile supply chain to gain insights into the latest technological advancements and new machinery and devices that can enhance textile manufacturing processes, including the production of fibers, yarns, and the processing and finishing of textile products.
3D textiles are three-dimensional structures made with different manufacturing methods such as weaving, knitting, braiding, or nonwoven, or made with alternative technologies. 3D textiles are produced with three planar geometry, opposed to 2D textiles that are made on two planes. The weave in 2D textiles is perpendicular. The yarn is fed along two axis: length (x-axis) and width (y-axis), while 3D textiles also have a perpendicular weave, but they have an extra yarn with an angular feeding (z-axis) which creates thickness. 3D weaves are orthogonal weave structures, multilayer structures, and angle interlocks. 3D textiles have more manufacturing opportunities, various properties, and a broader scope of applications. These textiles have a wide range of applications, but they are most commonly used where performance is the primary criterion, such as technical textiles. Composite materials, manufacturing is one of the significant areas of using 3D textiles.
Pin weaving is a form of small-scale weaving traditionally done on a frame made of pins; the warp and weft are wrapped around the pins. Pin-woven textiles have a selvage edge all the way around.