Schott AG

Last updated

Schott AG
Company type Aktiengesellschaft
Industry Glass
Founded1884;140 years ago (1884)
Jena, Germany
Founder Otto Schott
Headquarters
Mainz
,
Germany
Key people
 Frank Heinricht
(Chairman of the Management Board)
ServicesGlass Manufacturing
Revenue2.9 billion euro (2023) [1]
Owner Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
Number of employees
17,100 (2023) [1]
Website schott.com

Schott AG is a German multinational glass company specializing in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramics. Headquartered in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, it is owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The company's founder and namesake, Otto Schott, is credited with the invention of borosilicate glass.

Contents

History

Founding

The glass technical laboratory founded in Jena in 1884 GlastechnischesLaboratorium.jpg
The glass technical laboratory founded in Jena in 1884
The first hexagonal segments for the main mirror of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) being cast by Schott

In 1884, Otto Schott, Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and his son Roderich Zeiss founded the Glastechnische Laboratorium Schott & Genossen (Glass Technical Laboratory Schott & Associates) in Jena, Thuringia, Germany [2] [3] which initially produced optical glasses for microscopes and telescopes. [4] In 1891, the Carl Zeiss Foundation, founded two years earlier by Ernst Abbe, became a partner in the glass laboratory. [5] Jena glass, an early borosilicate glass, was one of its early manufactured products. [6] Otto Schott's invention of borosilicate glass, resistant to chemicals, heat and temperature change, paved the way for new technical glasses for thermometers, laboratory equipment and gas lamps. [7]

Products of Jenaer Glaswerks Schott & Gen at an exhibition in 1951. Fotothek df roe-neg 0006070 001 Messebesucher vor dem Exponat des Jenaer Glaswerks Schott ^ Gen..jpg
Products of Jenaer Glaswerks Schott & Gen at an exhibition in 1951.

The company experienced economic success. The workforce had grown to 1,233 by 1919. [8] Sales had doubled to 28 million marks by 1920. Otto Schott transferred his shares to the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1919, fully rendering the glass laboratory a foundation company and renaming it Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen (Jena Glassworks Schott & Assoc.). [9] [10] Erich Schott, the founder's son, took over management of the glass factory in 1927. Erich Schott founded new production areas for specialty glass components used in electrical engineering as well as heat resistant borosilicate glassware for household use. [11]

Split

In the midst of Germany's political division after World War II, the Jena factory was expropriated and transformed into a Publicly Owned Enterprise (VEB) in 1948. The company was divided in half: VEB Jenaer Glaswerk in Jena in East Germany, later integrated into the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena collective, and Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen in Mainz in West Germany. [12] [13] While VEB Jenaer Glaswerk developed into a specialty glass supplier in the Eastern Bloc, the other half developed into an international group in Mainz with sales offices abroad. [14] The company became a specialist glass manufacturer with products including glass components for television tubes, fiber optics for light and image conductors, mirror substrates for giant telescopes, glass-ceramic cooktop panels (serial production from 1973) and glass tubes for parabolic trough power plants. Following the German reunification, the Mainz plant assumed Jena's company shares. [14]

Late 20th century

The company experienced growth in the first decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Schott Glas, as it became known in 1998, developed into a technology group with 80 companies in 32 countries and global sales of over 3 billion Deutschmark. Schott had been operating at only 40 sites in ten countries with global sales of DM 1.31 billion in 1984. In 2004, Schott Glas converted from a dependent enterprise of its sister enterprise Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen) to become a legally independent Aktiengesellschaft —Schott AG. [15] The Carl Zeiss Foundation remains the sole shareholder of Schott AG. The Foundation Statute does not permit to sell its shares, ruling out the prospect of an IPO.

Solar industry

The technology group entered the solar industry in 2001, founding Schott Solar GmbH in 2005 (renamed Schott Solar AG in 2008). In 2008, Schott announced that it planned to produce crystalline photovoltaic cells and modules with a total of 450 MW annually. It also planned to produce thin-film PV wafers with a capacity of 100 MW. [16] [17] In 2009, the company inaugurated a US$100 million solar manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to build solar receivers for concentrated solar thermal power plants (CSP) and 64 MW of photovoltaic modules. They had already been making 15 MW of photovoltaics annually in Billerica, Massachusetts, until the factory was closed in 2009. [18] The company was also engaged in concentrated solar power technology, by manufacturing solar receiver tubes. In June 2012, Schott announced that its Albuquerque plant would close down, laying off all photovoltaic cell manufacturing employees immediately and ramping down the remaining employees over the rest of the summer. [19] Schott withdrew from its solar business in 2012 and Schott Solar AG was dissolved.

Company profile

The supervisory board appointed Frank Heinricht as chairman of the board of management of Schott AG in June 2013. [20] Heinricht, a German physicist with a doctorate in engineering, [21] succeeded Udo Ungeheuer, who had served as chairman from 2004.

SCHOTT reported sales worth 2.05 billion Euros in its fiscal year 2016–2017. [22] In 2017–2018 sales increase to 2.08 billion euros with an annual profit of 208 million euros. In 2019, SCHOTT reported sales worth 2.2. billion Euros with an annual profit of 206 million euros. SCHOTT AG employs around 16.200 people in production and sales facilities in 34 countries, including around 5,800 in Germany (as of 2019). [23] SCHOTT increased its global sales by 2.2% in 2020 to reach US$2.5 billion, with an improved operating profit (EBIT) of US$320 million. The number of employees rose to around 16,500. [24]

The sole owner of Schott AG is the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which holds all shares and is partly financed from the dividends. [15]

Operations

Schott headquarters in Mainz Schott AG Mainz Aerial Photo.jpg
Schott headquarters in Mainz

Schott's corporate headquarters and largest site is located in Mainz, Germany. [25] Its main business regions are Europe, North America, and Asia. In Europe, it operates production sites in six locations in Germany, as well as in the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey. [26] In addition to its North American corporate office in Rye Brook, New York, [27] it has six US production sites in Duryea and Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Southbridge, Massachusetts; Louisville, Kentucky; Vincennes, Indiana; and Phoenix, Arizona. [28] In Asia, Schott has productions in India, [29] Malaysia, [30] and China. [31]

Products

Schott produces products made of specialty glass, glass-ceramics, and polymers for industries such as home appliances, pharmaceuticals, electronics, semiconductors, optics, life sciences, automotive, aerospace and astronomy. [32]

In the consumer market, glass-ceramics from Schott are used in cooktops for electric, gas, and induction cooking under the brand name CERAN. [33]

In industry, its glass-ceramic Zerodur is used in microlithography and as mirror substrates for large optical telescopes [34] such as:

Other applications include flat glass for home appliances, [37] components for consumer electronics [38] and semiconductor manufacturing. [39] It also produces glass and filters with applications in digital cameras, [40] laser optics, machine vision, and metrology. [41] Some of its more recent applications include ultra-thin and flexible cover glass for smartphone displays [42] and glass wafers for augmented reality. [43]

Schott's subsidiary Schott Pharma develops and produces pharmaceutical packaging such as ampoules, cartridges, syringes, and vials. [44]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jena</span> City in Thuringia, Germany

Jena is a city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a population of about 110,000. Jena is a centre of education and research. The University of Jena was founded in 1558 and had 18,000 students in 2017 and the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena serves another 5,000 students. Furthermore, there are many institutes of the leading German research societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Zeiss</span> German optician and optical instrument maker

Carl Zeiss was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practical and theoretical opticians and glass makers to reshape most aspects of optical instrument production. His collaboration with Ernst Abbe revolutionized optical theory and practical design of microscopes. Their quest to extend these advances brought Otto Schott into the enterprises to revolutionize optical glass manufacture. The firm of Carl Zeiss grew to one of the largest and most respected optical firms in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Zeiss AG</span> German optics company

Carl Zeiss AG, branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott he laid the foundation for today's multinational company. The current company emerged from a reunification of Carl Zeiss companies in East and West Germany with a consolidation phase in the 1990s. ZEISS is active in four business segments with approximately equal revenue in almost 50 countries, has 30 production sites and around 25 development sites worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyrex</span> Trademark for borosilicate glass

Pyrex is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915, initially for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded in the 1930s to include kitchenware products made of soda–lime glass and other materials. Its name has become famous for making rectangular glass roasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst Abbe</span> German physicist, entrepreneur, and social reformer (1840–1905)

Ernst Karl Abbe was a German businessman, optical engineer, physicist, and social reformer. Together with Otto Schott and Carl Zeiss, he developed numerous optical instruments. He was also a co-owner of Carl Zeiss AG, a German manufacturer of scientific microscopes, astronomical telescopes, planetariums, and other advanced optical systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borosilicate glass</span> Glass made of silica and boron trioxide

Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion, making them more resistant to thermal shock than any other common glass. Such glass is subjected to less thermal stress and can withstand temperature differentials without fracturing of about 165 °C (300 °F). It is commonly used for the construction of reagent bottles and flasks, as well as lighting, electronics, and cookware. For many other applications, soda-lime glass is more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung</span> German holding company

The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, legally located in Heidenheim an der Brenz and Jena, Germany, and with its administrative headquarters in Stuttgart, is the sole shareholder of the two companies Carl Zeiss AG and Schott AG. It was founded by Ernst Abbe in 1889 and named after his long-term partner Carl Zeiss. The products of these companies include the classic areas of optics and precision mechanisms, as well as glass, optoelectronics, and glass ceramics. The statutes of the foundation emphasize the social responsibility of the companies and the importance of a fair treatment of the employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical Museum Jena</span>

The Deutsches Optisches Museum Jena is a science and technology museum displaying optical instruments from eight centuries. It gives a technical and cultural-historical survey of the development of optical instruments. The development of the city Jena to the centre of the optical industries since the mid-19th-century is integrated in the exhibition, connected with the lifeworks of Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Otto Schott. In cooperation with the art club Jena non-optical themes are offered in special exhibitions. Before the opening of the Zeiss Museum of Optics in Oberkochen in 2014, the Deutsches Optisches Museum Jena was the only museum of its kind in Germany.

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Jenoptik AG is a Jena, Germany-based integrated photonics company. The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is included in the TecDAX stock index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Schott</span> German chemist, glass technologist, and inventor (1851–1935)

Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properties. In this way, he solved fundamental problems in glass properties, identifying compositions with optical properties that approach the theoretical limit. Schott's findings were a major advance in the optics for microscopy and optical astronomy. His work has been described as "a watershed in the history of glass composition".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zwiesel Kristallglas</span> Crystal glass manufacturer based in Zwiesel in the Bavarian Forest

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Hans Knöll was a German physician and microbiologist. He was the director of the Central Institute of Microbiology and Experimental Therapy in Jena from 1953 to 1976, a member of the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic, and professor of bacteriology at the University of Jena. He was awarded the National Prize of the GDR in 1949 and 1952. In the late 1960s he got involved in an effort to save the historic center of Jena, protesting against the "socialist" urban development plans.

NOBLEX E-Optics GmbH, formerly Docter Optics, is a German manufacturer of optics, including binoculars, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, red dot sights, flashlights and reading glasses. Its headquarters are in Eisfeld, Thuringia, Germany, where most of the products are developed and manufactured. Docter is part of the Analytik Jena Group.

Ohara Inc. is a Japanese global glass manufacturing company. It is headquartered in Sagamihara with subsidiaries in a number of countries, including Japan, the United States, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, and China, with Ohara Corporation being the U.S. subsidiary of the Ohara Group. Ohara manufactures glasses since 1935, the year of its founding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SV Schott Jena</span> German football club

SV Schott Jena is a German football club located in Jena, Thuringia. It currently plays in NOFV-Oberliga Süd. The team's colours are blue and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Heinricht</span> German physicist

Frank Heinricht is a German physicist with a doctorate in engineering He has been Chairman of the Board of Management of Schott AG in Mainz since June 1, 2013.

Jena glass is a shock- and heat-resistant glass used in scientific and technological applications, especially in chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schott Pharma</span> Company carved out from Schott AG in 2022, stock listed in SDAX

Schott Pharma is a provider of drug containment solutions and delivery systems for injectable drugs. Originally a division of glass manufacturer Schott AG, the company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2023. Headquartered in Mainz, Germany, the company operates in 14 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Straubel</span> German scientist and manager (1864–1943)

Rudolf Straubel was a German physicist, scientist, top-manager, inventor and sponsor of community. He was the successor to Ernst Abbe and managing director of Carl Zeiss in Jena from 1903 to 1933.

References

  1. 1 2 "Annual Report 2022/2023". Schott. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Kotler, Philip; Pfoertsch, Waldemar (17 May 2010). Ingredient Branding: Making the Invisible Visible. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 237. ISBN   978-3-642-04214-0.
  3. ↑ Bertele, Erhard (27 March 2019). LUDWIG J. BERTELE: A Pioneer of Geometric Optics. vdf Hochschulverlag AG. p. 27. ISBN   978-3-7281-3955-9.
  4. ↑ Werner Vogel: Glass Chemistry, 2. Edition, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1994, S. 10.
  5. ↑ "Carl Zeiss (company timeline)". The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments – Harvard University.
  6. ↑ Practical Engineer. Technical Publishing Company. 1896. p. 498.
  7. ↑ Hollstein, Sebastian (2022). "The history of glass research in Jena". Lichtgedanken. Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. ↑ Kappler, Dieter; Steiner, Jürgen; Schott AG (2009). Schott : 1884–2009; vom Glaslabor zum Technologiekonzern. Mainz: Schmidt. p. 57. ISBN   978-3-935647-45-8. OCLC   467893033.
  9. ↑ Pederson, Jay P. (1988). International Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press. ISBN   978-1-55862-393-4.
  10. ↑ King, Henry C. (January 2003). The History of the Telescope. Courier Corporation. ISBN   978-0-486-43265-6.
  11. ↑ Steiner, Jürgen (2007). "Schott, Erich". Deutsche Biographie (in German). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Buchholz, Leyla (26 June 2020). "Zug der 41 Glasmacher" (in German). Springer Professional. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "VEB Carl Zeiss Jena: 1948 - 1990". Harvard University. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Milestones – The corporate history at a glance". www.schott.com. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  15. 1 2 "SCHOTT ist jetzt Aktiengesellschaft" [SCHOTT is now joint-stock company] (in German). Munich: analytica-world news, Messe München GmbH. 2 July 2004. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "Schott AG to build PV production in USA". EETimes. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  17. ↑ http://www.schott.com/solar/english/index.html Website Schott Solar
  18. ↑ "Schott Solar to shutter PV module production facility in Billerica, MA". PV-Tech. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Robinson-Avila, Kevin. "Updated: Schott Solar Mesa del Sol Plant To Shut". www.abqjournal.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Frank Heinricht appointed Chairman of the Board of Management of SCHOTT AG" (Press release). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  21. ↑ "Frank Heinricht, Schott AG: Profile and biography". Bloomberg News .
  22. ↑ "Annual Report 2016/17". SCHOTT. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  23. ↑ "SCHOTT Facts & Figures".
  24. ↑ "SCHOTT eyes U.S. growth strategy as sales and earnings increase in 2020 | SCHOTT AG". www.schott.com. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  25. ↑ "SCHOTT Mainz". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  26. ↑ "Regions and Locations Europe". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  27. ↑ "SCHOTT Rye Brook, NY". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  28. ↑ "Regions and Locations US". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  29. ↑ "Regions and Locations India". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  30. ↑ "Penang, Malaysia SCHOTT". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "Regions and Locations China". Schott AG. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  32. ↑ "Facts and Figures SCHOTT". schott.com. Schott AG. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  33. ↑ Wharton, Rachel (24 August 2023). "The Best Induction Cooktop". The New York Times . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  34. 1 2 Sokach, Stephen (1 July 2020). "ZERODUR: The Highly Technical Glass-Ceramic". techbriefs.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  35. ↑ "Introducing the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS". www.gtc.iac.es. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  36. ↑ "A Mirror's Perfect Reflection". keckobservatory.org. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  37. ↑ "Processed Flat Glass". schott.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  38. ↑ "Consumer Electronics". schott.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  39. ↑ "Semiconductor & Datacom". schott.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  40. ↑ "Consumer Electronics". schott.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  41. ↑ "Optics". schott.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  42. ↑ Hartmann, Ilona (23 May 2023). "SCHOTT Mainz will mit ultradünnem Glas den Smartphonemarkt aufmischen". swr.de (in German). SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  43. ↑ Wallace, John (11 February 2020). "Schott, Inkron, EVG, and WaveOptics team up to fabricate next-gen waveguides for AR and MR devices". www.laserfocusworld.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  44. ↑ "Germany's Schott to launch medical glassware IPO in late summer". reuters.com. Reuters. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
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