Chronicle
175 years of tradition in machine tool building
Planer with double planing support
Roll lathe, 1900
Plant I in the model, 1955
Former administration building, Plant III, Siegen
Combined planer and milling machine
Grinding machine WS II 1200
- In 1840, WaldrichSiegen was founded by Heinrich Adolf Waldrich.
- His son, Heinrich Adolf Waldrich Jr., takes over the company after his father’s death in 1879 and extends the product range. In 1897, the first roll turning machines are designed and produced in the workshops.
- The construction of a completely new plant is completed in 1900 in the town of Siegen. In 1906, Oskar Waldrich enters into his father’s company. He specializesand improves the quality of the products and soon supplies the large rolling mills in the Germany regions. His technical experiences in combination with his excellent service justify the virtues of the German machine tool building industry that are later recognized as outstanding worldwide.
- The First World War from 1914 to 1918 implies a switch of production to war materials. Oskar Waldrich takes over the management immediately after the end of the war. He returns to the production of roll turning machines, boring machines, planer machines and roll neck milling machines. In 1920, he extends his product range by introducing roll grinding machines.
- By 1936, the total number of employees increased to 1000. Within a few years WaldrichSiegen becomes the international leader of manufacturers for roll shop machines.
- All three locations of WaldrichSiegen are destroyed by aerial attacks during the Second World War. After the end of the war, all still functioning machines are demounted dismantled by English occupying powers and brought to England. After the denazification at the end of 1949, Oskar Waldrich, starts to reconstruct the company. With much effort all shops are reconstructed and the workshop halls are enlarged.
- By the end of 1951, small milling machines are produced. At the end of the 50s WaldrichSiegen decides to take the efficient milling machine technology in portal design to Germany which is widely used in the US. By this the inferior milling and planer machines are to be replaced. It results in a joint venture with Ingersoll Milling Machine Co. in Rockford, Illinois. In 1961, the contracts for the foundation of a subsidiary company are signed: WaldrichSiegen-Ingersoll GmbH in Burbach. In 1971, the by now renamed Ingersoll Maschinen und Werkzeuge GmbH takes over the parent company and renames it to WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH.
- In order to manufacture efficiently and profitably all production facilities including the administrations in Siegen are relocated to the nearby town of Burbach between 1979 and 1981.
- After a few years that were not successful regarding the American companies, profitable manufacturing areas from the Ingersoll Group in Germany are sold due to liquidity reasons. Only a short while after that Ingersoll in the USA declares insolvency. Under pressure from the American creditor banks the companies WaldrichSiegen and Waldrich Coburg, both belonging to the German Ingersoll Group, have to be sold.
- On January 26th, 2004 Christoph Thoma, CEO and Chairman of Maschinenfabrik Herkules in Siegen, purchases the Waldrich companies by auction. Waldrich Coburg is sold; WaldrichSiegen manages to earn profits after the reformation. The investment backlog that had accumulated over years is soon overcome by disciplined consolidation. WaldrichSiegen becomes an independent medium-sized, family-run business within the HerkulesGroup.
- The Presidents, Dietmar Weiß and Christoph Thoma, prospectively drive essential innovations with regard to product development like the new ProfiMill. For completing the product portfolio, WaldrichSiegen takes over the experienced manufacturing of horizontal boring mills from UnionChemnitz in Sachsen. Dietmar Weiß takes the post as President in Chemnitz.
- Today WaldrichSiegen manages to reflect almost the whole market of heavy-duty machine tools together with the remaining companies. In order to complete the product portfolio a new product, the vertical turning machine ProfiTurn V, has been developed and introduced into the market in 2013.