History

The company – brief company history

In 1957, Franz Schmidt Senior and his sons Franz and Josef from Neckarweihingen ventured into self-employment. Both sons Franz and Josef had completed an apprenticeship as toolmakers. They worked in mold making and gained good experience in working with plastics. Even then, this material was on its way to conquering the world. The Schmidt family decided to invest in this industry of the future. The company Franz Schmidt und Söhne was founded.

It started with a hydraulic plastic press in the barn of the family home and later moved to the industrial area of Ludwigsburg-Neckarweihingen. The company Franz Schmidt und Söhne became Schmidt GmbH in January 1982. The sons Franz and Josef Schmidt became managing directors. At the new location, duroplast plastic parts for the electrical industry were produced. As early as 1970, the company had been able to produce injection-molded parts from thermoplastic and duroplastic molding compounds through the purchase of automatic injection molding machines. This expanded the customer base considerably.

A good reputation has long preceded the company, manufacturing quality products on time and growing to 30 employees. In 1990, electrical insulators and busbar supports were added to the product portfolio to be marketed independently as the company’s own products. Since then, the company has been based on two solid pillars: on the one hand, contract manufacturing according to customer requirements and, on the other hand, a constantly growing own product range with control cabinet accessories. In 1998, the third generation joined Schmidt GmbH. Günther Schmidt studied paint and plastics chemistry and eventually led the company until the end of September 2017.

Since 2003, it was clear that a new, larger location had to be found. New technologies, such as handling and robot systems, could not be used at the previous location.After an unsuccessful search in the surrounding area, Günther Schmidt made the courageous decision to relocate the company to the southern Emsland region. The move to a new, modern company building was completed in October 2006. The change of location has strengthened the competitiveness of the company. Since then, the new processing techniques can be used to their full extent.

The change of location and a completely new, qualified staff have given the company a remarkable boost since 2006. Quality assurance measures have been significantly improved with investments in a 3D measuring machine and a tensile compression testing machine with interface.

Investments in machinery have enabled the company to now produce parts up to 1000 cc in thermoplastic volume. In the area of thermoset processing, molds with a clamping dimension of a good one meter have been able to be handled without any problems for several years. Furthermore, the company invested in its own machining department. Here, since the end of 2008, articles have been manufactured precisely according to customer requirements on a machining center as well as on a CNC lathe with driven tools. These and countless other measures have contributed to a considerable increase in the number of customers.

The steady growth of the company makes it necessary to significantly increase the production and storage area in the foreseeable future, so in summer 2011 the surrounding commercial area of the municipality of Emsbüren was purchased. The Schmidt GmbH site now has a floor area of 12,500 m². The hall with integrated administration wing measures a good 2,000m² and was expanded by 1200m² of production space in spring 2012. The aim was to spatially separate the thermoplastics from the thermoset processing in order to address even more customers who tend towards the “clean room”.

On 01.10.2017 Schmidt GmbH Kunststoffverarbeitung became Schmidt Kunststoffverarbeitung Emsbüren GmbH und Co.KG under its new sole managing owner Mr. Carsten Czilwa, who has already been working in the company for more than 10 years as authorized signatory and plant manager. Mr. Günther Schmidt retired on 30.09.2017 and is pleased to hand over the company, which has been family-owned for 60 years, now to his long-time employee and confidant.

In the meantime, almost 4 years have passed. During this time, numerous investments have been made, e.g. another injection molding machine with a clamping force of 400 t, an injection molding machine with a clamping force of 750 t, another 5-axis machining center including simultaneous machining, and many more; just to name a few.

A major milestone was reached with the investment in an injection molding machine with a clamping force of 750 tons. This step means an expansion of the product portfolio to almost double the clamping force: from 400 t to 750 t now. A completely different target group can now be addressed.

By hiring a Chinese employee here on site in 2019, as well as another in China itself, it has been possible to intensify cooperation with Chinese moldmakers. In order to be able to guarantee the high quality demands of the customers, Mr. Czilwa and Ms. Miao regularly travel to China to check the production of the tools on site.

Following the expansion of the machine park in 2021 to include an additional injection molding machine with a clamping force of 750 t – previously there was only a maximum of 400 t – another injection molding machine with a clamping force of 650 t will go into operation in spring 2024. Another start-up from the automotive cleaning industry can thus be served around the clock.