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CONSTRUCTION FIXINGS


Committed to excellence – not for years but for generations


Based in a rural Black Forest location; under family management since 1888; employing 200 people committed to the development and production of some of the most innovative of fi xings solutions – few companies epitomise the Mittelstand companies that have long formed the backbone of Germany’s manufacturing success than HECO Schrauben.


T


oday seven members of the Hettich family are actively involved in the management of HECO Schrauben, including managing partners Stefan and Guido, the latter returning to the family company in 2006 from a senior role


in the automotive sector. Another of four brothers, Andreas, takes hands-on responsibility for product management and marketing.


“ A clear declaration of loyalty to our location, our staff and acceptance of our social responsibility. Some call it philosophy. For us, it is just simply the everyday routine of a medium-sized family company.” Stefan Hettich


Guido Hettich is emphatic about the importance of family


ownership and management, and the presence of the next generation of the family providing the guarantee of its continuity. “It is about,” he says, “commitment to excellence in the long term, not for years but for generations.” In 1888 Karl Hettich, an inventor with a head for business,


established the family business, not making screws but producing special parts for clocks – the area at that time home to one of the largest clock producers in Europe. It was not until 1936 that the Hettich company began production of screws in Schramberg, to support another arm of the family company, which produced hinges. In 1967 the screw business was hived off by Ludwig Hettich, father to the four brothers today leading the company’s management - the start of HECO’s commitment to excellence in wood screws. In 1972 the company moved to a newly built production and administration building in Schramberg-Sulgen – a site that Ludwig Hettich believed would serve three generations to come. In 1975, following the death of his father, eldest son Stefan


took over as managing director, moving the business into its fourth generation. In 1978 the HECO-FIX®


chipboard screw was


fi rst presented to the market and, in 2002, the company was renamed HECO-Schrauben GmbH & Vo. KG (HECO simply from HEttich & CO) to differentiate it from the other arm of the family business, by then also producing screws. Such was the company’s growth, driven by a series of highly


innovative product launches, of which more later, that by 2008 Ludwig Hettich’s estimate of the capacity of the site was two generations adrift. The construction of the HECO Academy - a facility that extends training to end users and distributor personnel as well as HECO’s own team – fi lled the fi nal available site space, presenting the Hettich family with the need to give careful consideration to its further growth plans. Guido Hettich explains: “We needed to consider where a new factory could be located. A far eastern location was simply not consistent with the company’s philosophy. It had to be in Europe but it also had to realistically refl ect the requirements of a competitive marketplace. For these reasons we decided to establish a new plant in Romania in 2009.” Presently S.C. HECO-Schrauben S.R.L, situated in Câmpia Turzii, employs forty of HECO’s two hundred people. In total the company now has some 20,000 square metres of production, consuming more than 7,000 tonnes of steel annually to produce 1.5 billion screws under stringent quality controls. The business services a total of thirty markets around the


world. Core markets, in which it operates its own sales force, are Germany and Austria, Benelux and France. In other key markets - Scandinavia, the UK, Russia and Spain - HECO has established long term relationships with a primary importer to market its programme. Additionally the company recognises a series of “focus markets” - Romania is one – where it sees longer term development opportunity. Throughout, HECO supplies via distribution rather than servicing the user directly. It is committed to being a reliable partner to the specialist trade and professional user – the DIY market represents a relatively small element of HECO sales.


90 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 71 September 2011


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