Benteler

Karl Benteler opened a home appliance store in Bielefeld in 1876, which was headed in 1908 by his son Eduard Benteler. In 1916, he bought a machine-building plant, which produced pipes that were first stretched in 1918. In 1922, Eduard Benteler founded the company Benteler-Werke Aktiengesellschaft, which in 1923 began the production of seamless and welded pipes in Paderborn and Schloss Neuhaus. 1935 marked the first major order for the automotive industry: Benteler produced tailpipes for the Ford Eifel . During World War II, anti-aircraft guns were built at the Benteler factory in Bielefeld (including 2-cm-Flak 38 and 2-cm-Flak-Vierling 38 anti-aircraft guns ) until the plant was destroyed in 1944 as a result of an air raid ^[4] .

After World War II, the sons of Benteler Erich and Helmut restored the business and significantly expanded the range. Since then, Benteler has been a supplier to the bicycle and automobile industries, producing seamless and hot-rolled pipes, as well as equipment for textiles, plastics and glass. In the buildings of the former Paderborn-Mönkelo military airport, in collaboration with racer and designer German Holbein, from 1950 to 1952, Benteler produced about 2,000 copies of the small Champion car. Then, for some time, Delta brand refrigerators were manufactured in Mönkelo ^[5] .

The Benteler logo - an inverted triangle consisting of three smaller triangles - has been used since 1949. Three small triangles symbolized the children of Eduard Benteler: Ilsu, Erich and Helmut, whose ownership of the enterprise passed in equal shares after the death of his father. The district large triangle should symbolize the continued existence of the company as a whole.

Consolidation and development of core business areas

Steel / Tube

In 1955, the first steel was produced at the newly built steel mill in Paderborn-Neuhaus, and in 1958 the world's first continuously operating continuous casting plant was commissioned here. In 1974, an electrometallurgical plant built in Lingen (Ems) began operations, which still produces steel for its own hot-rolled pipe plants in Dinslaken and Paderborn , as well as for external customers ^[6] .

In 2007, Benteler acquired the Swiss company Rothrist Rohr AG, which manufactures welded precision tubes - mainly for the automotive industry. Thus, the steel pipe factories in Rotrist and Bottrop became the property of the group ^[7] . In 2011, there was a major fire at the Benteler Steel Tube GmbH factory in Dinslaken; production was stopped for several months ^[8] . In 2015, Benteler Steel / Tube opened a hot rolled pipe factory in Shreveport , Louisiana ^{[9] [10]} . The Benteler Steel / Tube division employs about 3,800 people in Europe and the United States ^{[3] [11]} .

Automotive

In 1977, in Paderborn Tall, the most important automotive component manufacturing plant, which was founded in 1956, was the first to manufacture automobile bridges ^[12] . In 1985, a line was built here for the first major contract manufacturing of rear-wheel drive axles.

In 1979, worldwide expansion began with the opening of the first plant in the United States. Since 1991, Benteler has also specialized in the timely production and delivery of ready-to-install components for automobile manufacturers. By this time, the Automotive division was already larger than the Steel / Tube division ^[4] . From now on, almost every year around the world, new Benteler plants begin operations. In order to be able to efficiently supply local car manufacturers, production sites were built or bought in North America (from 1979—2017, 9 plants), South America (6 plants since 1996), Southern Europe (since 1990, 14 factories), Eastern Europe (since 1995, 10 factories), Northern Europe (since 2009 3 factories) and Asia (since 2000 15 factories) ^[13] . As part of a joint venture with the Chinese company Changan Automobile Group, in 2018 additional production facilities were built in China ^[14] . Construction work at the new Benteler plant in the Czech Republic in the city of Klašterec nad Ohří was also completed in 2018 ^[15] .

In 2008, Benteler and the Wiesbaden- based SGL group founded the Benteler-SGL joint venture specializing in lightweight carbon structures to complement its focus with steel experience in lightweight construction. In early 2009, the joint venture also acquired Fischer Composite Technology GmbH in Ried im Inkreis in Austria. In November 2017, Benteler and SGL Group agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in Benteler in a joint venture to SGL ^[16] . Also in 2009, Benteler acquired Automotive Structures, a Norwegian Norsk Hydro Group, an international aluminum producer based in Oslo ^[1] .

With approximately 26,000 employees and 70 plants in 25 countries, Benteler Automotive is the largest of the three Benteler divisions ^{[17] [3] [12]} . The division designs and manufactures ready-to-install systems, modules and components for the car body, chassis, engine and exhaust systems, as well as engineering solutions for electric vehicles.

Distribution

In 1957, the first warehouse for pipes and steel was built in Berlin , which today belongs to the Benteler Distribution division. Over the years, Benteler has founded or acquired more than 50 sales offices and other storage facilities in Europe, Asia and Australia. ^[18] Today, Benteler Distribution includes 24 companies in Europe and Asia, as well as other related trading companies in Germany, Switzerland, Northern and Eastern Europe ^[19] .

In April 2014, construction was laid for a new central warehouse in the port of Duisburg . Completed in 2015, the warehouse with Europe’s largest system of high shelving has 35 thousand m² of storage space for 27 thousand tons of pipes.

Benteler Distribution is a trading company with storage facilities for pipes, which employs about 1,500 people in more than 50 locations in nearly 30 countries ^[3] .

Restructuring

In 1999, Benteler was transformed into a holding company with initially four independently operating units: Automotive, Steel / Tube, Maschinenbau (integrated into Automotive in 2005) and Distribution ^[4] .

Founded in 2010, Benteler International AG, headquartered in Salzburg, took over the strategic management of the group ^[20] . Since then, Benteler Business Service GmbH (until 2016 - Benteler Germany GmbH ^[2] ), located in Paderborn , organized the operational management of three divisions: Automotive, Steel / Tube and Distribution.

In April 2017, Hubertus Benteler, the owner of the company and for many years served as chairman of the board, joined the supervisory board. Ralph Gettel, who previously headed the Automotive division, led the company. Thus, for the first time in the 140-year history of the company, it is not formally headed by any member of the Benteler family ^[21] .

Benteler is represented in 38 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America with 81 factories and 60 representative offices. ^[3] In Germany, Benteler has branches (factories, trading and engineering offices, warehouses, administrative offices) in 23 cities. Benteler plants are located in the German cities of Paderborn-Talle , Bielefeld , Düsseldorf , Cologne , Warburg , Saarlouis , Siegen-Weidenau, Lichtenau-Kleinenberg, Eisenach and Schwandorf (Automotive and Glass Processing) ^[13] and in Neuhaus / Paderborn, Ling , Leningrad and Bottrop (Steel / Tube) ^[22] .

In 2018, the Benteler Group invested 96 million euros in research and development and filed for 81 patents. ^[3] Research and development focused on lightweight construction, safety and efficiency in the automotive industry and the development of materials in the Steel / Tube area. ^[23]

In Russia, Benteler owns two companies:

• Benteler Automotive LLC - production of automotive components in Kaluga , is a supplier for the Polad group of enterprises. There is also an engineering office in Novgorod .
• Benteler Distribution Russia LLC is a Russian sales representative of the Benteler Steel / Tube GmbH factory located in St. Petersburg. It was eliminated in December 2015.

• Official website of Benteler AG
• Official website of Benteler Distribution Russia