GEA Westfalia Separator

GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH, headquartered in Oelde, Westphalia is a German manufacturer of separators and decanters, which belongs to the GEA Group. The company creates procedures and processes for mechanical clarification and separation of liquids for the food industry, chemistry, pharmacy, biotechnology, energy, marine and environmental technology.

History

On September 1, 1893, the brothers- Ramesohl Franz and Franz Schmidt opened under the name Ramesohl & Schmidt oHG in Oelde a workshop. With five employees, two spins and three locksmiths, they began the production of milk separators, which cost at the beginning 200-320 marks. Already in the year after the company was founded, the number of employees rose to 20 and the production facilities were expanded to another building. In 1897, the annual production in 2000 was centrifuge at a speed of 60 employees.

The company was founded in 1899 converted into a joint stock company by the company agreement. The capital stock was 1,000 shares at 1,000 marks. Sales amounted to 501068 Mark. In 1900 were already about 10,000 milk centrifuges Ramesohl & Schmidt AG in use.

In 1901, the production of motorcycles was taken for a short time, which was discontinued again in the same year. In 1906 the company entered with now 110 employees in the production of automobiles. In 1907, the first separator for the separation of oil -water mixtures was used.

The fierce competition forced the company, despite initially promising figures, 1913 to cease production of the Westfalia motorcars. In 1915, Werner Habig was appointed director and board member. In the same year, the three board members Richard Rief Mountain, August Strothmann and founding member Franz Ramesohl resigned their offices and Werner Habig joined the company. He led the Westfalia Separator until 1971.

1926, the production has been extended to Eimermelkmaschinen. The first mobile milking machine for the grazing operation in 1927 presented to the public at the agricultural exhibition in Dortmund. The company founded in 1929 with the Westfalia Separator Inc., the first company in the USA.

1931 the company presented the first self-cleaning separator. Co-founder Franz Schmidt died on 18 March 1937., 1940, sales rose for the first time the 10 million Reichsmark border.

The Ramesohl & Schmidt AG was renamed on 29 September 1941 in Westfalia Separator AG. In the same year constructed Westfalia Separator the first continuous churn. During the war years, production came to a standstill, as well as sales fell in the war to a low of just under 2.5 million RM. 1946 began the reconstruction and as far as materials were raise, a wide variety of house designs were designed and manufactured, such as, inter alia, Clothes dryers, circular saws, lights, sleigh, candlesticks, scooters, wardrobes, toys and reactive typewriters

In subsequent years, separators and milking and feeding systems have been developed and produced again. Westfalia Separator became the market leader in Germany. In 1954, the company exported its products to 70 countries. The construction of the first decanter was made in 1955.

1962 could be put into operation after only one year of construction, the branch factory Niederahr. In 1963, the branch factory Château- Thierry followed in France. In 1965, the manufacture of hand-operated separators has been set. In 1966 appeared the first time the employee magazine, The Drum, which has since published six times a year. 1967 exceeded the sales of Westfalia Separator for the first time the 100 million mark, with the larger part of the turnover was generated by exports. 1968 includes the product scope provides 70 different Separatorenmodelle in 350 different designs.

1971 Werner Habig asked the Board to release him from his duties as a board; his successor was Otto Müller- Habig. Werner Habig was chairman of the board, sparking his brother Leo from Habig. 1973 surpassed the sales, the 200 million mark, the export share rose to 59 percent.

1987, the company was divided into the areas of Westfalia Separator Westfalia Separator agricultural engineering and separation technology to provide more transparency and delineate responsibilities clearly. In 1988 the company introduced the Agricultural Technology program Miele milking equipment as a second product line in the Agricultural Engineering segment a. The highest sales to date the Westfalia Separator AG reached in 1989 with 530 million DM The number of employees grew to over 3000 for the first time. Abroad exist at this time 23 subsidiaries. By 1990, the company received 450 patents, of which 210 independent inventions. International more than 1,000 patents have been applied to 1990.

Since 1994 belongs to the Westfalia Separator GEA Group, Bochum. The division agricultural technology was spun off into an independent company in 1996 and named GEA Farm Technologies.

In 2004, the club was founded in emergency Westfalia Separator eV, which for the efficient help in distress employee advocates, as well as for social projects in Oelde. 2007, the authorized workshop was founded in Tianjin in order to serve the Chinese market even better. On 13 February 2008, the corporate form of Westfalia Separator AG was changed. The company continues trading under the name GEA Westfalia Separator GmbH.

Since 1 January 2010 GEA Westfalia Separator GEA Group GEA Mechanical Equipment segment is attached.

Production sites and corporate structure

• Oelde
• Niederahr
• Château- Thierry
• Bengaluru
• Wuqing

The network of GEA Westfalia Separator Group comprises internationally more than 50 sales and service companies.

GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH is part of the GEA Group GEA Mechanical Equipment segment and is divided into four business areas and is subordinate business lines.

Business Area Sales

The Business Area Sales support customers in all phases of preparation and implementation of investment decision. Based on the specialized knowledge of the business lines tailored centrifuges and process lines are offered for a variety of applications fields. In the process-oriented business lines are especially complex processes in the foreground. These include the business lines:

• Beverage
• Dairy Technology
• Renewable Resources
• Chemistry / Pharmacy

The system-oriented business lines, working primarily with the cleaning and preparation of large volume flows. These include the business lines:

• Marine
• Energy
• Oil & Gas
• Environmental Technology

Business Area Service

The Business Area Service combines all services of the company.

Business Area Production

In this business area are being conducted worldwide together all production activities for separators and decanters. In addition to the main plant in Oelde (D), all the other plants in Niederahr (D), Château- Thierry ( F), Bangalore ( IN) and Wuqing (CN) are certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 and DIN EN ISO 14001:2004.