History

INNOVATION THROUGH THE DECADES

Drawn into the future
- Over 100 years of tradition

Standard-Metallwerke GmbH was founded in 1919 as Standard Separator GmbH. Originally specialised in milk centrifuges, the company developed into a leading position for the tube industry with e.g. bicycle production and aluminium tube production. Today, after more than 100 years of successful history, the spirit of innovation continues and characterises our path.
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FOUNDATION

Founded on June 28th as company Standard Separator GmbH to produce milk centrifuges.
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SMOOTH-RUNNING BICYCLES

Start of production of special smooth-running bicycles by creating the brand SWW (Standard-Werke Werl).
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TUBE DRAWING

Start and expansion of tube manufacturing – with around 20 employees who produced the tube by hand.
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PROHIBITION

The sale of milk centrifuges was banned by British forces. As a result of this, Standard concentrated on the aluminium drawn tubes with around 60 employees at that time.
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Horst Ulmke

Dr Horst Ulmke takes over the company from his father and decided to expand the non-ferrous tube business, focused on copper, brass and aluminium tubes.
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MODIFICATIONS / NEW BUILDINGS

Start of extensive reorganisation and building of production plants with around 20,000 square metres of production space, in conjunction with an increase in employees to almost 700.
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PRODUCTION EXPANSION

The expansion of the production range with pen refills and antenna tubes provide further growth.
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PUSHROD TUBES

Market entry to the automotive industry as supplier for pushrod tubes (VW Käfer / Beetle).
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RADIATOR TUBE BUSINESS

The radiator tube business is growing due to the rising market of automotive thermal management.
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840 EMPLOYEES

Expansion into the sports market (surf masts and ski poles) combined with an increase to 840 employees at Standard-Metallwerke.
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WIND TURBINE

In line with the generally increasing understanding and demand for sustainability, SWW builds one of the first wind power plants in the area.
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S-COT®

Market entry with the business of PA12-coated aluminium tubes (S-COT®) to meet the increasing demands for e.g. coated aluminium fuel lines.
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COMPONENT EXPANSION

Due to the approach of automotive customers to purchasing according to value-added share, Standard is expanding its product portfolio to include various processing steps such as bending, forming and assembling components. Our advantage is the high level of expertise in precision tubes.
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WILMS GROUP

Takeover by the Wilms Group, headquartered in Menden / Germany. Economic restart with 250 employees along with same product portfolio and customers.
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MODERN POWER SUPPLY

Entry into the future and growth market of e-mobility with busbars, which SWW was the first to establish as a mass product. Initially based on copper and aluminium with an insulating PA12 coating.
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100 YEARS

Our employees from 22 nations celebrated the 100th anniversary of Standard-Metallwerke with a huge family party. Time to say thank you to all Standard’s employees, business partners and suppliers for the company’s great success!
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FUTURE

Today, standardmetall is a company with over 400 employees from 22 nations – we are thankful for our diversity and proud of our decades-long tradition.
With our reimagined brand design and a fresh employer brand, we look forward to the future with great excitement!
We set the Standards of tomorrow!