History Vorwerk (company)

1 history

1.1 beginnings — barmer teppichfabrik vorwerk & co
1.2 kobold , direct sales
1.3 further diversification

history
the beginnings — barmer teppichfabrik vorwerk & co

in 1883, barmer teppichfabrik vorwerk & co founded brothers carl (1847–1907) , adolf vorwerk. same year, brothers parted ways again , carl vorwerk continued run company. firm manufactured high-quality carpets , upholstery fabrics, , later looms used make them – first under english patent, , under improved proprietary patent.

carl vorwerk’s son, carl jr. (1878–1904), successor company director, died few months after taking helm in 1903. thus, upon death of company founder in 1907, son-in-law, august mittelsten scheid (1871–1955), became sole managing partner. under leadership, company diversified following first world war, taking production of gear units , electric motors gramophones military research efforts halted.

kobold , direct sales

early vacuum cleaner vorwerk kobold, 1950.

as radio grew in popularity in 1920s, gramophone sales dropped precipitously. dire situation gave rise birth of “vorwerk kobold” in 1929: chief engineer engelbert gorissen developed out of gramophone motor high-performance electric upright vacuum cleaner. on 25 may 1930, patent granted kobold “model 30”. @ first, sales of @ time unknown appliance in germany poor, despite relatively modest price of 20 reichsmarks. when direct sales launched in 1930 – brainchild of werner mittelsten scheid (1904-1953), son of company founder – did product meet success. 1935, 100,000 “kobolds” had been sold, 1937 half million , 1953 1 million. before second world war, in 1938, first foreign sales organization established: vorwerk folletto in italy.

during world war ii, main plant in wuppertal-barmen severely damaged in may 1943 bombing, after august mittelsten scheid’s sons, werner , erich mittelsten scheid, jointly took on management of firm. sales organization, had held company above water during war years selling various products, discontinued operations year.

after war over, production , sales rebuilt, first in germany, , in europe , overseas. 1955, 2,000 vorwerk sales representatives once again underway. sole managing partner – following death of brother in 1953 – erich mittelsten scheid.

further diversification

in 1969, dr. jörg mittelsten scheid, werner’s son, succeeded uncle head of family business. 3 years later, günter busch , bernd balders became first managing partners not members of founding family.

while end of 1960s company focused on production , sale of vacuum cleaners, carpets , upholstery fabrics, ever since time has continually diversified, services sector. vorwerk co-founder of akf bank in 1968; in 1970 in-house data processing department brought forth zeda gesellschaft für datenverarbeitung und edv-beratung mbh & co. kg; , founding of hygienic service gebäudereinigung und umweltpflege gmbh in 1974 germ cell led hectas facility services division. @ same time, company expanding range of household products. included launch of thermomix food processor in 1971, followed vorwerk fitted kitchens in 1974.

the company kicked off 21st century number of new acquisitions , restructuring projects. in 2001, vorwerk purchased lux asia pacific direct sales organization swedish electrolux group, consolidating position on asian market. next year saw introduction of “feelina” ironing system, , year after spin-off of company’s data processing services: zeda sold t-systems in 2003. final coup acquisition of american cosmetic manufacturer jafra cosmetics in may 2004.

at end of 2005, jörg mittelsten scheid left board. since january 2013, corporate management @ vorwerk has been in hands of: walter muyres (managing partner), reiner strecker (managing partner) , frank van oers (managing partner).

in 2017, vorwerk acquired robotic vacuum manufacturer neato robotics. neato s robotic technology, vorwerk seeks improve position producer technology products home.