WIKUS AUSTRIA GmbH celebrates its ten-year anniversary

The founding of WIKUS AUSTRIA was an exciting time: new structures were developed, and the Austrian and Southeast European market was further developed. It’s now time to look back. And ahead.

Spangenberg, March 27, 2023: Ten years ago, WIKUS AUSTRIA GmbH was founded as a subsidiary of WIKUS-Sägenfabrik Wilhelm H. Kullmann GmbH & Co. KG.

WIKUS AUSTRIA is part of the decentralized, international sales orientation of WIKUS. It provides on-site support for sales and service companies and assembly in important sales countries. It can thus react flexibly to country-specific customer requirements.

WIKUS AUSTRIA was founded in several stages.

• The legal foundation had already taken place in September 2012.
• The start of operations followed on January 1, 2013 in Hönigsberg, near Kapfenberg.
• After an intensive search for land, the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the High-Tech Park in Kapfenberg, Styria on September 30, 2013.

In January 2013, WIKUS AUSTRIA started operations with only seven employees. The close cooperation between WIKUS Spangenberg and WIKUS AUSTRIA helped to ensure a successful start. Two employees from Spangenberg actively supported their Austrian colleagues with their expertise.

As of 01.06.2013, Dr. Harald Bauernfeind was responsible for the further establishment and development of the company as Managing Director.

Established structures for corporate success

The office and production building of WIKUS AUSTRIA include a modern office environment as well as a customer order processing system aligned to the quality level of Spangenberg. Forward planning made it possible to double the production space at the site.

During the following years, WIKUS AUSTRIA continued to develop. Thanks to the large warehouse, the flexibility of custom manufacturing, and the proximity to customers, it quickly became possible to serve the entire market in Austria and Southeastern Europe. Further country responsibilities for Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Netherlands soon followed.

Thanks to the steady increase in turnover, all WIKUS AUSTRIA customers can now be served from the Kapfenberg site, which now has 22 employees. WIKUS AUSTRIA is quite positive about future growth opportunities through the potentials in this economic area defined in Wigrow25.

To the past, the present, and the future

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, the managing directors of WIKUS in Spangenberg took the opportunity to participate in the celebration together with employees of WIKUS AUSTRIA and their partners. The WIKUS Managing Directors were accompanied by a delegation from Spangenberg.

In order to keep the CO₂ footprint as low as possible, rail was chosen as the mode of transport. This saved 10.1 kg of CO₂ per person.

The international sales meeting was also taken as an opportunity by the CEOs of the international subsidiaries and the sales managers to participate in the anniversary event immediately afterwards at the invitation of Dr. Harald Bauernfeind.

Dr. Bauernfeind will be retiring and was honored for his extraordinary achievements as Managing Director of WIKUS AUSTRIA. Mr. Martin Käfer was officially welcomed as his successor.

“We have reached a symbolic milestone with our 10th anniversary. As the current CEO, I am excited to be in charge of such a terrific team. My focus is to understand the ever-increasing customer needs in the best possible way in order to find the optimal sawing solution for each application. Furthermore, it is important to always maintain the profitability of production,” says Martin Käfer, who took over the management of WIKUS AUSTRIA on January 1, 2023.

WIKUS AUSTRIA looks forward to the future.

https://www.wikus-austria.at

Source: ¹https://www.umweltmobilcheck.de