Münzing celebrate 175 years

On July 1, Munzing Chemie marked their 175th anniversary with live music and fireworks and presented fire fighting equipment worth €150,000 to the Heilbronn fire brigade. This makes Münzing Chemie one of the oldest companies based in Heilbronn am Neckar, north of Stuttgart. Still under family control, Münzing Chemie are now in the hands of sixth generation family member Dr Michael Münzing with his father, Dr Wolfgang Münzing, a member of the board of directors. Last year, Münzing Chemie recorded a 7% increase in annual turnover to €75 million. And despite a difficult climate predicted for 2005, they remain optimistic about this year. Approximately one third of the company's group turnover is generated through the leather industry. The remainder comes from the company's other products for the paint, ink, metal, paper and effluent treatment industries. Specifically for the leather industry, Münzing Chemie produce chemicals for fatliquoring, degreasing, wetting and dispersing, waterproofing, retanning and finishing. The majority of the company's products are wet-end and fatliquoring products with particular strength in waterproofing and non-fog fatliquors for car upholstery. Up until 30 years ago, 95% of the company's products were manufactured using marine and other natural oils, although today this figure has been reduced drastically to meet the latest requirements of an ever-changing leather industry. Global outlook Münzing Chemie are active around the world with laboratories in the USA, Brazil, India, Spain, Argentina and Mexico, a new laboratory in Thailand and a new office in Shanghai, China, scheduled to open in July this year. In Italy, Münzing Srl are located in Arzignano with sub-agents in Solofra and Santa Croce. Around 70% of the company's leather products are exported to the Asian and South American leather industries. The company's philosophy is Performance Counts! They pride themselves on offering a fast and reliable service and added-value through quality, reliability, and service resulting in economical benefits. Münzing Chemie not only strive to supply quality chemicals to the leather industry but aim to create partnerships with their customers and develop tailor-made products for their customers' specific needs. Tanners are most likely to choose a product according to either price or quality. Münzing Chemie believe that there is too much pressure to lower prices and, therefore, aim to provide something extra, something better; and the proof is in the quality of the finished leather. To meet this increasing consumer demand for quality, more than DM200 million was invested between 1995 and 2000 in upgrading the company's premises to a state-of-the-art facility. All the company's products are manufactured using multi-purpose reactors, filling station and automated system. And all technicians work closely together to help promote an exchange of ideas across the company's product ranges. Münzing Chemie employ a total of 200 workers around the world, 120 of which are based in Heilbronn, with annual production of around 24,000 tonnes of chemicals in Heilbronn plus significant quantities in their US-based facilities in Clover, South Carolina. The company's fully-automated manufacturing system has signified a decrease in manpower over the past ten years but production has more than doubled over the same period. The logistical handling of finished products as well as the factory's internal logistic system has recently been outsourced. Münzing Chemie's warehouse is rented and is around 4km away from the Salzstraße facility. They operate a first in, first out system and, in 1996, became one of the first companies to introduce SAP R/3 together with a barcode system for labelling containers. A long time ago… Born in 1807, Friedrich Michael Münzing was the second son of a farmer and a miller's daughter and, therefore, would not inherit the family business. After his 14th birthday, his father gave Friedrich Michael permission to learn the soap making craft. After four years of study in Heilbronn, Münzing left Germany to travel, mostly on foot, in southern Europe, from Vienna to Trieste, then to Venice, a city renowned for its soap at the time, and on further through the Lombard region of Italy and the Tirol and onto Bodensee on the Swiss border. While working as a soap boiler aged 20, Münzing extended his knowledge of chemistry at the monastic library of Maria Einsiedel and it is here that he made the manufacture of sulfuric acid his aim. Friedrich Michael Münzing was a talented entrepreneur even by today's standards and he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for his contribution to the arts and sciences. Münzing Chemie began life on March 29, 1830, trading as Chemische Fabrik Münzing when, aged 23, Friedrich Michael returned to Heilbronn. In the beginning, the company produced sulfuric acid for the emerging paper and textile industries. A complex process, sulphur was burnt in a lead chamber to form sulphur dioxide which was then oxidised with nitric acid to form sulfuric acid. Before Chemische Fabrik Münzing were established, sulfuric acid had to be imported into the region from England, an expensive process. As a result, Chemische Fabrik Münzing attracted the attention of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg who donated 5,000 florins, a considerable amount of money at that time, to support the start of the young entrepreneur's new business. In the 1860s, production became easier with the advent of sulfur dioxide which simplified the sulfuric acid manufacturing process. As a result, the company diversified and moved into the production of stearin candles and oil soaps for the textile industry. A successful start For more than 30 years, the company flourished and Chemische Fabrik Münzing became a reputable producer of sulfuric acid. However, tragedy struck in 1859 when Friedrich Michael's son Emil was killed in an accident trying to rescue a worker from the lead chamber. The business then passed into the hands of Friedrich Michael's second son Christoph Albert to take the company into their second generation, alongside his son-in-law Louis Link. World War I took its toll on the business and the family. In the hands of third generation family member Albert, Chemische Fabrik Münzing were forced to rethink their focus and move away from candle production with the advent of the electrical age. Eight years after the end of the war, the company entered a new phase in their history trading under the name Münzing & Comp. At this time, fourth generation member Erich returned to the family business after beginning his career with BASF and together with his brother Lothar, began to rebuild the company following the effects of the war and a fire in 1916. Between 1926 and 1939, the company concentrated on the production of castor oil and marine animal oils for the paper and textile industries and first moved into the manufacture of chemicals for the leather industry. Sulfuric acid still formed the basis of many of the company's products at this time. The company's manufacturing facilities were also expanded with new lead-plated reactors and equipment for the cooking and washing processes. However, the arrival of WWII signified another difficult period for the company. Erich Münzing was drafted into the army and, as a captain, marched to Stalingrad. And on December 4, 1944, during an air raid on Heilbronn, the company's facilities were totally destroyed. Reconstruction Despite the damage, the company remained intact and production of putty from linseed oil began in 1946 in a small building constructed from wood and stones picked up from the rubble. By 1949, the company had a total of 46 workers and boasted turnover of DM2 million. Dr Erich Münzing used the company's innovative sulfitation process to create new product lines, for example Optimalin for leather, a product range that still exists today. In 1950, a leather research department was created to provide expert advice to new and existing customers. The company entered the fifth generation under the control of Dr Wolfgang Münzing, his cousin Hans Münzing and also Professor Dr Richard Kuhn, a Nobel prize winner at Heidelberg University. Significant amounts of money were invested into the company in the form of Pfaudler reactors, forklift trucks used to store the chemicals in wooden barrels, the building of a new technical department and the launch of new products. Investment in the future Expansion continued and in 1963 Münzing & Comp joined forces with Nopco Chemical Company and became Nopco Münzing GmbH. In the early 1970s, the company invested in a new multi-purpose production facility, followed by a warehouse in 1976, a research department in 1978, a maintenance and chlorine vapourisation facility in 1981, an outdoor heated raw materials tank farm in 1982 and a new technical centre including a state-of-the-art laboratory tannery in 1986-1988. It was during this time that, in 1977, the company began trading under their current name, Münzing Chemie GmbH. In 1992, the company achieved an annual turnover of DM40 million. When Dr Wolfgang Münzing retired in 1994 he handed the reins to his son, Dr Ing Michael Münzing, but he still remains one the company's four managing directors. For now, the company are in the safe hands of the sixth generation and there seems no end in sight for the Münzing family business thanks to the long-lasting close partnerships the company have with their customers.