About us

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KWB Maschinenbau GmbH in Freigericht – Altenmittlau, Germany

Company development up to the present

The present KWB Maschinenbau GmbH was originally founded in 1983 as a custom-made kitchen-machine builder in Alzenau-Albstadt. Company founders Eberhard Wiegelmann, Heinz Breideband and Horst Kraut invested equally in the new venture in the amount of DM 60,000. The firm was commercially registered in Aschaffenburg.

The object was to develop and market custom-made kitchen-machines for professional purposes. In the following seven years, the company was able to significantly increase its turnover.

KWB has since diversified quickly into the manufacture of equipment and precision parts based on technical drawings from the customer. This helped the company to become independent of the prevailing economic conditions in the kitchen-machine market, which KWB gave up totally later.

Since the 1990s, the company has recovered from a four-year downturn in turnover due to economic weaknesses in the machine-tool industry and contracts from key clients going to the new German states and the former communist countries in Eastern Europe. The upward trend started in 1995 and was continuous till 1997. Starting in 1998 it increased sharply. Contract manufacturing for corporate divisions is the main driver of the company’s dynamic success.

Today, KWB concentrates on the manufacture of quality-critical precision parts and assembly groups, mainly out of stainless steel, copper and further difficult-to-machine materials. The company has been a certified manufacturer according to ISO Standard No. 9001-2000 since 1992. After the firm moved from Albstadt to its new premises in Freigericht in 2001, it was certified according to the occupational health and safety standard OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001, the environmental protection system. For further information, please click here.

The two former owners of KWB, Heinz Breideband (left) and Eberhard Wiegelmann (right). Rudolf Barget (middle) is the new company owner.

At the beginning of 2005, the two owners Heinz Breideband and Eberhard Wiegelmann decided to retire and turned over the reins to Rudolf Barget. After lengthy discussions and negotiation, the final contract was signed on October 1, 2005. As a result, Rudolf Barget promised the two owners to continue to lead the company on their behalf.

The current range of products offered by KWB is as follows:

• Precision parts and assembly of groups, for instance:
• Vacuum coating
• Machine tools
• Optical Equipment
• Components for nuclear power plants
• Drive technology and automobile manufacture
• Minimal series production of high-precision parts
• Key components for the plastic recycling industry
• High-performance jigs and fixtures
• Sawing systems
• Dental casting units

KWB asserts itself in the market based on such strengths as:

• Many years of processing experience in stainless steel and all non-ferrous metals.
• High sales-production ratios/employee due to systematic multiple machine operation
• Involvement of Sub-suppliers
• High machine efficiencies
• Very good, stable customer relations