The Wieland Group is a manufacturer of
semi-finished products in
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
and
copper alloys
Copper alloys are metal Alloy, alloys that have copper as their principal component. They have high resistance against corrosion. Of the large number of different types, the best known traditional types are bronze, where tin is a significant addi ...
. The group of companies with Wieland-Werke AG as the ultimate parent company is organized into four business units. Since its foundation, the company’s headquarters has been located in
Ulm
Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city.
Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...
. The Wieland Group has production sites in Asia, Europe and the USA.
History
Philipp Jakob Wieland took over his uncle’s fine art and
bell foundry
Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casting ...
in Ulm’s Rosengasse in 1820 and by 1828 he was producing brass sheet and wire. Around 1900, he also started to produce rods, tubes and sections. In 1865, the company started production at the new
Vöhringen plant using hydropower from the River Iller.
In 1919, the OHG (''Offene Handelsgesellschaft'', open
trading company
Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business, or government purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and deliver products to cus ...
) converted into Wieland-Werke AG. This was followed by the development of new technology and machinery as well as the acquisition of additional plants. In 1945, the Ulm plant was largely destroyed by bombs. At the Vöhringen plant, several production facilities were dismantled. After reconstruction, the company expanded its production capacity in the 1950s and 60s and established a worldwide production and sales organization. Today, the Wieland Group consists of approx. 60 companies (manufacturing plants, slitting centers and trading companies) in 40 countries.
In 1834, Philipp Jakob Wieland set up a factory health insurance, today’s Wieland BKK. He also cared for the families and relatives of his factory workers. He built workers’ houses that still exist on the edge of the Vöhringen plant as well as “hygienic facilities”, i.e. bathhouses with tubs and showers. Around 1900, a day nursery was established in Ulm to counteract the high infant mortality rate. The nursery was under the protectorate of Queen Charlotte, with the wife of the factory owner Max Wieland being a nursery board member.
In July 2019, the Wieland Group merged with Global Brass and Copper Holdings, Inc., a North American manufacturer and distributor of specialized non-ferrous products, which grows the company to over 90 locations with 9,000 employees and a revenue of 5 billion euros.
Economic Data
* Majority shareholder: Schwenk Group, Ulm
* *On July 1, 2019 the American semi-finished products manufacturer GBC (Global Brass & Copper) was acquired by the Wieland Group.
References
External links
Wieland Group Website*
{{Authority control
Manufacturing companies of Germany
Companies based in Ulm