The company's history began with a big idea. It shows how this idea became a reality.
The company's history began with a big idea. It shows how this idea became a reality.
Profile and history – the legend of Würth Industrie Service
1945 – From the beginning
Formerly the Industry Division in the parent company Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG in Künzelsau, Reinhold Würth recognised the potential of supplying industrial customers and the associated growth market. And so, Würth Industrie Service was founded on 13 January 1999 as an independent subsidiary at the Industriepark Würth business park in Bad Mergentheim. The Industriepark Würth business park at the Bad Mergentheim site in central Germany was the ideal location for the company's activities. The former Deutschorden-Kaserne barracks has served as the corporate headquarters of Würth Industrie Service for over 20 years. The Deutschorden-Kaserne barracks on the "Drillberg" in Bad Mergentheim was closed when the armed forces across Europe were reduced in size in the early 1990s. The armoured brigade 36 that was stationed there was relocated and taken out of service in 2003. The barracks site was acquired by the Würth Group in 1999 and converted by Würth Industrie Service into a European logistics centre using the existing infrastructure to serve industrial customers.
2000 – A step into independence
On 1 January of the new millennium, Würth Industrie Service took over the business of the industrial division of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG. At first, the idea of employing 88 people over an area of 122 hectares seemed inconceivable. But the figures and success story over the years have proven the founders of the company right. This step was made possible by the joint efforts of all colleagues. Another milestone this year was the inauguration of the Kanban logistics centre in February. It has a total area of 11,000 square metres. With a total of 9200 pallet spaces and over 100,000 shelves, there really is room for a whole lot of goods! On 22 and 23 July 2000, Würth Industrie Service presented itself to the general public for the first time with an open day event. The number of visitors was huge, with over 100,000 guests!
2001 to 2005 – Ongoing improvements
Together with Liebherr-International Deutschland GmbH, Würth Industrie Service won the WIN-WIN-Cup* awarded by the Association of German Engineers (VDI*) in 2001. This is an annual B2B award presented for business relationships in which customers and suppliers can both be considered winners. In 2002, Sales at Würth Industrie Service was divided into the Automotive, Cargo, Kanban and E-Commerce divisions. Würth Industrie Service also supplied customers of Würth Switzerland from Bad Mergentheim, while in 2003 Würth Industrie Service took over the logistics supply for Würth Industrie France. In addition, work to expand the Kanban warehouse by an additional 5500 pallet spaces over a floor area of 2000 square metres began. The numbers were eye-opening – 15,000 pallet spaces, 45 metres high. In 2004, a plan was drawn up for a corresponding warehouse on the Drillberg. This was followed by the initial groundbreaking for the first construction phase of the new high-bay warehouse (N07). At this time, the incoming and outgoing goods warehouse on the Drillberg was annexed as a new building to the high-bay warehouse in Building N06. From the beginning of 2005, the new EU countries were also supplied from Bad Mergentheim, and the WINWORK® (Würth Industrial Network) began to grow. WINWORK® companies in India and China consolidated the industrial network in Asia.
2006 to 2007 – Another discovery Café Waldeck
The worldwide industrial network WINWORK® continued to grow. Companies in Brazil and South Africa, as well as a new branch office in Great Britain, strengthened the industrial network. On 21 February, 2006, the first groundbreaking ceremony took place on the Ketterberg for the conversion of the former Café Waldeck into the Reinhold Würth Haus. The Reinhold Würth Haus, a new conference and event centre, was officially inaugurated in 2007. Lord Mayor Dr. Barth handed over a street sign for "Reinhold-Würth-Straße" on behalf of the town of Bad Mergentheim. A second high rack warehouse (N08) is built and directly connected to the existing high rack warehouse (N07).
2008 to 2015 – Continuous innovation
The year 2009 began with a major innovation in Kanban logistics: The development and introduction of the W-KLT® (Würth small load carrier). This was followed by a string of awards, such as the 2009 Deutscher Logistik-Preis (German Logistics Prize) for the project "Modular Logistics: The Solution for Multi-Channel Distribution" or the Bambus-Champion 2010 award. The annual award honours companies that stand out from the competition due to above-average growth, innovation or other success factors. In 2011, the WIN-WIN CUP was awarded for the best customer-supplier relationship of the decade between the Liebherr Group and Würth Industrie Service. The year 2012 also brought some significant innovations. The brand exceeded 1,000,000 items in the industrial range, the new Kanban container W-KLT®2.0 was officially ready for production as a further development of the revolution in Kanban logistics, the ORSY®mat 3.0 was introduced as an innovative output system for managing C-part requirements in material management, and the iBin® camera module was released in 2013 as an optical ordering system that revolutionised the entire material management process over the long term. The goal of the iBin® is to link and automate C-Parts management and direct workstation supply in real time. The new iBin®WP heralded the industrial revolution in C-parts management: Industry 4.0 – The person at the centre of a networked system world. Networked systems – Digital. Real. Transparent. In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the iDISPLAY was developed 2015. The CPS®MOBILE app opens up an additional management system and offers a transparent exchange of information and data.
2016 to 2019 – Looking to the future
Is your factory really lean? Gone are the days when supplying companies with C-parts involved nothing more than delivering the required item. These days, the supplier has developed into a partner that is integrated into the process landscape of a company, and supports the company in being networked in the digital and physical world through comprehensive systems, services and information media. Since 2017, the expansion of the high-bay warehouse has increased storage capacity by more than 49,000 pallet bays to around 650,000 storage slots, of which 150,000 alone are for pallets. The test lab for Würth Industrie Service was accredited as an official testing centre. The iPLACER® was added to the RFID range. At the end of the year, Würth Industrie Service generated sales of more than EUR 500 million for the first time. In 2018, with CPS®miLOGISTICS items from outside Würth are integrated into C-parts management along with standard and special parts, and they are included in the automated Kanban supply for Würth Industrie Service. In 2019, the innovation factory grew when innovative automated technologies such as the ORSY®mat WGT and ORSY®mat CHE were added to the Würth Industrie Service range as further solutions that allow users to digitalise their entire supply chain and make this supply chain more transparent. The ORSY® LockBox is a simple and flexible way for companies to control their racking and warehouse management processes. Further investments to expand the location are being implemented, including the expansion of the high-bay warehouse by 30,000 bays. The expansion of the Würth Industrie Service logistics centre is an ongoing endeavour. Between 2018 and 2020, a total of EUR 160 million has been invested in expansion measures to ensure security of supply for customers.
2020 – stable C-parts management
The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has proven once again how important it is to have a stable C-Parts management and the role of digital and contactless technologies. With innovative RFID system solutions such as iPLACER® , a handy, battery-operated module with an integrated reader and transmitter as ordering and inventory management system as well as the study of an RFID pallet box, an open system for automatically triggering orders by continuously scanning the surroundings for RFID tags, Würth Industrie Service is expanding its portfolio by adding more solutions, which can help the users to digitalise and transparently design their entire delivery chain. The study on ORSY®mat CBL, a vending machine for supplying cables, wires, cords and installation material to the customers, assures maximum certainty in materials management. To ensure utmost safety in the workplace, the company has introduced professional hygiene solutions to its workplace systems of the CPS®IWS product line in the wake of the pandemic. The fact that Würth Industrie Service is driving digital transformation is proved not only by the technologies in automated C-Parts management but also by the opportunity to interactively experience the range of services offered by the company. The virtual showroom WIS Virtual Experiences presents system solutions as well as product range for an efficient C-Parts management as well as offers a suitable setting for customer visits.
2021 – intelligent and innovative C-Parts solutions
Since 13th September 2021, Würth Industrie Service and the WINWORK® companies have been operating under a uniform logo. Würth Industrial Network reported a turnover of 1.911 billion euros worldwide in the financial year 2021. Würth Industrie Service grew by 23.7 percent with a turnover of 663 million euros in Germany, thus reaching a historic record. 2021 has also pointed out the importance of a stable C-Parts management. In addition to the innovative scale system iSCALE, a sensor-controlled scale that is directly connected to the Kanban bin and notifies the requirements of production materials and other small parts based on weight, the company presents the Smart Workplace. In the assembly workstation of the future, people will work together with automatically triggering ordering systems. In addition to iSCALE, iPLACER® as an order and inventory management system or the pilot project on iDISPLAY as a digital rack label enable all the processes to be intelligently connected in the workplace of the future. . Furthermore, in 2021, a manufacturing unit was put into operation for the first time in the history of Würth Industrie Service. With the new Systemwerk in Boxberg, all the expertise and production activities related to ORSY®mat vending machines for automatically supplying auxiliary and operating materials are bundled for all the companies of the Würth Group
2022 – Progress in C-Parts management
Würth Industrial Network, or WINWORK®, recorded a turnover of EUR 2.263 billion in financial year 2022. Würth Industrie Service GmbH & Co. KG grew by 17,9 percent by achieving a turnover of EUR 771,5 million. Even 2022 has demonstrated how important a stable C-Parts management is. In addition to its scale system iSCALE, a sensor-controlled scale that is directly connected to the Kanban bin and notifies the requirements of production materials and other small parts based on weight, the company presents the Smart Workplace. In this assembly workplace of the future, people and machines work hand in hand with self-triggering ordering systems, driverless transport systems and worker assistance systems. The C-Parts partner was felicitated with prestigious awards like "LOGISTRA best practice: Innovations 2022" and “100 Places for Industry 4.0 in Baden-Württemberg” especially for its innovation successes. The C-Parts partner is continuously increasing its degree of automation and digitalisation within logistics. In July 2022, the plan to expand the logistics centre at Würth Industrie Service by constructing a new, automated high-bay warehouse with 59,000 additional storage spaces on an area of over 4,000 square meters was approved. Also sustainability is getting more and more important. Würth Industrie Service relies on renewable energies for carbon-neutral energy supply and has commissioned another photovoltaic system with an output of around 480 kWp in 2022. Currently, several photovoltaic systems with a total output of over 900 kWp and generated volume of over 800,000 kWh are installed at the Drillberg site.
2023 – Holistic C-Parts management
WINWORK® is continuing to grow and recorded sales of EUR 2.324 billion in the financial year 2023. Würth Industrie Service in Germany closed 2023 with sales of over EUR 816 million. 2023 has also shown that process optimisation and increased efficiency along the entire C-Parts management chain are becoming significantly more relevant. In addition to Smart Workplace, the assembly workplace of the future, CPS®miSELF, the solution for digital supply management, focuses primarily on the future of supply. Whether for processes in procurement or even intralogistics: In combination with the proven RFID Kanban systems and the associated hardware such as bins, labels and shelves, the web-based platform not only enables the management of C-Parts from Würth Industrie Service's product range, but also the handling of non-Würth products including A- and B-parts. The C-Parts partner was honoured with the "Germany's Most Innovative Companies 2023", "Digital Champions 2023", "Distributor of 2023" and "Siemens Healthineers Supplier Award 2023" awards for its particular successes in innovation. The C-Parts partner is continuously increasing its degree of automation and digitalisation within logistics. With the expansion of the logistics centre at Würth Industrie Service by constructing a new, automated high-bay warehouse, 59,000 additional storage spaces were created on an area of over 4,000 square meters. Following the successful installation of the storage and retrieval machines in 2023, nothing stands in the way of its commissioning next April. Also sustainability is getting more and more important. To ensure a self-sufficient energy supply, Würth Industrie Service relies on renewable energies and equipped the south façade of the new high-bay warehouse with an additional photovoltaic system in 2023. Several photovoltaic systems with a total output of almost 2,000 kWp and a generation volume of around 1,500,000 kWh are currently installed at the Drillberg site.
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