It was back on January 1st 1960 that Gerhard Schuler and Eugen Hornberger founded the company HOMAG, marking the start of an impressive success story which saw a modest firm based in the Black Forest transformed into an SDAX listed stock corporation and global leader specializing in the field of woodworking. The company’s headlong growth has made an indelible mark on its home town of Schopfloch: After construction of the first building phase providing a useful area of 2,000 square metres, no fewer than 35 major extension projects have been completed on the site, providing an impressive 60,000 square metres of production and office space today.
As long ago as 1962 while still in its infancy, the company caused a tremendous stir in the sector with a totally new type of edge banding machine using a patented hot-cold technique which it presented at the Fair in Hanover. In 1967, HOMAG went on to revolutionize the furniture production sector with a combined sizing and edge banding machine, of which over a thousand were sold. This type of innovative invention, which has been joined by an impressive array of others over the years, has been a vital pillar of HOMAG’s unique success story. A total of over 800 industrial property rights testify to this amazing achievement.
Another essential factor in the company’s headlong growth have been selective acquisitions and participations in manufacturing firms whose products provided a sensible addition to HOMAG’s own portfolio. This strategy provided the foundation for the HOMAG Group’s structure as a network of companies which together almost completely cover the process chain of its customers. This has placed the HOMAG Group in a position to now offer a unique portfolio of products, with a comprehensive, ideally coordinated range of machines and services for outstanding customer benefit.
The third vital pillar in HOMAG’s rise to the position of world market leader has been its clear strategic alignment towards opening up the global marketplace. As long ago as the seventies, it launched the expansion of an effective, closely meshed sales network in all the world’s most important sales regions. Today, the group operates 20 of its own sales and servicing companies, and works with around 60 exclusive sales partners. Of the 16 specialized producing companies, five are located outside of Germany. HOMAG’s decision to go global at such an early stage is now paying dividends. On average, around 70 to 80 per cent of the Group’s turnover is generated abroad, and its plants and machines are exported to over 100 countries.
Holding up these vital pillars of HOMAG’s success is its qualified and highly motivated workforce, without which none of these achievements would have been possible. HOMAG recognized the importance of the human element from a very early stage in its development, and as early as 1974 a system of employee capital participation was introduced which remains exemplary to this day. This move turned employees into entrepreneurs, as they participate directly in the company’s success. With a traditionally high trainee quota of usually over ten percent, HOMAG is also securing a qualified up-and-coming pool of skilled operators and specialists to ensure the continuation of this impressive corporate history.