Würth

Würth, The Wurth Group

Type	GmbH (Private company)
Industry	Fasteners, chemicals, safety products, tools, inventory management
Founded	1945
Headquarters	Künzelsau, Germany
Key people	Jürg Michel, Reiner Specht (Executive Vice President), Markus Wurth (Executive Vice President), Alois Wimmer (Executive Vice President), Pentti Rantanen (Executive Vice President)
Revenue	€ 9.985 bn.^[1]
Number of employees	63,571 (2015)^[1]
Website	wurth.com

The Würth Group (Würth-Gruppe in German) is a worldwide wholesaler of fasteners, screws and screw accessories, dowels, chemicals, electronic and electromechanical components, furniture and construction fittings, tools, machines, installation material, automotive hardware, inventory management, storage and retrieval systems. Würth was founded in 1945 by Adolf Würth in Künzelsau, Germany. Eighty years later and still today, the company is led by his son Prof. Dr. h.c. Reinhold Würth.

History

Würth was founded by Adolf Würth (1909–1954),^[2] established for the purpose of selling screws in 1945 in Künzelsau (hence the company logo, which consists of the family name and two screw heads with cylindrical and round heads). After the death of Adolf Würth, his son Reinhold Würth took over in 1954 at the age of 19 with his mother Alma Würth, making it a two-person company.

Since then, the company has become the world's leading retail group with the main business share in the distribution of fasteners and tools with approximately 120,000 different products in these lines. Its more than 3 million customers include companies from the construction industry, wood and metal crafting, automotive companies, and, increasingly, industrial customers.

Today the Würth Group operates worldwide and employs over 65,000 people, making it one of the largest non-listed companies in Germany. The German newspaper Die Welt listed it as 91 on its list of top 500 companies.

On January 1, 1994, Reinhold Würth withdrew from management and took over as Chairman of the Würth Advisory Board. On March 1, 2006, he passed on this office to his daughter Bettina Würth and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group.

On October 27, 2006, after five years of research, the group opened a production plant in Schwäbisch Hall for new types of solar cells using copper, indium, and selenium instead of silicon.^[3]

Unlike other trading companies, Würth spends much on research and development. It set a record in 2007 with more than 60 patents.^[4]

Corporate structure

Besides the German parent company Adolf Würth GmbH & Co, Würth includes more than 400 companies in 86 countries, which are divided into two lines:

The Würth Line (die Würth-Linie), whose companies carry the Würth name
206 allied companies, which are usually purchased companies that operate under their original name or have been integrated into another allied company

The Würth Group specializes in sales through its representatives. It operates globally, with continuous expansions due to sales.

Corporate culture

At Würth, reps can earn bonuses through a differentiated reward system. The group companies and foreign sales companies are largely autonomous in their tasks, although they report their results to the parent company. Würth has also allowed its staff to select architects and planning representative administration to choose the best options for themselves.

Cultural ties

The Würth Group supports the Würth Foundation (Stiftung Würth), established by Carmen and Reinhold Würth in 1987 to promote art and culture, science and research, and education.^[5] The organization gives many types of awards, including the Würth Prize for European Literature (Würth-Preis für Europäische Literatur), the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany (Würth-Preis der Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland), and the Würth Literature Prize (Würth-Literaturpreis).

In the company's headquarters in Künzelsau, employees can visit an in-house Würth Museum, next to Schwäbisch Hall, whose exhibits change three to four times a year. The art museum is also open to the public.

The Würth Foundation awards several prizes in various artistic disciplines. In addition, the Würth Foundation engages in school and university funding. In 2005, the Künzelsau College of Applied Sciences of the University of Heilbronn was renamed Reinhold Würth University.

Würth is the organizer of the Würth Open-Air Festival, an annual multi-day festival in Künzelsau. Several Würth Group companies outside Germany have Würth art forums, including the Musée Würth France Erstein in France and the Museo Würth La Rioja in Spain.^[6] In Chur, Switzerland, the Foundation maintains the Stiftung das Kulturforum Würth Chur.

Würth and sports

Professional cycling

Since 2000, Würth has been a strong supporter of professional bicycle road racing. Prior to 2005, Würth helped sponsor the ONCE-Eroski Pro Cycling Team. Then in 2005, Würth became one of the team's primary sponsors for the Liberty Seguros-Würth Cycling Team. In 2006, the company continued its support through the Astana-Würth Cycling Team.

In addition, the Würth Group has served as the presenting sponsor for the 2005 and 2006 Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland).

Football

Würth has been sponsor on the uniforms of referees and their assistants in La Liga, Spain's premier football league for the last several years. Würth is also official Loftus Road repair kit partner of Queens Park Rangers F.C..

Basketball

Würth has been sponsor of Virtus Roma in Italy, in 2001-2002 season for the Italian League of Basketball.

Ice hockey

Würth has sponsored various ice hockey team and events, in particular Italian league mainstays HC Bolzano, who won the 1994-95 Cup of the European Leagues as HC Bolzano Würth. Würth also sponsored the Canadian team at the 2013 Spengler Cup hockey tournament.

Formula One

For the 2008 season, Würth supplied tools and fasteners to Panasonic Toyota Racing and the company's logo featured in the pit garage, on team trucks and on all official communication.

DTM

Since 2000 season, Würth is an official brake fluid, radiator fluid, supplied tools and fasteners of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2000 to present and exclusively Audi Sport DTM's brake fluid, radiator fluid, supplied tools and fasteners supplier since 2000.

NASCAR

Beginning in the 2012 season, Würth is a primary sponsor in seven Nationwide Series races on the #12 Penske Racing Dodge. Beginning in the 2014 season, Würth is a primary sponsor in four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing's #2 Ford.

V8 Supercars

Since the start of the 2015 season, Würth have been in a long term, strategic arrangement with V8 Supercars team, Dick Johnson Racing/Team Penske. The new livery was launched at the support race to the Australian Formula One Grand Prix with Marcos Ambrose as driver and Scott Pye forthwith racing in the colours in select races for the rest of the season. ^[7]

References

1 2 "Würth Group: Private Company Information, Bloomberg [online]. Accessed 1 May 2015
↑ In Österreich beginnt Würths Privatsphäre, Schwäbisches Tagblatt, 1. Oktober 2009
↑ Solarzellen. Ein Platz an der Sonne, stern, 16. November 2006, Nr. 46
↑ German Champions - Innovationsmotor Mittelstand, Study of the Technische Universität München and the Munich Innovation Group
↑ "Die Stiftung". Stiftung Würth (in German). Retrieved 22 February 2015.
↑ Die Kunstdependancen in den Konzerngesellschaften der Würth-Gruppe bei kunst.wuerth.com (abgerufen am 24. Mai 2010)
↑ http://www.v8supercars.com.au/news/championship/wurth-launches-djr-team-penske-partnership

External links

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