SCHÜRHOLZ GROUP

The foundation stone for the company is laid by Johann Schürholz with the establishment of a pressing shop on Ratscheller Weg in Plettenberg. Johann Schürholz produces washers and pressed parts in a one-man operation with a lathe and a punch.

On November 21, 1930, Otto Schürholz, one of Johann Schürholz's sons, joins the company.

Johann Schürholz buys the site of the closed Kuhlenberg Hütte on the Albaumbach in Würdinghausen from Franz Liese, where iron was produced until the closure. At the time of purchase, the old building of a screw and nut factory stands on the approximately one-hectare site. The initial inventory of the Würdinghausen branch was newly acquired and consisted of four disk lathes, five presses, planing and drilling machines and a rolling shear. Over time, new buildings are erected on the factory premises. Johann Schürholz puts the first employee, Willy Teipelmann, in charge of the Würdinghausen plant. There is a railroad connection from Würdinghausen to Plettenberg, which is subsequently used by employees, but also for the transportation of company products.

On April 21, 1945, the founder Johann Schürholz passes away. His daughter Hedwig Schürholz then joins the company and runs the business with her brother Otto. Hedwig is responsible for the commercial side of the business and Otto Schürholz takes over the technical side.

Due to the steady economic upswing after the Second World War and after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1948, production capacities are expanded. At the beginning of the 1950s, the first automatic stamping presses with a pressing force of 25-45 tons are put into operation and at the same time contacts are established with the automotive industry. A specialty at this time is the manufacture of shims for axle and gearbox production, starting with a material thickness of 0.075 mm and increasing by 0.025 mm in each case. Automatic lathes are developed and patented to meet the constantly increasing demand for turned washers, on which millions of parts of the highest quality are produced every year.

In 1955, a new factory building is erected on Königsstraße in Plettenberg.

After Otto Schürholz's death on December 6, 1959, his sons Hans-Otto and Walter receive his shares in the company. The company is converted into a limited partnership in 1961.

In 1964, an additional factory hall and office building were built in Königsstraße. In addition to the necessary structural extensions, it was necessary to expand and modernize the corresponding production capacities due to the steadily increasing share of the screw accessories market. In the 1960s, investments were also made in automatic punching presses with a pressing force of up to 100 tons. At this time, the company already had around 500 customers and the number of products was in the thousands.

The Schürholz company celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Hedwig Schürholz passes away on March 20, 1970 and Hans-Otto Schürholz takes over the management of the company. At this time, the company already had a large machine park with 25 punching presses, 5 roller drums, various automatic lathes, automatic threading machines, lathes for washers, tool lathes, planing machines, surface grinding machines, roller shears, guillotine shears, forklift trucks and a bonder system.

A stamping and bending department is established at the Plettenberg plant in 1977. Following the decision to start the production of stamped-bent parts, extensive investments are made in the years from 1977 to 1983 in the then largest and most modern systems of Otto Bihler, partly with special equipment for round-formed products with hydraulic calibration stations. In addition to the production of bushings, the company specializes in the manufacture of housings for injection pumps, of which several million are delivered worldwide every year.

At the beginning of the 1980s, stamping technology is concentrated at the Plettenberg plant and at the same time the Würdinghausen plant is converted to flexible sheet metal processing. In Würdinghausen, laser processing was also introduced in 1984.

In 1985, the Plettenberg plant is relocated from Königsstraße to the Köbbinghausen industrial estate. The site area grew from approx. 10,000 m² to over 20,000 m² with an initial hall size of 4,200 m². The proportion of washers and standard parts was steadily reduced. From then on, the focus was on pressed, stamped and drawn parts. From the mid-1980s, the production of housings for cooling air motors is continuously expanded and up to 500,000 units are delivered each month. These motors are fitted with welded-on brackets with pressed-in screws for attachment to the cooling system. A welding shop is set up at the Würdinghausen plant in 1985.

At the same time, several DDS 600 discus double surface grinding machines are invested in, in order to be able to supply stamped parts and discs with the tightest tolerances and highest surface quality after the continuously planned exit from DIN disc production. Several million cylinder head washers for the automotive industry are produced annually, as well as spacers and shims. At the same time, the processing of fine blanking and cold extrusion parts with very tight flatness and thickness tolerances was carried out on a large scale.

In 1991, a 400-ton automatic punching press with transfer device is purchased. With the purchase of this machine, the production of tension clamps for the German Federal Post Office begins. These very complicated stamped parts are produced in three sizes for different cable cross-sections, hot-dip galvanized and then screwed together with plastic parts. These tension clamps are used for fastening and tensioning overland and telephone cables. In 1991/92, an additional factory building is erected on the Köbbinghausen industrial estate to accommodate the company's continued growth.

Foundation of the VIA association, a cooperation of medium-sized, owner-managed companies in the automotive supply industry. Schürholz is one of the founding members.

At the Würdinghausen plant, state-of-the-art production facilities enable the flexible manufacture of blanks and molded parts through to complex assemblies. In constant dialog with its customers, the company develops innovative solutions in sheet metal for individual parts and prototypes as well as for series of complex assemblies. With the help of modern technologies such as 2D and 3D laser processing and CNC bending technology, product developments are possible in the shortest possible time in order to achieve significant time and cost advantages. There are now 55 employees in Würdinghausen. The company produces sheet metal blanks, 3D molded parts, housings and sheet metal cladding. The company has set itself the goal of constantly working on optimizing its production and performance processes, promoting staff training and development, continuously working on improving the quality of its products and services and continually optimizing internal and external communication.

Founding of Schürholz Polska, a production facility for stamped and bent parts, welding and assembly components in Środa Śląska, Poland.

Foundation of a joint venture in China (Yangzhou), Jiangsu Schürholz Precision Metal Forming Co. Ltd.

Purchase of the first servo press at the Plettenberg plant.
Certification of the Plettenberg plant in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001.

Introduction of SAP at the Plettenberg plant. This was followed by the introduction of SAP at the plant in Poland in 2014, including the connection to the Plettenberg plant

In 2016, the plant in Poland is expanded with an additional production hall. The built-up area is now 3,300 m² and the total area is 11,500 m². The Chinese plant moves to a new factory building in Yangzhou. The built-up area is now 3,300 m² and the total site area is approx. 4,000 m². The company also has sufficient expansion options for the future. In addition, the occupational health and safety management system at the Plettenberg plant will be certified in accordance with the BS OHSAS 18001 standard this year.

The latest expansion of the Schürholz plant in Plettenberg was completed at the beginning of 2018. The extension created an additional 1,250 m² of factory space, of which around 250 m² is for the technical office. The result is an ultra-modern building that offers a friendly and bright working atmosphere and at the same time meets the requirements of modern building technology. One special feature is the integration of a crane system into the load-bearing hall structure for lifting tools weighing several tons.
The extended operating area for toolmaking ensures that all production sites can continue to be supplied with new tools and equipment in the future and that smooth maintenance of current production tools is guaranteed.
The area where toolmaking was previously located is now available as an additional production area for production and three punching and bending machines have already been installed there in the meantime. In addition, a state-of-the-art machining center from Bihler with integrated NC punching, bending, welding, laser welding, assembly and testing processes will be put into operation in May 2018. The Bihler BM 6000 machining center was developed in collaboration between Schürholz and Bihler and is the only system of its kind in the world. In future, precision housings for the automotive industry will be manufactured on this system.

The Schürholz Group has been TISAX-certified for the first time and thus fulfills the highest requirements for information security in the automotive industry.

The plant in Plettenberg was expanded: a new production hall was built to increase our capacity and create space for state-of-the-art production technologies.

In January 2025, the Schürholz Group took an important step towards internationalization. A new location was opened in Kentucky, enabling the company to be closer to its North American customers and respond even more flexibly to market requirements.
The attractive local conditions and good support from regional partners offer ideal conditions for sustainably expanding the company's presence in the USA. This strengthens the Schürholz Group's international competitiveness and creates the basis for further growth on the other side of the Atlantic.