Company History

How it all began ..

Albert Seitz

Founder and visionary
Albert Seitz (1931-2012)

The actual origin of Albert Seitz GmbH dates back to the apprenticeship of company founder Albert Seitz in a mechanical workshop between 1945 and 1948.
He intensified the skills he learned here over the following years in a company which manufactured steel wool machinery and produced steel wool. Albert Seitz was mainly interested in the technology of machinery. What he was not aware of at that time was that this company was to play a role in his life later on.

Between 1950 and 1960, his first visions of wanting independence grew, combined with his zest for action. His own company, which would stand out due to its technical sophistication, reliability and quality. Working on this vision, he took on tasks that others did not want to carry out for reasons of convenience.
He frequently spent days on assembly tasks in Norway, Denmark, Holland and Italy. Back then, this still required a laborious and long trip by rail. To be as efficient as possible, he travelled through the night and worked during the day. A 7-day working week was the norm for him.
He was ready to sacrifice his time and energy, to accept inconveniences and he hardly saw his family. His vision was his driving force.

Little by little, Albert Seitz acquired the seed capital needed to found his company.

While he expanded his technical knowledge in various companies, he also established a workshop in Oberweier, in which he initially carried out small assembly projects. 12 years later, he expanded this workshop.

In 1964, he founded his first company, “Albert Seitz Werkzeugmaschinen e.K.”

Rooted as he was, he always worked by the basic principle of avoiding financial risks. So he invested only his hard-earned seed capital in the first used machines, reconditioned these and then sold them on. The cornerstone was laid.

From 1968, due to the increased order situation, his presence was required in his workshop all day. Due to the regular demand for spare parts, he now also bought machinery so he could manufacture these himself.

In 1969, one year later, the 1-man team was no longer sufficient. He appointed his first employee. Apart from a brief break, this employee stayed loyal to him until he retired.
Due to his work with machinery, he also met customers who were interested in the gear parts and gears he had produced. When this demand grew even greater, he adapted to the market and now concentrated on manufacturing gears and gear parts, with the same principle of quality and reliability. The cornerstone of today’s Albert Seitz GmbH was laid and his machinery trading focus retreated into the background.

Between 1971 and 1974, more employees were taken on to deal with all the orders.
In 1972, he founded Albert Seitz GmbH specifically for this reason. His reliability, consistently good quality, his adherence to delivery dates and his fair actions prompted his customers to recommend him to others. In the same year, contact was made with a large company in Southern Germany, which supplied the German armed forces back then. This meant that Albert Seitz GmbH sometimes received orders spanning 3 years. Due to the volume of these orders, the company was buffeted from the economic slumps of that time.

Further investments in machinery and buildings were made in line with his basic principle of risk minimisation and predictability. A principle, which offered his company and his staff the security of being able to survive, even in economically bad times.
In the meantime, Albert Seitz GmbH had made a name for itself as a supplier of gear parts. This meant that in 1978, the workshop in Oberweier became too small. In the long term, enlarging the workshop in Oberweier would not be sufficient. For this reason, Albert Seitz decided to acquire an available plot in Heiligenzell and built a new production hall there with the future in mind. At the beginning, he could only fill half of the available production space with machinery.

At this point in time, he already employed 20 members of staff, who implemented his basic principle of reliability, quality and adherence to delivery deadlines. This was the only way he could be in the position to achieve lasting customer satisfaction, secure new orders and acquire new customers.

Due to the positive order situation resulting from this, the hall became filled with additional machinery.
Occasionally, there were still opportunities to trade in machinery, but normally only for the company’s own requirements. Machinery was hardly ever overhauled now.

In 1980, his son Detlef Seitz entered the family business. After his apprenticeship to become a qualified foreman [Industriemeister], his tasks over the following years were aimed at gaining insights into a wide range of management functions and the corporate structure so that he could later step up and take over the company.

In 1984, Albert Seitz was offered a steel wool machine for purchase from his former employer. He bought this with the intention of overhauling it and selling it on. But when he discovered a year later that this company had gone bankrupt, he did not deliberate for long and bought all the production equipment from the bankrupt company. He took on all the employees and immediately founded a new company, “alsei Metallfaser GmbH”. For the first 3 months, he allowed steel wool production to continue from its rented premises, but then decided to use the annex building in Heiligenzell, which had been used to manufacture gears, for the new company and relocated the entire steel wool production department to Heiligenzell.

Because he was fascinated by the technology of these machines, he aimed to technically optimise them with a view to the future, while the production of steel wool (a component of brake linings for various car types) would be managed by an experienced and long-serving employee. It was only when this employee had suddenly passed away that he became involved with the end product of “steel wool” as well.

In 1987, a company that produced small turned parts was looking for a successor. Detlef Seitz took over the entire company with all its staff. “desei GmbH” was founded, with the managing director and shareholder Detlef Seitz.

During all this, Albert Seitz developed ever-better, more economical and environmentally friendly steel wool machines. By 1990, he had increased the production of steel wool from the original one machine to three.

An expansion of premises was inevitable in order to further expand with “alsei Metallfaser GmbH”.

So in the same year, a production hall was built in another location, today’s headquarters of the entire company, in Friesenheim and the production of steel wool was transferred there.

Just 5 years later, he was supplying the market with 10 machines. Two of which were especially retrofitted for the manufacture of stainless steel wool (for special vehicle types). This meant the production space and warehouse capacity was exhausted once again. Production hall II was built.

To be efficient and environmentally friendly, Albert Seitz also constructed a machine, which allowed the actual waste material of the steel wool production, the remaining wire, to be made into a separate product, thanks to the basic idea of an architect. Steel fibres, which are needed in foundations as concrete reinforcements. This meant the wire could be completely used up.
  
Some years later, the managing directors Albert Seitz and Detlef Seitz decided to centralise all companies to create better structures. A modern production and administrative building, adjoining the existing production premises of alsei Metallfaser GmbH, was completed in 2000.

For his 75th birthday, in 2006, Albert Seitz handed over the company to his son Detlef Seitz, who continued to lead the company successfully, together with his team which had worked well together for many years.

Detlef Seitz
Sabine Seitz

Detlef und Sabine Seitz
Live the vision