Carl Stahl’s Pursuit of Innovation in Rope and Lifting Equipment Industry
Founded in 1880, Carl Stahl has gained unrivalled knowledge in the field of rope and lifting equipment. Although the company is highly successful, it is always planning to achieve more.
Oliver Hommel, marketing director for Carl Stahl explains: “We want to be better than the rest and this means that we strive for continuous improvement each and every day. We are always looking for new products and fields of activity, and we also work in close co-operation with our clients. With 50 subsidiaries worldwide we are located where our customers need us. In Germany alone, 80 sales representatives visit our clients every day.”
He continues: “The early beginnings of Carl Stahl date back to the 1880s when the company started as a small rope making workshop, serving only local customers. The following years were characterised by constant growth and diversification. When our current CEO, Willy Schwenger joined the company in 1966, he began to form an international group of companies by founding new subsidiaries and offering a complete product range for rope and lifting technology. Today, Carl Stahl consists mainly of the Lifting Equipment, TechnoCables and Architectural divisions but the company has also expanded into alternative fields of activity, such as factory and office equipment, medical devices, training and even jewellery. Carl Stahl now offers a comprehensive range of high quality products in all these fields together with a reliable aftersales service.”
Oliver adds: “Our headquarters are located in Suessen, in the southern part of Germany. In addition, the company has more than 25 international and 20 German subsidiaries, some of which have their own production facilities for wire ropes or lifting equipment. Due to our wide product range we serve many different customers in almost all industrial sectors.”
Carl Stahl employees develop, produce, sell, discuss and communicate – in short they do everything to satisfy their clients’ requirements. Consequently, the professional know-how and the motivation of the company’s employees are its major strengths. Furthermore, all of Carl Stahl’s activities are focused on providing customers with real benefits through the products and services it supplies.
One of the main challenges the company is currently facing are increasingly complicated buying markets, which are leading to a concentration on fewer but more efficient suppliers. Carl Stahl has reacted to this development by offering a complete range of high quality products complimented by fast delivery and excellent customer services.
Oliver explains: “We do not only sell products, we also sell solutions. Our catalogue features many products from well-known European manufacturers who are market leaders in their domains. We also offer after-sales services and a wide variety of training and seminars. Currently we are also launching a new marketing campaign in co-operation with boxing professional Firat Arslan (WBA cruiserweight interim world champion), who is promoting our new Carl Stahl brand ‘Condor’.
Oliver comments on the latest addition to the company’s product range: “This new premium range of products, named Condor, includes the CondorLift, CondorGrip, CondorLash and the CondorMove. It was developed in order to supply superior quality products at a reasonable price to our customers. For many years the Carl Stahl brand has stood for quality in lifting so it was logical to create our own brand.”
He continues: “Most of the products in this range are unique, such as our specially designed ramshorn hook. This range gives us a great advantage for the future and in the next few years the Condor brand will be continuously expanded.”
Oliver concludes: “The new ramshorn hook is like no other on the market. The welded hook has been specially designed for customers handling heavy loads with textile slings. The ramshorn is inserted in the crane hook and therefore duplicates the load bearing points. Manufactured from high strength steel, this hook offers an increased load capacity at a reduced weight. In addition, the product also provides welded safety latches and improved wear resistance.”
As a result of the wide range of products Carl Stahl has to offer, the company is well positioned to take advantage of the booming German industrial market. “We are permanently improving our productivity in order to increase our presence on the market. As a result we have introduced a new organisational structure at our headquarters in Suessen. Several departments have been split and their staff relocated to the new divisions we have created. As a result of this, we intend to reduce waiting times, process orders more efficiently and generally improve our relationships with our customers,” Oliver explains.
He continues: “In the last few years we have also invested significantly in both our workforce and hardware. We are working in a field where we constantly have to introduce new products and improvements. Much of our research is currently concentrated on micro cables and strands for the medical device industry. We are in close contact with research institutes and universities to benefit from their know-how. Our R&D department is also capable of developing and constructing all necessary machinery for our production process.
“Regarding our micro cables, the medical sector is very important for us. We have been supplying micro cables to the medical device industry for many years and we have now taken the initiative and started to develop new instruments and optimise existing ones. In co-operation with our distribution subsidiary, Medwork, and a local college, we have developed an entirely new patented instrument, which can stop internal bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract by use of metallic clips.”
For Carl Stahl, high quality, innovation and a comprehensive product range from a customeroriented organisation is the ideal combination to overcome any future challenge. Looking ahead, Oliver concludes: “Our main goal is to be the world market leader in the field of rope and lifting equipment. Our strategy is aimed at becoming a system provider. We want the Carl Stahl name to not only be popular in Europe but popular all over the world.”
Carl Stahl
Products: Rope and lifting equipment
Sites: Headquartered in Germany with 50 subsidiaries worldwide
Employees: 850
www.carlstahl.com