Company relocation The change to series production of the transport boxes meant that the original manufacturing space soon became too small, which is why in 1948 the firm was relocated to the site of the former village green in Neunkirchen-Salchendorf.

Four brothers working together The four sons Hans, Gerhard, Manfred and Theo Schaefer took over the management of the young company in 1951. In addition to manufacturing, they decided to expand the profitable trade operations further, with the result that in the following year, the company EMW (Eisen- und Metallhandelsgesellschaft) was founded.

A milestone in a rapid ascent Normal transport containers don’t just take up a lot of space, but also make it harder to find individual parts. To find a screwdriver, for example, it was necessary to search dozens of containers and sometimes even place them next to one another to make the search easier. The solution: A box with a “viewing hole” The development and series production of the fixed storage boxes was not only a milestone for the company, but also an innovation that to this day has had a long-lasting impact on warehouse logistics.

Hannover trade show The company Fritz Schaefer first appeared at the industry trade show in Hannover with the fixed storage boxes.

Rapid production The quantity of fixed storage boxes produced increases year on year. The company has approx. 372 employees. Box production was at 4000 boxes each day.

In 1960 the construction of the administrative building began in the street Bahnhofsstraße, now called Fritz-Schäfer-Straße. The company also began to focus on international markets in the 1960s. The first foreign companies were founded in Neunkirch, Switzerland and in Basingstoke, England. Today the company group is not only represented in Europe, but also in America, Australia and many countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Foundation of SCHAEFER WERKE The company SCHAEFERWERKE GmbH has its headquarters on the historic Pfannenberg mountain in Neunkirchen in the Siegerland region of Germany. This was previously the site of the deepest iron ore mines in Europe. The former iron ore mine was turned into a modern industrial company enjoying international success. At three production sites, around 900 staff achieved the success of the company in this sector.

With the SCHAEFER SHOP in 1971, a new sales concept was born. As a special mail order company for the equipment for office, warehouse and workshop, SCHAEFER SHOP provided its customers with the convenience of shopping by catalogue. The concept of “shopping from your desk” enjoyed a huge amount of success. The brochure, that started out as just four pages, has now developed into a catalogue of over 1300 pages.

SSI SCHAEFER waste technology In 1976, SSI SCHAEFER produced the first plastic waste container, and one year after that, the first steel waste container. Today the company not only offers containers produced exclusively in-house, complete waste management concepts are developed and implemented together with the customer. Increasing requirements in terms of environmental production require new waste disposal systems that are suitable for collecting recyclable materials separately, in addition to non-recyclable waste, and returning them to the manufacturing cycle. It is precisely here that we have adopted a leading innovative role and set new standards.

Re-organisation of the office furniture division The design of the working environment is closely linked to employee performance levels: staff who feel comfortable approach their work with higher levels of motivation and are able to achieve more. In 1998, the company began to focus on modern product lines to fulfil individual customer requirements.

Expansion of the company Expansion of the company via the integration of SSI SCHAEFER NOELL The company SSI Schaefer Noell GmbH, Giebelstadt, Germany supplemented the range of services as a specialist in complex logistics systems and had been operating in the market sector of automatic systems since 1978. The company has already completed more than 300 logistics systems around the world as a general contractor. The range extends from system planning and consultancy via the realisation of turnkey plants to tailored after-sales service.

Expansion of the company Expansion of the company via the integration of SSI SCHAEFER PEEM. SSI Schaefer Peem GmbH, Graz, Austria is a specialist in modular order picking technology. The company plans, develops and produces small parts conveyor units as well as automated order picking units and the associated software. The combining of skills under the SSI SCHAEFER umbrella brand forms the foundation for the development of market-oriented, sector-spanning warehouse systems and the design of integrated intralogistics solutions.

The SSI Schaefer brand At CEMAT 2002 the companies PEEM and NOELL were presented for the first time under the umbrella brand of SSI SCHAEFER.

Expansion of the company Expansion of the company via the integration of SALOMON AUTOMATION. A key step in the company’s further growth was made in 2008. Salomon Automation is integrated into the SSI SCHAEFER Group as a standalone company with no management changes. As a general contractor, Salomon Automation implements total solutions: Manual and fully automated logistics and order picking systems which are integrated to form a complete system using the WAMAS logistics software. With the international sales and service organisation, the SSI SCHAEFER Group continues to be a long-term oriented and reliable partner for its customers, based on innovative products and total solutions.