We are celebrating: 20 years in Schopfheim

We toast Magnetic – with a positive review, strong growth and a clear strategy for the future

“Lift the barriers” was the order of the day on 13 July 2018 at Magnetic. Together with customers, suppliers and friends, we toasted our move to Grienmatt in Schopfheim 20 years ago. There were two reasons to celebrate: we can not only look back at extremely positive development, but also acknowledge that we are in the starting blocks with a clear growth strategy. 

As you know, our company’s roots lie in the area of motors: as a contract manufacturer Magnetic produced electric motors and servomotors that were mainly used in washing and sewing machines. This was followed in the 1970s by the decision to also exploit our comprehensive experience in drive and control technology for our own products. This was when our vehicle barriers were born. The business segment became a company in its own name, Magnetic Autocontrol GmbH, with the move to the two buildings in Grienmatt 20 years ago.

Everyone who has contributed towards the success of our company was invited to the jubilee party: the employees and their families, our suppliers and sales partners, and customers from all over the world. We toasted the past and the future of Magnetic with our guests during a colourful programme in the afternoon and at a festive buffet in the evening.

And deservedly so: during recent years Magnetic has grown continuously and has opened up all relevant markets around the world. A total of 360 personnel are employed worldwide, of which 120 work at the Schopfheim Headquarters and 240 at the 11 subsidiaries in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and America. We were able to complete the 2017 fiscal year with record sales of EUR 73.7 million and year-on-year growth of 8.9% – annual sales have risen almost 40% since 2014. The main building has been completely converted in order to create sufficient space for future growth. We are, however, remaining true to our Schopfheim site – mainly due to the high level of training of our employees from the region.

The main pillars of our growth have been the vehicle barriers, with which we have taken a leading position in the market. The barriers of the current MicroDrive generation are used all over the world. They have been installed in car parks, at airports, in commercial buildings, as well as at industrial sites and toll stations – with an extremely long service life of 10 million opening and closing cycles. It is therefore no surprise that we have already delivered more than 100,000 units worldwide since the new series was introduced in 2011.

Magnetic has big plans for the coming years, and we also want to become established as a market and quality leader for access control systems for pedestrians. “We have gone back to basics and completely redeveloped our products,” Managing Director Arno Steiner said of the FlowMotion product generation. “Not just the appearance and feel, but also the technical inner life is new and unique.” The sleek design with its soft and flowing lines originates from the Turin-based Pininfarina design bureau. The extraordinary design was achieved with the two-component material mDure that we developed in collaboration with the polyurethane specialist Thieme in Teningen. Our competences are at the heart of the new passageway systems: a long-lived energy-efficient drive and a multifunctional control unit. “This new development is a milestone in our company’s history,” stressed Steiner, “and a really good reason to celebrate!”