Industry Manufacturing Website www.heller.biz Founded 1894 Number of employees 2,500 | Founder Hermann Heller Headquarters Nürtingen Revenue 559 million EUR (2015) Type of business GmbH | |
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Key people Managing Directors: Dieter Drechsler, Manfred Maier, Patrick Rimlinger, Dr. Jürgen Walz, Klaus Winkler
Chairman of the board: Berndt Heller Products Machine tools horizontal machining centers Subsidiaries Heller Machine Tools Holdings Ltd Profiles | ||
Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH is a German manufacturer of milling machines, manufacturing systems and crankshaft and camshaft machines. The company’s headquarters is located in Nürtingen in the Stuttgart region of South Germany. The company’s customers come from a variety of industries including automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, machine building industry, contract manufacturers, power engineering, tool and die manufacturing as well as aerospace companies.
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History
On 7 February 1894, 25-year-old Herman Heller (1869–1931) founded the company „Hermann Heller Handelsgeschäft und Produktion von geschützten Artikeln und Uhrmacherwerkzeug“ – which traded and manufactured patented products and watchmaker’s tools. Initially, staff comprised seven craftsmen and three apprentices. The company produced machinist vices, chimney cowls, fans and spiral stairs.
In 1898, the company entered the machine building industry by producing cold circular metal sawing machines and saw blade skiving machines as well as thread cutting machines. On 5 January 1900, the original company was superseded by „Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH“ founded by the brothers Ernst (1866–1936) and Hermann Heller.
In 1940, the company produced the first milling machines for the machining of crankshafts and HELLER has been offering solutions for the automotive industry in this segment ever since. In 1970, HELLER founded subsidiaries in the UK and Brazil. In 1982, HELLER opened production facilities in Chicago, IL in the United States. In the year 2000, the company was awarded certification to ISO 9001, QS 9000, TES and VDA 6.4 standards. In the same year, HELLER doubled the production capacity of the company’s production plant in the US and introduced a new internal milling machine for the machining of crankshafts.
In 2007, HELLER introduced the ModuleLine manufacturing system and presented the H series of machining centres at EMO in Hanover. In 2009, the company launched the F series for simultaneous 5-axis machining and in 2010 presented bevel gear machining on 5-axis machining centres from the MCH-C and F series. Another innovation celebrated its premiere at EMO 2011, when HELLER presented the new C series of 5-axis machining centres for highly productive horizontal, vertical and tilted turning operations. In 2013, HELLER together with Daimler AG was awarded with the German Innovation Award for Climate and Environment (IKU) for their arc spraying technology for the coating of cylinder surfaces in automobile engines. The prestigious R&D 100 Award, also known as the ‘Oscars of Invention’ was another honor HELLER received 2014 for the development of all stages of the NANOSLIDE® process into a global application for mass production and industrialization.
Products
Organisational structure
HELLER operates production facilities around the globe, e.g. in Germany, UK, Brazil, United States and China. HELLER Services GmbH based in Nürtingen is a wholly owned subsidiary specialising in services and training. Additionally, HELLER is operating subsidiaries and representations in all relevant markets around the globe.
Recently, HELLER has been expanding its presence in the Asian market. Two examples are the TechnologyCenter in Pune/India founded in 2009 and the company’s subsidiaries in Shanghai and Beijing. In 2013, a new production facility was opened in Changzhou, China. With a staff of more than 2,500 worldwide, HELLER is generating a turnover of approx. EUR 559m (2015). HELLER staff also include approx. 190 apprentices. This corresponds to a percentage of trainees of more than 7% at the company’s facilities in Nürtingen.