A look back at our company history
On November 10, 1989, just one day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dr. Udo Henkel and Matthias Roth, two development engineers working at Ilmenau Technical University, decided to turn their long-cherished dream of running their own company into reality.
Just four months later, on March 15, 1990, the company was founded and entered into the Ilmenau company register as the first GmbH after reunification. The two managing directors can now look back on a long and successful company history, the end of which is still a long way off.
1990 - 1999
1990
15.03.1990 - Dr. Udo Henkel and Dipl.-Ing. Mathias Roth found HENKEL + ROTH GmbH
1991
First challenging order: sewing robots for car floor mats
1993
First assembly line for electric motors
1995
First order in the USA: handling robots
1996
Investment: New building with 1,000 square meters of production and office space
15 employees
Investment: first processing center
Major order for 12 gantry robot cells for packing bottles
First assembly line for the automotive supply industry
1997
First sponsorships for children in the Third World as part of Global Care
1999
First trade fair participation at the Hannover Messe
1999
Certification of the company according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000
2000 - 2009
2000
Investment: Extension building with a further 1,000 square meters of production and office space
20 employees, including 1 trainee and 2 graduates
2002
Introduction of 3D design software
2003
First trade fair participation at MOTEK in Sinsheim
25 employees, 1 trainee and 1 diploma student
2004
Member of ST.E.P. (assembly technology association)
2005
Introduction of a CAD/CAM interface between design and machining production
30 employees, including 2 Apprentices
Investment: 5-axis machining center
2006
Introduction of an ERP software system with integrated interface for customer support, design and document management
First trade fair participation at AUTOMATICA in Munich
Further orders from Brazil, Korea, China, India
2007
35 employees, 2 trainees and 1 graduate
A sponsored child is supported for each employee
2008
Extreme growth year with 40% foreign sales
Development of the first mobile robot for industrial applications
Consolidation during the financial and economic crisis
Development of a 5-sided automatic assembly machine
2010 until today
2011
Around 45 employees, introduction of authorized signatories
2013
Preparation for the expansion of the production facility
2014
Construction of new assembly hall, use of CHP and PV system for energy generation
2015
25th company anniversary Entrepreneur of the Year award Certification of the company in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001:2015
2016
Around 50 employees
2017
New management structure Dr. Udo Henkel ends his role as Managing Director on July 31, 2017 Operations Manager Roland Ickrath retires on August 31, 2017
Our services
We develop customer-specific automation solutions with the aim of making production more efficient and reducing costs in the long term.