Andritz AG is an international technology group, offering plants, equipment, systems and services for various industries. The group's headquarters are in Graz, Austria. The group gets its name from the district of Andritz in which it is located and is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Andritz employs more than 29,100 employees at over 280 production and service facilities in over 40 countries. In 2022, the company reported a revenue of EUR€7.5 billion, and a net income of €402.6 million.
Business areas As of January 2024 Andritz consists of four main business areas: Hydro Power Pulp and Paper Metals Environment & Energy
Andritz Metals The business area Andritz Metals (former "Rolling Mills and Strip Processing") is the third-largest business unit. Andritz Metals designs, develops and erects complete lines for the production and further processing of cold-rolled carbon steel, stainless steel and non-ferrous metal strips, including furnaces, presses and acid regeneration equipment.
Andritz Metals USA Inc. Headquartered in Callery, PA, USA, Andritz Metals USA Inc. has four subsidiaries:
Andritz Asko Manufacturer of slitter knives, slitter tooling, shearing knives and accessories for the ferrous and non-ferrous metal producing industries Andritz Bricmont Manufacturer of furnace technologies for the aluminum and steel industries, including galvanizing systems Andritz Herr-Voss Stamco Manufacturer of coil processing equipment
History The beginnings In 1852, Joseph Körösi, an ironmonger from Hungary, founded a small iron foundry in the then still independent municipality of Andritz.170 years 2022, pp. 22-25. Working in conjunction with a neighbouring earlier facility also owned by Körösim, the company's product range expanded very quickly. Specifically, by the late 1850s, the foundry was producing steam hammers and entire iron bridges.170 years 2022, pp. 22-25, 28-30. By 1860, the works was employing in excess of 500 people, which rose to 1,300 employees by 1870. Furthermore, by this point, the works had expanded into producing steam boilers, steam engines, and mining machinery were also manufactured.170 years 2022, pp. 28-38.
Late 19th century After the death of the company founder in 1871, his adopted son Viktor Körösi (1848-1912) became the owner of the machine factory (city office 1874: Griesgasse 36), of which he had been the director until then.170 years 2022, pp. 35-39. As a result of a general economic crisis in Austria (triggered, among other things, by the loss of the Austrian territories in Upper Italy), as well as management persisting with an increasingly impractical growth strategy where labour costs persistently escalated while orders stagnated, the company quickly encountered a period of hardship. In 1873, over 1,000 workers had to be made redundant.170 years 2022, pp. 39-42. During the early 1880s, in response to the company having become heavily indebted, Viktor Körösi transferred ownership to its primary creditor, Österreichische Alpine Montanunion (ÖMAG), an association of iron and steel industry companies in Styria and forerunner of Voestalpine. Thereafter, the company was reorganised, shutting down unprofitable activities and centralising iron production to locations that were well served by Austria's railway network.170 years 2022, p. 45.
Andritz's role within ÖMAG was to produce modern technical apparatus, particularly large machines, that would be adopted across the parent company's various industrial locations.170 years 2022, pp. 49-50. Accordingly, the company produced rolling mills and large steam engines, many of which were delivered to ÖMAG's mines. During its first decade of ÖMAG ownership, the firm produced roughly 200 steam engines, a field in which the company became particularly innovative, such as the development of new control systems.170 years 2022, pp. 50-51. Towards the end of the 19th century, Andritzis became a key supplier for the Austrian Navy, providing high powered steam engines that were used for shipbuilding. Furthermore, it is claimed that the company produced the heaviest and most powerful metallurgical apparatus in the nation during the late 19th century.170 years 2022, pp. 50-53.
Early 20th century On 30 March 1900, the Austrian industrialist Max von Gutmann acquired the company and transformed it into the stock corporation Maschinenfabrik Andritz Actiengesellschaft. This reorganisation was politically charged, the Austrian government having ran an inquiry into the company's business practices only two years earlier into its effective cartel of the nation's iron production.170 years 2022, pp. 54-56. Integrated into the Gutmann group, the business is realigned to more active in both sales and marketing. During the 1900s, a large proportion of the company's work came from the construction of new domestic railways; the large government contracts for the railways bolstered the reorganised company's profile.170 years 2022, pp. 56-61.
In 1906, Andritz established two new departments, one dedicated to crane construction and the other specialising in high-pressure centrifugal pumps, which were largely intended for use in waterworks and mines.170 years 2022, pp. 61-62. Between 1906 and 1914, the firm produced roughly 1,000 centrifugal pumps; virtually all large coal mines in Austria adopted these pumps. The firm also retained good business relations with its former owner ÖMAG, being a supplier to its works along with nearly every large industrial company in Austria-Hungary.170 years 2022, pp. 61-63.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was disruptive to Andritz; its existing orders were abruptly cancelled and a large portion of its workforces were made redundant.170 years 2022, p. 65. The company was assigned a military manager that reprioritised production to cater to military requirements, such as bullet presses, grenade shells, and ammunition wagons. In 1916, wartime demands led to the output of iron ore doubling, although a shortage of labour was hampering production by the start of 1917 as many of Andritz's specialist employees had enlisted in military service.170 years 2022, pp. 65-67. In the final months of the conflict, shortages of various raw materials, including fuel, had caused production to collapse.170 years 2022, pp. 66-68.
The Dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye between late 1918 and mid 1919 was heavily disruptive to the business, causing scarcity of raw materials, loss of trade relations, mass unemployment, and high inflation that lasted until the latter half of the 1920s.170 years 2022, pp. 68-71. The business slowly reoriented towards civil orders, but the unstable economic situation led to management being cautious and hesitant to make large investments. Typical customers in the early interwar period were ÖMAG, the railways, and hydroelectric power stations (the latter purchasing Andritz's turbines).170 years 2022, pp. 70-73. Various overseas customers also ordered the company's products, including those in Germany, Japan, Persia, and Egypt.170 years 2022, pp. 72-73.
By the end of the 1920s, Maschinenfabrik Andritz had largely recovered.170 years 2022, p. 74. However, in June 1932, the company had to temporarily cease production and almost all employees were laid off due to the wider negative economic consequences of the Great Depression. Production did resume in late 1932 after intervention by the Austrian Government.170 years 2022, pp. 74-79. Accordingly, Andritz continued as a going concern, albeit one that received virtually no investment during this decade. The Gutmann family repeatedly sought to sell the company throughout the 1930s.170 years 2022, pp. 77-79.
Anschluss and the Second World War On 2 March 1938, the Anschluss of Austria into Germany's Third Reich took place; thereafter, the ownership of Andritz promptly became a highly politicised matter. Ultimately, on 26 May 1938, the Berlin-based Kämper Motorenwerke took over ownership of the firm from the Gutmanns under an ideologically-impacted transaction.170 years 2022, pp. 82-96. The company benefitted from the economic activity created by Germany's preparation for war as well as from loans issued by the German government. It was during this era that the company became largely focused on the production of diesel compressors.170 years 2022, pp. 96-98.
In 1940, Andritz was sold to Demag, another German company; one year later, German politicians intervened to prevent the factory being closed down.170 years 2022, pp. 97-98. Throughout much of the Second World War, the company was involved in the production of cranes and conveyor belts; other components include grenade casings and howitzer components. Amid the latter half of the conflict, forced labourers were used to produce anti-aircraft gun barrels.170 years 2022, pp. 100-114. At the end of the war, the factory was still fully operational.170 years 2022, p. 114.
After the Second World War In 1945, the occupying powers confiscated most of the production facilities as "German property".170 years 2022, pp. 116-117. However, the company management managed to rent used machines and tools from decommissioned companies and resume production of small to medium-sized pumps and turbines. In October 1949, majority ownership of the factory is returned to Wolfgang Gutmann; one year later, Andritz was sold onto Creditnstalt-Bankverein.170 years 2022, pp. 117-119.
In 1949, a long-term co-operation with the Swiss Escher Wyss & Cie. began, initially for water turbines. The product range was completely revised. The manufacture of steam engines and air compressors was discontinued and the company focussed on the production of water turbines, centrifugal pumps, cranes and steel structures. From 1951, complete paper machines were manufactured in co-operation with Escher Wyss AG.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the machine factory continued to grow: the factory buildings were extended, the production facilities modernised and efforts in the field of research intensified. The machine factory produced main cooling pumps for power stations, electrochemical and metallurgical plants. The company was able to significantly increase its turnover and export ratio.
In 1977, the company received the state award and was thus authorised to use the federal coat of arms in its business dealings.
Another crisis and reorganisation The second oil crisis in 1979/1980 and the general stagnation of the global economy at the beginning of the 1980s also hit Maschinenfabrik Andritz hard. Orders declined and the company made losses. Liquidation of the company was only prevented by massive state subsidies and rationalisation measures between 1981 and 1985. Among other things, the foundry was closed and the workforce reduced from 2,300 to 1,600. In 1987, the company achieved operating profits again for the first time. In the same year, the German investment company AGIV, based in Frankfurt, acquired a majority stake in Maschinenfabrik Andritz AG.
The company was strategically reorganised from a mere licensee of other machine manufacturers to a leading international supplier of high-tech production systems, independent of external know-how.
The acquisition of Sprout-Bauer, a mechanical engineering company based in Pennsylvania (USA), marked the start of a successful expansion policy. With the purchase of Sprout-Bauer, the Andritz Group expanded its portfolio to include refiners and plants for animal feed production.
Durametal Corporation from Oregon (USA), a manufacturer of refiner plates, was acquired in 1992, Kone Wood, a supplier of woodyard equipment for the pulp industry, in 1994 and Jesma-Matador A/S from Denmark for the animal feed sector in 1995. With the reorientation towards becoming an international supplier of complete solutions, the name also changed from Maschinenfabrik Andritz AG (MFA for short) to "Andritz AG" in the mid-1990s.