"Not all screw fastenings are the same" or, put another way: "Quality work requires quality tools." It is likely that such a wise truism as this prompted Willi Hahn to found his company 80 years ago. His decision yielded results and has led to 80 years of company history for the hand tool manufacturer Wiha. The company has grown from humble beginnings as a small family firm and into a world-leading manufacturer for professional hand tool solutions with locations around the globe. This year, the long-established company based in the Black Forest is celebrating an important anniversary.
What Willi Hahn started when he founded the company in Wuppertal continued its course when the company headquarters relocated to Schonach in 1943. Transitioning the company to the second generation, Wilfried Hahn continued business operations, expanding into a global company network. This expansion led to subsidiaries being set up in the US, Europe and Asia. Today, Wiha is still owner-operated, now by Wilhelm Hahn, the third generation to take the helm.
Founder Willi Hahn would not have envisioned Wiha's present-day success 80 years ago but he sure would have approved. Thousands of new screwdrivers leave the Schonach production workshops on a daily basis. State-of-the-art robots and high-tech systems work in a three-shift operation injecting plastic around steel blades, which are manufactured at the nearby production facility in Mönchweiler. Wiha items also arrive from production works in Poland, Switzerland or Vietnam and are either further processed or incorporated directly into the logistics process. In addition to screwdrivers, the company’s product portfolio also includes torque tools, L-keys, bits, hammers, pliers and tool concepts as well as special solutions for the electricians segment. Eighteen nations sit at the "round table" for international meetings. Numerous design and innovation awards have highlighted the consistently high level of quality and development achievement over the decades.
Wilhelm Hahn affirms: "We are taking the anniversary as an opportunity to celebrate the old and the new. Traditional values such as innovation, quality, sustainability and reliability on which we base all our actions have made us what we are. Innovative spirit is deeply embedded within our corporate culture. The pursuit of progress is what drives us to take bold paths and step outside our comfort zone. This is the only way to shape the future and guide Wiha into a new era." Safety, functionality, ergonomic design and health awareness are top priorities in today’s hand tool conceptual design, explains Hahn further. Wiha identified these criteria as a result of its close cooperation with users. The Wiha approach involves understanding its target groups, identifying their needs and then developing specific solutions.
"On behalf of Wilfried Hahn, Ronny Lindskog and myself on the Executive Management and the entire Hahn family, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all associates and retail and business partners for a shared history and past. In particular, we’d like to thank our employees. We truly appreciate their many years of loyalty, their commitment and their steadfast dedication to driving our company forward. At the same time, we are looking forward to an exciting future and the continued working relationship ahead," says the young CEO, expressing his heartfelt thanks.
The manufacturer is preparing itself for the coming decades with a continued focus on the German locations with extension and expansion projects. Wilhelm Hahn affirms that there is also investment for the global Wiha family on the agenda. Today, the product range is more tailored to the needs and requirements of target groups than it has ever been. "The infrastructures in Manufacturing, Logistics, Sales, IT and Administration are fit for the future and will become networked even more closely and more efficiently with one another than ever. I’m proud of our team, without whom these favourable circumstances would not have been achieved. I’m pleased with what has become of Willi Hahn’s founding instinct and his life's work. What Wilfried Hahn has done with this legacy and what has stemmed from further steps in development in recent years allow us to face the future under the optimum conditions."
