The REHAU Way:
75 years of values, change and visions
- REHAU celebrates its 75th Anniversary
- From a family business to a family of companies
- International investments in sustainable growth
"Enginerring Progress. Enhancing Lives" is REHAU's claim. With its innovative products and system solutions, the company improves the lives of people. REHAU is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. Together with its employees, REHAU is looking back, but above all, the group is looking ahead.
Be it the Ariane rocket for space research, the turf heating in Berlin's Olympic Stadium or the subway in Cairo: REHAU know-how and technical expertise can be found in all of them. Adaptability and a strong value-based foundation have made the family-owned company into today's family of companies that will continue to invest in sustainable growth. The focus is on attractive markets with growth potential. To name two examples: the company is currently expanding in Africa, where it recently acquired a South African company, and in Mexico: As a further milestone in internationalization, REHAU will open a production facility for the furniture industry in December in order to meet the increasing demand for REHAU products in North and Central America.
The foundation for the REHAU success story was laid by company founder Helmut Wagner in 1948 in the Bavarian town of the same name, when on the premises of the Franconian leather factory he, two men and one machine began to replace conventional materials with polymers, thereby improving them. Building on the values of trust, reliability, and innovation, he created a successful business. In 2000, his sons Jobst Wagner and Dr. Veit Wagner took over the company's fortunes as President respectively as Vice President, and consistently developed it further in the direction of today's subgroups. In 2021, Jobst Wagner handed over the presidency to Dr. Veit Wagner and moved to the vice presidency. With Nils Wagner as Head of REHAU New Ventures, the third generation is represented in a leading position within the group. In 2021, pioneer and visionary Helmut Wagner passed away at the age of 95.
Today, the REHAU Group is an international family of companies with 190 locations worldwide, more than 20,000 employees, and an annual turnover of more than 4.5 billion euros. With Meraxis, REHAU New Ventures, RAUMEDIC, REHAU Automotive and REHAU Industries, the company unites five subgroups under one roof. The recipe for success is a pioneering spirit, a strong, value-based foundation, and the ability to adapt. In addition to thinking outside the box, the Group's DNA includes a balance between experience and the courage to take risks and, last but not least, the willingness to continuously develop further. Dr. Veit Wagner, President of the REHAU Group, is convinced: "Change provides fertile ground for new ideas and innovations that make us competitive in the long term." REHAU extruded the first polymer window profile back in 1958. In 1987, the company introduced the first sliding sleeve technology for connecting pipes and has since sold a billion units. Today, every third car in Europe contains components from the polymer specialist. 400,000 kilometres of REHAU micro cable conduits connect people all over the world. And by filing approximately 100 patents per year, REHAU is one of the top patent applicants in Germany.
Thereby, the company is shaping the future as sustainably as possible, because sustainability is firmly anchored in the strategic decision making process. As early as the 1950s, REHAU reintroduced polymer waste into its production processes. At the end of the 1980s, the company also initiated the development of concepts for disposal. Today, circular economy, future-oriented energy supply, and the promotion of diversity are key corporate topics to become even more sustainable. For example, REHAU is aiming to increase the quantity of recyclates in production to 20 percent by 2025. More than half of REHAU window profiles already contain up to 75 percent recycled granulate. And by 2035, the company aims to have a CO2-neutral production worldwide. This has already been implemented at certain locations.
Thus, for tomorrow’s generations, REHAU is working with a strong compass across company boundaries towards a sustainable and innovative future – in line with the claim "Engineering Progress. Enhancing lives.”
The REHAU Group unites five strong companies under one roof: Meraxis, REHAU New Ventures, RAUMEDIC, REHAU Automotive and REHAU Industries. With polymer-based solutions, the family-owned company generates annual turnover of more than 4,5 billion euros. More than 20,000 people work for the group of companies, which has grown over the course of a century out of its own strength. Passionate and committed, employees at more than 190 sites develop, manufacture, and market products and solutions for the automotive, construction, furniture, materials, medical and industrial sectors with a common goal: to improve lives through the use of innovative, sustainable technologies “Engineering progress. Enhancing lives.”
In 2000, Helmut Wagner handed over the management of the company to his sons Jobst Wagner as President and Dr. Veit Wagner as Vice President. In 2021, Jobst Wagner handed over the presidency to Dr. Veit Wagner and moved to the vice presidency.
The REHAU family is growing: at the beginning of December, production starts at the new REHAU Industries plant in Celaya, Mexico, where products for the furniture industry will be manufactured.