Company history
The discovery of aluminium
1807: The British chemist Sir Humphrey Davy melts iron with alumina to produce an iron/aluminium alloy. For the first time ever, aluminium is released as a metal for a split second before combining with iron. 20 years later, the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler becomes the first person to determine the properties of aluminium. He uses a chemical process to successfully separate aluminium as a powder. 1886: The American chemist Charles Martin Hall and the French engineer Paul-Louis-Toussaint Héroult invent aluminium electrolysis, simultaneously, yet independently of each another. This process makes it possible to produce aluminium on an industrial scale. One year later, the first European aluminium plant is built in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland.
Alfred Gautschi: A passionate pioneer
Born in Menziken in 1871, Alfred Gautschi († 1955) lays the cornerstone for Alu Menziken in Fleurier when he is just 26. His experiments with the new raw material aluminium quickly make him a pioneer of the Swiss aluminium industry. The young entrepreneur from a modest background had already acquired many years’ experience in a wide range of metal processing fields. Around the turn of the century, despite favourable conditions in the Jura region of Fleurier, his strong sense of family and home lead him to move his business to Gontenschwil - and later to Menziken where he gradually expands his company. However, he never forgets to share Alu Menziken’s success with his employees. In economically trying times, he pays group insurance, bonuses and donations out of his own pocket if necessary, on behalf of the company.
1897: The 26-year old mechanic Alfred Gautschi from Menziken acquires a small mechanical workshop in Fleurier. The company produces central heating, saw mill facilities, and material and equipment for the watch-making industry. Gautschi starts looking for a better solution for heavy transmissions. A friend tells Gautschi about the new lightweight raw material aluminium, and he carries out his preliminary experiments with it.
1899: Gautschi manufactures the first aluminium pulley for the watch-making industry. He receives an increasing number of orders for engine casings from the vehicle industry. The foundry is extended as a result.
1903: Alfred Gautschi moves the company to Gontenschwil where he had acquired the abandoned "Lochmühle" mill. From that point onwards, he applies himself exclusively to the manufacture of aluminium. Gautschi builds a test rolling mill next to the foundry to manufacture aluminium foil.
1905: Gautschi founds the corporation and registers his patent for the manufacture of aluminium foil in all industrial countries.
1907: The first major customer for aluminium foil is from Germany. Orders are placed for a delivery of 1.9 million snuff boxes per month.
1908: Acquisition of the new factory in Menziken. The healthy business environment permits company founder Gautschi to double his employees’ wages. He also establishes an employee benefit fund. Gautschi pays for group insurance, bonuses and donations out of his own pocket, when necessary.
1911: The milling of wire, rods and angle profiles begins. The director’s report states "we are struggling with the large numbers of orders".
1912: The company catalogue contains 208 different cooking items, from cutlery to stoves and pressure cookers, etc.
1914: The company presents itself at the Bern regional exhibition. Operations are strongly reduced due employees serving in the military.
1918: Company output has increased more than tenfold since the mill was built in Menziken. 146 employees, including all foremen and lead workers, fall ill with flu, some of them die. As part of the nationwide general strike, work also comes to a standstill for three days at Alu Menziken.
1921: Work begins on the construction of homes for employees.
1926: Take-over of the Leuenberger & Cie. machine construction workshops in Reinach which mainly produces turning machines.
1928: By purchasing its first vertical extrusion press (press force of 350 tons), the company lays the foundations for a successful future as a press works with international renown.
1932: General strike: In July, around 400 employees hold a one-day strike against the factory in Menziken and Gontenschwil. The contentious issues include the 5.5 percent wage cut and the 30 percent provisional reduction of annual leave. The wage cut enters into force, however, annual leave is not reduced.
1936: Alu Menziken takes over the cookware company Ferdinand Sigg AG in Frauenfeld. At this point in time, Sigg is one of the company's biggest national customers. Sigg’s "Arta-Pot" pressure cooker is coveted by housewives for years, even serving well on Prof. Dr. Dyrenfurth’s first expedition to the Himalayas.
1939: Spectroscope purchased and chemical laboratory established. Participation at the Zurich regional exhibition. Strong production constraints as a result of World War II.
1946: The company is renamed "Aluminium AG Menziken".
1948: The lightweight metal window is developed. Roofing, wall cladding, tilting and rolling doors, slatted blinds, railing structures, etc all follow. Opening of the company canteen.
1952: Extension of the foundry to include state-of-the art features. Electrically-heated ovens replace oil firing. Initially, the ovens were heated with coke.
1953: Construction of the new roller plant in Menziken on the site of the former "Negerdorf".
1954: Commissioning of the 2,500-ton extrusion press in Menziken, which at this point in time is one of the most modern in the world.
1956: For the first time, the company supplies aircraft profiles to Fokker for its legendary F50.
1960: Building work begins on the multi-storey building in Menziken and is completed in 1962.
1962: The company builds a new extrusion press (with basement) covering a total surface area of 3,800 square meters in Reinacher Moos.
1964: Participation at the Lausanne exhibition.
1969: Extension of the Reinach press work to include a paint-spray line, a polishing department and a fully-automatic anodizing plant.
1972: A sudden flood of orders at the Reinach profile factory leads to delivery periods of 6 to 8 months.
1974: Construction and commissioning of a branch in Schüpfheim, Entlebuch. The Gontenschwil factory manufactures a 1,014 kg heavy cast piece used for cladding a three-stage European rocket.
1977: For the first time, the Alu Menziken group exhibits at the "Salon international de l'Aéronautic et de l'Espace" in Le Bourget, Paris, the world’s largest air show. Plans are made to further develop the field of aircraft materials.
1978: At the end of the year, the Alu Menziken group has a work force of 966 employees. As the labour market has dried up in the region, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain staff numbers. It becomes virtually impossible to find qualified staff.
1981: Over 40% of Alu Menziken’s direct exports go to Germany, almost 20% to Holland and between 3 and 8% to Italy, Sweden, France, the UK and Austria. In addition, 30 tons of painted belts are shipped to Nigeria (photo: bridge railing) and flagpoles are shipped to the United Arab Emirates.
1983: The Alu Menziken group settles in the USA and acquires Precise Inc. in Orangenburg, NY, a trading company for sports, leisure and hunting items.
1986: The Menziken machine factory opens up a branch in Charlotte, N.C., USA, under the name of Menziken Automation Corp.
1988: Acquisition of the majority of shares of Injecta AG, Teufenthal.
1991: The Alu Menziken group acquires the hard alloy extrusion press Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC), Anaheim, CA, USA. Primarily UAC supplies aircraft companies with high strength aluminium semi-finished products.
1992: The US trading company Intercontinental Metals (IME) in Miami, Florida joins the Alu Menziken group. IME trades aluminium rolled products for the aircraft industry. The Alu Menziken group acquires Afag AG with branches in Huttwil, Aarberg and Berlin (Germany). This is a well-known assembly automation company.
1993: Aluminium AG Menziken converts into a holding company. The semi-finished products operational area is taken over into the newly founded Alu Menziken Industrie AG. This is divided into three independent areas of press products, moulded parts and trade centre.
1994: Acquisition of the casting production of ABB high-voltage technology Oerlikon.
1995: The Alu Menziken group splits its activities into three segments: semi-finished products, cast products and aircraft materials. It acquires Leichtmetall AG Schaffhausen, a foundry of the Georg Fischer group. The Alu Metal Service Menziken AG is born out of the merger of the trade and service centres in Menziken and the trade company Bornhauser AG.
1996: Alu Menziken Guss AG is born out of the combination of the Gontenschwil foundry with Georg Fischer Leichtmetall AG. With the sale of Sigg AG in Frauenfeld, the Alu Menziken group focuses on its own core business.
1997: Alu Metall Service Menziken AG opens its new, ultra-modern profile warehouse. The group opens the trend-setting Wynental training centre in Menziken. Apprentices, employees and participants from external companies are trained at this centre.
1998: The Alu Menziken group introduces profit sharing for all employees at the Swiss company. The pre-requisite is that the company makes a profit. Record-breaking casting! Alu Menziken Guss AG’s sand-casting team handles a massive job: it casts the world’s heaviest aluminium cast piece, weighing 7.3 tons. The achievement is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
1999: Almatec AG, which works in the electronic packaging technology, settles in the market of the future - China: in the Autumn, thanks to a joint venture, it builds its telecommunications shelter directly in Beijing.
2000: Strategic adjustment towards an integrated industrial group for high-quality aluminium semi-finished products: Sale of the companies Alu Menziken Guss AG and Afag AG.
2001: Alu Metall Service Menziken AG opens an automated high bay warehouse for plates, unique in Switzerland.
2002: Alu Menziken Industrie opens its new 3,500-ton extrusion line - the world's most modern of its kind.
2003: Sale of Almatec AG, Schüpfheim. Alu Menziken Industrie AG is renamed Alu Menziken Extrusion AG.
2004: Sale of Injecta Druckguss AG, Teufenthal.
2005: Alu Menziken Metall Service Menziken AG is sold to Debrunner Koenig Holding AG.
2007: Montana Tech Components AG takes over the Alu Menziken group.
2008: Sale of Universal Alloy Corp. (UAC), USA to the Montana group. A fully integrated SAP system is successfully introduced mid-year.
2009: Alu Menziken opens a new 1,600-ton press in record time and integrates this into the automated logistics system.
2010: Montana Tech Components AG purchases all shares of the Alu Menziken group. The Alu Menziken group is then restructured by incorporating all companies into Alu Menziken Extrusion AG.
