Gleason-Hurth Tooling GmbH, Munich, Germany, celebrated its 125th Anniversary on April 3, 2021, a significant milestone in its rise from a small workshop on Munich's Viktualienmarkt to an innovator in the production of high-precision workholding and tools for the global gear manufacturing industry. Products today include advanced and productive shaving cutters, chamfering and deburring tools, master gears and setting masters, honing and grinding tools, as well as diamond-plated dressing tools for a wide range of applications.
Most recently, the company's plant facilities on Moosacher Strasse in Munich Milbertshofen have been completely renovated with state-of-the-art equipment along with efficient workflow and quality processes. In addition to the ultra-modern, digitized production, the newly designed office environment offers employees all the amenities and benefits of a creative and flexible working environment.
Company officials credit much of Gleason-Hurth Tooling GmbH's continued success to its workforce of skilled and dedicated employees. The company continues to train its own apprentices to hand down critical skills and methodologies to the next generation of coworkers. A large part of the company's workforce recently completed their apprenticeships at the Gleason-Hurth Tooling GmbH plant. The facility also serves as a training center for the global Gleason Academy with an extensive program of training, seminars and webinars.
"Today, Gleason-Hurth Tooling GmbH is poised for significant future growth and well positioned to meet fast-growing demand for innovative new drive concepts for electric vehicles and other emerging products using increasingly complex, high quality gears," said a company spokesperson.
Historical Background
In 1896, mechanic and tinkerer Carl Hurth founds his first workshop in a backyard at Frauenstraße 19 on Munich's Viktualienmarkt. The development of his own gear hobbing machine in 1904 marked the beginning of his specialization in gear manufacturing and the company grew.
In the 1920s, Hans Hurth, the son of the company founder took up the manufacture of motorcycle gearboxes. The company at the time employed 800 people. In 1935, cylindrical gear shaving was added to the manufacturing program. In the following decades more than 100,000 shaving cutters were produced and shipped globally.
From 1958 on, machine tool building activities continued, and six years later the plunge shaving process was developed, which to this day is one of the most widely used processes for gear finishing. Supported by the rapid economic growth of the time, employment in Munich increased to over 3,000 people in 1969. In 1983, the two Munich plants were merged to bundle activities related to gear technology. Hurth achieved world fame with transmissions for tractors, marine applications and rail traffic, including those for Munich's subway and commuter trains. With the introduction of power honing in 1993, Hurth developed a hard finishing process for cylindrical gears.
In 1995, the Machines and Tools division was acquired by Gleason Corporation. Gleason leveraged the longstanding relationships of both companies to drive the group's expansion in the global marketplace. The company operated as Gleason-Hurth Machinery and Tools. Within the Gleason group, the Munich site became the competence center for fine finishing of cylindrical gears. The product range of gear manufacturing machines includes chamfering, shaving, honing and threaded wheel grinding machines as well as corresponding automation, workholding and tools. With the reorganization of Gleason's European Competence Centers in 2015, machine building relocated to the Gleason-Pfauter facility in Ludwigsburg. The Munich site now concentrates on workholding systems and gear manufacturing tools and operates as Gleason-Hurth Tooling GmbH.
While the company celebrated its 125th anniversary on April 3, 2021, the planned open house and company events will be postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic. Check Gleason's social media channels and website for more information on the planned events.
For more information contact:
Gleason Corporation
1000 University Avenue
Rochester, NY 14692
585-473-1000
sales-americas@gleason.com
www.gleason.com