Company in the fourth generation

The success of his company is made up of three things, according to Anton Hettich, chairman and chief executive of Paul Hettich GmbH & Co. KG: good product development, efficient manufacturing processes and good after-sales service that satisfies customers. “But the measure of all things,” in Hettich’s words, “is the workforce. Not even the best boss can run a company successfully without good employees.” As Anton Hettich continued, the greatest moment of his time as an entrepreneur was when his son Andreas Hettich decided to come into the business. “He actually wanted to make his career at the technical university of Aachen originally.” His undertaking was crucial to the decision to sell the remaining outside partners’ interests, which resulted in Hettich becoming a one hundred per cent family-owned company once again in 2006. Since 2007 Dr Andreas Hettich has had the group’s reins in his hands. As related by Anton Hettich, the pivotal impulse behind his decision to go into his father’s business was the possibility to make decisions quickly and autonomously. “I consider a quick decision is better than none at all,” says Hettich. “Part of this, though, is to admit to any errors of judgment and change direction if need be.” Two dates are essential markers in the history of the Hettich Group. First is the year 1888, when the parent company was founded in the Black Forest. That is when Karl Hettich established a business in Schramberg. There he developed a manual bending machine, which allowed for the extremely efficient production of stay hooks for pendulum clocks. When in 1928, 40 years later, his son August Hettich developed a 16 metre long production line for piano hinges, he was breaking new technical ground and paving the way for today’s furniture fittings and applications division. It soon became evident that there would be advantages in reducing the geographical distance between the production facility in Schramberg and the heart of the German furniture industry in eastern Westphalia. That is why the three brothers Paul, August and Franz Hettich founded a sister company, Paul Hettich GmbH, in Herford on 21 May 1930. It was 1959 when Anton Hettich took over the management in Herford in the third generation, following the separation from the sister company Franz Hettich KG of Alpirsbach. Later on he brought his brother Dr Erwin Hettich into the management team as well. In addition, Helmut, Siegfried and Bruno Hettich also worked in the company as…