Retsch celebrates 100th anniversary
One of the most successful companies in the laboratory market celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. In 1915 Friedrich Kurt Retsch founded the F. Kurt Retsch GmbH & Co. KG whole sale company for laboratory supplies in Duesseldorf/Germany. By 1923 the company’s first own piece of laboratory equipment was patented, a mortar grinder which became known worldwide as the “Retsch Mill” and replaced tiresome manual grinding with hand mortars. This innovation earned Retsch an excellent reputation in the international science and research community.
Today, Retsch holds numerous patents and is the leading manufacturer of lab equipment for the preparation and characterization of solids in research and quality control. The company’s latest innovation, the High Energy Ball Mill Emax, was launched in 2014 and allows ultrafine sample grinding down to the nanometer range. Retsch products are used in many different industries such as chemistry, food, construction, pharmaceuticals or environment. In the niche market of laboratory mills the company has the widest product offering and covers about a fifth of the world market with an annual turnover of 50 million €; the export share amounts to more than 80 %. As part of the Dutch Verder Group, Retsch is the keystone of the Scientific Division which incorporates a number of companies including Retsch Technology (optical particle analysis), Eltra (elemental analysis) and Carbolite (heat treatment technology).
As a consequence of the continuous growth of the company the construction of bigger premises in Haan, near Duesseldorf, was finalized in 2012. The new headquarters comprise considerably larger production facilities as well as a spacious application and training center. Customer orientation has always been a top priority for Retsch. With their application laboratory and the local labs of worldwide subsidiaries the company offers customers free test grinding and sieving of samples to find the most suitable instrument for their requirements. Managing Director Dr. Juergen Pankratz sees the future with optimism: “We have been investing in sustainable company growth for many years and our continuous success proves us right. In our 100th year we are a well established global player who will continue to focus on innovative technologies and highly qualified staff.”
