90 Years of GROB-WERKE – and 60 Years of GROB do Brasil

Mindelheim. In 1926, Ernst Grob founded the Ernst Grob Werkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik which was registered in the commercial registry on May 21 of that year. For 26 years, Ernst Grob, a passionate pioneer in the field of mechanical engineering led the enterprise until in 1952 his son Burkhart assumed sole managerial responsibility for the company that was still suffering from the effects of the war. To date GROB-WERKE remains a family-owned company, currently managed by the third generation of family members.

Becoming a market leader
Early on, Dr. Burkhart Grob set the course for successful growth of his company. In 1956 he opened the first foreign plant in São Paulo, Brazil, followed in 1968 by what became the parent plant in Mindelheim. 1991 saw the founding of the American plant in Bluffton, Ohio, and finally in 2012, production started in the plant in Dalian, China. Under the leadership of Dr. Burkhart Grob, the company grew to be one of the leading global providers of manufacturing lines for the automotive industry and their suppliers in the powertrain area, becoming a market leader in the engine/transmission machining segment.

In recent years the company has especially experienced a unique growth phase. At the headquarters in Mindelheim alone 3,600 employees are at work. Since 2007 the plant site has practically doubled in size. Floor space was expanded by about 80,000 sqm. Construction is already underway for an additional hall with 38,000 sqm floor space. This summer, the new administrative building will be finished. In the past four years the company has made investments in excess of 300 million euros worldwide in its four production facilities and ten sales and service branches, with the majority of the funds going to Mindelheim.

Sixty years of GROB do Brasil
Already at the start of the 1950s Dr. Burkhart Grob recognized the potential of Brazilian industrial expansion, and on June 14, 1956 he founded the stock company known as 
“B. GROB do Brasil S.A. Indústria e Comercio de Máquinas Operatrizes e Ferramentas”. After the initial investment campaign in the 1960s, production of special-purpose machines began at GROB do Brasil. Due to additional investment and expansion activities, the Brazilian GROB plant grew step-by-step from a six-man operation in a double garage to a machine tools company employing over 500 employees in São Paulo, and with sales in excess of 100 million euros.