We are celebrating 100 years

For 100 years, we have been moving what moves you. No hurdle is too high and no burden too heavy for us. Together with our customers and partners, we are constantly finding new ways to drive technological progress – with innovative solutions and world-class engineering. We see ourselves as the accelerator of your success: actively shaping the future and making tomorrow better – that is our understanding of Empowering tomorrow.

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History
Vollert History
1925

The company was founded in Weinsberg by Hermann Vollert - the first generation started with metalwork, bicycle repairs, construction of wells and pumps as well as cable haulage systems for vineyards.

Vollert History
1935

The vineyard cableways provided the first building block for entry into transport technology - the subsequent bucket and cable haulage system for materials and the know-how for the handling of ever larger loads.

Vollert History
1939

Hermann Vollert, the founder of the company, was a locksmith, innovator and construction engineer, and at the same time a man with a vision who had a clear view for new markets. With his courage and drive, he developed his locksmith's business into an engineering company in the 1930s until the outbreak of World War II. In 1939, the company expanded into a 300 square meter workshop at today's company headquarters in Weinsberg.

Vollert History
1947

After the tragic death of Hermann Vollert in 1947, his wife Mina Vollert and her 20-year-old son Herbert continued the operation with about ten employees.

Vollert History
1951

At the start of the 1950s, Vollert's engineers transferred their cableway expertise to ground-mounted rope conveyors and
thereby revolutionized transport routes in the wood industry. By the middle of the next decade numerous sawmills were being supplied.

Vollert History
1962

Whether for finest porcelain or extremely heavyweight bricks: From the 1950s, Vollert developed numerous transport concepts for brickyards and manufacturers of fine ceramics, among others for Meissner Porzellan and Villeroy & Boch.

Vollert History
1963

From the beginning of the 1960s onwards, Vollert built numerous shunting and loading systems, among other things for freight depots or for loading bulk material.

Vollert History
1973

A near mini revolution happened in 1973 when Vollert engineers manufactured for the construction company Härer from Schwäbisch Hall. Instead of stowing transport pallets on circulation wagons, they were enabled to circulate directly in the prefabricated concrete section - a space-saving and up to then unique solution. The principle of the pallet circuit was born.

Vollert History
1974

In 1974, Vollert achieved an outstanding invention with the first "self-propelled shunting system". The so-called shunting robot combines the advantages of an autonomous locomotive with fixed-line rope conveyors.

Vollert History
1987

Since the 1980s, Vollert has been working with intralogistics systems for the metal and aluminum industries as well as the automotive industry. 1982 marked the market entry of providing a system for a steel mill transport facility for Salzgitter AG. The first high-bay warehousing for coils was developed by Vollert in 1991 for VAW Vereinigte Aluminiumwerke (now Hydro) at Grevenbroich.

Vollert History
1988

The 1980s were the period of internationalization. Vollert's large-scale projects in other European countries and in countries even further away from home have increasingly been realized: in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and even Australia. Contracts were often concluded and commemorated with the customer according to country specific culture.

Vollert History
1994

The 90s were characterized by new customers in the aviation and automotive industries. In the mid-1990s, for example, airfreight containers were built in the airports of Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea. For the automotive industry, several assembly lines, storage and transport systems were built for well-known brand manufacturers. From the time of reunification in 1989, the construction boom in the east saw the creation of numerous new precast concrete plants.

Vollert History
1999

The third generation is on board: Hans-Jörg Vollert, the grandson of the company's founder, inherits 75% of the shares and the management of the company.

Vollert History
2003

The dimensions of the projects from the new millennium onwards increase enormously. We are moving heavier and larger loads, rising from a machine supplier to the general contractor, and building system solutions on all continents of the world, from South America to India. In China, for example, the world's largest coiled high-rack warehousing for 100,000 tons of aluminum and on the island paradise of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, a state-of-the-art precast concrete plant with Vollert technology is being built. At the same time, the family business is steadily becoming a global player.

Vollert History
2011

As of 2011, subsidiaries in South America, Russia and Asia attend customers in these locations. In 2012, the product portfolio in the concrete sector expands with the takeover of the formwork specialist Nuspl.

Vollert History
2015

Vollert is celebrating its 90th anniversary and investing EUR 4 million in the future.

Vollert History
2017

The investment in a new production and administration building in Sikandrabad allows Vollert to set a strong long-term commitment for India.

Vollert History
2018

Vollert is developing with the VLEX an innovative two-way vehicle with battery-operated electric drive for manoeuvring on rails and roads.

Vollert History
2020

Affordable living space, new architecture highlights, and high earthquake-resilience – the MOTUS construction system combines multiple advantages in one. In addition to solid and sandwich walls, in particular 3-dimensional hollow-core slabs are the main feature of the new system structure. Vollert relies on a new manufacturing process in order to put all of these requirements into practice. Rather than being produced by extrusion or slipform production, the hollow-core elements are made based on the pallet circulation principle.

Vollert History
2021

In 2021, Vollert developed an all-new, space-saving container logistics concept to ensure economically efficient handling of goods. It reduces storage area in container terminals by 70% and transport and loading processes by 90%, while at the same time reducing noise and dirt emissions.

Vollert History
2023

Subsidiary Vollert USA, Inc. has been actively processing the US and Canadian markets since 2023 to set new technology standards in the North American construction sector, in intralogistics, loading and shunting concepts.

Empowering Tomorrow

Actively shaping the future and making tomorrow better – with Empowering tomorrow, we combine what drives us every day. As early as the 1920s, Hermann Vollert's pioneering spirit set real technological standards to facilitate work in the vineyard or in the mining of sand and gravel.

Over the last 10 decades, we have repeatedly set the pace worldwide with patented solutions, acting as a pacemaker and pioneer in numerous industrial sectors. Our family business has grown steadily and has developed from a small metalworking shop into a global player and world market leader.

Making tomorrow better

The drive for ever new, even more efficient solutions continues to inspire our engineers today in a volatile world with immense challenges. We are working on making material flows more efficient with new intralogistics concepts, creating affordable living space for millions of people with sustainable construction systems, and significantly improving the CO2 footprint with battery-powered, emission-free shunting technology.

Building systems 2.0

Sustainability and climate neutrality are among the most pressing challenges of our time. Both politics and the construction industry have a responsibility to develop innovative approaches, because the construction industry is responsible for 38% of CO2 emissions worldwide.

Climate-friendly building systems and social housing concepts are in demand

Today's urban architecture has to meet numerous requirements in this context. Specifically, it is essential to use limited raw materials efficiently and to provide modern living space in line with the latest energy guidelines and building standards under cost and time pressure. New material-optimized construction concepts are in demand. One trend is resource-saving timber hybrid construction. The wood-concrete composite floor also creates high-quality architecture in both residential and commercial and industrial construction. The MOTUS building system from Vollert also focuses on reducing CO2 emissions. For the first time, it also makes it possible to construct 16+ residential buildings with prestressed concrete hollow core slabs in seismically active regions. Since 2019, a wide range of construction projects have been built with interesting architectural highlights such as floating balconies.

Another hotly debated topic is social housing, i.e. the creation of affordable living space. The modular construction solution from the French construction company Muance offers a new solution here. Previous room modules are usually heavy, non-reusable, and generally have a very high CO2 footprint. Muance has developed its building system in cooperation with Vollert under a completely new focus.

Intralogistics for tomorrow

Intralogistics processes are on the verge of a fundamental change. Innovative, fully automated technology solutions are in demand, such as modular storage and transport systems that can be quickly adapted to changing market conditions and increasing order volumes. Intelligent software solutions for real-time monitoring and analysis of goods flows are essential here.

Batteries, containers, trucks – tons of patented

Sustainable trends are creating completely new industrial applications. Vollert is constantly coming up with innovative solutions. For example, Vollert's container logistics concept ensures economical goods handling in the smallest of spaces. The logistics areas are reduced by up to 70% and unproductive relocation processes are avoided. Electromobility is another topic of the future. In tomorrow's automobile production, as well as in new manufacturing methods for new, even more powerful lithium-ion batteries, new intralogistics concepts will be in demand, for which we at Vollert already offer solutions today. Vollert's TruckTower concept is also revolutionary. Up to 20 trucks can be stacked in an area the size of five diagonal parking spaces. This allows three to five times the number of trucks to be accommodated in the same floor space.

Climate-friendly shunting

In a world increasingly affected by the impacts of climate change, sustainable solutions in the economy and in mobility are gaining in importance. Shunting operations in train stations, freight terminals and logistics centers are no exception. Here, too, the switch to climate-friendly and emission-free alternatives is becoming mandatory – from both an ecological and an economic point of view.

Demand for emission-neutral shunting solutions

Vollert delivered the first battery-powered shunting robot to Holderbank Zement in Switzerland as early as 1974. Today, the company offers a versatile shunting portfolio for a wide range of applications. The 2-way vehicle VLEX from Vollert offers several advantages in addition to the clean electric drive. These include technical features such as the oscillating swing axle for increased derailment safety. In just a few seconds, you can safely switch from rail to road. EMW Stahl Service in Siegen saves up to 18,000 truck transports per year with a new fully electric BR170 shunting robot. The new shunting technology is powered by 100% green electricity and has an impressive operating time of up to 16 hours.

Digital Services

Service management is essential today to ensure that machines and systems deliver top performance for decades. We always consider the entire life cycle, from maintenance to retrofitting.

New digital service tools

Digital service tools from Vollert offer new options here. Web-based dashboards for permanent plant monitoring, for example, provide information about the technical condition of the plants and the current maintenance situation at all times. Predictive maintenance works with real process and machine data and uses AI tools to accurately predict maintenance intervals. This also includes forecasting the life expectancy of components.

Digital spare parts catalogs are another important component. Finding instead of searching – to quickly identify the required spare part, information is provided interactively, including technical specifications, images and documentation.

We are the Vollert

At Vollert, family and company are closely intertwined. Not only is the third generation of the family now shaping the successful development of the company, but for many employees, the traditional company has also become a family. Vollert has grown continuously over the past decades, from a metalworking shop to a global player and world market leader. Each period brought its challenges, which were successfully met with team spirit, prudence and courage.

In the near future, some of the more than 300 employees currently working here will report on what Vollert means to them and what makes working at Vollert and with customers so unique.