Igus

Infobox Company
company_name = igus
company_
company_type =
foundation = 1964
founder = Gunter Blase
location_city = Cologne
location_country = Germany
key_people =
area_served = Worldwide
industry = Automotive, Aerospace, Agricultural, Food & Packaging, Marine, Offshore, Pharmaceutical, Rail, Textile, Woodworking
products = Plain bearing, cable carriers, flexible cables
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
divisions =
subsid =
company_slogan = Plastics for longer life
homepage = [http://www.igus.co.uk]
footnotes =

Igus is a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of plastic plain bearings and cable carrying energy chain systems, all manufactured by injection molding. The company also manufactures highly flexible control, motor, data and servo cables.

History

Gunter Blase began igus in October 1964 in a double garage in Cologne. The first customer was a large automotive supplier, who started to source parts from the fledgling company.

This was the early age of plastics and innovations were coming at a breakneck pace throughout industry. An important igus customer asked if it would be possible to manufacture cable carrying chain systems in plastic. Within a few weeks, igus had manufactured some prototype parts and the Energy Chain business was born. This is now a multi million dollar global industry with more than six manufacturers worldwide.

Gunter had two sons, one called Frank who, in 1983, established cable carrying energy chain systems and injection moulded polymer bearings as two distinct product groups. He set up a network of sales engineers, choosing to deal direct with customers rather than rely on a standard bearings distributor network. The idea worked. In 1985 the company had 40 employees and this grew consistently: at the end of 2006 the company had over 1500 employees globally.

Internal Structure

The firm has a factory in Cologne, which was designed by Nicholas Grimshaw. This was constructed with "fast change" in mind. There are minimal internal walls, the whole structure is modular, and the factory can be adapted to change and move with customer and market demands. Inside the building, everything is open, there are no cubicle offices; anyone can walk anywhere. The canteen facilities, ablutions, desks and chairs are the same for everyone. Inside igus, the company structure is loose and flat, known as the solar system model. Basically, this involves every department being a planet which revolves around the sun, and everyone works around the sun.

Promotional Activities

Since 2003, igus has been involved in the Manus award.

External links

* [http://www.igus.co.uk igus Home Page]
* [http://www.igus.com igus USA Home Page]
* [http://www.manus-igus.co.uk manus awards Home Page]