Milestones

The roots of the Groz-Beckert Group in its current form lie in the textile world. We combine an engineering innovative spirit with the experience of more than 170 years of company history and the foresight of a firmly established family-owned company.

1852

In Ebingen, today a suburb of Albstadt, Theodor Groz founds the company Theodor Groz. He sells fashion accessories and toys, and has a needle manufacturing business next door.
1871

In Eibenberg near Chemnitz, Ernst Beckert founds the Ernst Beckert needle factory. It quickly develops into the largest needle factory in Saxony.
1884

Business is successful, and Theodor Groz & Söhne has to expand. The company moves into a new factory building on Ebingen's Bahnhofstrasse.
1888

Theodor Groz & Söhne introduces its own company health insurance fund – one of the first companies ever to do so.
1892

The company Groz gradually conquers the world market, and already has over 400 employees.
1905

The company Ernst Beckert Nadelfabrik has grown rapidly over the past years and now shifts its headquarters to the Metzerstrasse in Chemnitz.
1918

Opening of the first joint sales center of the companies Theodor Groz & Söhne and Ernst Beckert in New York, USA.
1928

The firm of Groz in Albstadt and Beckert in Chemnitz both develop into highly successful companies. Groz now has 1,600 employees, while Beckert has around 1,500.
1937

The companies Theodor Groz & Söhne and Ernst Beckert merge – laying the foundations of today's Groz-Beckert Group.
1952

Groz-Beckert celebrates its one hundredth annniversary. At this point the company already has a total of 2,150 employees. In the same year the company's owners and its employees sign a partnership agreement that governs the involvement of employees in the company's success. The agreement is further developed over the following decades, and is still in force today.
1980

Acquisition of the sewing-machine needle manufacturer Torrington Portuguesa near Lisbon, Portugal, by Groz-Beckert. The name is changed to Euronadel Industrias de Agulhas Lda. This acquisition broadens Groz-Beckert's activities in the shoe and shoe-machine needle business, as well as in the felting and structuring needle sector.
1993

Acquisition by Groz-Beckert of the Akra-Werke, a producer of sewing-machine needles in the Czech Republic with production plants in Budweis, Luzice and Klobouky. In the year 2000 Akra is renamed and becomes part of the Groz-Beckert brand.
1993

Groz-Beckert acquires the knitting-machine needle manufacturer Exeltor, based in Bedford, Canada.
1997

Groz-Beckert adds the CPC division to its activities: Ceramic Punching Components (today: Customized Precision Components). This now includes hard-metal precision parts and tools for the production of multilayer chip carriers.
1998

Groz-Beckert acquires the tufting-needle segment of the Eisbär brand from Josef Zimmermann in Aachen, extending its business activities in the carpet industry.
2000

Acquisition of the Swiss company Grob Horgen AG by Groz-Beckert. From now on the company is also active in the weaving-machine accessories segment.
2002

Groz-Beckert celebrates its 150th anniversary.
2010

A pilot project is officially unveiled: the longest textile-reinforced concrete bridge in the world. Located in Albstadt-Lautlingen, it is officially handed over to the Town of Albstadt. Groz-Beckert played a large part in its realization and also supplied the textile fabric used as a substitute for the conventional steel inside the concrete.
2010

A unique platform for the textile world opens its doors: the new Technology and Development Center (TEZ) at the Groz-Beckert headquarters in Albstadt, Germany, is officially opened.
2013

In September the Groz-Beckert Health and Education Center (GEBIZ) at the company's headquarters in Albstadt, Germany, was officially opened. The education department have a day care center and an elementary school, while the health department have a company physician, company medics, the Groz-Beckert company health fund, a physiotherapy center and also a training and prevention facility.
2013

Groz-Beckert founded solidian GmbH in autumn 2013. Solidian specializes in the development and manufacture of non-metallic reinforcement solutions and reinforcement systems for new builds and renovation, as well as innovative reinforcement solutions made of high-performance technical fibers for composite materials.
2014

Purchase of Kelteks d.o.o. by solidian. Kelteks produces technical textiles for a large number of applications in various fields. With 30 years of experience, the company supplies versatile international customers from its three factories in Croatia.
2015

Groz-Beckert takes over the global carding activities of the Belgian Bekaert Group. Thereby the product portfolio expanded to include card wires and clothings for short staple and long staple spinning industry and for nonwovens industry as well as the appropriate services such as mounting service and special roll repair to start-up service.
2022

Acquisition of TKM GmbH with effect from 1 October 2022. TKM is a specialist in industrial cutting solutions with around 800 employees and with production and sales locations worldwide.