Vaillant Group

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Vaillant Group (company)
Industry Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology (HVAC) and renewable energies
Founded 1874
Headquarters Remscheid, Germany
Key people
  • Carsten Voigtländer (Chief Executive Officer; Managing Director Sales and Marketing)
  • Dietmar Meister (Managing Director Finance and Services)
  • Norbert Schiedeck (Managing Director Technology; since 1 April 2014)
Revenue 2.33 billion euros (2014) [1]
Number of employees
 More than 12,000 employees worldwide
Website www.vaillant-group.com

The Vaillant Group is a global family-owned company that develops highly efficient products and solutions for heating, cooling and hot water.[2] The company employs over 12,000 people worldwide and generates an annual turnover of approximately 2.3 billion euros. This makes the Vaillant Group the second-largest company in its sector in Europe. This family-owned company is a global market leader in the wall-hung boiler segment. The Group’s activities focus on the development of green products, and energy-saving and environmentally friendly products in particular, with the aim of achieving sustainable and profitable growth. The Vaillant Group demonstrates corporate responsibility through the sustainability programme S.E.E.D.S.[3] (Sustainability in Environment, Employees, Development & Products and Society), which defines guidelines and measures to improve the Groupwide sustainability performance. The annual sustainability report provides information about the current status of corporate development in these areas.[4] The Vaillant Group’s headquarters are located in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company is still one-hundred per cent family owned today.[5]
The Vaillant Group’s CEO is Dr Carsten Voigtländer.

History

The history of the Vaillant Group dates back to 1874, when Johann Vaillant set up a master fitter’s business. In 1894 Johann Vaillant patented a new "closed-system" gas-fired bathroom boiler.[6]
This was the first device that made it possible to heat water hygienically, without contaminating it with combustion gases. This was a great technical innovation at the time and Johann Vaillant had a lasting impact on the development of heating technology. At the same time, he opened up a new market segment. In 1924 a further technical milestone was reached, with the development of the first central heating boiler. This device made it possible to heat a whole building with a central heating unit and several radiators in various rooms – a system that is still in use to this day.[7]
Notable landmarks in the company’s more recent history include the launch of the first wall-hung circulation water heater, the Circo Geyser, in 1961, and the first wall-hung water heater with condensing boiler technology that was developed and produced in-house in 1995. 2001 saw the internationalisation and expansion of the Vaillant Group’s brand and product portfolio and its sales and production network, following the acquisition of the British Hepworth Group. The company continued down this path of internationalisation with the acquisition of a majority stake in the Turkish heating and air-conditioning technology specialist Türk Demir Döküm [8] Fabrikalari in 2007.
For several years the Vaillant Group has increasingly focussed on technologies based on renewable energies. In 2006 the Gelsenkirchen plant began to produce heat pumps. In 2008 the Group began to produce solar thermal collectors independently and on an industrial scale for the first time. In 2010 Vaillant developed the first zeolite gas heat pump[9][10] and in 2011 the Group launched Europe’s first combined heat and power system for simultaneously generating electricity and heat in detached homes on the German market.[11][12] The latter product won Vaillant the National German Sustainability Award in 2011.[13]
The family-run company is involved in social projects at all of its sites in Europe and Asia. The Vaillant Group has a long-standing partnership with the organisation SOS Children's Villages International. Around the world, Children’s Villages in Germany, France, Belgium, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine and China have already been equipped with modern heating technology from Vaillant.

Brands and sites

The Vaillant Group comprises a total of eight international heating technology brands.[14] The company’s brands are managed separately in the European and non-European markets and can be found in more than 60 countries. The Vaillant Group brand family includes the following brands: Vaillant (founded in 1874, Germany), Saunier Duval[15] (1907, France), awb (1934, Netherlands),[16] (1934, Belgium), Demir Döküm (1954, Turkey), Glow-worm [17](1934, United Kingdom), Hermann Saunier Duval [18] (1970, Italy) and Protherm [19] (1991, Czech Republic).

The Group has eleven sites for R&D and manufacturing in six European countries and China. There are four sites in Germany (Remscheid, Gelsenkirchen, Bergheim). In Slovakia there are two manufacturing plants in Trencín and Skalica. Further sites include Nantes (France), Belper (UK), Bozüyük (Turkey) and Wuxi (China).

Products

The Vaillant Group’s product portfolio covers the full spectrum of modern heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology across all of its brands. The company has thus positioned itself as a full-range supplier. Vaillant’s core range includes wall-hung and floor-standing condensing boilers, solar thermal systems for hot water and heating, heat pump technologies, pellet boilers, combined heat and power systems, hybrid systems, ventilation systems for low-energy houses, regulation technology, gas and electric water heaters, air-conditioning systems, radiators and related services. Efficient and green technologies make up the majority share of the products sold.
In March 2015, at the ISH specialist trade fair, Vaillant presented its most sustainable and most intelligent product range to date: Green iQ. The Green iQ label represents efficient manufacturing, the best-quality materials and excellent recyclability. All Green iQ products are Wifi-compatible and feature integrated interfaces. The first Green iQ products[20] are a gas-fired condensing boiler and a heat pump.

Prizes and awards

The Vaillant Group has won several awards over the years, including the following:

  • 40 iF Design Awards
  • Red Dot Design Award (2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002)
  • National German Sustainability Award for Germany’s most sustainable product (2011)
  • B.A.U.M. Environmental Award (2014)
  • Business Superbrands Austria 2014[21]
  • Great Place to Work – Best Workplaces 2014 (Netherlands)[22]

Publications

The Vaillant Group publishes an annual magazine[23] with information about the company’s development and an annual sustainability report. Alongside these corporate reports, the Group also publishes the employee magazine Life the customer magazine 21grad and the compendium Energie, Zahlen, Daten, Fakten (Energy, Figures, Dates, Facts). The Director Corporate Communications is Dr Jens Wichtermann.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Stabile Umsatzentwicklung in schwachem Marktumfeld. Article is only available in German language
  2. ↑ Vaillant wirbt für die Heizung als Sparkasse Found on 26 May 2015. (Article is only available in German language)
  3. ↑ sustainability programme S.E.E.D.S.
  4. ↑ Vaillant Group – Our Responsibility
  5. ↑ Seit 125 Jahren immer in den schwarzen Zahlen. Found on 10. July 2012 (Article is only available in German language)
  6. ↑ Gasbadeofen „geschlossenes System“ Article is only available in German language
  7. ↑ Durchgebissen und nach oben gearbeitet. Found on 10. July 2012 (Article is only available in German language)
  8. ↑ Vaillant Group übernimmt für 229,5 Mio Euro Mehrheitsanteile DemirDöküms Found on 29 August 2011.(Article is only available in German language)
  9. ↑ Verkaufsstart der Zeolith-Gas-Wärmepumpe. Found on 10 July 2012 (Article is only available in German language).
  10. ↑ Weltweit erste Zeolith-Gas-Wärmepumpe. Found on 30 August 2011 (Article is only available in German language).
  11. ↑ Mikro-BHKW für Einfamilienhäuser. Found on 10 July 2012 (Article is only available in German language).
  12. ↑ Vaillant und Honda präsentieren Mikro-Heizkraftwerk für Einfamilienhäuser. Found on 30 August 2011 (Article is only available in German language).
  13. ↑ The ecoPOWER 1.0 micro-cogeneration system is Germany's most sustainable product. (Found on 11 July 2012)
  14. ↑ The Vaillant Group’s brand family
  15. ↑ Saunier Duval
  16. ↑ Bulex
  17. ↑ Glow-worm
  18. ↑ Hermann Saunier Duval
  19. ↑ Protherm
  20. ↑ Vaillant setzt mit Green IQ auf "grüne" Premiumprodukte(Article is only available in German language)
  21. ↑ Superbrands Found on 26 May 2015.
  22. ↑ Great Place to Work Found on 26 May 2015.
  23. ↑ Annual magazine
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