HISTORY
Schäfers has been active in the market as a manufacturer of transparent packaging since 1960. During this time, we have grown into one of the market leaders in this specialized segment. Our state-of-the-art machinery gives us all the technical capabilities to produce customized and creative packaging from various plastics in the Lower Rhine region.
Continuous improvement is our priority. If "better" is possible, "good" is not good enough; this is our credo, to which our employees are also committed. As a future-oriented family business, values such as sustainability, long-term perspective, and responsibility are very important to us. This also includes fulfilling our responsibility to the environment through resource-efficient production processes.
1960 Foundation of the company Sichtverpackungen Inh. Armin Schäfers by the married couple Armin Wolfgang Schäfers in Kempen - St. Hubert with the production and distribution of
the distribution of clear round containers for the company De Beukelaer, Kempen.
1965 Expansion of the manufacturing program with transparent lid boxes.
1967 Relocation to Kempen to larger production facilities.
1969 Expansion of the manufacturing program with deep-drawn parts.
1971 Investments in semi- and fully automatic machines to expand capacity.
1975 Expansion of the manufacturing program to include blister packaging and assembly.
1976 Acquisition of industrial land and construction of new office and production facilities in Straelen.
1977 Relocation to the Straelen site
1980 Expansion of the production program to include clear folding boxes. Acquisition of a die-cutting machine and a gluing machine from BOBST.
1982 Investment in print finishing through the installation of foil screen printing. Purchase of a fully automatic flatbed screen printing machine.
1990 Company handover to Wolfgang Armin Schäfer's son.
1991 Introduction of IT with network and software development. Acquisition of a CAD system for computer-aided development of packaging designs.
1992 Expansion of the blister packaging manufacturing program: "Everything from a single source" with the additional service of customer-oriented purchasing, warehousing and logistics.
Quality control structure based on ISO 9001.
1993 Rebranding of Sichtverpackungs A. Schäfers to Wolfgang Schäfers Sicht & Wellopack.
1998 Establishing sales activities in England
1999 Planning and construction of 2 production and storage halls.
Establishment of the company Schäfers Sicht & Blisterpack GmbH & Co. KG
2001 Occupancy of the new building and reorganization of production.
2003 Investment in one of the most modern, fully automatic high-performance gluing machines with integrated packaging and interchangeable adhesive systems.
Development of sales activities in Austria and France.
2004 Investment in a new IT-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with targeted production and cost control, as well as in a sample plotter of the
latest generation plus the latest CAD software for 3D visualization via the Internet.
Expansion of the gluing system for the production of special packaging.
2005 Purchase of a flatbed die-cutting machine from IBERICA with integrated heating and stripping station.
2008 Investment in a UV screen printing machine from SPS to optimize film finishing.
Investment in a fully automatic folding carton gluing machine from VEGA. Max. open blank size 80 x 112 cm. Pre-folding of all
4 bend lines for improved erection of the clear folding boxes.
2009 Establishment of a southern office with the hiring of a sales representative for southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
2010 Purchase of a neighbouring property with a production/warehouse hall. Increase of the total property capacity to 15,000 square metres and production / storage hall.
Warehouses covering 4,000 square meters.
Investment in a fully automatic high-speed cutting system from WOHLENBERG with programmable cutting settings and cutting optimization.
Investment in a new transparent round can production line using ultrasonic welding for cutting to produce highly refined round and oval cans.
2013 Acquisition of new CAD software for displaying the print layout and video presentation via the web portal to the customer.
Investment in two sheet metal bottom sealing machines from LANICO for the production of sheet metal bottoms for clear round cans.
Commencement of the production of cardboard round cans and combination cans with foil and cardboard.
2014 Investment in a new merchandise management system with integrated production planning via control center and extended controlling functions.
2015 Investment and expansion of the round can plant through a fully automated OVAL module built in-house.