黃淑如

On July 1st, Wilhelm Krug and Ludwig Priester founded the company as specialized retail store, repair shop, and manufacturing facility for office machines, located at Tübinger Str. 7 in Balingen. Already in the founding years the young enterprise exhibits its products at the Hanover Fair - the basis for early success in export business.

The production of duplicating machines, paper trimmers, ballpoint pens and spray guns moved into the first company-owned building on Schickhardtstraße.

The production facilities were enlarged by erecting additional buildings and the production was concentrated on paper trimmers and duplicating machines.

The retail division of the company was abandoned. Guillotine paper cutters supplement the production program.

IDEAL develops paper shredders for the American market; along with the cutting machines they become a main product group for the production and world-wide distribution. A new office building at the Schickhardtstraße site made it possible to merge production and administration at one location.

The production space was adapted to the steadily growing demand for the IDEAL products.

2000 sqm production space were added in a new building.

Wilhelm Krug left the company. Wolfgang Priester joins as a new share holder in the limited partnership.

A neighbourhood piece of land with a production building was acquired and used as a workshop for the tool and die makers and for the R & D department.

Happiness about the 25th anniversary of the company and the acquisition of a neighbouring site over 10,000 sqm, which assured, that the firm had room to expand in the future, sadness on the other hand about the death of company founder Ludwig Priester. The firm was carefully restructured, new buildings replaced old ones, modern CNC technology was introduced, and intensified, customer oriented distribution ensures further expansion.

The purchase of an additional site enables the company to build a modern, environmentally friendly powder coating plant. Product innovations and modern marketing methods guarantee further growth as well as higher market shares for IDEAL shredders and IDEAL paper cutting machines.

A new administration building with a modern logistics center is opened at the Simon-Schweitzer-Straße.

IDEAL celebrates its 40th anniversary. A 50 percent partnership is acquired in the longstanding US agency, which helps to secure a larger market share in the most important export market of the company.

The reunification of Germany creates a big demand for IDEAL products. The company turnover reached almost 90 Mio. German Marks.

IDEAL acquires 93 percent of the shares of its longstanding French agent, E.A. Clémentz & Cie., Reichstett.

The extension of the production premises by a further 2,000 sqm finalizes the constructional development as per today.

IDEAL is the leading manufacturer worldwide for paper shredders and office cutting machines. If the sales of the partner companies in the USA and France are consolidated, the turnover is considerably over 100 Million German Marks.

On June 30th the company is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in the municipal festivity hall of Balingen. During that time the company has 380 employees in Balingen.

The company is investing into the location Balingen and the extension of the administration building by further 1.000 sqm in the Simon-Schweitzer-Strasse. Target of this measurement was the centralisation of all commercial and technical administration departments on one floor. For an improved internal communication - by shorter distances, more efficiency and optimised work courses.

With AL1 Krug & Priester designs a veritable first class document shredder. For its innovative concept AL1 is decorated with numerous worldwide recognized design awards like the „red dot design award“ and the „iF product design award“. It is further nominated for „The 2008 Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany” and is chosen „Product of the Year 2008” by the PBS Industry Association.

Founded on 1st July 1951, Krug & Priester celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2011. For more than six decades, the development, production and distribution of document shredders and paper cutting machines have been our constant focus. From its very beginnings, the company´s philosophy has been very closely linked to sustainability both in thought and action. Two of the supporting pillars in the history of Krug & Priester have been the strong adherence to ‘production place Germany’ and the development of new products that are valued for their high quality and long life. Likewise, our responsibility for people and the environment, and the considerable social commitment of the company, play major roles.

The oldest part of our production space will be demolished and replaced by a new, modern production hall. Reduced production areas for the same processes, faster turnaround times, a highly streamlined workflow, and a significant increase in productivity, are the central guiding principles within the new building. Of course, this new factory is supported by special attention to brightness, health, cleanliness and conservation of the sustainable nature of our enterprise.

We were the first shredder manufacturer awarded with the “Blue Angel” for the highly efficient use of energy by our IDEAL shredders. Among other criteria it was the energy saving function, “Zero Energy Consumption”, that ensures automatic and complete power cut-off after 30 minutes in standby mode, which contributed to this award. The “Blue Angel” was the first and is therefore the longest established environment symbol in the world for products and services.

In addition to the traditional shredder and cutter business, we have opened the new business area IDEAL Health with the introduction of three models of air purifiers. By doing so, we walk completely new paths and expand our product assortment towards “health and wellbeing”. Numerous further products are in preparation.

Daniel Priester is appointed to the Management and follows his father Wolfgang Priester, who continues as spokesman for the shareholders. The new Management presently consists of Messrs. Daniel Priester, Hubert Haizmann and Dr. Ralf Krohn.