COMPANY’S HISTO R Y

Previous history

In 1886 the millwright and technician Franz Tacke founded F. TACKE KG in Press contact Rheine, . In addition to initial repairs and maintenance work for the Stefan Holtkoetter T. +49 5971 798-292 1 local textile industry the production of transmission systems soon became its [email protected] main business. When the transmissions were replaced by group and individual www.ktr.com/press drives later, the company made use of the technical options provided by the upcoming gearbox technology developing to one of the leading manufacturers of large gearboxes. In the course of this development the company pushed the production of coupling systems as a connection element.

In 1908 F. TACKE KG finally developed a flexible coupling2 which was used by the textile industry and general engineering in thousands of applications. By then the production of couplings has made up only a small part of the business. This changed along with the industrial progress and the demand of modern engineering for more and more powerful couplings. From now on the engineers of the company dealt intensively with the subject of power transmission from the drive through the gearbox to the machine. In the years 1920/30 F. TACKE KG presented a number of powerful and patented coupling systems to general engineering. Finally Dipl.-Ing. Albert Tacke, the eldest son of Franz Tacke, managed to develop the curved-tooth gear coupling3 in 1934, thus heralding a new era in coupling technology. Apart from large gearboxes F. TACKE KG has since supplied the heavy industry with large and powerful couplings fully made of steel.

As a result of the proceeding automation after the Second World War and the increasing demand for new drive solutions the idea became more precise in the company to provide the curved-tooth gear coupling for a wide range of applications in the lower performance range in a cheaper design. The technological progress in the worldwide nylon industry was highly appreciated here. It allowed for the use of the new material “nylon” with the production of couplings for the first time.

1 Transmission is a historical belt drive. 2 The Elisol coupling. 3 The curved-tooth gear coupling protected by international law which has proven its worth millions of times is inseparable from the name of the companies TACKE and KTR for the experts until today.

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KTR Kupplungstechnik GmbH Bankverbindungen Geschäftsführer Rodder Damm 170 · 48432 Rheine Commerzbank AG Rheine Andreas Nauen Telefon: +49(0)5971 798-0 IBAN: DE70 4034 0030 0193 8299 00 · BIC: COBADEFF403 Telefax: +49(0)5971 798-698 u. 798-450 Stadtsparkasse Rheine Amtsgericht , HRB 3688 E-Mail: [email protected] IBAN: DE49 4035 0005 0000 0504 76 · BIC: WELADED1RHN USt-IdNr.: DE 811295751 Internet: www.ktr.com N° DE004025-1 COMPANY’S HIST ORY

In 1958 the engineers of TACKE finally started to further develop the approved curved-tooth gear coupling which has only been available fully made of steel so Press contact far. The result was revolutionary: For the new maintenance-free coupling two Stefan Holtkoetter T. +49 5971 798-292 types were defined: type A was fully made of nylon, while type B combined the [email protected] materials nylon and steel. Their name was BoWex4. www.ktr.com/press Foundation However, in what way should the new product be distributed? The general management of the company was aware that the distribution channel of the new small and low-cost coupling generation had to be different from that of an all-steel curved-tooth gear coupling which is produced mainly on demand in individual and small series for special customers. Finally Dipl.-Ing. Franz Tacke, the grandson of the company’s founder of the same name, established Kupplungstechnik GmbH having its head office in Rheine on 30th Sep 1959.

Product portfolio Only a few years after its foundation the new company introduced the jaw coupling ROTEX as the next historical innovation. The classical three-part design established as a standard coupling in the overall machinery and plant engineering, thus becoming a brand synonym for the flexible shaft coupling5. A variety of further innovative coupling solutions made by KTR was to follow to date.

When the rapid development of hydraulics covered almost every range of mechanical and plant engineering in the late 1960s, KTR started producing accessories for the hydraulic industry. Fortunately this business sector soon became a second pillar. The portfolio was expanded by hydraulic brake systems in 2005. The company located in Rheine introduced their first cooling system for mobile and stationary hydraulics on the occasion of the Hannover Fair four years later. Since 2013 electromechanical brake systems have completed the extensive product portfolio splitted up into four product ranges: drive technology, brake systems, hydraulic components and cooling systems.

4 The name BoWex implicates »convex curved toothing« and is registered and protected as a trademark. 5 The flexible shaft coupling is also called jaw or elastomer coupling.

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From into the world

From the 1980s onwards KTR started to expand its worldwide activities for Press contact production and sales gradually. The first subsidiary companies were founded in Stefan Holtkoetter T. +49 5971 798-292 Switzerland and Japan in 1982, followed by another 20 subsidiary companies to [email protected] date, the latest having started its business in South Africa in 2014.In the same www.ktr.com/press year the subsidiary company KTR Brake systems GmbH based in Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock/East Westphalia was founded. KTR’s global sales network is supplemented by more than 90 sales partners.

The heart of KTR beats in Rheine now as before. This is not only the home to the entire engineering, but the headquarters have also been a production site from the very beginning. Since 2014 production was located in Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, too. KTR’s worldwide production network furthermore comprise the locations Michigan City (USA), Ozimek (Poland), Pune (India), Curitiba (Brazil) and Jiaxing (China).

KTR today Since its foundation the KTR family has continuously grown in almost every field. With its innovative strength and constant new designs, the staff in Rheine does pioneering work again and again. Today the company steeped in tradition and located in Northern Münsterland is operating with more than 1,100 employees worldwide, more than 410 of them at the headquarters in Rheine. As a leading manufacturer in Power Transmission for industrial applications KTR supplies mechanical couplings, torque limiters and torque measuring shafts, clamping sets, universal joints, hydraulic and electromechanical brake systems as well as cooling systems and hydraulic components to the industrial markets of all continents, always bearing in mind the guiding idea of the company’s founder, Franz Tacke: “We always have to be one step ahead of the others.”

KTR-Rheine-1607

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