Johann Heinrich Hoffmann founded the traditional company, opposite the Herborner railway station.
Development through continuous change 150 year old success story
Since 1874, when Johann Heinrich Hoffmann founded this tradition-rich company in Littau, opposite the railway station in Herborn, flexibility and adaptability have been among its central characteristics. In order to reduce the length of the company's production pathways, Hoffmann built a foundry three years after the company was founded. The horse capstan used at the start was replaced in 1879 with a steam engine. The drive of the engineers to continually develop the company's products resulted in a constant stream of innovations. The values that still define the company today were already clear in its early years. As a result of the company's continual growth and having the courage needed to take groundbreaking decisions, we now have a second company site in Landsberg an der Saale in addition to our headquarters in Herborn. This ensures that customers receive the best possible support and a nationwide service can be provided. Herborner Pumps US, LP, which is now based in Dallas, Texas, was founded in 2016.
The company history of the Herborner Pumpentechnik in figures
1874
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1874
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1877 - 1884
Purchase of a steam engine, building of own foundry and a dry oven.
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1900
Building of a new foundry which was extended already two years later.
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1903
Transformation into a GmbH. The sole shareholders are Fritz Hoffmann and August Remy. The business was "pump and machine production, casting of iron and metal, purchasing and sales of machines, iron and metal goods as well as the operation of a brick production and other ancillary trades"
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1915
Death of founder J. H. Hoffmann with 84 years. At his 80th birthday he became honorary citizen of Herborn.
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1944
On he 24th of November the company was nearly fully destroyed by the war
The years after the world war were used for rebuilding and modernising the company and the production. At first the Herborner Pumpentechnik made high quality pumps for the industry.
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1950
After the Second World War, the company developed more and more into a manufacturer of centrifugal pumps and relied on intelligent modular systems. The centrally arranged discharge nozzle of the pumps, a design principle that other manufacturers gradually followed, is particularly noteworthy.
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1969
With the development of UNIBAD for pool technology and UNIPUMP for the marine market, the company introduced two product ranges that have had a significant impact on their respective markets.
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1970 - 1974
Extensive modernisation measures: With a new rotary calcining kiln, a new test field and the renewed foundry acc. to environmental protection requirements the company reached the top of the pump industry in Europe.
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1994
With the UNIVERS series, a new wastewater pump generation is introduced to the market, which combines wastewater block, submersible motor and process pumps in a modular system. In the following years, this new generation of pumps was further developed, such as a rubberised version or a maintenance slide.
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1995
Founding of the second production place in Landsberg/Saale as sales and mounting headquarter.
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1996 - 1999
Einführung von 3D-CAD und Aufbau neuer Strukturen im Konstruktions- und IT-Bereich, um das Unternehmen für zukünftige Anforderungen aufzustellen.
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1998 - 2003
New NC and CNC lathes as well as two machining centres signal the departure into a new production structure with modern machining equipment.
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2001 - 2002
The development of a pump drive with integrated inverter and the new technology of the heat exchanger motor signal the departure to become the pioneer of energy-efficient pump systems consisting of pump hydraulics, motor and frequency inverter.
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2004 - 2006
Modernisation of the foundry with sand preparation, mixer technique, laboratory and sandblast room.
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2008
The further development of mechanical production with the inclusion of two machining centres and a pre-built flexible production system in a linkage, considerably optimises the production possibilities for economic and order-related production and thus becomes the new heart of the company division, which is constantly further developed and expanded in the following years.
With the demolition of the old dispatch building and the construction of the new logistics warehouse with a corresponding mobile racking system for the raw castings and a further part of the hall for painting and dispatching the products, the company receives a new face that is visible from afar and marks the consistent further development of the production location.
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2009
Investment of more than one million euros in the restructuring of pump assembly and the integration of production-integrated test benches as well as a mobile racking system enable the optimisation of the assembly area.
Presentation of the new motor technology of PM motors (permanent magnet motors) for maximum energy efficiency of the pumps produced.
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2012
After a 5 year development period we prensented our new series "herborner" with a worldwide unique 100%-HPC-coating.
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2016
Founding of Herborner Pumps US, LP in Sarasota, Florida - a big step in internationalizing our business.
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2016 - 2017
The foundry receives new dust extraction systems and an overall concept for workplace optimisation of the workers with the extraction of the casting gases at the point of origin.
The new 3D printer room with several plastic printers is put into operation and demonstrates the importance of this technology, which has been used in the company since 2008.
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2017 - 2021
Complete redesign and energy reorientation of the foundry with new production facilities, PV systems and battery storage to position the company in terms of sustainability at an early stage.
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2018
With the presentation of herborner.neo, the market is presented with what is probably the most energy-efficient pump for applications in pool technology or water applications.
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2018 - 2023
The company is becoming more and more digital. With its own pump selection programme, a hardware solution as a pump controller and new platform economy, new possibilities are being created in customer service that go far beyond pure pump manufacturing.
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2022
Relocation of Herborner Pumps US to Dallas, Texas and start of its own pump assembly with corresponding test bench technology.
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2023
The necessary further development at the Herborn site is demonstrated by the purchase of former railway land directly in front of the current company. These areas are gradually being integrated into the plans for the company's further development via a newly created site and technology development project.
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2024
The company is 150 years old and we are proud of our history!
2025
Innovations shape the future
Our long history is one of outstanding engineering, innovative products and numerous new milestones. The emphasis in the company's early years was on slurry pumps and beet cutters, but the portfolio of products developed over time. What has remained constant throughout, however, is an ability to meet customers' rising demands and repeatedly enthuse them with new technological solutions. A self-imposed quality principle was defined as a standard around 1900.
The continual development and expansion of the production programme played a key role in the company's business success. Already in the early years, the company began to manufacture pumps for different applications in addition to agricultural equipment. Many different types were developed: hand pumps, rotary piston pumps, centrifugal pumps and diaphragm pumps. As time went on, all the company's different pumps were developed as modular systems. Modular design still forms the basis of all the company's successful new developments.