COLUMBUS MCKINNON SWITZERLAND AG

History Columbus McKinnon Switzerland AG is part of the globally active Columbus McKinnon Corporation (CMCO) and was founded in 1969 as the Swiss subsidiary of Pfaff-silberblau Hebezeugfabrik GmbH in Augsburg, Bavaria, originally under the name Pfaff-silberblau Winden und Hebezeuge AG. After the acquisition of Pfaff-silberblau and Yale Industrial Products by CMCO in 2008, all subsidiaries and branches were renamed. However, the names PFAFF-silberblau, Yale, and ALLTEC (drive technology) continue to be retained as brands, as they all have a long-standing history. In 1867, Gottfried Schober founded a winch manufacturing company in Augsburg, which was taken over by August Pfaff in 1902. This was followed by a shift from artisanal production to factory manufacturing of various lifting devices and the replacement of water power with electric drive. In 1972, the company Pfaff-silberblau moved from the Augsburg old town to nearby Friedberg-Derching and in 2008 to its current headquarters in Kissing, 15 kilometers from Augsburg. A bit younger is the company Alltec Antriebstechnik GmbH in Heilbronn. It was founded in 1973 as a secondary operation of the company Neff Gewindespindeln, which was established in 1905. The renaming to Alltec took place in 1996. Since 2001, it has been a subsidiary of the Pfaff-silberblau Group. The Yale brand traces back to Linus Yale Jr., who invented the cylinder lock in 1868 and, together with Henry R. Towne, founded a factory for mass production in Stamford, Connecticut, called Yale Lock Manufacturing Company. As early as 1875, the production of manual lifting devices began, and the patent rights for the Weston differential pulley were secured. In 1877, Yale produced the first spur gear hoist with load pressure brake. The design principle of this brake is now used worldwide for nearly all manual lifting devices. After Linus Yale passed away in the year of the company's founding in 1868, the company was renamed Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co. in 1883. The first sales branches in Germany, England, and France were established in 1904. In Velbert, Germany, the production of the world-renowned ZUGHUB began in 1936, which was sold under the BKS brand until 1974. Over 1 million devices of this type were manufactured solely at the Velbert plant! The spin-off of the lifting device sector led to the establishment of Yale Industrial Products, Inc. in the USA in 1983. In 1917, the McKinnon Chain Company merged with the Columbus Chain Company to form the Columbus McKinnon Chain Company. With the acquisition of Chisholm and Moore in 1928, the Columbus McKinnon Corporation was formed, which developed new products despite the great economic crisis. In 1931, the first aluminum chain hoist was introduced, and from 1933, heavy iron chains were replaced with those made from an alloy.