Manufacturers' Profiles

Fellowes

Premier

GBC / IBICO

HSM

Founded in 1917 in Chicago, Fellowes began by marketing records storage boxes to city bankers, to become a renowned global and market leading supplier of business machines and technology accessories.

Fellowes standard is to create products across all its ranges that are designed with the needs of the end-user in mind and which are of "superior quality, usefulness and value". This is reflected across its ranges of paper shredders, binding machines and laminators, which are all best-in-class offerings, backed by clear positioning to ensure customers choose the right machine for their requirements.

Fellowes UK is headquartered in Doncaster, from where all warehousing and distribution is controlled. Fellowes UK has achieved and maintains accreditation for the internationally recognised standards ISO9002 and Investors in People. It is also working towards gaining accreditation for the ISO14001 Environmental standard, having already achieved the BOSS Federation Environmental Certificate.

Today Fellowes remains a family run business As well as the UK, the company owns and operates subsidiaries in Australia, Benelux, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Poland. Fellowes employs over 2,000 people throughout the world and expects global sales in excess of $700 million this year.

GBC was incorporated in 1947. Since then, GBC has grown to become a listed multinational company manufacturing and marketing a diverse line of office products worldwide with its corporate headquarters in Northbrook, Chicago, USA. In 1998, a reorganisation of GBC European operations established a European headquarters, GBC International Services, in Hoeilaart, Belgium. The international staff at this office on the outskirts of Brussels supplies support services for GBC subsidiaries employing over 750 people across Europe and in the Middle East and Africa.

Product development focused on the European market is also coordinated here. The same year also saw the acquisition of the Swiss Ibico brand, further establishing the company’s European identity.

In 1998, a European headquarters, GBC International Services, was established in Hoeilaart, Belgium. GBC International Services provides support to subsidiaries across Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa. European turnover exceeds €100 million annually.

GBC Europe markets GBC, Ibico, Creative and Quartet brand office products to users in homes, offices and professional printers. GBC sells indirectly to office superstores, wholesalers, stationers and mail order companies; and directly to office customers, reprographic centres, printers and government agencies.

Products include binding and laminating supplies, document shredders, trimmers, calculators and visual communication products.

Hermann Schwelling had two goals when he started his one-man business in 1971: Innovative expertise and quality. Ideals which have characterised his company HSM since the development of the first baling presses in 1972 and are the foundation for his success. HSM has grown step by step and developed into a worldwide company with a clear emphasis on Germany as the production location.

Functionality, design and quality of the paper shredder and baling press product ranges have made HSM a renowned, leading international manufacturer. And the proven strategy - success with "Made in Germany" quality - will continue to lead the company into a secure future.

Development

1971: Founded by Hermann Schwelling as Hermann Schwelling Maschinenbau
1971-76: Manufacture of parts (cutting shaping and housing manufacture) for industrial plants as from
1972: Development, production and marketing of baling presses which have also been used in combination with large paper shredders produced by other manufacturers as from
1976: Development and marketing of the HSM baling press program, continuous development up to fully automatic channel baling presses with continuous operation for disposal of large quantities of recyclable production waste
End of the seventies - beginning of the eighties: Development and design of the paper shredder range; presentation at the 1981 CeBIT
1991: Purchase of plant 2 in Reichenbach/Saxony and setting up for production of baling presses
1996: Purchase of plant 3 in Frickingen, Germany, and setting up for series production of office paper shredders; certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001
1998: The right of Geha-trade mark was acquired from the Geha Werke GmbH, Hannover, Germany
2001: Introduction of the product line with cutting machines and display systems
2002: Certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000
2003: Introduction of the product line HSM cutting machines.
2007: Introduce new Securio range of shredders. High specification . very low noise

Schleicher International, which trades under the Intimus and Schleicher brands, is a part of the Martin Yale Group company. Schleicher has been manufacturing and distributing the Intimus and Paper Monster ranges throughout the world for 30 years. The company's head office is based in Wabash, Indiana, U.S.A. with its European head office - where development, production and distribution takes place - based in Markdorf, Germany. In addition, Martin Yale has acquired a substantial stake in an ISO9001 assured Chinese production facility producing its entry-level shredders, laminators, cutters and punches.

Development

1956: Foundation of a company supplying precision mechanical parts. One of the founding fathers was Hans Schleicher.

1965: Dipl.-Ing. Albert Goldhammer becomes a shareholder in the company. The company changes over to the development and manufacture of shredders. The INTIMUS brand is born: presentation of the "electronic wastepaper basket" INTIMUS Simplex at the Industry Trade Fair in Hanover. This ingeniously simple design was the first to be patented by the company: a system of cutters mounted on top of a wastepaper basket with a large feed opening in the middle. Millions of simplex shredders have been sold to date and the model is still included in the company's product range.

1966: Commencement of mass production and development of other models with higher capacity and various particle sizes. Start of international distribution - establishment of a worldwide network of dealers with general agents in all the main economics centres.

1971: Acquisition of the patents and rights to the names of the TAIFUN product line - now sold throughout the world under the brandname TAROS.

1979 to 1989: Foundation of own subsidiaries at strategic economic locations to step up the company's sales activities. SCHLEICHER & Co. of America Inc., Sanford/North Carolina - the second production facility in addition to Markdorf SCHLEICHER & Co. Ges. M.B.H., Vienna/Austria SCHLEICHER & Co. INTERNATIONAL Ltd., Crawley/Great Britain SCHLEICHER INTERNATIONAL S.A.R.L., near Paris/France

1987/88: The individual sales and production companies merge to form SCHLEICHER & Co. INTERNATIONAL AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT.

1989: "Going public" at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 13 November.

1995: Certification to ISO 9001 standards - after only six months' preparation for the audit.

1997: Establishment of a sales office in China under the name "Schleicher & Co. International AG, China Representative Office, Beijing".

1998: Development of strategic cooperative sales partnerships. BROTHER INTERNATIONAL GmbH, Bad Vilbel, Germany, takes over the German office trade business. SCHLEICHER & Co. of America Inc., Sanford, acquires OLYMPIA BUSINESS SYSTEMS Inc., Boca Raton/Florida, as per 1 June - the latter company's headquarters are transferred to Sanford.

1999: Schleicher's British subsidiary in Crawley takes over the distribution for OLYMPIA International Holding Ltd. in Great Britain.

2000: Foundation of SCHLEICHER INDIA LIMITED near New Delhi. New division "Central extractor systems" - in cooperation with the finnish company Protekno Puzair OY, Espoo, for disposal of shredded paper in complex administrations.

2005: Launch of Martin Yale brand in Europe

2008: Launch of new Intimus Pro shredders. Low noise and very powerful, small compact units.

Rotatrim are an English manufacturer of rotary trimmers that has been in existence for over 25 years. Their range is a unique blend of top quality, precision-made cutters which are really second-to-none in terms of quality. Their expert understanding of the mechanics and pressures of the rotary cutting of materials has enabled them to develop the most comprehensive range of rotary trimmers on the market today, able to deal with a huge range of materials and applications.

Most Rotatrim products are manufactured at their factory in England.

Rexel are one of the market leaders in business machines. They offer high quality products incorporating the latest technological advances and a very good level of after-sales service. For 2004, they have a whole host of new products, including the new generation laminators.

Their latest range offers an extensive choice of machines to cater for a wide variety of document security applications. Rexel laminatorrs are manufactured in China and England.