Innovative

Schlötter Svenska AB acquired ICOTRON AB in Skillingaryd. The new subsidiary in the Schlötter Group is a well-known brand within the surface treatment industry as a turnkey supplier within powder coating solutions. Icotron can supply their customers with various services ranging from complete industrial coating plants to single components as dryers, ovens, process water treatment systems and conveyor systems. They can help their customers through the whole chain from planning and design to production, assembly, and service.

With the establishment of Schlötter (Dongguan) Surface Technology, located in the province of Guangdong, Schlötter is also represented in the South of China in addition to Wuxi. Schlötter’s Dongguang office currently has seven employees, offering technical support to customers using Schlötter electrolytes. The focus of the Dongguan team lies in the sale and service of applications in the PCB and electronics industry.

Schlötter Svenska acquired Galvanoteknik Hansen, a small company specialized in plastic welding and the construction of transporters for plating plants. Famous for the so-called Deltalift automatic overhead carriers which were patented in 1988. The company was relocated to Hillerstorp and re-named to Galvanoservice i Hillerstorp AB. In recent time the name has been changed to the acronym GIHAB to broaden its market share outside of the plating plant business. Apart from Deltalifts, GIHAB’s certified personnel also manufactures high quality customer specific plastic components in varying sizes such as tanks, drums, vats, piping, and ventilation ducts in materials such as PP, PE, PVC, and PVDF in accordance with the EN 13067 standard for Plastics welding. Currently, a staff of approximately 10 are working at GIHAB.

Schlötter expanded their international activities to China and founded a small subsidiary in Wuxi near Shanghai. Schlötter China supplies Schlötter proprietary plating chemicals to the Chinese market and has its own service laboratory.

In 1982, Schloetter Co Ltd set a subsidiary in Singapore, Schloetter (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which is operating as a distributor of proprietary Schlötter plating chemicals. The company has its own warehouse and service laboratory in order to service customers in Singapore and Malaysia. In 1996, the company name was changed to Schloetter Asia Pte. Ltd and was now under control of Dr.-Ing. Max Schlötter GmbH & Co. KG. The company also provides technical support and distribution to Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia where local agents look after the day to day needs of the market.

The Swedish subsidiary, Schlötter Svenska AB, was founded. With its own service laboratory and warehouse, Schlötter Svenska is trading proprietary Schlötter plating chemicals in Sweden and Scandinavia. Additionally, Schloetter Svenska also manufactures plating plants including control systems and has built more than 100 plants in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe until now. The company is based in two different locations, Norrköping and Hillerstorp. Meanwhile, a staff of 25 is working at Schlötter Sweden.

Schlötter Ireland DAC first started trading in 1976 with a staff of 4 people and has now grown to a staff of more than 50. It has always been a key manufacturing site for the Schlötter group since that time and continues to manufacture a number of proprietary products for the group. Schlötter Ireland has also been actively involved in the sales into the Irish market from day one and has sustained sales growth in that market over the years. But that market has changed completely in the last two decades and Schlötter Ireland has had to adapt accordingly to diversify into new market sectors and new industries (such as medical device manufacturing), presenting itself as contract chemical manufacturer with a track record for manufacturing bespoke chemistries to meet customers exacting product specifications and manufacturing conditions (e.g. cleanroom) and requirements. This strategy has led Schlötter Ireland to the point where sales in the home market now represents 85% of the total sales for the company.

In 1969, Schlötter established its UK operation, Schloetter Company Ltd, in a rapidly growing Printed Circuit and Electronics market setting clear direction for the fledgling company. Success came quickly with the company easily establishing an 80% share of the tin lead PCB market and a major share of the tin plated wire industry. Acid copper was to follow and the company, building on its reputation, established the first production proven Pulse Plating technology in Scotland. As manufacturing business moved to Asia, so did Schloetter’s products through a network of agents and the formation of Schloetter Singapore, now Schloetter Asia.
Within the UK, the compact disc industry presented another growth area for a new product: paint. This led to further development of products with good adhesion to glass and excellent scuff resistance generating another successful market sector – glass bottle decoration – adding to the company’s portfolio.
Today, Schloetter UK employs 30 people. The company has research and development facilities for paint. It has warehouse and manufacturing facilities for both its chemical and paint business supported by a recently refurbished service and QA laboratory.

With increasing air raids in Berlin, Max Schlötter decided to move out of Berlin. He relocated his company to Geislingen an der Steige in Southern Germany where the Schlötter Group is headquartered until today. Today, Dr.-Ing. Max Schlötter GmbH & Co. KG in Geislingen has a staff of nearly 200 and two business divisions: chemistry and plant engineering. Schlötter Germany develops and manufactures electroplating chemicals and has built more than 1,000 plating plants up to now. Schlötter offers approximately 1,000 different specialty chemicals for general metal finishing (GMF), corrosion resistance coatings (CRC), decorative coatings, plating on plastics, electronics and PCB: 95% of its products have been developed inhouse by its own Research and Development. Meanwhile, the company is run by the fourth generation of the family.

Having worked for Langbein-Pfanhauser Werke, one of the oldest electroplating companies in Germany, for a couple of years, Dr.-Ing. Max Schlötter decided to set up his own business, an Electrochemical Research Laboratory in Leipzig, Germany. In 1914, the young company was relocated to Berlin. Max Schlötter had a life-long interest in research and development. He was one of the pioneers in the development of modern bright and high performance plating baths and registered more than 60 patents in his name in Germany alone.