Anniversaries and milestones are important times to celebrate the triumphs and reflect on lessons learned from pitfalls that have been encountered along the way. They are also great times to consider what lies ahead in the future.
On May 6, 2022, Scheidt & Bachmann (S&B) celebrated our 150th anniversary as a global organization. This remarkable milestone was observed by S&B’s offices around the world via simulcast connections all going back to our original, global headquarters located in Moenchengladbach, Germany. The occasion was highlighted by a passionate speech from our CEO and Managing Partner Dr. Norbert Miller – who currently represents the 5th generation of our family-owned company.
Much like the rest of the world, our organization has seen its share of both turmoil and prosperity. However, at no time throughout its history did S&B ever veer away from the core values that have guided our organization since its inception. These values are built around the tenets of consistency, reliability, service, and expertise.
The company was founded by Mr. Friedrich Scheidt and Dr. Carl Bachmann on May 1, 1872 by starting as an 8-person operation producing mainly cast-iron columns, belt pulleys, and sheave pulleys for use in the textile industry. However, a global economic crisis in the late 1800s set a new course for S&B in the emerging market of railway signaling throughout Europe – a successful business line that continues to operate today.
Later on, market conditions in the early 1930s presented an opportunity for S&B to move into the Fuel Retail Solutions division by manufacturing devices for storing, measuring, and dispensing fuel. This division hit a breakthrough in 1959 after developing a mixing pump on behalf of BP that became an overnight sensation through the fuel industry that further launched S&B with our second successful product line.
Then, spawned by a surge in automobile sales during the 1960s, the monetization of parking lots in major cities around the world quickly became a lucrative business in this era. Since Scheidt & Bachmann had already been providing light controls, induction loops, and automatic barriers from its previously adopted business lines, the decision to enter the emerging world of parking technology made perfect sense. This was quickly followed by the advent of microprocessor technology which marked the beginning of a completely new, intelligent generation of devices and became the catalyst for software development within Scheidt & Bachmann.
Following this technology boom within the organization (including the foundation of a Fare Collection Systems division in the late 1970s), was a need to provide basic services such as installation, maintenance, and support. As a result, service itself became a product and by the mid-1990s services division for S&B were popping up all around the globe.
In 1995, a fast-growing interest for our products in the U.S. market led to Scheidt & Bachmann USA, Inc. to become one of the first foreign S&B subsidiaries to commence operations as a means to quickly fill orders and better serve our domestic customers. Starting out of a small office in Burlington, Massachusetts, we have now grown to hundreds of customer sites that are supported by almost a dozen regional offices around the country.
Globally, our Parking Solutions division is a leading provider of integrated, modular, and customer-specific systems for parking operations of all sizes. With our solutions, S&B is actively shaping the digital change in the parking industry and supporting it in various forms through a variety of cloud-based offerings. Together with industry partners, we regard parking as an essential part of the mobility chain that continues to grow and evolve with each passing year.
Since our founding, many significant events have made Scheidt & Bachmann the company we are today. However, our organization looks vastly different now than it did back in 1872 – with over 3,000 global employees operating in over 50 countries, and over $500 million in annual revenues. Supported by our highly dedicated and experienced leadership team, we trust in the skills of our employees and work daily on supplying our customers with products, solutions, and services of the highest quality. Over the past 150 years, we have come a long way evolving from a mechanical engineering company to a global systems provider for intelligent mobility. Today, we look forward to continuing to make history for generations to come.
What emerged from the vision of two men back in 1872 has most certainly exceeded their wildest dreams. Many generations of hardworking hands and imaginative minds have made it possible for Scheidt & Bachmann to be where it is today. We can look back with pride on the great achievements of these generations who paved the way. Likewise, Scheidt & Bachmann can look forward to the future with excitement, because today’s employees are the ones who will accomplish great things for us moving forward. That is why our 150th anniversary is an impressive milestone that everyone has achieved together, across countries and generations, and it is a more than a good reason to celebrate together with our customers, business partners, and the Parking Industry as a whole. Cheers!
Bill Geraghty, CAPP, is Executive Vice President of Sales, Scheidt & Bachmann USA, Inc.
“2022 is a very special year for Scheidt & Bachmann because we celebrate our 150th anniversary. During these 150 years of existence, our family-owned company has not only survived difficult historical events, such as two world wars and currency reforms, but has also successfully mastered the rapid change from mechanics to electrics and electronics to software, service and cloud solutions. With our will to find new solutions, our willingness to stick together in difficult times, and our ability to adapt to changing conditions, we are now facing 150 years of a shared success story of our company community with values that will carry us into the future. Today, Scheidt & Bachmann is an international group of companies with outstanding products that we develop, manufacture and distribute worldwide. We are pleased to celebrate this special milestone this year and look to the future with confidence.”
Dr. Norbert Miller, Global CEO and Managing Partner
