Milestones on the path to becoming an international full-line supplier

Since its founding in 1965, Doppstadt has evolved from a family-operated service enterprise into a leading internationally active provider of solutions for environmental technology.
The company's roots lie in two farms located in the idyllic region known as Bergisches Land: the Doppstadt Family farm, on which the brothers Werner and Josef had grown up, and the Zellin Family farm, on which Hedwig, Werner’s wife, had grown up. Together they founded the agricultural service enterprise Doppstadt in 1965. 51 years later, the company has become one of the most prominent full-line suppliers of machine solutions in the recycling technology industry. Read below to see how we achieved that.

From farming to agricultural service enterprise “Doppstadt”

“They started out really small!” recalls Friedhart Sperling, who worked at Doppstadt for 22 years.

The kitchen on the parents’ farm in Homberg played a central role: It served as a so-called “think tank”, manager’s office and lunchroom all rolled into one. That was where ideas were developed, job interviews were conducted and employees talked about their concerns. It was also where the brothers Josef and Werner Doppstadt and Werner’s wife Hedwig had decided to convert their parent's traditional farming operation into an agricultural service enterprise. From then on, they offered farmers and forest managers in the surrounding area their machines and services: planting, mowing, shredding, and threshing.

“They started out really small,” recalls Friedhart Sperling, who worked at Doppstadt for 22 years. “They themselves always joined in and worked like the rest, never expecting more from their employees than from themselves.” In his opinion, the three Doppstadts complemented each other perfectly: Werner had the ideas, Josef the creativity for transforming the ideas, and Hedwig was the heart of the company who managed the finances. Doppstadt was a family-run business – and it is still one to this today. Sperling fondly remembers many touching moments from the very early days of the company – for instance, how he felt when he finished his work late in the night: “When I finished threshing at three in the morning, Mrs. Doppstadt was already waiting for me with a meal. She actually stayed awake till three in the morning just for me. There was no way around it: I could not leave till I had eaten everything on my plate.”

Development of the PUMA cleaning machine – Repositioning the company as a developer of innovative environmental and recycling machinery

“I have an idea!” Werner Doppstadt’s creativity ends up being the recipe for the newly established company’s success

1970 represents the actual year in which Doppstadt became an environmental technology company: As a service contractor, Werner Doppstadt was mowing the lawn at Gelsenwasser AG, when he noticed how difficult it was for the employees of the municipal water works to clean the filter basins of the water treatment facility. “There must be a better way!” he said to himself before speaking to the people there and coming up with the idea of the “PUMA” cleaning machine in line with his own personal mantra “I have an idea!” It automated the strenuous manual task at hand: The PUMA drove over the material to be cleaned, collecting the contaminated filter sand and completely sorting out the contaminated particles. The management of Gelsenwasser AG was excited and ordered the machine: That served as the impetus for Doppstadt to transform from an agricultural service enterprise into the innovative supplier of environmental technology processes. On top of that: The brothers did not only develop machinery; they built machinery too. In the absence of any type of production building, the first machine was constructed and built in the barn on the old farm – and due to the fact that they were so passionately preoccupied with the project, they did not notice that the machine could not get through the doorway. No problem: They just widened the doorway in the brick wall, and the finished machine was delivered to the customer. It is always necessary to set your priorities.

Extending product range to include drum screening machines, shredders, and verge mowers

“When I joined the company in 1980, there were only two of us in the factory – now there are hundreds working here!” recalls Peter Müller, who personally experienced the company’s growth.

By 1977, the farm in Homberg had definitely become too small: The Doppstadts then bought the property in Velbert in order to build their main production facility there. In addition, the company extensively extended its product range to include: verge mowers, high-speed shredders and drum screening machines to supplement its cleaning machines and gravel processors. In other words, machines that could shred and separate or sort building rubble, debris, wood and cut grass for recycling purposes.

Thus, the company’s focus had become clear. Doppstadt has become an environmental technology specialist. And begins to grow. “When I joined the company in 1980, there were only a handful of people working at Doppstadt,” recalls Peter Müller, a long-time employee at the company. “There were only two of us in the factory.” Nowadays there are about 700 people working for the company. “Of course, a lot has changed in the meantime,” says Müller. “When I worked at Doppstadt, the boss himself would come in the factory and discuss his plans with us.” While reminiscing, he also added: “One day, he wanted, for instance, to completely redesign the filter basin cleaning machine. But we were not able to envision his idea. That is when he grabbed a piece of chalk and started to sketch his ideas out on the floor of the factory. He then ordered us: ‘No one is to sweep here until I say so.’” The machine that was built on the basis of this sketch has been continuously adapted to the current state of technology – and is still in use to this day. Just like the cleaning machine from 1970: Its state-of-the-art successors

Founding of our Vertriebsgesellschaft DVG for the international sale of Doppstadt machines

In 1990, Doppstadt celebrated and looked back on 25 years of experience in the treatment and processing of recyclable materials. The company specializes in easy-to-maintain and simple applications and products for maximum process requirements and produces mobile and stationary machines that can be ideally combined to create new precisely tailored processing lines. In short: The company’s unconventional approach and expertise to solving problems is in demand not only in Germany and Europe but also worldwide now.
To be able to meet this challenge, it was necessary to reorganize sales. As a result, Doppstadt formed the marketing company “Vertriebsgesellschaft DVG”. In the coming years, it will reliably supply the ever-expanding markets.

Acquisition of the company “Förderanlagen Calbe GmbH” in Saxony-Anhalt – Further development of location to create a state-of-the-art production facility – 1995: Change of name to “Doppstadt Calbe GMBH”

“All of the sudden, we were a very large company,” says Hedwig Doppstadt discussing the challenge of having 200 extra employees overnight.

International demand encouraged Doppstadt to expand. After Germany's reunification, the company bought the conveyor manufacturing plant in Calbe an der Saale, which is located in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The underlying activity pursued by the eastern German system manufacturer was not new to Doppstadt: For instance, Doppstadt’s belt drums operate, among other things, one of the longest conveyor belts in the world, which is located in the Chilean Atacama Desert. In this context, the Calbe plant posed a good addition to the company’s product range.

The 200 extra employees were very welcome too. Every person who wanted could stay. “All of the sudden, we were a very large company,” says Hedwig Doppstadt recalling “the decision that was the most challenging one for them” in the history of Doppstadt. “We did not only take over the property and the buildings but the existing employees as well. All of the sudden, we had assumed responsibility for many new employees.

The decision to keep all of the company’s employees laid the foundation for the relationship between the staff and the company’s management to this day. “Doppstadt is family for me,” explains Bernd Lichtenfeld, a factory mechanic and maintenance technician at the company. “The Doppstadts introduced themselves and everything, that had been uncertain before, had now become certain again.” Doppstadt had transformed Calbe into an ultra-modern production and assembly plant, developing a brand-new line of machines and readying them to production release with the expertise of Calbe’s staff. In 1995, the former Förderanlage company was renamed to “Doppstadt Calbe GmbH”: “Finally!” as Reimund Hoffmann, Senior Production Manager recalls. He spent his entire career working in the factory. “We noticed very quickly that the family was really committed to the location. At some point, every employee wanted to wear the ‘Doppstadt’ logo. That said, the name change definitely took too long for some employees. Like their colleagues in Velbert, they also wanted to have the Doppstadt logo on their work clothes: A sign confirming that they are a part of our company.”

Founding of Doppstadt Calbe GmbH – Expansion of the Belt Drum Division

“I am one with my drum,” says Frank Horn. The fitter applied for a job at Doppstadt in 1998, stayed and became acquainted with belt drums there, learning to appreciate them afterwards.

In the Belt Drum Division, the company profited from the expertise of the “Förderanlagen Calbe GmbH” that it had acquired in 1992. With this acquisition, Doppstadt extended and advanced its know-how in the field of materials handling technology and consistently upgraded the Calbe location with the most current state of production and assembly technology. All belt drums are produced in the ISO-certified plant located on the Saale River and delivered all over the globe. And that in – almost – every size as Doppstadt employee Frank Horn explains. The fitter thinks: “With my job, I really hit the bull’s eye. I just want to build good belt drums. The largest drum that I have ever built had a diameter of 2.5 m. And then you stand next to it and say: This is mine!”

Merging of DVG with Doppstadt Calbe GmbH

“We serve clients all over the globe from our office.” says Ralf Wunderling, Team Leader of International After-sales Service, who is constantly on the road for Doppstadt.

Doppstadt continuously expands its international presence: Right after the turn of the millennium, the company starts cooperating with sales partners in more than 40 countries. That was definitely too much for the capacities of the Vertriebsgesellschaft DVG, which was founded in 1990 – it was merged with Calbe Doppstadt GmbH. Up till 2015, sales activities were coordinated centrally from Calbe.
This Sales department also includes “International After-sales Service”: a small, but capable team of 16 employees, who are always on the road to customers all over the world. Our service technicians install and service machines on site and provide support during commissioning and ongoing operation. Team leader Ralf Wunderling, who grew up in the GDR, says: “When I was young, I would never have imagined that I would have such a job. I always wanted to work in construction – but I never thought that I would be able to travel to faraway places like Japan or Australia. Now the entire world calls and requests our services.” And his assistant, Ralf-Peter Lübcke, adds: “Every assignment is new and exciting. Every construction site is different. If we are needed in a country, we are there on site within two days in Europe.” 

Founding of Doppstadt Austria GmbH close to Vienna

Werner Doppstadt and the Austria Team develop the Grizzly series: These vehicles are utilized to provide winter service at airports and are used as utility vehicles in forests in the Czech Republic. 

Founding of a center for developing stationary machines in Velbert

Restructuring of the “Stationary Solutions” business unit with a new team at a new location: Design and construction of stationary machines were relocated by Doppstadt Systemtechnik GmbH to Velbert to ensure that it was central.

Company reins handed over to son Ferdinand – Further development of company to full-line supplier in cooperation with premium partners

When asked in retrospect, what was her greatest personal highlight in her almost 50-year career at Doppstadt, Hedwig replied: “The birth of my son!”

Werner Doppstadt handed over the company’s management to his son Ferdinand

After 48 years of continuously expanding and consolidating the company, Werner Doppstadt handed over the company’s management to his son Ferdinand. By doing so, the company, which has become a global actor and has a staff of 700 employees, remains family-owned.

Ferdinand Doppstadt continues to run the company by upholding the values and traditions of his family while pursuing a new strategic orientation. With the “Doppstadt 2020 – Fit for the future” strategy and a strong management team, he is positioning the company as an internationally established full-line supplier that is able to provide or develop, if necessary, the appropriate technology for every environmental challenge. To this end, Ferdinand Doppstadt relies on machinery and machine components that are compatible with one another.

In addition to that, Ferdinand Doppstadt is pursuing cooperation. As a specialist in environmental technology, he is specifically looking to partner with other premium manufacturers in order to pool their expertise and know-how for designing and jointly building top-of-the-line products. That is the only way for highly specialized companies like Doppstadt to distinguish themselves and meet the customers’ ever increasing demands and requirements on quality and cost-effectiveness on the international market.

Two-day show with more than 5,000 customers from all over the globe – Restructuring of the company

During a two-day show, Doppstadt presented powerful, high-performance equipment that visitors could touch

Presenting an unprecedented range of environmental technology and recycling equipment, the Doppstadt Group celebrated its 50th anniversary. On the business premises of Doppstadt Calbe GmbH spanning 18,000 m2 in Saxony-Anhalt, DUG put on display, for instance, Mammuts, screening machines and precision chippers, altogether more than 100 machines were in action: Complete car bodies were reduced to shreds, recyclable materials were separated from residential garbage or industrial wood from metal and rocks. The “Innovation Land” exhibit showcased and highlighted almost 50 innovations, machine updates and concept studies. More than 5,000 guests came from all over the globe in response to the invitation and were impressed by the two-day event.
The 50th anniversary also served an impetus for the company's new strategic orientation with competence centers having clearly defined tasks. Since then, the Velbert location has been producing stationary equipment, while the Calbe location manufactures mobile machines and the Wilsdruff location focuses on water-screening processes. The core business is managed at the Wülfrath location, where Sales, Support and After Sales, Marketing and Controlling departments are located.

Where Doppstadt is headed: Technology leader, market leader and environmental pioneer at the same time

Ferdinand Doppstadt discusses the company’s future:

1. We offer the right solution for every problem.

The ecological challenges of the 21st century include population growth, urbanization and increased consumption. These challenges form the basis of our growth and drive our inspiration: We want to meet the ever-increasing demands and requirements that the industry and our customers have with products and processes that excel technologically, are ecologically exemplary and economically viable. To that end, our machines must be versatile and adaptable, they must be able to mesh perfectly and enable self-contained work processes. In short, they must be innovative, intelligent and adaptive.

2. We are a technology leader, market leader and environmental pioneer all at the same time.

With our One Doppstadt Strategy “Doppstadt 2020 – Fit for the future”, we want to position ourselves as an internationally established full-line supplier that is able to provide or invent and develop, if necessary, the appropriate technology for every environmental challenge. The idea is to mobilize every machine and every machinery pool by utilizing a modular architecture so that it is possible to flexibly adapt to the customer’s individual requirements – e.g., by easily switching out individual components or entire machines.

3. We consider focusing on the customer as the key to international market leadership.

To this end, we must continue to build on our technological innovativeness and problem-solving expertise. The key is our international presence: We are in constant dialogue with our customers via our worldwide network of partners. That allows us to develop solutions that are tailored completely to the needs of our partners and their local markets – and which are also suitable for other partners and markets. We learn with our customers for our customers – a win-win situation that offers new market opportunities for both parties and which may make up for regional shortfalls.