Vaillant Group

The Vaillant Group is a company that develops products for heating, cooling and hot water.^[1]

Vaillant Group (company)

Company type	GmbH
Industry	Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology (HVAC) and renewable energies
Founded	1874
Headquarters	Remscheid , Germany
Key people	Norbert Schiedeck (Chief Executive Officer) Andreas Meier (Managing Director Sales, Marketing & Service) Stefan Borchers (Managing Director Finance and Services) Klaus König (Managing Director Industrial)
Revenue	€3.7 billion (2021)
Number of employees	~17,000 employees worldwide
Website	www.vaillant-group.com

The company employs ~17,000 people worldwide and generates an annual turnover of approximately 3.7 billion euros. This makes the Vaillant Group one of the largest companies in its sector in Europe. The family-owned company is a global market leader in the wall-hung boiler segment. The Group's activities focus on the development of green products, and energy-saving and environmentally friendly products in particular, with the aim of achieving sustainable and profitable growth. The Vaillant Group's headquarters are located in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company is still one-hundred per cent family owned today.^[2]

History

The history of the Vaillant Group dates back to 1874, when Johann Vaillant set up a master fitter's business. In 1894 Johann Vaillant patented a new "closed-system" gas-fired bathroom boiler.^[3]

This was the first device that made it possible to heat water hygienically, without contaminating it with combustion gases. This was a great technical innovation at the time and Johann Vaillant had a lasting impact on the development of heating technology. At the same time, he opened up a new market segment. In 1924 a further technical milestone was reached, with the development of the first central heating boiler. This device made it possible to heat a whole building with a central heating unit and several radiators in various rooms – a system that is still in use to this day.^[4]

Notable landmarks in the company's history include the launch of the first wall-hung circulation water heater, the Circo Geyser, in 1961, and the first wall-hung water heater with condensing boiler technology that was developed and produced in-house in 1995. 2001 saw the internationalisation and expansion of the Vaillant Group's brand and product portfolio and its sales and production network, following the acquisition of the British Hepworth Group.^[5] The company continued down this path of internationalisation with the acquisition of a majority stake in the Turkish heating and air-conditioning technology specialist Türk Demir Döküm^[6] Fabrikalari in 2007.

For several years the Vaillant Group has increasingly focused on technologies based on renewable energies. In 2006 the company began to produce heat pumps and in 2008 solar thermal collectors independently and on an industrial scale. Today, products based on gas condensing technology and heat pumps as well as systems which combine several building technologies constitute the company's main business.

Brands

The Vaillant Group has eight international brands.^[7] The company's brands are managed separately in the European and non-European markets and can be found in more than 60 countries.

The Vaillant Group brand family includes the following:

• Vaillant (founded in 1874, Germany)
• Saunier Duval^[8] (1907, France)
• awb^[9] (1934, Netherlands)
• Bulex^[10] (1934, Belgium)
• DemirDöküm^[11] (1954, Turkey)
• Glow-worm^[12] (1934, United Kingdom)
• Hermann Saunier Duval^[13](1970, Italy)
• Protherm^[14] (1991, Czechoslovakia)

The Glow-worm brand in the United Kingdom and the Saunier Duval brands in France were part of Vaillant's acquisition of British competitor Hepworth Limited in 2000.^[15][16] In the UK, the group markets both the Vaillant and Glow-worm brands.^[17]

Sites

The Group has ten sites for R&D and manufacturing in five European countries, Turkey and China. There are three sites in Germany (Remscheid, Bergheim, Roding). In Slovakia there are three manufacturing plants in Trenčín, Skalica and Senica. Further sites include Nantes (France), Belper (UK), Vitoria (ES), Bozüyük (Turkey) and Wuxi (China).

Products

The Vaillant Group's products cover heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. The company has thus positioned itself as a full-range supplier. Vaillant's core range includes wall-hung and floor-standing condensing boilers, solar thermal systems for hot water and heating, heat pump technologies, ventilation systems for low-energy houses, control technology, gas and electric water heaters, air-conditioning systems, radiators and related services.

Prizes and awards

The Vaillant Group has won several awards over the years, including the following:

• 40 iF Industrie Forum Design Awards^{[citation needed]}
• Red Dot Design Award (2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002, 2017, 2018)^{[citation needed]}
• German Sustainability Award for the most sustainable product (2011)^{[citation needed]}
• B.A.U.M. Environmental Award (2014)^{[citation needed]}
• German Sustainability Award as Germany's most sustainable large company (2015)^{[citation needed]}

Publications

The Vaillant Group publishes an annual magazine^[18] with information about the company's development and an annual sustainability report. Alongside these corporate reports, the Group also publishes the employee magazine Life and the Internet blog "21grad".

References

1. Vaillant wirbt für die Heizung als Sparkasse 6 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine Found on 26 May 2015. (Article is only available in German language)
2. Seit 125 Jahren immer in den schwarzen Zahlen. Found on 10. July 2012 (Article is only available in German language)
3. Gasbadeofen "geschlossenes System" Article is only available in German language
4. Durchgebissen und nach oben gearbeitet. Found on 10. July 2012 (Article is only available in German language)
5. "History of Vaillant GmbH". Funding Universe. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
6. Vaillant Group übernimmt für 229,5 Mio Euro Mehrheitsanteile DemirDöküms Found on 29 August 2011.(Article is only available in German language)
7. "Our brands and solutions". Vaillant Group. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
8. "Saunier Duval >> A warm welcome". www.saunierduval.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
9. "CV ketels, verwarming, warmtepompen, thermostaten | AWB". www.awb.nl. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
10. Bulex
11. "DemirDöküm". www.demirdokum.com.tr. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
12. Glow-worm
13. "Hermann Saunier Duval | Sito ufficiale". www.hermann-saunierduval.it. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
14. "Protherm - Your partner for heating and home comfort technology". www.protherm.eu. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
15. "Hepworth". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
16. "Vaillant Holdings Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
17. "Vaillant or Glow-worm: Boiler Comparison". Boiler Guide. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
18. Annual magazine

External links

• Vaillant Group