| Eggenburg |
Jemnice |
Znoimo |
| |
EGSTON was founded in
1991, but its history reaches back to the year 1960. |
 |
ITT Austria (or STT - Standard Telephone
and Telegraph AG as it was called at this time) decides to set up
a production facility in the north of Lower Austria, in the city of
Eggenburg (translation by altavista). The main reasons
are the low wage rates in this mainly rural area. With only 16 workers
production of cable harnesses for the telecommunication industry exclusively
for ITT starts.
 Two
years later a second product, relay coils, is added.
Despite the massive changes in the application
fields, these two segments still are EGSTON's core business and therefore
EGSTON can draw on almost four decades of accumulated knowledge and
experience.
In the year 1963 the current factory is built which will provide space
for up to 500 employees. |
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Over time the plant
in Eggenburg develops from a pure production site to an independent
production department, including quality assurance and production planning. The product
range is expanded as the assembling of private
exchange systems for the telecommunication industry and railway
signaling systems are added. |
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In the mid 80s inductive
components are offered on the European market
for the first time at the "Electronica" fair in Munich,
Germany. The next consequent step towards greater independence is
the implementation of a sales and development department. As a direct
result of this empowerment cable harnesses
are offered on the open market.
Somewhat unexpected the plant is taken over by the ALCATEL
N.V. group from ITT Austria in 1987. A few years later ALCATEL
intends to close down the plant in Eggenburg, due to a change in its
strategic course concentrating on its core business. |
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Through a management
buy out Mr. Walter Wunderer takes over the plant from ALCATEL
and EGSTON is founded. At this point EGSTON is one of the
most successful producers of inductive components and high-tech cable
systems in Austria. |
 |
 EGSTON becomes
aware of the importance of global business. The first step towards
lowering the entry barriers is the ISO 9001
(EN 29001) certification with the ÖQS (translation by
altavista).
Furthermore EGSTON prepares itself for global competition by transferring
part of the production to the Czech Republic.
A sister company, EGSTON
spol. r s.o., where inductive components will be manufactured
is founded 60 km (37 mi) from Eggenburg, near Jemnice.
At the same time the development of another product begins. The goal
is to develop a sophisticated and high-quality electric
drive system for bicycles. |
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EGSTON has always been
a service provider to other companies. Strategic analysis leads to
the most important strategic change in the history of EGSTON as from
now on EGSTON will develop and market its own
products. A R&D department is set up and starts research
on charging technology and miniaturized
switch-mode-power-supplies. |
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A second
sister company in the Czech Republic
is founded in Znoimo (45 km/28 mi from the headquarter). |
 |
 The
development of miniaturized power supplies is finished. For the first
time EGSTON offers its own product, called MAINY, to the market. They
are the world's smallest and most light weight
plug-in-power-supplies and EGSTON wins the Austrian National Innovations Award. |
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Invest in the future
is the motto here. Reorganization and modern computer hardware provide
the prerequisites for the highly competitive international market.
Much internal data is processed electronically and all factories are
connected via satellite. |
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In order to keep pace
with the increasing competition the two plants in the Czech Republic
become more important. Organizational structure, technical equipment,
and employment numbers are adjusted to suit the needs of the future.
The result is an international comparable price-structure and cost-structure. |
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At the CeBIT in Hanover
(Germany) EGSTON presents the first switch mode
power supply with 6 different switchable output voltages from
3 to 12 volts. It is designed primarily for the consumer market since
it is the most universal power supply so far. |
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Development
of the electric drive system
for bicycles is completed. Together with KTM, the
famous Austrian bicycle producer, an electric bicycle is offered to
the market. |
| Le
nostre fabbriche |
