Hans Hundegger (right) is gradually handing over responsibilities to his nephew, Josef Hundegger © Hundegger
“Hans, carpenters’ way of working hasn’t changed since the days of Saint Joseph. You have to do something about it!” With this comment and some persistence, sawmiller and glued timber manufacturer Jakob Maier persuaded mechanical engineer Hans Hundegger to develop his first joinery machine for timber construction. At the time, Hundegger specialized in the manufacture of sawmill machines, which he first produced privately in a cowshed for his brother and then, as a company, for a growing number of sawmills. After he had built the first machine, he presented it to some local timber builders, but the reactions were sobering to say the least. “Many left immediately, and one person advised me to focus on sawmill machines and to not ruin my good reputation with something like that,” Hundegger says, recalling the bumpy start.
Some time later, Hundegger was planning a sawmill for the Rohrer company from the Black Forest, and by chance they also talked about mechanical joining. “Rohrer was enthusiastic about the idea and gave me valuable input. Already during the first visit, he shook my hand and promised to buy the machine as soon as the desired improvements had been implemented,” Hundegger tells us about the sale of the first P8 joinery machine in 1985 which marked the start of a success story that continues to this day.
Continuous further development
The P8 was followed by the P10, which was twice as fast. The successor model of the K1 was the successful K2 joinery machine, which the Allgäu-based company first presented to the public in 1999 at the Ligna fair in Hanover. At the same time, Hundegger developed a special four-sided planing machine for construction timber, which was sold together with almost every joinery machine in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to machine manufacturing, Hundegger attached great importance to software development right from the beginning, and it remains an integral part of the company to this day. As early as in 1989, CAD data was transferred directly to a joinery machine for the first time. Today, the in-house Cambium software is responsible for all processes in all machines.
In addition to numerous developments for beam processing, such as the Speed-Cut or Robot models, Hundegger developed the PBA panel processing machine for cross-laminated timber and subsequently also the Speed Panel Machine SPM.
Massive growth
Over the past 40 years, the headquarters in Hawangen has grown to a six-hectare site with around 600 employees. In addition, there are numerous subsidiaries and branch offices in Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. Together, they sold over 7,000 machines to companies in 59 different countries, with all machines still being built in the Allgäu region.
For Hundegger, the key to his company’s success is not only solid machine manufacturing but the respectful interaction with customers and employees. “Customers must be able to rely on our machines. And whenever something doesn’t work, we react quickly and unbureaucratically. It is also crucial to listen attentively to customers because their challenges in daily work provide us with valuable input for new developments. Our employees are just as important. They represent the second central pillar of this company and also contribute to its financial success.”
Future secured
A few years ago, the future of the company gave Hans Hundegger a headache. “Several private equity companies and businesses from the industry came knocking on our door and wanted to buy our firm. But I never had the heart to do that, which is why I founded a joint-stock company and just assumed for a long time that Hundegger would be run by someone else in the future.”
One day, however, his nephew Josef Hundegger, who was 21 at the time, approached him. The trained carpenter and business economist worked in his father’s joinery center and headed his own timber construction company. “I had been thinking about it for a long time and then found the courage to ask Hans if I could join him,” Josef Hundegger says, recalling a dinner five years ago during which they quickly came to an agreement. “Josef is just as crazy as I am,” Hans Hundegger says about his nephew today, referring to his enthusiasm for technical developments and his devotion to the company.
Josef Hundegger joined the company as an assistant to the board of directors. Today, he is deputy chairman of the board and is increasingly taking over the responsibilities of Hans Hundegger, who is gradually withdrawing from day-to-day business. “Now, I finally have time to concentrate on what I enjoy most: developing new solutions for the timber construction sector and driving around the country with my wife to visit customers,” Hans Hundegger says, delighted with his new-found freedom.
Building on a tried-and-tested foundation
At the turn of the year, Walter Fahrenschon, Head of Sales, Marketing and Service, will also retire and hand over the reins to Rainer Auerbacher. Together, the new management team wants to build on the company’s values and success. “First and foremost, it’s about continuity. We will continue many things as they were, for example the relationship with our customers, which is based on collaboration, and our extensive range of services. The contact persons for our customers will also remain the same,” Auerbacher confirms. Josef Hundegger adds that in the future, the company will keep listening to customers in order to be able to offer the best possible solutions.
One of those solutions, in the development of which Josef Hundegger played a key role, is the PBA-Drive, which was recently launched on the market. It is the first throughfeed processing machine for cross-laminated timber in which panels can be fully processed from all six sides.
The new management team sees element production and prefabrication as major future topics, with mechanization and automation solutions also playing an increasingly important role. “Not only large companies, but also every medium-sized carpentry business will have to deal with these aspects in the future. We already offer the right solutions for that today.”
