From a one-man business to a global company with around 1,400 employees worldwide. That's what MENSHEN is today. And the company and life story of Arnold Menshen – our company founder – is somewhat reminiscent of the “American Dream”. From the young man who collected scrap with a wheelbarrow to the founder of a company who turned a group of companies into the world market leader. While he was still at school, Arnold Menshen began supporting the family's budget with holiday jobs. After elementary school, Arnold Menshen started an apprenticeship as a metalworking company at a metal processing company in Werdohl.
1945 to 1970: The early years up to the beginning of the company's history
After the turmoil of the Second World War, Arnold Menshen returned to Werdohl in October 1945 and worked in a car repair shop in the post-war years before starting as a driver for a Werdohl scrap dealer in 1951. In 1953 he started his own scrap business in order to be independent and driven by his already strong entrepreneurial spirit. At the end of the 1950s, more precisely in 1959, Arnold married Ursula Kracht and moved with her to Neuenrade. The couple had three children: Knut, Dorle and Lutz. In 1964, Arnold Menshen took over the contract turning company Walter Staufenberg KG from his father-in-law with 20 employees. Through an extremely successful advertising campaign in specialist magazines in 1968, the level of awareness of the so-called STAUFF clamp was increased to such an extent that demand literally exploded in the period that followed. These clamps were used to fasten pipe and hydraulic systems and were manufactured and offered by STAUFF from polypropylene for the first time in 1964/1965. In addition to the actual advertisement, the excellent properties of the plastic and the outstanding quality were the reasons for the marketing success.
Founding of Georg MENSHEN GmbH & Co. KG and steady growth
On July 1, 1970, Arnold Menshen founded the company Georg MENSHEN GmbH & Co. KG in a small rented garage just a few kilometers from the current company headquarters. From now on, production started on the company's own injection molding machines. Arnold Menshen quickly came up with the idea of becoming active in the still young market for plastic closures and packaging. It was thanks to Arnold Menshen's entrepreneurial skills and hands-on mentality as well as the high quality and reliability of the products that well-known brand owners such as Henkel were acquired, who continue to rely on MENSHEN products and services to this day. In the years that followed, MENSHEN grew steadily. They quickly needed more space and production capacity, so they moved to Finnentrop-Fielentrop. Since the late seventies of the last millennium, MENSHEN has been one of the largest and most important employers in the region and is very aware of social responsibility - especially in the context of sustainability.
Expansion into a global player and world market leader in the field of closure solutions
It is thanks to the visionary Arnold Menshen's vision that MENSHEN established itself on the international markets in the following years and gradually established branches and production sites in the USA, Great Britain, France, Spain, Mexico, China, Switzerland, Russia and Singapore developed. So we were and are close to our customers in order to always be approachable and to be able to produce and deliver flexibly, quickly and reliably. The initial scrap trade grew into a globally active group of companies that today generates sales of around 220 million euros. Since MENSHEN was founded, the company's innovative spirit and proximity to customers have been and continue to be the reasons for its positive and successful development. Many new ideas, new developments and optimizations of existing items have set standards in the packaging industry. New trends and requirements from retailers, customers and also from the legislature were also consistently taken up and implemented. For example, the topics of sustainability, climate and environmental protection are very important and play a major role in new and further developments. And so the values and goals will be continued today and in the future by the company management in the spirit of Arnold Menshen.
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