History

1931

Carl Kurt Walther founds the company in Wuppertal with the WALTHER-TROWAL division. It focuses on the manufacture and sale of machinery, systems and processes for surface finishing through vibration or slide grinding, which has become known globally as Trowalizing (TROWAL® = TROmmel WALther).

1951

WALTHER-PRÄZISION was founded during the 50s to meet the demands made by the company founder for a quick connector for the connection and disconnection of supply lines for a range of production machines manufactured by his company Carl Kurt Walther, Wuppertal.
Convinced of the technical and economic advantages, the first range of couplings was launched on the German market in 1951. Even back in those days, the couplings already satisfied the very highest quality requirements with many of these "first generation" products still working perfectly today.

Factory 2 and Factory 3, Wuppertal-Vohwinkel

1955

Relocation to a modern administration building with production sites and a significantly larger development and testing department in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel.

1961

Extension of the administration building and erection of warehouses, after considerably increased business volume.

1965

Purchase of a site and erection of additional factories with office building for design, production and storage at the Wuppertal site.

1966

Development and delivery of the first clean-break mono-couplings for fuelling the European launch vehicle, predecessor of the subsequent ARIANE 1.

1967

Development and delivery of manually operated 52way multi-couplings, used on a test bench by Rolls-Royce for jet engines.

1968

Delivery of further developed mechanically operated multi-couplings to Rolls-Royce for jet engine test benches.

1970

WALTHER-PRÄZISION manufactures mono-couplings for medical apparatus technology, for use in dialysis and heart-lung machines.

1972

Delivery of mono-couplings for engine hydraulics in the multipurpose combat aircraft TORNADO.

1973

Electrically codable mono-couplings prevent confusion and reliably indicate the connection status of pipe systems in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry.

1974

Production sites relocated to the Haan - Ost Industrial Park on the A46, with its good transport links. Foundation of the first English subsidiary.

1975

WALTHER-PRÄZISION fits nuclear research plants with mono-couplings and multi-couplings, partly already with metal seals, for radioactive environments.

1977

Foundation of a second English subsidiary

1980

The first German nuclear power plants are fitted with mono-couplings.

1982

Multi-couplings, made from seawater-resistant stainless steel, are used on drilling platforms for hydraulic operation of the drilling tools under water.

1983

Robot tool changers used in automotive production, e.g. in bodywork construction for program-controlled changing of welding pliers and grippers.

1984

Foundation of the French subsidiary.
Foundation of the subsidiary in the USA.

1985

Further relocation of more production and office units to the Haan - Ost industrial park, closely located to the A46.

1990

Development and delivery of detachable test connections for nuclear power plants in order to check the cooling water for radioactivity.

1992

Introduction of a DIN EN ISO 9001 quality management system.

1993

WALTHER-PRÄZISION supplies mono-couplings (Fill and Drain System) with documented production for ARIANE 5.

1995

The monocouplings with metal seals used in the offshore area undergo considerable further development in order to decisively extend the lifetimes of the fittings when used underwater.

1996

In the International Space Station, or ISS, Columbus, mono-couplings are supplied to cool the onboard equipment (Cooling System of Electrical Equipment). The European Science Laboratory docked with the International Space Station in February 2008.

1997

Development and delivery of mono-couplings for deep-sea use (depths of 3,000 metres), which prevent water from penetrating the hydraulic system, even when uncoupled.

1999

6,000-bar high-pressure hydraulic couplings shorten fitting times when connecting the energy supply to forming dies used in series production.

2000

Head office and the overwhelming part of the production relocates from Wuppertal to the neighbouring Haan-Ost / Rheinland Industrial Park on the A46, with its good transport links, into buildings erected additionally. All jobs are retained.

Headquarters and Production Facilities, Haan

2001

Erection of an automatic high-bay storage facility in order to increase flexibility and to reduce delivery times substantially.

2005

WALTHER-PRÄZISION delivers the world's first 850 bar refuelling coupling to Linde GAS GmbH and Adam Opel GmbH (GM) for the 700 bar refuelling of hydrogen-powered cars.

2007

Innovative low-temperature couplings are supplied for research projects in the automotive industry, to enable the refuelling with liquid hydrogen at -253 °C.

2009

Mounting couplings replace screw joints in and on automotive industry and engineering products. In addition to the space-saving design, mounting times are considerably shortened.

2013

PETROBRAS center for research and development awarded the "Intelligent Dual Hot Stab" designed for deep-sea oil production with the Innovation Award.