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    20.11.2009 - 125 years of Richard Abr. Herder – 125 years of quality

    In 1884, Richard Abr. Herder established a company in his own name in Solingen. Business activity officially commenced with the entry of the company name into the commercial register on 19th November 1884.
    The company started out by manufacturing cutlery, particularly knives and scissors, for which the blanks were produced on a forging hammer rented in the Solingen district of Lochbachtal. From 1887, these products were sold under the “Karo-As” label. The company’s business premises in the initial years were the private rooms of the Herder couple, together with adjoining workshops. The largest market for these products at that time was the Netherlands, and this gave the company access to the Dutch colonies of the time. This quickly spread the name of the Solingen-based manufacturer in South East Asia and in South America.
    Herder soon outgrew its premises, and so a new factory, with offices, was built in Rathausstrasse in Solingen, which started production in 1892. Other product segments were added following the end of World War I, including the manufacture of drop-forged parts for rapidly expanding car production. High-quality hand tools were also introduced into the production range which, in 1921, was renamed RAHSOL (Richard Abr. Herder SOLingen).
    Then, as now, quality took top priority. Right from the early phases of the company’s existence, there were thorough quality controls at all stages of manufacture. The company received DIN ISO 9001 certification in 1996. Compliance with rigorous mandates for the quality management system is monitored in regular audits.
    Over a period of time, the focus of attention shifted away from cutlery to tools – in particular measuring instruments. The breakthrough came in the fifties, when Herder employees developed the “DREMOMETER”, the first breaking torque wrench with a light alloy body. Entering production only in the mid-sixties, the DREMOMETER has been continuously developed and improved. Its accuracy and strength has been frequently copied, but never matched. To this day, it remains incomparable in torque technology and is manufactured entirely in Solingen. In 2008, the torque wrench was ranked second in the “Busse Longlife Design Award” – presented to products with a long, successful market track record. It focuses on values such as durability, long life and economy – values that are particularly important in today’s society. These extremely rugged torque wrenches are used particularly in mining, wind power generation and automotive applications.
    In 1972, Richard Abr. Herder was absorbed into the GEDORE Group as a production company. This added an expert tool specialist to the Group that has become a world leader in torque technology. In recent years, many new products have been added to this segment under the brand label RAHSOL DREMOTEC. Both electronic and mechanical torque wrenches are produced in Solingen for application ranges from 1 to 3000 Nm. The product range also includes microprocessor-controlled electronic torque wrenches, including the “E-TORC” and the “E-TP”, an electronic instrument for checking torque wrenches.
    GEDORE SOLUTIONS is the brand name used for custom solutions for the automotive industry and suppliers, aircraft and mechanical engineering and other sectors of industry, where the emphasis is on process-reliable bolting technology. The technical field service staff of Herder visit potential customers to establish their individual needs. Custom solutions are then developed in the in-house research and development department.
    From early 2009, products of Richard Abr. Herder KG have been sold under the parent brand, GEDORE, while the Solingen location is retained as a key production facility within the Group, consistently adhering to the corporate philosophy of products made in Germany.

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