In the year 1949, the Liebherr family business was created by Hans Liebherr. His first claim to fame was the success of his affordable and easy-to-assemble mobile tower crane. It was upon this invention that the foundation of the company flourished under. Now, Liebherr has grown to become amongst the world's leading manufacturers of construction machines. The company has also gained the reputation of being the accredited provider of user-oriented technically innovative services and products in a variety of fields. The business has now become a "Group" working in every continent with more than 130 companies and more than 35,000 workers across the globe.
In order to guarantee a manageable operating size, the Liebherr Group has been divided into various company units. These units have been designed to operate independently. This particular set up enables the business the ability to be flexible to market signals and stay in tune with worldwide competition. As well, having so many individual company units additionally keeps customer service operating at an optimum level and ensures customer proximity.
Liebherr has instituted the divisional control companies to handle the management operations of sales and production for the individual product segments. The Liebherr Group now has ten different product divisions.
Liebherr-International AG is the Liebherr Group's holding company. They are situated in Bulle, Switzerland and are completely owned by members of the Liebherr family. Currently, the family business is being managed by Dr. H.C. Willi Liebherr and his sister Dr. H.C. Isolde Liebherr in the second generation. Since 2012, several of the active individual divisions have been represented by third generation family members such as: Sophie Albrecht, Jan Liebherr, Stefanie Wohlfarth and Patricia Ruf. These family members have been working hard together to help set up the course of the family business in the future. They are staying on top of residential buildings and large-scale industrial projects all around the globe.
Hans Liebherr started this quest during the year 1949, with his first business in the small South-German town of Kirchdorf/Iller. These days, Kirchdorf is amongst more than 20 key manufacturing sites of the Liebherr Group. They are able to average a yearly output of approximately 2800 wheeled excavators and employ more than 1400 people in that particular workforce. The company has enjoyed diversity and immense growth ever since it first opened its doors. The Liebherr Group continues to remain devoted to engineering and implementing innovative designs. They have earned a positive and successful place within the material handling industry.