2020 was a special year for all of us - for Bauer it also meant celebrating a significant anniversary: 90 years ago, Rudolf Bauer established a small mechanical workshop on 70 square meters in Voitsberg and thus laid the foundation for the now internationally successful Bauer Group.
At the end of the 1930s, Rudolf Bauer accomplished the first great breakthrough with the development of a high-speed piston pump. This high-pressure slurry pump offered the same capacity with only third of the weight of comparable pump sets and was soon in operation throughout the entire alpine region. Then things came thick and fast: In 1947, Rudolf Bauer made the invention that was of vital importance for the further development and expansion of the company: the Bauer lever closure coupling (HK). This water, air and pressure tight quick coupling system is patented all over the world. In the 1960s, the first Bauer slurry tanks left the factory, in 1970 the Rainstar hose reel machine rolled off the assembly line for the first time and revolutionized the irrigation sector. Ten years later, Bauer launched the pivot and linear systems.
Over the decades, the initially small workshop has turned into a global company that sells its irrigation and slurry products around the world. Bauer machines are currently irrigating over 2.5 million hectares from Sweden to Tierra del Fuego. Countless slurry tankers, separators and pumps make the work of tens of thousands of farmers around the world easier. The headquarters of the Bauer Group are located in Voitsberg, around 230 kilometres south-west of Vienna, and cover a total area of almost 115,000m². Recently, the headquarters have undergone a fundamental general and thermal renovation. "Since the completion of our photovoltaic system, our power supply has been one hundred percent CO2-neutral," explains Managing Director Otto Roiss proudly. Roiss joined Bauer 20 years ago and, together with partners, took over the company himself in 2003 through a management buyout. He completely realigned the company.
The acquisition of the Bavarian company Eckart Maschinenbau marked the beginning of an ambitious expansion course. In the years that followed, other companies such as the separator specialist FAN Separator GmbH. or BSA GmbH., manufacturer of slurry equipment and located in Upper Franconia, have been integrated into the current Bauer Group.
Even in the currently challenging times, Bauer has proven to be consistently successful and crisis-proof. Thanks to digital media, the dialogue with international dealers and customers is easily maintained. Especially in the last few months, the importance of agriculture has become clear to everyone: Bauer is proud that its products are making a contribution to securing people's food supply.
In the course of its long history, Bauer naturally had to overcome a number of lows and acquire effective crisis management strategies, which is now proving to be the ideal tool for future challenges. It is certain that Otto Roiss has big plans for Bauer in the decades to come: “We will carry on our historic progress. We want to continue growing around the world, not just by expanding our markets territorially, but rather by developing new and innovative products.” These plans are based on an indisputable universal law: agriculture is indispensable. And that is just as true today as it was 90 years ago.
1930-2020
