Stihl

Andreas Stihl AG & Co.
Private Corporation
Industry Forestry equipment, Landscape maintenance
Founded 1926
Headquarters Waiblingen, Germany
Key people
 Nikolas Stihl (chairman of Stihl Holding AG & Co. KG
Eva Stihl (vice chairperson)
Products Industrial chainsaws, string trimmers, cultivators, cut-off saws, leaf blowers, construction tools, edgers, pole pruners, augers/drills & protective apparel
Revenue €3.458 billion (2016)[1]
Number of employees
 14,920 (2016)
Website Stihl.com

Andreas Stihl AG & Company KG ("pronounced like steel"[2]) is a German manufacturer of chainsaws and other handheld power equipment including trimmers and blowers. Their headquarters are in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, near Stuttgart, Germany. Stihl was founded in 1926 by Andreas Stihl, an important innovator in early chain saw production. Stihl claims to be the world's best-selling brand of chain saws, and the only chain saw manufacturer to make its own saw chains and guide bars.[3] Andreas Stihl AG is a privately held company owned by the descendants of Andreas Stihl.

Company history

Andreas Stihl designed and hand built the first chainsaw in 1926. The saw was electrically powered, and weighed about 64 kg. The Stihl name soon became popular, and also became synonymous with professional grade chainsaws and soon became the number-one selling chainsaw company in the world, a title that the company retains to this day. Stihl growth was slow initially, as the chainsaws hit the market about the same time as the Great Depression; with manpower cheap, and old two-man saws proven, there was no need for power saws. The early saws were very heavy, and often needed two men to operate them. Some outfits had a wheeled generator which had a power cord to run to the electric saw. Stihl saws were used by the Wehrmacht, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia, where timber was cut for defensive positions.

After the war, the availability of cheap, strong aluminum, better designs, and more powerful engines meant that the Stihl saw came into its own.

During the 70's while building chainsaws, Stihl entered the weedtrimmer\brushcutter market contracting a Japanese company as their supplier for several years until Stihl had their own model to build themselves.

Expansion

In the mid-1970s Stihl expanded the company by building manufacturing plants in Brazil and in the United States. Much of the increased demand came from the construction and landscaping markets. Along with the professional markets, Stihl designed a number of home-use equipment, like blowers, line trimmers, edgers, and chainsaws. In 2008, the newest Stihl production facility opened in Qingdao, China.[4] In December 2008, Stihl acquired the carburetor producer Zama to safeguard the supply and to enter a new business segment with growth potential.[5]

Stihl Incorporated

Incorporated in Delaware, Stihl Inc. is the US subsidiary of Stihl International GmbH and is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Construction of the facilities there began in 1974. Along with the manufacturing facilities, there are also warehouses and administration buildings at the 150 acre complex. Stihl Inc. employs almost 2,000 employees on 2 million square feet of buildings. Stihl International GmbH is a subsidiary of Andreas Stihl AG & Company KG.

References

  1. ↑ Stihl-Daten und Fakten (German)
  2. ↑ "Stihl USA FAQ". Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  3. ↑ "STIHL Corporate Culture" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  4. ↑ "Shandong Provincial Government Delegation visited STIHL Qingdao". Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  5. ↑ STIHL AG & Co. KG. "Stihl press release". stihl.com. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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