A.S.T. Anlagenbau und Systemtechnik GmbH celebrates its anniversary. For 30 years, the Thuringian company has been supplying customers throughout Europe with various systems in the field of surface finishing.
The new building completed in 1995 in the Gehren industrial areaThesuccess story of A.S.T. began on April 1, 1991 in a proverbial garage in Gehren. The three founding fathers had been employed in the electroplating department of the former Ilmenau "Kombinat Mikroelektronik" company for over 15 years before reunification. This company could not be continued in its current structure, so Uwe Strack, Alfred Leicht and Fritz Sperlich decided to found A.S.T. GmbH & Co KG in cooperation with a company from what was then West Germany.
The starting conditions were extremely difficult for the new founders. They had no name in the plant engineering industry and no references. The founding years of A.S.T. were characterized by modernization or the conversion of existing systems as well as system construction with a focus on ultrasonic cleaning.
At the same time, however, the company began to focus on developing engineering for complete electroplating systems. More and more customers placed their trust in the newly founded company for the construction of complete systems, including automatic machines. This development was so rapid that, in connection with the change of name to A.S.T. Anlagenbau und Systemtechnik GmbH, the new company building in the Gehren industrial estate was inaugurated in September 1995.
Complete systems including automatic machines
These significantly improved production conditions and organizational requirements laid the foundations for the company's continued successful development. A.S.T. now counts numerous internationally renowned companies among its customers. These include, for example, Montblanc, Glashütte Uhrenbetriebe and the Austrian company Swarovski Optik. A.S.T. is proud to have received the B+T Excellence Award 2017 from the B+T Group in recognition of its many years of cooperation as a supplier of state-of-the-art systems for electroplating and surface treatment.
Saxonia4 system
Swaro system
The continuous further development of technical solutions and consistent use of state-of-the-art technology at a competitive price level guarantee high system availability and low operating costs. Together with ICOM Automation from Ilmenau, software was also developed to control the modern machines.
Completing the generation change
The generational change in the company has been completed step by step in recent years. Managing Director Dipl.-Ing. Mattes Lauenstein, now also a partner in the company, and Dipl.-Ing. Falk Gerhards have succeeded in further developing existing customer relationships and acquiring new customers. In addition, further specialists have been recruited who have been introduced to the diverse tasks in plant engineering and thus strengthen the team. It is above all thanks to the 25 A.S.T. employees that major projects have been successfully realized both inside and outside Germany, even under the difficult conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Founders Uwe Strack, Alfred Leicht, Fritz Sperlich
Trade fair appearance at the Hannover Messe
Generation change: Mattes Lauenstein, Falk Gerhards
In addition to personnel changes, A.S.T. has also invested in expanding its production capacities to ensure its continued successful development. A new 500m2 production hall was built on the existing site in 2017. It complements the existing production facility, particularly in the area of prefabrication. A 3.2 t overhead crane, state-of-the-art welding technology and a completely redesigned social area are just some of the focal points of the investment. The construction of the new production hall was accompanied by extensive renovations to the administrative offices. This was also the prerequisite for strengthening the design department with new employees and state-of-the-art 3D CAD technology.
With all these changes, A.S.T. Anlagenbau und Systemtechnik GmbH considers itself to be very well positioned to meet the demands of the future and to continue to be a reliable partner for its customers in the field of surface technology.
