Schott AG
 | |
| Aktiengesellschaft | |
| Industry | Glass |
| Founded | 1884, Jena, Germany |
| Headquarters | Mainz, Germany |
Key people |
Dr. Frank Heinricht (Chairman of the Management Board) |
| Services | Glass Manufacturing |
| Revenue | EUR 1.93 billion (2014/15)[1] |
Number of employees | 15,000 in 35 countries, 5,200 of whom in Germany (2014/15)[1] |
| Slogan | Glass Made of Ideas |
| Website | Schott AG Official Company Website |
Schott AG, founded in Jena in 1884, is a German developer and manufacturer of high-quality industrial specialty glass products. Its main markets are household appliances, pharmaceutical industries, solar energy, electronics, optics, and automotive. According to the 2014/2015 Annual Report, Schott AG employs 15,000 people in 35 countries.[2] Sole shareholder of SCHOTT AG is the foundation Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Germany.
Schott AG manufactures the optical glass components of, for example, Zeiss and Schneider Kreuznach lenses. They also publish the Schott Glass Catalog, a standard reference for the properties of the many optical glasses produced by them and other companies. In 2012, Schott introduced Xensation, a range of break- and scratch-resistant aluminosilicate cover glasses for touch-sensitive electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, said to have 20% higher bending strength than "competitor glass types" (such as Corning Inc. Gorilla Glass).[3][4][5]
According to the 2014/15 Annual Report sales were at 1.93 billion EUR. Schott AG employs 15,400 people in 35 countries.[1]
History
The glass chemist Otto Schott laid the foundation for modern glass science and technology in Jena back in 1884. Together with the congenial Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and his son Roderich Zeiss, he founded the Glastechnisches Laboratorium Schott & Genossen, which would later become Jenaer Glaswerke Schott & Genossen and the today SCHOTT AG. They manufactured new optical glasses for powerful microscopes and telescopes for use in research. By manufacturing heat- and temperature-resistant borosilicate glass, the company extended its range of technical glasses to include laboratory glasses and glasses for lighting applications, among other products. This resulted in fast growth of the company in the early years of rapid industrial expansion in Germany. Later on, the company also manufactured television tubes and entered into the field of photovoltaics
Erich Schott, the son of the company founder, took over the management of the plant in 1927. The company suffered a severe blow at the end of World War II, when American troops brought its management and select experts over to West Germany. This so-called “Odyssey of the 41 Glassmakers” finally ended in Mainz. After the main production plant in Jena was expropriated, Erich Schott opened a new plant in Mainz, the company’s current headquarters, in 1952.
During Germany’s division, there were two independent companies, the VEB Jenaer Glaswerk at the historic site, which would later be integrated into the combine VEB Carl Zeiss Jena and the glassworks in Mainz that traded under the name Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen. After the close cooperation of the two glassworks in the first years following World War II had been cancelled by the GDR in 1953, a worldwide dispute arose over the use of company names and its logo, a square with a circle and the words Jena Glass with a superscript “er,” that continued over several years. The two parties finally reached an agreement in 1981, which allowed the West German company to use the name “Schott” and the square with a circle, while the East German company was permitted to use the term “Jenaer Glass.” In their logo the former circle was then turned into a stylized flame. After the fall of the inner German border in 1989, the company based in Mainz acquired the East German company in Jena. While the state-owned enterprise in Jena (VEB) was integrated into the socialist plan economy of the GDR and ranked as one of Eastern Europe’s most important suppliers of specialty glass, Schott in West Germany established an international group of companies with manufacturing and sales sites located in Europe, America and Asia. The company grew to become a leading manufacturer of specialty glass by introducing new products such as glass components for televisions, glass fibers for light and image conductors, mirror substrates for large telescopes made of Zerodur, cooktop panels made of Ceran, microfluidic and semiconductor components made of the photosensitive glass Foturan, and glass tubes for pharmaceutical packaging and for the use in parabolic trough power plants. After the German Reunification, the two companies in the East and the West could also be reunited again.[6]
SCHOTT Solar
In 2009, Schott inaugurated a US$100 million state-of-the-art solar manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to build receivers for concentrated solar thermal power plants (CSP) and 64 MW of photovoltaic modules. They had already been making 15 MW of photovoltaics annually in Billerica, Massachusetts, until the factory was closed in 2009.[7] In 2008, Schott said that it planned to produce crystalline PV cells and modules with a total of 450 MW annually. It also planned to produce thin-film PV wafers with a capacity of 100 MW.[8][9]
On Friday, June 29, 2012, Schott announced that its Albuquerque plant would close down, laying off all photovoltaic cell manufacturing employees immediately and ramping down the remaining employees over the rest of the summer.[10]
SCHOTT North America
SCHOTT Corporation, with its subsidiary SCHOTT North America, Inc., is the North American headquarter and holding company of the North American subsidiaries of the SCHOTT Group. With 16 divisions and subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, SCHOTT Corporation employs approximately 2,500 people for the manufacture and distribution of specialty glass as well as glass-related materials and systems.[11]
SCHOTT Research and Development
Located in Duryea, PA, SCHOTT’s North America center for Research and Development provides support for SCHOTT business divisions and external customers in science and engineering.[12]
References
- 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2014/15". SCHOTT. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ↑ SCHOTT AG Annual Report 2014/15
- ↑ physnews.com: Gorilla Glass maker unveils ultra-thin and flexible Willow Glass
- ↑ EE Times: Touchscreen glasses tuned for specific application types, 5 December 2011
- ↑ Schott Web site: Xensation
- ↑ Schott corporate history overview
- ↑ Schott Solar to shutter PV module production facility in Billerica, MA
- ↑ Schott AG to build PV production in USA, 21 January 2008
- ↑ http://www.schott.com/solar/english/index.html Website Schott Solar
- ↑ Schott Solar Mesa del Sol Plant To Shut
- ↑ Company facts Schott North America, Inc.
- ↑ SCHOTT North America center for Research and Development
External links
- Official company website
- Official company website US
- Schott Solar May Seek Up to EU700 Million in Initial Offering
- SCHOTT AG Annual Report 2011/12