Company History
From a family business to an international corporation
1990
In 1990, the company was founded as Alba Werkzeug- und Formenbau GmbH by Helmut Naue on the site of a former mining company in Forstau, Austria. Alba started business operations with 8 employees.
1991
1995
1998
The purchase of a highly dynamic milling machine was an important step for Alba to carry out all machine activities on the premises. The design department switched to innovative 3D CAD systems. From this point on, it was possible to manufacture even more complex machine components.
1999
By establishing its own model making department, models and casting equipment for casting the moulds could now be manufactured in-house. The introduction of a quality management system according to ISO 9001 in 1999 supported regulated processes and transparent, defined processes and thus promoted the continuous further development of our high quality standard.
2000
The capacity of the model construction in Forstau was expanded by the extension of the workshop building. Due to continuous further development, investments were made in a 5-axis milling machine and another die-sinking EDM machine. The acquisition of a 3D coordinate measuring machine made it possible to check the quality standard of the manufactured components according to 3D data.
2001
A sales office in Germany (Lübbecke, currently Bissendorf near Osnabrück) was founded in order to provide our customers on the German market with the best possible service. At the Forstau site, Alba built a large assembly hall with 10-t crane system to offer larger projects and to expand its product range in vehicle interior technology. At the same time, further investments were being made in the area of milling technology.
New locations were established
2003
Foundation of the production facilities in Radstadt, Austria with the focus on prototype and spare parts production. The Alba site in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia was opened.
2004
The production facilities in Surany, Slovakia to support the production of seat moulds and to expand the production capacity of seat tools and creation of machine components was put into operation.
2005
The opening of a branch in Ningbo, China expanded the offering on the Asian market. The Alba site in Germany was relocated from Lübbecke to Kirchlengern into a new hall complex.
2009
In order to develop the growing markets in India, in 2009 Alba founded a joint venture in New Delhi.
2010
At the Radstadt site, the division was expanded to include pressing technology and composites.
2012
The German Alba headquarters was moved from Kirchlengern to the technology centre in Bissendorf near Osnabrück.
2013
In 2013, a large assembly hall (1000 sqm) with a 16-t overhead crane including a technical centre and an office building for design and development in Forstau was added.
2014
In order to offer our customers an international network on the American market as well, a branch office was founded in Livonia (Detroit), USA. The site of the branch in China was moved from Ningbo to Shanghai to generate even closer customer proximity.
2015
At the Alba site in Slovenia, Slovenj Gradec, a large, modern production and administration building with 1900 square metres was built over 3 floors. Thanks to the new machine construction assembly hall, it was possible to assemble large production systems in-house and, in addition, to continue to meet the growing quality requirements with the new engineering centre.
2016
To be ready for the future, Alba invested heavily in its headquarters in Forstau where an additional 1200 square metres of assembly, storage and logistics space were built. The new 700m2 Engineering Tower, with state-of-the-art administration and meeting facilities, serves as a competence centre for research and development.
This year also saw the company's certification according to ISO 14001 because sustainable action and active environmental protection are very important concerns for Alba.
2016
The establishment of the branch in Querétaro, Mexico, as a service site, is contributing to the more efficient handling and support of international projects on-site.
2018
To expand our site in the USA, the Livonia branch will move to Macomb (Detroit). Larger premises and two technical centre facilities are available here.
2019
2020
We proudly look back on 30 years of successful existence and growth in a highly competitive industry. This success is only possible through the tireless efforts of the entire team.
