When the American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon on 20 July 1969, the spectacle was watched on television by over 500 million people. Only insiders are privy to the fact that high-tech components from the city of Wuppertal which were used on board Apollo 11 contributed to the successful completion of the space mission.
More specifically, the inertial navigation which made it possible for the lunar module to land accurately was fitted out with extremely precise miniature bearings that had been machined by Thielenhaus using Microfinish machines.
Numerous other examples of technical brilliance from the automotive, anti-friction bearing, aviation, aerospace and medical engineering industries would have been inconceivable had it not been for Ernst Thielenhaus, the son of the company’s founder, who was developing an advanced method for surface finishing and had filed numerous patents back in the 1950s.
With the development and continual improvement of the Microfinish process, Thielenhaus Technologies GmbH – a traditional company founded in 1909 and based in Wuppertal – has surpassed the competition to become the global leader in precision machine tools for surface precision machining.
The traditional Koellmann brand name, established in Leipzig in 1904, has been part of the globally-operating group of companies since 1955, and is seen as one of the leading German providers of highly durable standard and specialist gear systems as well as diaphragm compressors for the production of oil-free compressed air.
Thielenhaus Technologies has received numerous awards for its business activities. The company has been listed by the publication “Manager Magazin” as one of the 1000 German global leaders. Furthermore, the company was honoured by the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia in the “Germany at its Best” location marketing campaign as one of the 100 top performers in the category Technology/Innovation, with a listing in the book that was subsequently published.
