20 years Gebrüder Leonhardt - Blema Kircheis

Both the brand and heritage of BLEMA / Erdmann Kircheis stood at the edge of its existence in 1996 after two failed privatisation attempts. However, the entrepreneurial Leonhardt brothers eventually rescued the firm in the following year, 1997.

This necessitated a start from scratch; a reorientation towards the development of innovative processes and competitive products, an expansion of a worldwide sales and service network as well as the establishment of a modern manufacturing infrastructure. As a consequence, new global customers and leading-edge projects could be successfully acquired and realised. Today, all employees and owners can proudly revert to a successful 20-year history.

We want to express a grateful thank you to all firms that have accompanied us on our path – which of course was not always easy. Exemplarily, we want to mention Sonoco (former Weidenhammer), Silgan White Cap and US Can (now Ball Corp.) that facilitated our restart with the assignment of novel projects. These partnerships enabled us not only to re-enter, but also to gain a foothold in the global competitive market for high-speed machines and lines for both metal and composite packaging.

We always considered the visions of our customers as catalyst and indeed prerequisite for our economic existence. We believe that this was a key success factor supporting our constant development that was equally shaped by risks and opportunities. A recent and influential highlight was the effective acquisition and integration of the Christian Majer GmbH portfolio from Manz AG in October 2015. This decisive step transformed us in a way that we are now a reliable supplier for complete composite packaging lines.

Again, we want to say thank you to all former as well as new partners and employees that have shaped our last 20 years. We wish you all the best and hope that we will create the future together with you as we did in the past.

Uwe Leonhardt / CEO