The story
Beginnings
In 1948, Alois Gruber senior founded a locksmith business in Bad Hall and an anodizing plant in Grünburg. In the 1950s, the locksmith business was dissolved to focus on anodizing, which was expanded by a powder coating and a wet paint shop. This knowledge is summarized today in AGRU Oberflächentechnik GmbH, in Grünburg, Upper Austria. AGRU Oberflächentechnik GmbH operates independently from agru Kunststofftechnik Gesellschaft m.b.H., but is under the same management.
Plastic technology
In 1961, Alois Gruber senior laid the foundations of AGRU's future in engineered plastics with the decision to begin production of plastic pipes. In the following years, production was expanded. First, with the introduction of polypropylene and polyethylene pipes, and later with the production of fittings, plates, bars, and welding rods made of different engineered plastics. Pipes with different diameters are the main part of production. The pipes can also be installed trenchless. For a project in Germany, AGRULINE large diameter pipes with OD 1400 mm were installed for the first time with the horizontal directional drilling method.
Injection moulding
By 1966, AGRU's first injection molding machines were in operation producing fittings for pipeline construction, making AGRU one of the first manufacturers in Europe to supply pipes and fittings from their own production facilities. The productivity gain during manufacturing was significant. Up to this point, fittings were segmented and required pipes to be welded together. In contrast, injection-moulded plastic fittings have no weld seams inside (seams serve as a braking mechanism for flowing media), creating superior flow characteristics in the complete pipeline system. Finally, by producing the pipes from one mould pressure resistance can be increased.
Internationalization
In 1988, AGRU established its first production location outside of Austria in Boston, Massachusetts. This marked the beginning of the international expansion of the family business. Then, in 1991, AGRU-FRANK GmbH was founded in Wölfersheim, Germany in cooperation with the German sales partner FRANK GmbH. In 1996, AGRU America moved its United States’ production site from Boston to Georgetown, South Carolina.
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Further development
In 1997, AGRU started the production of electro-socket fittings. This was done by taking the heating wire, and the electro socket, and pouring or plastering it into specially designed fittings.
Company expansion
In 1998, Alois Gruber, the son of the company founder, began managing the AGRU business. The headquarters location in Bad Hall was expanded for the first time since its founding. And after the turn of the millennium, AGRU set up plant III and IV at the headquarters. In addition, AGRU expanded its international production sites as joint ventures in Poland, China, and the United States. With these new production sites, AGRU could begin producing large-diameter pipes of up to 2,500 mm in 2012.
In 2016, AGRU constructed plant V, an ISO class 5 clean-room production facility, setting a new industry standard for the production of pipe systems for ultrapure media applications. The new pipes are now distributed under the PURAD brand and are designed for high-tech applications where purity, leaching performance, and chemical resistance are prerequisites. Application areas include microelectronics, life science and the food industry as well as ultrapure water systems in different sectors.
From Wikipedia’s article on AGRU Kunststofftechnik, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4