Fischerwerke

One of the first commercial inventions of Artur Fischer was the synchronous camera flash which was sold to Agfa. In 1958 Artur Fischer designed the first plastic S-Plug which enables screws to be fastened into masonry substrate. Strong demand meant the company expanded rapidly and within three years the first subsidiaries were founded in Brazil and France. Originally intended as a novelty Christmas gift, fischertechnik was launched commercially in 1965.

In 1980 Klaus Fischer took over management of the company from his father and expanded the company seven-fold with moves such as the 1981 launch of the CBOX in-car cassette holder (later becoming the separate division fischer automotive), and the 1993 acquisition of Upat which expanded the range of chemical and steel anchors.

More recently Joerg Fischer has taken the roles of CEO and Chairman thus passing management of the company to the third generation of the family. At his own request, Joerg Fischer left the company in 2012. In 2018, Marc-Sven Mengis became CEO of fischer.

Overview and operations

fischer operates 53 subsidiaries in 35 countries worldwide. fischer products are available in countries without a direct subsidiary through a network of importers.

The company manufactures mostly in Germany (multiple locations), but it also operates manufacturing plants in Brazil, Argentina, China, Italy, America, Czechia and Serbia.

The company holds 2,043 patents and registered 13.83 patent applications per 1,000 employees in 2010 (national average: 0.55) which is amongst the highest in Germany.

The majority of the company's turnover comes from the fixings industry. Over 15.5m fischer plugs and anchors are sold worldwide every day.