wedi

A quick look at 40 years of wedi history

Our company's history

The company started production in September 1983 under the name "wedi-Wannenbauelemente GmbH" specialising in bath construction elements. 40 years have gone by since then.

Discover how our company has developed over time and how we have become what we are today: wedi!

The 1980s

Sep. 1983

Sep. 1983 The company starts production under the name "wedi-Wannenbauelemente GmbH" in a 250m² tent on Kolpingstraße.

Jan. 1984

Jan. 1984 The structure for the business in North Germany is in place and is expanded rapidly. The range of products which are delivered comprises of bathtub components, pipe cladding boxes and profiles.

Apr. 1985

Apr. 1985 wedi-Wannenbauelemente GmbH exhibits at the "Constructa" trade fair in Hannover for the first time.

Mar. 1986

Mar. 1986 The presentation of wedi products also finds a place in customer exhibitions.

Jul. 1986

Jul. 1986 wedi closes the last gap in sales in South Germany and is now represented all over Germany.

Jan. 1987

Jan. 1987 The wedi building board gets its blue core, the extruded polystyrene rigid foam from DOW.

May 1988

May 1988 wedi starts up a production area of 500 m² in Greven-Reckenfeld, Germany, which is expanded to 2000 m² in July.

Jan. 1989

Jan. 1989 The coating facility in Greven-Reckenfeld is complete and begins operation.

The 1990s

Feb. 1990

Feb. 1990 A further 2000 m² are added to the premises in Greven-Reckenfeld for production and administration.

Jun. 1990

Jun. 1990 The continually high demand means that production is now carried out in three shifts.

Mar. 1991

Mar. 1991 Following a decision made in the general meeting on the 7^th March, the company's name is changed from "wedi-Wannenbauelemente GmbH" to "wedi GmbH".

Dec. 1991

Dec. 1991 The cutting facility is constructed and begins work.

Oct. 1992

Oct. 1992 wedi's premises in Greven-Reckenfeld now cover a total area of 7,000m².

Feb. 1993

Feb. 1993 The set up of the show room which presents the product range begins in the administration department at the Kolpingstraße premises.

Sep. 1993

Sep. 1993 wedi celebrates the ten year anniversary at its premises in Greven-Reckenfeld.

Jun. 1994

Jun. 1994 As a holding company with the Belgian company Ravago, RW Bautech Kft. is founded in Budapest.

Oct. 1995

Oct. 1995 The first stage of building work in the trading estate in the south of Emsdetten is completed.

Apr. 1996

Apr. 1996 wedi obtains the DIN EN ISO 9001 certificate for its quality management systems.

Jun. 1996

Jun. 1996 The first edition of the company newspaper "wediwelt" [wedi world] is published.

Oct. 1996

Oct. 1996 Twenty cubic meters of "wedi XDRY" lightweight screed are sent to Singapore by ship. A further twenty cubic metres follow in spring 1997.

Jan. 1997

Jan. 1997 The second stage of construction at the site on Hollefeldstraße is complete and ready to move into.

Apr. 1997

Apr. 1997 wedi welcomes the Mühl group to the launch of its customer training.

Sep. 1997

Sep. 1997 Eighty "Series 3000" partition wall cabins are delivered to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.

Nov. 1997

Nov. 1997 The 31-year-old qualified business administrator Stephan Wedi becomes part of the wedi management team.

Feb. 1998

Feb. 1998 wedi is represented at the "BAUTEC" trade fair in Berlin over 180 square metres and presents the "wedi Fundo" floor-level shower base.

Apr. 1998

Apr. 1998 Stephan Wedi is appointed managing director of wedi GmbH with sole power of representation.

Jul. 1998

Jul. 1998 On 12^th July, the "boss" and founder of the company, Helmut Wedi passes away after a short and serious illness.

May 1999

May 1999 On 7^th May, Friedhelm Ognibeni, who had accompanied Helmut Wedi for a long time and was head of sales at wedi GmbH, dies during a company football match.

Jun. 1999

Jun. 1999 The new wedi brochures with a new design are published under the slogan "wedi - that fits".

From 2000 onwards

Feb. 2000

Feb. 2000 The wedi France headquarters is opened in Lyon.

Sep. 2000

Sep. 2000 During the mayor's tour, around 700 seniors from Emsdetten stop for coffee and cake at the wedi plant on Hollefeldstraße.

Jan. 2001

Jan. 2001 At the BAU trade fair in Munich, wedi presents completely new bathroom solutions with the special "wedidee" range.

Oct. 2001

Oct. 2001 wedi exhibits at the "Cersaie" trade fair in Bologna for the first time.

Jul. 2002

Jul. 2002 After the recertification process is passed successfully, the scope of validity of the DIN EN ISO 9001 standard is extended for wedi.

Nov. 2002

Nov. 2002 All of wedi's European partners meet at the two-day wedi Export Conference to exchange information.

Mar. 2003

Mar. 2003 48 employees visit the wedi trade fair stand at the "ISH" in Frankfurt at the wedi management team's invitation.

Sep. 2003

Sep. 2003 wedi is 20 and turns its birthday into a "wedi family day" to which all of wedi's employees' families are also invited.

Feb. 2004

Feb. 2004 The yearly sum of 2,500 Euro from the "wedicef" fund goes to the Deutsch-Russischer Förderverein, an organisation for German-Russian relations, in Bad Homburg for the third time.

Oct. 2004

Oct. 2004 wedi sends its exclusive folder "Gefühlte Welten" [Worlds of Sensations] to 6,231 hotels across the whole of Europe.

Mar. 2005

Mar. 2005 The opening of the wedi showroom is the launch for a three-day press event with the title "Alle Kunst ist Maß" [All Art is Standard].

Apr. 2005

Apr. 2005 The specialist magazine "Schwimmbad & Sauna" [Swimming Pool & Sauna] awards wedi the "Golden Wave" for its building board cladding of the calcium jacuzzi in Bad Wörishofen in Germany.

Dec. 2005

Dec. 2005 The construction work on the new wedi logistics centre is complete.

Jun. 2006

Jun. 2006 wedi's departments for sales, marketing and exhibit/pattern construction move into the building which used to belong to the company Gardisette on Hollefeldstraße.

Oct. 2006

Oct. 2006 wedi hosts the eighth Emsdetten Company Forum.

May 2007

May 2007 wedi logistics' HGV fleet has been given a new look - and the tried and tested wedi specialist store concept has a new branch: the shelf for specialist plumbing stores.

Nov. 2007

Nov. 2007 At the company's general meeting, Stephan Wedi presents wedi GmbH's main goals: ensuring a competitive edge and achieving new sales records.

Sep. 2008

Sep. 2008 1. The first spade is put in the ground as a new building is built at Hollefeldstraße 51 as the former Gardisette building gets a mirror-image extension

Sep. 2008

Sep. 2008 wedi celebrates its 25th year internationally with the "Nacht der Stars" [Night of the Stars]

Jan. 2009

Jan. 2009 wedi introduces its new corporate design during the BAU trade fair.

May 2009

May 2009 The management and sales departments move into new offices in the new building on Hollefeldstraße

Aug. 2009

Aug. 2009 The I-Board which is used as cladding for front wall installations for toilets is successfully introduced to the market.

Oct. 2009

Oct. 2009 wedi takes part in the business day in Emsdetten and shows a good 2,000 interested visitors around the production halls in just one day.

From 2010 onwards

Jan. 2010

Jan. 2010 wedi gets a box at Schalke's football stadium and offers its customers an unforgettable football experience

Apr. 2010

Apr. 2010 wedi offers its own bathroom planning programme for installers, the wedi bathroom planner

Jun. 2010

Jun. 2010 wedi buys wedi UK

Oct. 2010

Oct. 2010 The idea of wedi experts/wedi W.I.P.s is born and has been implemented successfully internationally today

May 2011

May 2011 wedi UK's roadshow truck takes to the road.

Jul. 2011

Jul. 2011 wedi sponsors the artist Victor Lopez Gonzales with BA Construct; he builds a 2.50m high Schengen pool which is put up in Leipzig for a time (Via Reggia Sculptura)

Aug. 2011

Aug. 2011 wedi is seen on television for the first time as the building board is used on "Einsatz in 4 Wänden" [Mission within 4 Walls]

Nov. 2011

Nov. 2011 wedi has its own YouTube channel and gets to work broadcasting processing films.

Jan. 2012

Jan. 2012 the flattest wedi shower in the world is introduced: Fundo Plano. By 2013, the floor element is already a big hit.

Mar. 2012

Mar. 2012 wedi buys Thumag in Switzerland.

May 2012

May 2012 wedi establishes wedi Polska.

Oct. 2012

Oct. 2012 wedi buys wedi Italia.

Jan. 2013

Jan. 2013 wedi begins its 30^th year.

Jan. 2013

Jan. 2013 The Fundo shower bases get flatter and flatter: the first floor element for wooden floors with an outside area of only 20mm, "Fundo Ligno", comes onto the market.

Jan. 2013

Aptly timed for the Bau trade fair, the homepage for Germany, France, UK and the Benelux countries was relaunched.

Apr. 2013

Fundo Plano is awarded the special innovation prize at the specialist trade fair Altenpflege.

Jun. 2013

The Fundo groups Plano and Riolito are complemented with further formats.

Jan. 2014

Following the success Fundo Plano, wedi adds a complete system with linear drainage to its product range: Fundo Plano Linea.

Apr. 2014

The Italian and Danish homepages are also relaunched.

May 2014

The German news channel n-tv selects wedi to receive its “Hidden Champion“ Award in the categories brand, sustainability and social responsibility.

Sep. 2014

The new drain grates for the Fundo elements with point drainage are presented at the Cersaie trade fair.

Oct. 2014

New web design for the USA.

Jan. 2015

With the introduction of the new floor element Fundo Riolito Neo, the drain channel moved directly into the wall.

Feb. 2015

Introduction of Fundo shower kits for the creation of a corner shower that is level with the floor.

Jun. 2015

wedi products receive the CE mark and are approved as a sealing system for wet rooms.

Jul. 2015

wedi products receive the VOC label, meaning that they do not present any health risk and cause very low amounts of emissions.

Nov. 2015

Fabian Rechlin becomes Managing Director.

Jan. 2016

For shower design purposes, further prefabricated elements were added to the product range: Sanoasa bench 1-3, corner seat and niches

Jan. 2017

The first standard-compliant complete system is launched onto the market: Fundo Integro. The prefabricated elements are complemented with two new niche formats and the Sanoasa bench 4. The drains for the Fundos with linear drainage were also standardised.

Mar. 2017

The Fundo Integro complete system receives the Plus X-Award

May 2017

The Sanwell wall element with niche is launched:

Nov. 2017

wedi finishes second at “Architects Darling Award 2017“ in the category “Tile-Laying Accessories”

Dec. 2017

Our Denmark team moves into new offices

Jun. 2018

Eröffnung einer neuen Produktionslinie in den USA

Factory Tour - Welcome to Emsdetten, Germany

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