A total of four subsidiaries of Wirthwein AG will be renamed on July 1st, 2020, including Riegler GmbH & Co. KG, which will then be called Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG. Wirthwein AG has been intensively preparing the change for months as this step involves different international demands. Altogether companies in three different countries are concerned by the change of name, in Germany, Spain, and the USA, where it concerns both Wirthwein plants in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Marcus Wirthwein explains the reasons for the change of names: “We want to further strengthen our position as leading manufacturer of plastic-based components, assemblies, and systems for innovative key branches“. The international plant managers approached marketing manager Daniela Pfeuffer with the request: ”For many years, our plants want to have ‘Wirthwein’ as part of their company names, which points out that we have made many things right regarding the positioning of the ‘Wirthwein’ brand. In the meantime, the Wirthwein brand has become well known in the plastic branch. It represents a globally active, well-positioned, effective, and innovative family-run business. The two business unit managers Lars Lederer (Automotive) and Klaus Seybold (Home Appliances and Electrical Industry) and their international sales teams consider it crucial for the Wirthwein brand to have a high degree of awareness in the world: ”As a matter of fact, it is really advantageous if potential customers from the USA or Spain find us with the ‘Wirthwein’ search key,” agree the two business unit leaders. Dr. Thomas Jakob, head of the Medical Technology business unit and also general manager of the medical technology company headquartered in Mühltal near Darmstadt, argues in favor of a change of name: “For the business partners of our present Riegler GmbH & Co. KG the ‘Wirthwein‘ brand name implicates that our company belongs to an international group of companies. We hope to gain additional synergies from globally networked projects“.
The change of names in detail
Carolina Technical Plastics Corp. will be renamed to Wirthwein New Bern Corp. The company will remain headquartered in New Bern, North Carolina. It was founded in 2003. Some 100 employees produce plastic components and assemblies for the Automotive, Railway, and Home Appliances business units. As of July 1st, 2020 South Carolina Plastics, LLC will be renamed to Wirthwein Fountain Inn, LLC. The subsidiary was founded in 2012. Some 50 employees mainly produce technical plastic components for the Automotive industry, to a lesser extent also for a long-term Railway customer. Following the logic ‘Wirthwein plus city name’, we also renamed our Spanish company. As of July 1st, 2020 Plásticos Zaragón S.L. will be renamed to Wirthwein Zaragoza S.L. The company was founded in 2012. Some 40 employees produce plastic components for the Automotive, Electrical Industry, and Home Appliances business units.
The 350 employees of Riegler GmbH & Co. KG will take the emotionally biggest step. The company was founded by family Riegler in 1946. Also after Wirthwein AG had purchased the company in 2005 it continued doing business under the name of Riegler GmbH & Co. KG. After 74 years the company will be renamed to Wirthwein Medical GmbH & Co. KG as of July 1st, 2020. The company produces plastic components and packaging means for the Medical Technology, Diagnostics, and Pharmaceutics industries at three different sites in Mühltal/Nieder-Ramstadt and Ober-Ramstadt.
Only the names of the four companies will be changed. Business forms as well as organizational and business structures remain unaffected. Besides, postal codes, telephone numbers, contact persons, terms and conditions, bank accounts, VAT numbers, and the respective registration courts remain the same. However, the e-mail addresses of all employees as well as the homepages will be changed: www.wirthwein.us, www.wirthwein.es, as well as www.wirthwein-medical.com.
We are Wirthwein
The ‘We are Wirthwein’ slogan with which the group of companies represents itself in HR marketing in all six company languages is given further impetus by the change of names. The Wirthwein-Group aims at strengthening the common corporate culture and the sense of community of all employees around the world. “The renaming is particularly important for the individual plants to further strengthen the corporate image of a globally active unit” concludes Frank Wirthwein.