With the founding of Kugler Automation by Walter Kugler in June, 1962, the foundation for the present-day company history was laid. Appropriately, the anniversary was celebrated on the company premises in Nürtingen.

Highlights of Kugler's first 50 years

In 1961, the former technical director of Bielomatik, Walter Kugler, set up a design office in Bad Cannstatt and then founded Kugler Automation GmbH one year later. The first machine from Bad Cannstatt was a writing pad machine for gluing the tops of pads with cold glue, and was exhibited the same year at the drupa print media fair.

In 1964, the company relocated to Riederich. During the years that followed, Kugler made a name for itself as a specialist in machines for the paper converting industry. One of the best sellers at that time was the "Kugler punch", of which well over a thousand units were sold. Also successful was a machine for the production of folders that revolutionized the stationery market in 1972 with a production capacity of 45 folders per minute. At that time, machines for producing passports were already an important mainstay of the industry. Today, seven out of ten passport machines that are installed throughout the world are from Kugler. However, Kugler Automation also produced a very wide range of products. During that time, for example, it also produced machines for manufacturing coffee filters, page-a-day calendars and even packaging machines for phonograph records.

In 1985, Walter Kugler sold his shares in the company to the Körber Group in Hamburg. Womako, which was founded in June, 1973 by Hans Wohlfahrt in Nürtingen, was already part of the Group at the time and was producing exercise book machines and production lines for stationery supplies.

In 1999, a merger between Kugler Automation GmbH and Womako Maschinenkonstruktionen GmbH into Kugler-Womako GmbH was concluded; today, the Nürtingen-based company employs 95 people.

After being sold by the Körber Group, the company has been under new ownership since the beginning of the year. In addition to Kugler-Womako, a group of investors at Orlando Management AG in Munich also acquired sister companies E.C.H. Will from Hamburg and Pemco from the USA.

The Kugler anniversary was celebrated on September 21 with over 300 guests, employees and their families with a lively social program on a bright sunny day.

Kugler-Womako GmbH (www.kugler-womako.com)
Kugler-Womako has a long tradition as a supplier of machinery for the paper converting industry. Its product portfolio includes double wire forming machines, machines for double wire, spiral and plastic spiral bindings, as well as a newly developed paper binding. In addition to punching machines and labeling systems, the company manufactures machines for the production of writing pads and folders, and guillotines for wet glue labels, films and other delicate specialty papers. Another product area is the manufacture of production lines for security documents with integrated microchips.