Pfister

1894
Ludwig Pfister, a blacksmith, establishes a scale company to manufacture mechanical weighbridges in the old section of Augsburg.

   

1906
On the 26th of November, the 25th wagon scale is completed and delivered to its erection site by a "team of four dressed horses". The site is the new municipal weighbridge for the city of Augsburg.

1927
Ludwig Pfister's seven children join the company as limited partners. The workforce increases to 70 factory and 10 supervisory employees. A 200 m2 assembly hall is built for large-size weighbridges.



1946
Construction work is commenced on the present factory site at Staetzlinger Straße 70, Augsburg.



1955 - 1958
A special dial head is developed which is destined to become the trademark of countless concrete mixing systems.
Shortly afterwards, Pfister launches a further innovation into the market: A mechanical programmable weighing device which provides an electrical contact field for
presetting of weight values.

1963
Pfister combines a direct extracting system with conveyor weighfeeders, which is the initial approach to continuous industrial weighing technology. This is the start of a successful new product range and represents the origin of the present day Pfister company.



1969
The first weighfeeder with lateral belt replacement is developed and delivered to a sintering plant in Germany. This design becomes the standard for all future weighfeeder models.



1970
The family business is acquired by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG.
The electromechanical weighing technology is developed and the first Pfister digital indicator, the DK 4000, was awarded its certification approval. This is the origin of the fully electronic Pfister scale.

1976
The development and sales of the hydrostatic wind tunnel scale for the automobile industry proved to be a successful entry into a new market.
Leading automobile manufacturers such as Daimler Benz, BMW, Ferrari, VW, Ford, Fiat and many others use the Pfister high tech scale to optimize vehicle aerodynamics.



1979
The first Pfister scale, model DSR, with a process controller is released. It represents the first in a product line that is represented today by the model DWT weighing terminal.



1981
Pfister extends its product availability with the introduction of a certifiable TWE tank weighing system which can provide mass, density and volume data for multiple large tank systems within a fuel depot.

1982 - 1983
The first compact DWT 10 weighing terminal is introduced. When used with the Pfister model SFW truck weighbridge, it provides certifiable recorded weight data.
Pfister is acquired by the French Metrologie Pesage Int. S.A. group.

1984
A innovative and highly successful new product line is launched with the development of the model DRW dosing rotor weighfeeder for pulverized coal and coke.



1989
Pfister is acquired by the Dutch N.V. Koniklijke Nederlandsche Machinefabriek v/h group.

1991
Maximilian Scheugenpflug becomes the majority shareholder in the company. Its co-partner is the Deutsche Beteiligungs mbH
Frankfurt (Deutsche Bank group).
Pfister introduces the modular designed SFW truck weighbridge featuring preassembled concrete parts.

1993
Dynamic weighing technology is born when Pfister installs the first Sirius weighrail scale for in-motion weighing of rail cars.



1996
Pfister developed and introduced the model FRW dosing rotor weighfeeder. The FRW rotor weighfeeder was primarily designed in order to optimize the calcining process by insuring uniform heat exchanger feeding. Due to the much improved dosing properties and increased reliability, when compared to other systems, both the efficiency of the calcining process and the clinker quality were improved. In addition, the completely enclosed design maximized dust pollution containment.

1997
Pfister installs the first model TRW-S dosing rotor weighfeeder for secondary fuels. With the introduction of the TRW-S/D rotor weighfeeders series, Pfister positioned itself to be the main supplier of the most advanced dosing systems for secondary fuels. Like all rotor feeders it is a completely enclosed system which minimizes dust contamination of the surrounding work area. It represents an accurate and reliable way of disposing of invironmently sensitive waste in the most cost effective manner.

1998
Pfister becomes a subsidiary of the danish F.L. Smidth-Fuller Engineering A/S (FFE) group. With over 4000 employees, the FFE group is globally active in the cement and mineral industries, providing equipment, construction and engineering services.

1999
The microprocessor based control, CSC, is introduced for use with the dosing rotor weighfeeder. Its patented prospective control algorithm, ProsCon®, represents a new approach to continuous feeder control.



2000
The new Pfister Winweigh Plus software, which is based on the Windows NT software package, elevates weighing data management for static truck weighbridges to new levels of effectiveness. The Pfister Solar railroad track scale sets a new standard in the dynamic weighing of rail cars.

2002
The operational business of Pfister Waagen GmbH is being sold to the italian specialist for weighing technologies Bilanciai, as of June 1st, 2002. Pfister Group thus successfully realises its strategy to concentrate on its core business in order to bundle its efforts and strength.

The "Integrated Feeder Controller iFC", an electronic control unit for Pfister’s dosing equipments, is being launched. Due to the special construction of this unit a competitive advantage could be gained in terms of costs and handling of the dosing electronics.

Also developed and introduced to the market is a mill controller. This integrated dosing system for mill feeding is rounding up Pfister’s product portfolio concerning linear conveyor systems.

2003
Pfister’s systems are being certificated with the new, in Europe already mandatory ATEX directive 94/9/EC which provides the technical requirements to be applied to equipment intended to be used in potentially explosive atmospheres. Besides, the Pfister’s ISO 9001 certification is being renewed (ISO 9001:2000).

2004
Pfister celebrates 3 anniversaries: The company turns 110 years, 40 years of continuous weighing technology, and 20 years rotor weighfeeder! Also on the business achievement it was an extraodinary year, in which specifically on the Asian market a sustained success was achieved. As a new product the chain weighfeeder comes on the market. Another manufacturing base was opened in Qingdao (China). In addition to the previous apprenticeships the Mechanical-Electronic apprentice started as of September 2004.

2005
Pfister introduces two innovative dosing systems: the dosing chain weighfeeder DCW for dosing hot and viscous bulk materials and the dosing field weighfeeder DFW.

The first DRW rotor weighfeeder for the Chinese cement industry is assembled in Qingdao.



2006
Pfister enters an additional business segment: the rotor weighfeeder technology is successfully introduced to the power plant industry.