Gericke celebrates 130 years
Gericke is celebrating an impressive anniversary: 130 years of bulk handling solutions. For over a century, the Swiss family-owned company has been a leader in the manufacture of systems and machines for processing bulk solids. What once began in a modest location in Zurich has developed into a global group of companies with 350 employees. Starting out in the milling industry, Gericke has firmly established its place as a leader in industries such as food, chemicals, environmental technology, battery manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
In 1894, Walter H. Gericke founded ”W. Gericke, Maschinenfabrik, Schleiferei und verwandte Industrien” in Zurich. At that time, grain mills were among the pioneers using automated conveying systems for bulk materials. But other core technologies such as dosing, grinding, mixing, separating and filling were also available in the early days.
From 1924, the two sons of the company founder, Otto H. Gericke and Walter H. Gericke, continued the tradition. The company began to expand and the brothers acquired a new site near Zurich’s main railway station. Together with engineer O. Soder, Gericke developed a pioneering roller mill with a horizontal millstone. This patented innovation led to considerable improvements in flour production in the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1954, the third generation joined the company: Otto H. Gericke’s sons, Willi and Hermann Gericke. In 1957, Gericke expanded its production capacity with a new factory in Regensdorf near Zurich. The site was significantly expanded in autumn 2023 with the construction of an additional production hall.
International Growth
International growth began in the 1960s with subsidiaries in Europe, including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain. From the 1990s, Gericke also expanded overseas, with subsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Brazil and the USA.
Markus H. Gericke joined the company in 1993 as Managing Director of Gericke France and is now the fourth generation to manage the company. Gericke manufactures all key components in its own production facilities, including equipment for mixing, pneumatic conveying, dosing, big bag handling, screening and crushing. The company also develops its own control systems, which enable easy integration into higher-level automation systems.
Since 2010, Gericke has been involved in the development and establishment of continuous processes in the production of solids in the pharmaceutical industry. The GFS Formulation Skid is now used worldwide in this pioneering technology.
