WEKO
Innovation
with tradition

A sideline business became a globally active company. From a poorly developed and produced wet-pollination unit, two young men developed the first transportable dry-pollinator, which celebrated its premiere at drupa 1954. The brand name WEKO was born.

After the drupa trade show, the order book filled up. The time was ripe to register Weitmann & Konrad GmbH & Co. KG was entered in the commercial register. Weitmann, a gifted technician, took over responsibility for development and design, and Konrad, with his commercial orientation, took over administration and sales.

As a result of the increase in the workforce to an impressive 25 employees, the time had come. In Leinfelden-Echterdingen, between the airport and the freeway, a plot of land was purchased and the first company building was constructed according to the company's own requirements.

The drupa in Düsseldorf did not remain the only trade fair for WEKO. Due to customer requirements, innovative products developed over time, which were successfully used in a wide range of industries. For example, WEKO has been an exhibitor at ITMA as early as 1971 with thread breakage detection and air humidification systems. After more than 50 years as a regular exhibitor, we are looking forward to ITMA 2023 in Milan.

Increasing orders, combined with the shortage of skilled workers in the greater Stuttgart area, a relocation of production to rural areas, where the Stuttgart corporations were not yet looking for skilled workers, was the solution. The production of WEKO systems is still located there today.

What today is effectively developed in CAD and manufactured by machines, were at that time production documents drawn on the drawing board which industrious hands manufactured and assembled. Today, under the most modern conditions, we produce all our equipment specifically according to customer requirements.

England, as a highly equipped industrial country at the time, had a strong printing industry. WEKO recognized the potential early on and founded the first foreign branch in Kingston upon Thames. WEKO UK has now been supporting its customers with sales and service for over 50 years.

WEKO continues to grow and wants to offer its employees an attractive working environment. This was created by the new building at the company headquarters, in which the employees can develop excellently through more space and the most modern CAD/CRM systems.

WEKO Italia was born out of a WEKO agency in Milan. Three employees - from the sales, administrative and service departments - accepted WEKO's offer and together founded WEKO Italia as an independent agency in Italy in 1993. From a representation exclusively for the graphic industry, a broadly positioned subsidiary in all WEKO relevant industries has developed.

The management of the company is given to the next generation. Since 1993 Carlheinz Weitmann and Marcel Konrad are managing directors of WEKO.

WEKO North America was founded in 1997 on Long Island, NY. Again, initially with a focus on the printing industry, after the move to Spartanburg, SC, the management took over the entire WEKO program in sales and service. The product range not only makes WEKO's offer attractive on the North American market, but also contributes significantly to the stabilization of WEKO NA's location.

The drupa trade fair in Düsseldorf is the world's leading trade fair for printing technologies. WEKO was already part of drupa 1954 and we will be there again in June 2024, feel free to visit our booth when it's "We create the future!".

The newest subsidiary providing all company functions - development, production, sales and service - for the South American market. We are proud to serve our customers in South America directly from Santa Catharina.