Gericke, the Swiss manufacturer of systems and machines for bulk solids processing, celebrates its 130th anniversary. The small company founded in 1894 in a modest premises in Zurich has grown into a company of international stature. Today, the Group has 10 subsidiaries worldwide.
Gericke started out in the grinding industry, before extending its know-how to various powder processing technologies found in the food, chemical, building materials, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
In 1894, Walter H. Gericke founded the "W. Gericke" company in Zurich. Gericke" company in Zurich. At the time, grain mills were among the pioneers in the use of automated conveying systems for bulk goods. But other basic technologies such as dosing, grinding, mixing, separating and filling were also available.
From 1924 onwards, Otto H. Gericke and Walter H. Gericke, the two sons of the company's founder, took over. Gericke began to expand, and the brothers acquired a new site near Zurich's main railway station. Together with engineer O. Soder, Gericke develops a patented innovation: a roller mill with a horizontal grinding wheel. This innovation considerably improved flour production in the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1954, Otto H. Gericke's sons Willi and Hermann Gericke joined the company in the third generation. In 1957, the company expanded its production capacity by building 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
Gericke's international growth began in the 1960s with subsidiaries in Europe, notably in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain. From the 1990s onwards, Gericke set up subsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Brazil and the USA. Gericke equipment is still manufactured exclusively in the Group's factories in Western Europe, and all Group subsidiaries, which handle sales, validation testing, project management, engineering, site supervision, commissioning, after-sales service and spare parts distribution, are staffed by local teams of technicians and engineers.
Markus H. Gericke joined the company in 1993 as Managing Director of Gericke France, and today represents the fourth generation to lead the Group. Gericke manufactures all key components in its own production facilities, including equipment for mixing, pneumatic conveying, dosing, big-bag handling, screening and deagglomeration. The company also develops its own control systems, which enable easy integration into higher-level automation systems.
Since 2010, in parallel with its traditional activities, Gericke has been involved in the development and implementation of continuous processes for the production of solids in the pharmaceutical industry. The GFS Formulation Skid is now used worldwide for this pioneering technology.
