Elkamet celebrated its 70th anniversary and the official opening of its new location in Friedensdorf. The day was marked by a ceremony attended by guests from politics, business, and society, as well as a family celebration for employees. Food trucks, live music, and children's activities ensured a varied program. Visitors were able to get to know the new location during tours. The celebration was all about community and new beginnings.
The new company cafeteria at the Friedensdorf site has opened and offers freshly prepared meals that change daily. With its opening, our employees now have a modern place to enjoy good food and relaxing breaks.
In the summer, Philipp Flammer was appointed as an additional managing director of Elkamet Kunststofftechnik GmbH by the shareholders' meeting. He will continue to manage the company together with his father Eberhard Flammer, Michael Parsch and Lutz Bergmann.
A new location paves the way for a promising future: In fall 2023, the first rotation machines for container production moved into the new location. Additive manufacturing also moved into a section of Friedensdorf with its machines. Since then, more and more machines have been filling the halls with life.
Since expanding our training workshop, we have been able to welcome trainees from other companies in the region as part of our training program. This program enables companies that do not have the necessary premises and capacity to offer exam preparation, basic courses for technical apprenticeships, and basic courses in turning, milling, pneumatics, and electropneumatics at Elkamet. In 2023 and 2024, a total of 16 guest trainees and three groups of students visited Elkamet.
Heat, electricity, mobility, system integrity, and young talent: these are the categories for which the Hessian State Energy Prize was awarded for the third time in 2022. Elkamet was also nominated by the State Energy Agency of Hesse (LEA) in the young talent category as one of a total of 70 entries for our H2 project, i.e. the hydrogen-powered kart, and took second place in the final!
In addition to the great result at the Hessian State Prize, Hessischer Rundfunk also visited Elkamet and filmed a report about the kart.
In 2021, the Eckelshausen Music Festival used Elkamet's new industrial halls in Friedensdorf for a concert. The hr Big Band opened the venue with “Echoes of Ellington” in an extraordinary atmosphere. The concert was very well received by music lovers from the region and demonstrated how culture from the metropolitan region can be brought to the wider area and how well industry and culture can work together.
As part of our sustainability efforts, the ElkaBee working group was founded in 2020, in which a group of trainees work together with Elkamet employees and amateur beekeepers to look after two bee colonies. The honey produced by the working group is sent to the Hinterländer Werkstätten Dautphetal for extraction and is then sold in the canteen.
Elkamet's newest company location in Friedensdorf was presented to the public for the first time, and individual departments will gradually fill the rooms and halls with life.
In order to accommodate the steadily increasing number of trainees, the new and modern training workshop and talent factory in Biedenkopf opened its doors in October 2019. In his opening speech, Managing Director Eberhard Flammer explained: “Education is the most important resource Germany has.” Between 1980 and 2025, Elkamet trained more than 600 young professionals.
The Elkamet residential building will open its doors in September 2017 with a cheerful celebration. The residential building is centrally located in Biedenkopf, within walking distance of the vocational school. Among other things, the residential building enables Elkamet trainees and students to live in beautifully renovated shared apartments for little money.
In October 2016, Elkamet opened a new location in Taicang City, China: Elkamet Plastics Co., Ltd. This means that the company is now also represented on the Chinese market.
Elkamet celebrates its 60th anniversary with a big party for all employees and their families, as well as numerous friends and companions. More than 1,000 people enjoy the festive atmosphere at the Wilhelmshütte site.
97 young people are completing vocational training at Elkamet, are enrolled in the "StudiumPlus" programme or are doing a one-year internship – a new record!
Elkamet opens its first plant on the American continent in East Flat Rock, North Carolina, USA. In the same year, Elkamet is certified according to DIN ISO 14001.
In 2005, the year of the company's 50th anniversary, Elkamet's first foreign location is established in Myslinka, Czechia.
In 2002, Elkamet reached a major milestone: the company was awarded the coveted Red Dot Design Award by the Design Center North Rhine-Westphalia for its luminaire designs.
The second company site for the manufacture of containers opens in Dautphetal-Wilhelmshütte.
Elkamet has been working closely with BMW since 1999 and with KTM since 2000 on the Paris-Dakar Rally. Elkamet develops special tanks for the competition motorcycles.
Our spherical luminaire, which has sold over 4 million units since 1970, has been honoured with the 'Busse Longlife Design Award'.
At the end of September 1998, a major fire destroyed over 8,000 m² of production and storage space at Elkamet. Thanks to strong team spirit and professional expertise, the business was rebuilt in just four months – and turnover doubled by 2004.
In 1987, Elkamet began developing nylon containers for fuels and hydraulic oil for construction machinery and motorcycles. This was followed in 1994 by the development of ‘Faktor 10®’, a UV protection for polycarbonate. The following year, Elkamet focused increasingly on system development for outdoor lighting (modular system).
Following the death of Dr Helmuth Flammer in November, his son Eberhard Flammer becomes the majority shareholder and managing director of Elkamet.
From 1971 onwards, Elkamet began manufacturing impact-resistant light fixtures made of PC. In 1976, it also began producing the first rotationally moulded nylon containers for agricultural machinery. Starting in 1979, it began manufacturing window frames for car windows.
Elkamet begins manufacturing seamlessly coloured spherical luminaires for outdoor lighting. The installation of these luminaires in Munich's Olympic Park in 1972 marks their first test on the market.
Five years after its founding, Elkamet has 105 employees who have ventured into the plastics industry from various professions.
Herbert Pfleiderer sells his family's stake in the company to Dr Flammer. The company has thus been owned by the Flammer family since 1963.
Elkamet launches prismatic luminaire covers extruded from polystyrene for fluorescent lamps. This opens up the market for the luminaire industry, in which we are still active today. Also in 1962, the company is renamed Elkamet-Werk Lahn-Kunststoff GmbH.
High-gloss plastic trim strips with aluminium inserts become a huge success that lasts for years. In the 1950s, the silver and gold trim profiles complement the style of living room and audio furniture typical of the time. The silver trim strips are also used as rain gutters for VW Beetles.
Lahn-Kunststoff GmbH begins production of water and sewage pipes as well as profile strips for use in garden furniture or as decorative fillings for stair railings. Hula hoops are also a great success.
Lahn-Kunststoff GmbH is registered at the Biedenkopf District Court in the Biedenkopf Commercial Court – at this point in time, there are only around 70 companies in the plastics processing industry in Germany. The company is founded by chemist Dr. Gerhard Peters and friends. In 1956, shortly after its founding, the Flammer family of entrepreneurs and timber industrialist Herbert Pfleiderer acquire a stake in the company. The first production facility is located in a small building in Biedenkopf.
