WEGU – Your partner in rubber and plastics technology

We offer our clients in the automotive industry a complete range of processing capabilities for all common polymer and elastomer materials as well as extensive know-how in the development of products made from these materials. This includes processing of filled and unfilled thermoplastic polymers, elastomers and rubbers. As a result of this, we achieve highly efficient product development cycles – without limitations regarding both the choice of materials or processing technologies.

Relying on the materials expertise of our strategic business units – in particular in the areas of product development, manufacturing and acoustics –  we are able to differentiate ourselves from our, for the most part much larger, competitors and their mass-production oriented manufacturing.

Through the development of assembly units and systems based on intelligent and innovative solutions we can offer our customers a high product value as well as significant cost and weight reductions.

History

• WEGU’s history began in 1949 in the Westphalian town of Werl where Walter Dräbing (deceased in 1996) established the Werl Rubber Company (Werler Gummiwarenfabrik) that gave WEGU its name. 

• In 1959 the company moved to Kassel (Germany) where it started to manufacture accessories for motor cycles and automobiles. 

• The establishment of WEGU CANADA INC. in 1973 allowed WEGU to sell products, that had been developed in Kassel, also in the North American markets.

• In the mid-seventies WEGU achieved its breakthrough as an original equipment supplier to the automotive industry.

• After many years of continuous growth WEGU entered a phase of economic recession in the early ninties resulting in a decline in sales and significant lay-offs.

• In October 1995 Dr. Herbert Bonrath began a strategic and operational reorganization of the company. In July 1996 he assumed responsibility as sole shareholder and managing director.

• Through rigorous rationalization and the introduction of numerous innovative products in serial production WEGU again achieved steady growth in the following years and increased its profitability.

• In the year 2000 began the creation of the strategic business units Zubehör (accessories), Schwingungsdämpfung (vibration damping and noise reduction), Leichtbausysteme (lightweight plastic systems) and WEGU CANADA INC. - all under a new young management team.

• In 2004 all strategic business units became independent legal entities. At the same time WEGU GmbH & Co. KG was restructured to serve as a service provider to these new companies.

• In 2005 and 2006 WEGU established a new production facility in Pata, Slovakia under the name WEGU SLOVAKIA s.r.o.

• After leaving the board of directors on January 1st, 2006 Dr. Herbert Bonrath became president of the board of shareholders of which his sons Andreas and Martin are also members. The managing directors of the WEGU Group are now Michael Hagemann, Thomas Völxen and Horst Zimmermann.