History

In 1954, Germany won the World Cup for the first time. The same year, Fritz Murtfeldt founded a commercial enterprise with the aim of marketing industrial items of all types for mining and heavy industry. At this time, the use of plastics in machine construction was still unheard of. In special cases, laminated densified wood was used for machine construction applications where plastic would come to be used later on. In comparison with the present situation, the company was built up in extremely primitive conditions but with a full complement of enthusiasm and entrepreneurship. In the early days, products were delivered to locations in Dortmund by bicycle.

In 1958, the triumphal procession of a unique, ultra-high molecular polyethylene began: Original Material "S"® Green. This green plastic is characterized by extremely good wear resistance properties and excellent acid resistance. The material takes its name from its colour. Because of this material's high resistance to chemicals, its first applications were primarily developed in the steel industry. However, since the material is highly abrasion resistant and has extremely good slide properties, Murtfeldt Original Material "S"® Green was soon implemented for machine construction.

In-house production was kicked off in 1963 with the acquisition of a circular saw. Initially, Murtfeldt's production plant was housed in a converted bakery in Moltkestraße in the eastern sector of Dortmund city centre. Murtfeldt soon developed from a purely commercial enterprise to a fabricator. In the 1960s, Murtfeldt completely discontinued its trade in other industrial products.

Murtfeldt startet mit der Entwicklung der heute weltweit bekannten Kettengleitschienen. Wurden Rollenketten bis dato geräuschvoll und verschleißanfällig über ölverschmierte Stahlschienen geführt, bietet sich seit der Einführung der Kunststoffgleitschienen mit dem hierfür bestens geeigneten Werkstoff “S“® ein völlig anderes (Geräusch-) Bild. Leise, sauber und verschleißarm gleiten seitdem die Ketten dahin. Für den Maschinen-Konstrukteur ergeben sich ständig neue Anwendungsfälle für Rollenketten, die sich sinnvoll durch die Verwendung dieser Gleitschienen realisieren lassen.

In 1969, Murtfeldt purchased premises in Dortmund-Barop, to be used from then on for the Production and Sales departments and to accommodate the management. The relocation was intended to provide sufficient capacity for many years to come; however, thanks to successful growth, the company outgrew the new buildings in three years.

In the early 1970s, Murtfeldt developed Spann-Box®, its own tensioning system for chains and belts. This system was based on the following aim: To increase the lifetime of chains and belts and to enable a smooth production process. The result: Countless chains have significantly longer lifetimes thanks to fully-automatic tensioners.

Murtfeldt purchased a new plot of land in Dortmund-Brackel. In 1973, the first phase of construction was built on this plot. This relocation constituted a further upswing in the company's fortunes: Finally, Murtfeldt had all the prerequisites in place in order to be able to attune its production and warehousing facilities to enable the continual development of the company. Further construction phases were added step by step. They served as the basis for further growth and the creation of secure jobs. In the meantime, Murtfeldt had become a specialist in plastics with excellent glide properties and high abrasion resistance.

In 1989, Murtfeldt acquired its Dutch subsidiary Mata, with whom the company had already been working since the late 1960s. Under the management of Jan Paulides, the company quickly developed into an important supplier of technical construction plastics and custom machine parts made from plastic for the Dutch machine construction industry.

The subsidiary Murtfeldt Plasty was founded in 1991 and was intended to act as a trading and contact partner for the Eastern European market. The Czech and Slovakian market enjoyed continual development and demand grew. Soon, Murtfeldt Plasty rose to the challenge of establishing its own production plant.

The expansion of the Dortmund-based parent company has been consistently promoted over the course of decades. From a single production hall in 1973, Murtfeldt has grown to encompass nine halls that cover a total of 17,000m². The office accommodation has also been continuously modified to meet demands.

Thanks to plenty of elbow-room and short routes, we are able to work in a profitable manner; our optimized production flow allows us to produce even extremely small batches. This enables us to provide even more support to our customers and to meet the requirements of increasingly specialized applications.

Murtfeldt products have been tried and tested over many years and form the basis for new and further developments with a potential that reaches far into the future.