The Lorünser family laid the foundation stone for the company’s history in Schlins, Vorarlberg, back in 1947. It all began with a foundry for light metal and a turning and grinding shop. The first products were light metal articles for domestic use and the construction industry. A short time later, it experienced its first major success after specializing in fittings for the electrical engineering sector. This was followed by a dramatic increase in prosperity with a large number of construction projects. In the years to come, the factory premises were extended and a foundry and hot-dip galvanizing plant were built. Toolmaking and model joinery were added later.
The company was further expanded in the 1970s and exports were increased. In the mid-1980s, the global Knill-Mosdorfer Group in Weiz/Austria took over the light metal plant. Lorünser Austria was born, began to grow and continuously developed new business areas. Production synergies were created, with Lorünser processing aluminium and Mosdorfer processing steel. Lorünser Austria developed new products such as clamps for 500 kilovolt switchgear. In addition, the pace in development was accelerated and in 1995 the EN ISO 9001 quality management system was introduced.
At the beginning of 2000, Lorünser made a name for itself with the development and production of clamps for 800 kV AC switchgear. For the first time, these were used in South America at altitudes of more than 4000 metres. At the same time, initial projects were underway for switchgear up to 670 kV DC and the “Three Gorges” region in China.
Lorünser Austria successfully established itself as a one-stop supplier under the heading “everything from a single source” and was in great demand for large-scale international projects with clamps, tension strings, insulators and cables. Lorünser always provided on-site support with supervision during installation. A test laboratory for current trials, using heat rise and heat cycle tests up to 9000 amps, also followed.
The move to a production facility optimized to meet modern lean requirements and covering around 6000 square metres provided new opportunities.
They included:
Lorünser Austria is celebrating its 75th anniversary and today, together with the Knill Gruppe, is part of a unique performance network of international magnitude that is the market leader in many market segments, with around 2100 employees worldwide.