75 years of Laeppché – The story

In 1949, after the war, engineer Eisenhart Laeppché found a crate full of ball bearings on a bombed-out site in the port area of Wilhelmshaven. As a mechanical engineer in the post-war economy marked by scarcity, he recognized the treasure he had discovered.

In May 1950, company founder Eisenhart Laeppché laid the foundation for our successful family business in Wilhelmshaven. Even then, reliability, customer proximity, and quality were top priorities - and they remain so today

The first office was a small attic room above a rented apartment in Sachsenstraße, Wilhelmshaven. Across the street, a small space was rented in the workshop of locksmith Raschke—Arthur Raschke was the mayor of Wilhelmshaven from 1952 to 1953. Eisenhart and his father-in-law Emil Dirks placed a grinder bench and spent many hours in this small room each day refurbishing ball bearings.The working conditions were particularly harsh in winter, as the hall was unheated, and Emil often had to work with frozen fingers.

Growing business required more space. The company moved to Brommystraße in Wilhelmshaven. In the basement of a single-family home, a small workshop was established. The office was in an apartment in this building, and the first two employees were hired: Miss Hinrichs in the office, and Mr. Heldt in the workshop. Used ball bearings were cleaned with trichloroethylene („Tri“), inspected, and re-oiled. Thus, the business of second-choice ball bearings developed. There was high demand in the industry due to a lack of affordable bearings suitable for less critical applications. This changed gradually with the procurement of bearings from East Germany and other Eastern European countries.

The first purposebuilt company building with an office and adjacent hall was constructed. By then, the company had grown to a team of seven.

NTN, a leading Japanese rolling bearing manufacturer known for top quality, took its first steps to sell bearings in Europe. In addition to direct contacts with majorindustrial customers, they aimed to develop a trading concept. Early on, their focus turned to Laeppché. This resulted in a mutually beneficial cooperation. Later, Eisenhart Laeppché was honored as a pioneer for NTN‘s European distribution business.

Business with our Japanese partner NTN developed very positively. However, the market also demanded more affordable ball bearings. Many applications did not require high-quality standards. Thus, the company founder developed sourcing strategies for such bearings, turning to Eastern Europe and the former East Germany. Two quality standards emerged within the company, requiring a clear separation. This led to the founding of SIMAC GmbH, solely responsible for sourcing lower-quality bearings. The name SIMAC is derived from the initials of the three founding partners: Sigrid (daughter of Eisenhart Laeppché), Mady (wife of Eisenhart), and Claus-Peter (son of Eisenhart).

Looking back to the second half of the 1960s, initial contacts were made with needle bearing manufacturer INA. In 1973, Claus-Peter Laeppché, the second generation, joined the family business. After completing his business degree, he worked for two and a half years as an executive assistant at INA. At the time of his entry into the family business, annual INA sales were 50,000 DM. The value of the Schaeffler contacts quickly became clear as annual sales rose significantly, with INA becoming an increasingly important supplier and partner.

The expansion of storage capacities didn’t last long. Shortly afterward, a third hall was built.

Claus-Peter Laeppché founded his own company, which over the years became the highest-revenue company within the entire corporate group

Business relations with the Netherlands, England, Italy, and Spain were the starting point. Our continuously growing inventory and wide product range were advantageous. More European countries followed soon after. Through regular international trips by Claus-Peter Laeppché, a global network gradually developed. The company established a presence in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Indonesia, as well as in South Africa and South America. These international trips also led to interesting sourcing opportunities that were used to expand the product portfolio.

In 1988, Laeppché began producing bearings under the private label ELW to expand our product range alongside offerings from premium manufacturers.

The year 2011 marked a huge turning point for Laeppché in terms of development and growth. With the construction of a state-of-the-art production hall and the introduction of the new business division „Linear Technology,“ we significantly expanded our production capacities and broadened our technological portfolio.

Starting in 2020, Laeppché increased its focus on online sales and set new standards in digital customer service. Improving our e-services was a crucial step in responding to changing market conditions and growing customer demands.