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A large number of components and systems developed and produced in-house are used to create customised solutions that combine all aspects of modern facade construction, building safety and security.
SOMMER products and services are "Made in Germany" and will continue to be so in the future. With more than 460 employees, we cover the entire value-added process from product development to production at our Hof/Bavaria site.
Development
A team of a good 20 engineers and structural engineers lays the foundation for the successful implementation of each individual customer project with its innovative development work and solid preliminary project planning.
The planning and technological approach is based on the comprehensive know-how of the employees, on many years of experience, creativity and flexibility and is characterised by intensive cooperation with architects and safety consultants.
Project management
SOMMER's project management guarantees highly professional handling of everything from order receipt, planning, project management and controlling to project completion and service.
Our project managers combine business know-how with technical expertise and result-oriented thinking - the best prerequisites for meeting our customers' high demands for on-time delivery and quality of our services.
Design
SOMMER has comprehensive in-house design expertise in all product areas
Around 100 engineers and technicians work on customised solutions in façade construction as well as structural elements for the safety and protection of buildings and nuclear facilities. In doing so, the team takes into account both the current state of technological development and the economic efficiency of the solution.
Manufacturing
High production breadth and vertical integration are the hallmarks of production at SOMMER and an expression of the highest level of competence in the processing of steel and sheet metal.
Modern, technically sophisticated machinery and highly qualified employees with specialised, technical skills enable production quality at an international level.
Logistics
The on-time and safe transport of our constructions directly to the construction sites is another essential element of smooth project processes. We secure our logistical competence with our own fleet of vehicles.
The advantage for our customers: fast and flexible action to react to changing construction site conditions and material requirements and to deliver the required components and systems just-in-time at any time.
Assembly
The assembly of our components and systems is of particular importance as the final step in the value chain
50 fitters and numerous assembly partners worldwide take on this highly complex and responsible task and represent the SOMMER company on site, at our customers' construction sites, with their craftsmanship and system know-how.
Maintenance/Service
At all project locations - whether national or international - we offer our customers comprehensive services.
This includes the maintenance of all components manufactured, assembled and installed by us in terms of control technology in the areas of façade, building security and high security technology. The work carried out by our specialists on site is documented in detail and can be traced in the maintenance books at any time.
We make the seemingly impossible possible. Contemporary architecture thrives on innovative ideas and forward-looking visions - SOMMER makes them a reality. We implement individual façade designs in all object sizes and functional dimensions in a technologically and aesthetically fascinating way.
Innovative out of passion. With several decades of experience, SOMMER stands for building security at the highest level of technical development. Our maxim: The protection of people in their working and living environment as well as the object and use-specific security of buildings.
Terror and hazard prevention. For the most sensitive areas of infrastructurally important facilities such as nuclear power plants, SOMMER provides recognised top performance in physical building protection - from planning to installation.
List of certifications
DIN EN ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 19443, EN 1090-1 Aluminium, EN 1090-1 Stahl, EN 1090-2, EN 1090-3, DIN EN ISO 3834-2, KTA 1401, CEFRI, A|U|F e.V.
Awards
HPC Supplier, Großer Preis des Mittelstands, Germany's Best Apprentices, CIRCAL Certificate (WICONA) etc.
Oliver Sommer (right)
"Our customers not only benefit from general technological progress. With more than 60 patents and a multitude of certifications, we also demonstrate our own development expertise in the business fields of façade construction, building security and high security technology. In the future, too, we will be measured by our innovative strength."
Iris Sommer-Pechstein (centre)
"Ensuring the competitiveness of our company means continuously developing new products, systems and production processes, but also constantly putting existing processes to the test. Our employees play a special role in the company's success. Strengthening their motivation to advance the family business together with them is therefore particularly important to me."
Thomas Minks (left)
"As a medium-sized company, we are able to react particularly flexibly to the wishes of our customers and changing project requirements. Short decision-making processes, creativity and proven problem-solving skills enable us to intervene and act quickly and efficiently."
Visionary thinking, innovative strength and consistent adherence to excellent product quality - these are the cornerstones on which the success of the family-owned company SOMMER is based. Over the course of more than 130 years, the company has developed into a nationally and internationally sought-after partner in the fields of façade construction, building security and high-security technology.
As early as 1890, Eduard Sommer recognised that security is a fundamental human need and began manufacturing particularly stable doors, gates and grilles. He thus laid the foundation for today's SOMMER company - an internationally recognised specialist for protection systems at the highest level. Now in its fourth generation, the family business is managed - more successfully than ever - by Iris Sommer-Pechstein and Oliver Sommer, the descendants of that Eduard Sommer.
1. Generation (1890 to 1933)
Two generations lay a strong foundation
The history of the SOMMER company begins in 1882 when Eduard Sommer, the 11th child of a farmer's family in Dobareuth, walks to Hof to find an apprenticeship in a locksmith's shop.
Eduard Sommer had learned a lot and so he decided to take over the business of his apprentice master Pfeiffer on 9 June 1890. With four journeymen, the 23-year-old Eduard Sommer starts his own business. The building industry is booming. Doors and windows need grilles, locks and fittings. Sommer, a visionary, moves with the times. He is one of the first to introduce electricity, telephones and autogenous welding in the company.
2. Generation (1933 to 1962)
Two generations lay a strong foundation
The path to becoming one of the market leaders in façade construction and building security was already paved by Franz Sommer. In 1933, he took over the locksmith's shop, which was then located in Hof, from his father, the company's founder Eduard Sommer, and began manufacturing windows and doors for safety-relevant fire compartments in buildings.
The company takes the next step towards the future in 1958: SOMMER develops and installs the first façade made entirely of aluminium.
3. Generation (1962 to 2002)
SOMMER expands in all areas
From 1962 onwards, the signs point to expansion. Under the leadership of Horst Sommer, the third generation in the management, the company headquarters and production are relocated to the "greenfield site" in Döhlau and the family business is consistently expanded into an industrial operation.
With the first major orders for the structural protection of the German nuclear power plants and later also the interim storage facilities in Germany and Switzerland, new business fields open up in terms of building security and protection. During these 40 years of entrepreneurial activity, Horst Sommer gives the company the decisive impetus to grow dynamically in all areas.
4. Generation (since 2002)
Expansion of the international business
in 2002, Iris Sommer-Pechstein and Oliver Sommer, now the fourth generation, take over the management of the company. Their goal is to strengthen the company's innovative power in the product and process area and, in connection with this, to roll out the project business worldwide
International consulting competence for security concepts in the high-security sector as well as the development of innovative products and systems paired with a high vertical range of manufacture "Made in Germany" are the cornerstones of the business activity. In particular, major orders acquired worldwide have a positive effect on the development of the business fields facade, building security and high-security technology. The founding of subsidiaries in the USA and France and a sales cooperation in Russia round off the company's strategy.
