Built. On. Strenths.

About
us

Since 2003, the Göttinger Dreh- und Frästeile GmbH has been a supplier of the laboratory-, medical and optical industries. We have empowered these industries to fulfill the highest quality standards in healthcare and microscopy – and provide these high standards to their customers over the long term. For years, one of our main customers has been the Göttingen-based Sartorius AG – for whom we manufacture and ship components worldwide. Other well-known customers include Thermo-Fisher (USA), as well as the German companies Gerhardt Laborgeräte, Phywe, Zeiss and Mahr Messtechnik.

Founding of GDFT GmbH

In the year 2003, after the death of the previous owner, GDFT was sold by the community of heirs of the Kleinhans family. The specialized portfolio of turned and milled products piqued the interest of Mr. Arnold Sommer, who at the time was an expert in the field himself already. After the purchase, the company was transformed into the legal structure of German GmbH. Changes were not only made in management, but also in terms of company location. The company moved from Florenz-Sartorius-Straße to its current location at Gustav-Bielefeld-Straße 8, which was formerly known as the production facilities of toha-plast GmbH. In 2021 the entire plant was purchased by the community of heirs of the Hackel family.

Every beginning is difficult

The takeover of GDFT was viewed with scepticism by some of the former customers. Most of their core customers preferred to purchase their parts from competitors. But with a lot of convincing, some of the old customers could be retained. It still took until the year 2007 when we could establish the business of GDFT through newly- and re-acquired customers as well as the hiring of additional experienced employees. This economic revival came to a grinding halt when the global financial crisis hit in 2008.

After successful restructuring measures, investment in new machine equipment, additional customer acquisitions and a sustainable re-building of trust, we were able to increase our revenue from that point on, year over year. Nowadays, we can proudly present revenue numbers exceeding 30 times of the sales realized in 2004. We have also grown to serve about 100 local, national and international customers.

Times are changing

Companies who want to be successful in a sustainable way must constantly optimize their supply chains and manufacturing processes. This also means keeping up with state-of-the-art technology and deploying more efficient machine equipment. For example, our machine fleet has been replaced or refurbished to a rate of 90 per cent since the year 2018. Since then, we have invested more than 4 million Euros in our facilities – capital, which was almost completely generated by our business profits.

In the year 2020 we built a class 8 cleanroom (ISO 8) for the manufacture of vaccine filtration equipment for one of our customers – which is still today state-of-the-art for the entire Göttingen area. We are also proud of not only producing parts, but also having an entire department dedicated to the assembly of modules. We take on an active role in our customers’ new product developments when it comes to modules and components.

Eine bewegte Geschichte

Insights – Managing Director Arnold Sommer talks about his career:

“In the beginning I wanted to become a chef, but my father convinced me otherwise. I sort of came into this profession almost by accident. At the time Piller Group, based in Osterode, was looking for apprentices in the field of machining. I passed the admissions test and was hired. Looking back, I can say that I still like doing the job of transforming metals, although the modern form of this job has little to do with what it entailed back in the year 1976. With a lot of ambition, grit and continuing education, I was able to become a manager for the tool-making and clean room departments at toha-plast. It was here, where I was able to gain the necessary knowledge and experience for owning and running my own business. Our current employees come from various industries and backgrounds – only about one third of them are skilled technicians.”