Industry 4.0
Pellet presses and straw mills are installed in mobile containers and produce pellets for energy generation fully automatically.
HIMEL products are exhibited for the first time in new markets such as Uzbekistan (Asia) and Tunisia (North Africa)!
New production processes with welding robots, filters and heat recovery are utilised.

HIMEL expands
HIMEL production is modernised.
New production machines with sheet metal storage are purchased and the lighting is converted to LED. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new 1200m² exhibition and storage hall takes place in the middle of the year, and the courtyard and surrounding area are also redesigned.

HIMEL worldwide
Ghana (Africa) receives the first HIMEL feed mixers with silo systems. HIMEL Maschinen, the specialist for feed processing systems, is now present in almost all European countries and on several continents.

Proof of quality
Certificates such as the ISO certification DIN 9001, the welding certificate DIN 18800, GOST certificates and ongoing TÜV inspections are part of our standard. Characterised by its proximity to nature and agriculture, HIMEL has now been awarded the DIN 14001 certificate for its quality and environmental management.

Several large HIMEL grinding and mixing plants with hourly capacities of over 10 tonnes and enormous grain storage facilities are delivered and built.
 

New ideas
The development of a fully automatic straw pellet system is started. HIMEL builds another mainstay "Renewable energies from straw": straw pellets as fuel or for bedding.
 

HIMEL gets bigger
Takeover of the HIMEL Weltzin branch in Burow (Northern Germany). A team of experienced specialists develops and produces everything for barn technology and hall construction here. The HIMEL all-round service is available for construction projects: from architectural planning to turnkey barn handover.
We receive a major order for the construction of
for the European research centre and Federal Research Institute for Animal Health "Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut" on the island of Riems. Everything made of stainless steel for the high-security wing. A challenge for our specialists.

The anniversary year
50 years of HIMEL machines. To mark the anniversary, the Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Erwin Teufel, honours the company's innovative achievements. He places Mathias Hirlinger in the great tradition of inventors and thinkers in the state. A short time later, he is awarded the "Golden Master Craftsman's Certificate"!
In the same year, the company acquires a stake in one of the largest manufacturers of cleaning machines and grain systems, Petkus Technologie GmbH in Eisenach-Wutha (www.petkus.de).
 

HIMEL Innovation
The wheel has already been invented - but there is still a lot to do! Initially in its inventor's workshop and later in the company's design department, HIMEL produces pioneering new developments.
Many of these designs are awarded patents in several countries and are highly recognised by selected test commissions. World firsts are launched in the production facilities.
With HIMEL machines, the farmer makes more profit, secures his jobs and can operate ecologically and energy-efficiently in the interests of sustainability.

The successors
At the end of the 1990s, the youngest brother Martin Hirlinger takes over responsibility for the indoor resort of the family business.
Werner Hirlinger becomes Managing Director of the family business HIMEL.
 

In the mid-1980s, Werner Hirlinger, the eldest son, takes over from his father.
The future junior boss systematically begins to restructure the sales organisation and expand the product lines.

The first HIMEL European patent is a success: the hay blower!

Customised work: the new series of HIMEL grain storage technology ideally complements the existing HIMEL grain systems.
A few days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, HIMEL establishes its first contacts with Eastern European countries. Werner Hirlinger and his brother Michael Hirlinger do pioneering work.

Michael Hirlinger worked for over ten years as a member of the management team and now supports the family business in its PR work with his innovative media agency RealWeb in Hechingen.

New HIMEL sales structures are soon established in the new countries as well as in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Slovenia, Hungary and Russia.

Nur ein Jahr später kommen die HIMEL Strohmühle und der zukunftsträchtige HIMEL Futtermischer auf den Markt, der die Basis ist für die künftige Produktlinie der HIMEL Mahl- und Mischsysteme.

Es geht weiter aufwärts, und zwar buchstäblich: mit dem Heulift, dem Silolift und dem Rundballenlift. Bei jeder neuen Entwicklung orientiert sich HIMEL exakt an den Bedürfnissen der Landwirte und Tierhalter. Zu den neuesten Erfindungen gehört die Getreidequetsche.

Further outstanding developments are added: grist mills and screw conveyors. Today's product line is thus already characterised by the globally successful HIMEL grain systems.

As a trained agricultural machinery mechanic, Mathias Hirlinger develops the first cutting blower in his parents' garage with Swabian ingenuity and craftsmanship.
The foundation stone for today's HIMEL Maschinen GmbH & Co. KG is laid. Manual production gets underway. Word spreads among the farmers that HIMEL builds agricultural machinery that makes the hard day-to-day work easier.
The master craftsman's certificate makes it official:
Mathias Hirlinger is now the company founder and entrepreneur.

The HIMEL grain blower is created. Mathias Hirlinger has developed a machine that is a world first. The farm wagons and manure spreaders designed by the Swabian inventor are the predecessor models of the HIMEL feed mixer wagons, which three decades later begin their triumphal march across several continents.

Production in Melchingen is running at full speed. New production halls are constantly being built and more employees are hired. One of the first patents is the HIMEL LBG blower series with direct drive. This development by Mathias Hirlinger is yet another consistent step in the right direction.

A production facility covering over 3300 square metres is inaugurated in Hechingen. This is where the large metering devices for hay and silage and the hay distributors are manufactured. HIMEL grain blowers are now a "top seller" in the product range.