From extrusion moulds for the clay industry to packaging specialists: Ramko's road to success is a family affair.
In 1926, the machine fitter Josef Braun founded the company Ziegelmundstückbau Braun in Friedrichshafen/Kluftern. With his vast experience as a factory manager in various brickworks, the dedicated brick maker was now able to offer his extensive services to the entire ceramic industry.
Despite heavy set-backs due to World War II, Entrepreneur Josef Braun built up the firm again with hard-work, innovation and strong customer relationships. This is still the ethos of the Braun Group today.
In 1964 his grandson Horst Rank joined the company and continued to bring unique and innovative products to the market. He travelled extensively to service and develope global customers and this was the start of the international business we see today. In 1972, the company moved from its first location on the Bahnhofstrasse to the present address at Markdorfer Straße 1 in Friedrichshafen/Kluftern. The new, more spacious location has enabled expansion and diversification and the number of employees in Germany has increased from less than ten in the early years to over 180.
At the new location, the company was able to make the decision to bring 90% of their production processes in-house in order to control quality and timeliness. This decision resulted in the birth of the Braun Contract Machining for the metal industry by utilizing the CNC Machines, Fire Cutting, Welding and Hard Chrome Plating capabilities.
Horst’s eldest son, Markus Rank joined the company in 1995 working closely with Horst continuing to develop the mold business. Markus is today running the Technical Ceramics division, which was developed to design and produce these complex molds and dies. Braun has many multi-national clients worldwide who rely on our highly technical molds and Braun still remains at the forefront of development for molds for Catalytic Converters in the Automobile industry.
Horst's son Christian Rank joined the company in 2003 to lead and develop the contract machining division, which now contributes approximately 40% of the turnover to the group.
Ramko-Maschinen GmbH was initiated in 1981 by Horst Rank as a trading company for machines and tools. Soon after, Ramko began to establish itself as a consulting enterprise for complex machines and systems, which specialized on client specific solutions.
In 2005, Christian Rank formed a strategic partnership with the Avery Dennison Corporation's Fastener Division to develop a line of standard packaging machines using their Variable Needle System. This was the founding of Ramko as we see today as one of the leading Flexible Packaging Solution providers worldwide. (See Company Info for more details above Ramko's products and services).
In 2011, Christian took over the global management of the Braun Group and passed the global management of Ramko to his wife, Claire Murray. Claire was instrumental in founding the Hong Kong & China subsidiaries in 2006, after working in Asia for 13 years and developing the trims and packaging business for Ramko.