125 years of META – from Arnsberg to the world
From nails to multi-storey racking systems

Company expansion, restructuring, new business sectors, relocations or the development of innovations: for a company, 125 years of existence means constant change. At the Arnsberg-based storage technology expert META-Regalbau, a company celebrating its 125^th anniversary this year, strong cooperations as well as inclusion in the Joachim Loh group of companies can be added to the list.

On New Year’s Eve 1896, Casper Schnettler and August Linneborn certified the foundation of the company “Schnettler & Co. Nagelfabrik” with their signatures. Until 1963, the year of the company’s first modular steel shelf, the continuous product range consisted of steel, cut, special and upholstery nails as well as drawing pins. Six years later the company focused on its steel shelving range and was renamed META-Regalbau GmbH & Co. KG. In 1986, Joachim Loh integrated the storage technology expert into the Joachim Loh corporate group, which includes many further strong brands and companies.

Growth, internationalisation and spatial transition

An important and central pillar of META is the consistent expansion of the company; the first subsidiary in Austria was founded as early as 1972, and in the following years the Czech Republic, Poland, England, Romania, North America, Denmark and the Benelux countries followed. Further sales offices were recently also established in France, Hungary, the Baltic States and South Eastern Europe. META has permanent distribution partners in other countries who guarantee proximity to the customer base.

The storage technology specialist has also undergone constant changes in terms of space, such as a final move to the current location in the Westring industrial estate (in 1969), a new construction of the office complex (completed in 2000) and the go-ahead for Plant ll (in 2017) very close to the headquarters.

Innovation and cooperation

Product innovations and further development of existing storage solutions are an important part of the company's corporate strategy – as has been the case for 125 years – during which the range has been subject to constant change and consistent development. One example is the new META MULTIFLOOR racking system, which as a modular system is extremely flexible in terms of design and construction, simplifying customer-specific adaptations, even to static requirements if necessary.

Strategically, META is geared towards a broad sector mix, ranging from individual shelving systems for industrial and trade customers (sold via fixed specialist trade dealers) to large-scale and multi-storey racking for the project sector. Here META is very successfully represented in several industries, including manufacture, e-commerce, automotive, sanitary/electrical, office and many others.
Beyond its own product range, cooperations are an important building block for the future corporate development of META. The latest cooperation for example with a successful conveyor technology specialist demonstrates that this orientation ensures future success for both partner companies and also leverages a high level of market potential. Several projects have already been successfully realised together, effectively combining racking and conveyor technology.

Company chronicles, constant change and an anniversary celebration

The company has recorded the constant changes that META-Regalbau has undergone over the years in two company chronicles (for its 100^th and 125^th anniversary). However, the developments over this long period of time also show the innovative strength and awareness for quality, since without these factors a 125-year company history would certainly not have been possible.

An anniversary celebration had already been planned twice, but in view of the Corona figures and META’s associated responsibility and care obligation it was consistently the correct decision to cancel these. However, postponed does not mean abandoned – the company is confident of celebrating this extraordinary birthday in the coming year!