The company Ziermann is one of the market leaders in the distribution of dry cleaning and laundry machines
“We deliver all over the world, but especially to Central Europe, Africa and Asia,” Ziermann proudly reports. Notable customers from diverse industries are Lufthansa or Emirates, the cruise operator Aida, the hotel chain Interkontinental or the textile companies Falke and Marc Cain.
Anyone who buys a sheepskin at Ikea can almost be sure that it was previously washed in one of Ziermann’s cleaning machines. Laundries and dry cleaners receive everything they need from the company Ziermann to make everything clean, pure and wrinkle-free. “We do not only supply the complete package of the various machines, but also provide advice e.g. when it comes to installing compressed air systems to achieve optimum results,” the owner explains.
Ziermann’s father founded the company back in 1979 as a sales and trading company for cleaning machines. “At that time, dry cleaning has experienced a real boom in West Germany. There were 13,500 businesses; today there are only 2,700,” Ziermann recalls, adding, “In the past, every teacher and civil servant wore a suit. Those days are gone. At the same time, the textile industry is producing more and more goods that you can wash by yourself, and household washing machines have new functions to be also able to wash delicate laundry.”
Nevertheless, the entrepreneur who took over the company in 1995 has succeeded in raising the Ziermann GmbH to a completely different level. The young man at that time oriented himself abroad and sold mainly second-hand dry cleaning machines from Germany to all over the world. Today, Ziermann generates a large part of its sales in Asia. This more than compensates for the decline in the European market.
A big issue in Ziermann’s company history is the Corona crisis. “We are currently emptying one shop in Germany per week in order to sell the second-hand machines afterwards. Sales at the dry cleaners have dropped by 75 percent,” Ziermann reports. If there are no more events, people will also stop wearing costumes and suits that have to be cleaned afterwards. Ziermann himself lost 50 percent of his business last year, he said. “Now we benefit from the fact that we concentrate on our core competencies and do not have our own production apart from assembling the machines.”
Source: hahe – The article was published in the “Acher- und Bühler Bote” on 20 March 2021.