The fastening system developer and producer Mounting Systems, from Rangsdorf near Berlin (Germany), is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013. For two decades, the company has been contributing to the international success of clean solar energy. With a broad portfolio of fastening systems and components for on-roof, in-roof and flat roof as well as open terrain solar installations, the company has taken up a firm position in the international solar power market with four global locations in UK, US, France and Germany. Although solar substructures only form a small part of the overall installation, they nevertheless bear a great responsibility in providing the necessary stability for the most important part of any solar plant – the modules.
Company history
Mounting Systems was founded in Dahlewitz, South of Berlin, in 1993. At that time, its first product, an on-roof fastening system, allowed to install modules on private residential buildings. In 2004, the company moved to its current location in Rangsdorf, a town near Dahlewitz with good infrastructure connections thanks to its proximity to the motorway and Berlin-Schönefeld airport.
Ralf Christoffers, Brandenburg’s Minister for Economic and European Affairs, is also among those offering their congratulations: “My best wishes on this 20th company anniversary. The enterprise was founded with great strength of purpose at the time. Today, we can say that the strategy of long-term site development and an international business outlook has led to strongly competitive jobs and apprenticeships. The successful development of this fastening system expert is very important for Brandenburg’s economy. Social responsibility takes an equal place alongside operating figures in the business model of the top management. Their regional commitment can also be seen in the recruitment of skilled personnel predominantly from the region, so as to generate regional value chains. I wish the company management and its employees continued success.”
The production and warehouse space has grown from an original 1,000 square metres since 1993 to its present 17,000 square metres. In 1999, the Conergy group from Hamburg aquired the company. “Twenty years of Mounting Systems means twenty years of experience and twenty years of quality. Thereby, the fastening system experts set standards worldwide – including for Conergy’s complete solutions,” says Conergy Chief Operating Officer Alexander Gorski. “Few developers and producers of solar fastening systems have such a long and successful history to look back on. This is all the more significant in the continuously and rapidly changing solar energy sector. As parent
company and system solution provider with a worldwide sales network, we’re very proud of this and warmly congratulate Mounting Systems on its twenty years of existence.”
Since September 2008, the company has been operating independently under the name Mounting Systems GmbH, selling its products on the market on its own. In 2007, the TÜV Cert (Rhineland Association for Technical Inspection Group) certified the Rangsdorf site according to DIN ISO 9001 for the first time.
In its two decades, Mounting Systems has successfully countered the changes in the economy and varying political circumstances. The sales team services the European, Asian, African and American market. In 2010, the company opened its own sales and production site on the American continent in West Sacramento, California. Further representative offices in France (since 2010), Great Britain (since 2012) and soon also in Japan (summer 2013) demonstrate Mounting Systems’ solid market experience in the worldwide photovoltaic business and enable it to advise its customers locally.
Stefan Spork, Managing Director of Mounting Systems, says: “Two decades ago, solar power generation was still a niche market. Since then, the sector has professionalised. The whole value chain is structured much more efficiently and therefore cost-effectively. Over the last twenty years we’ve significantly built up and expanded our regional, national and international marketability and effectively asserted ourselves among our market peers. We’re pleased with this development and convinced that we’ll also be in the front line of active contributors shaping the solar future in the next twenty years as well. With high certainty, Mounting Systems will continue on its course of international success. Our customers can rely on our fastening systems.”
Philosophy
The two managers, Stefan Spork, graduate engineer (MBA), and Andreas Knaup, graduate in business studies, fully embrace German engineering, a broad range of products and clear concepts. Mounting Systems stands for quality, service and supplier reliability – crucial values for creating confidence in quality-conscious customers. The basis of the corporate culture is fairness, efficiency and a spirit of partnership.
The use of high-quality primary materials such as aluminium, a fully integrated production line and continuous quality controls have contributed to establishing the Mounting Systems brand on the international market. The team’s daily incentive, in the in-house engineering department for instance, is to develop, produce and deliver system solutions and services for its customers. From Rangsdorf and West Sacramento, the company’s staff dispatches its products to more than fifty countries.
“Mounting Systems GmbH is among the leaders in the photovoltaic and solar thermal industry. It is precisely in this sector that the Rangsdorf company sets an example of entrepreneurial success. A capacity for innovation and an international outlook ensures great opportunities in the marketplace. That was why in 2010 Mounting Systems received the CAI Entrepreneur Award in the “Growth” category from the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). In 2011, we honoured the company with the Berlin-Brandenburg Quality Award. Be it volunteer involvement in the IHK plenary meeting, the executive chair-swapping project with Brandenburg scientific institutions, or the international enterprise convention “Green Ventures” – Mounting Systems GmbH is an important and reliable partner for us,” says Dr. Victor Stimming, President of the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Since July 2012, Mounting Systems has been among the first manufacturers of solar fastening systems whose load-bearing components are permitted to carry CE labelling (Communautés Européennes) according to the EN1090 standard. In early 2013, the Rhineland Association for Technical Inspection certified the Rangsdorf and West Sacramento sites according to ISO 9001.
Responsibility
The fastening system producer holds to the premise “From Brandenburg into the world”. The company is regionally rooted and shows its clear commitment to the region in numerous practical ways. The company’s managers, Stefan Spork and Andreas Knaup, continue to be highly involved in supporting children and young people such as budding footballers, actively contributing to communal life in the town. Apart from its sense of responsibility for a clean and sustainable energy supply, the management sets store on continuous personnel development. The number of employees has grown constantly. The company now occupies some 250 colleagues from nine nations in four locations. As a company that takes on apprentices, Mounting Systems makes a specific investment in the future of young people. The talent of the future is qualified in six different technical and commercial job descriptions such as industrial business management assistant, technical draftsman or in a dual study course in mechanical engineering (construction and manufacturing).
