With innovative system solutions for intra-logistics in conveying and loading technology, palletising and packaging technology as well as sortation and distribution systems, BEUMER has established an excellent position in the world market. These solutions are applied in various industries such as cement, lime and gypsum, agriculture and mining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, food and beverage and also in airports and logistics centres. Dr. Christoph Beumer, Chairman and CEO of BEUMER Group has been managing the family business since 2000, now in the third generation.
On December 9, 1935, the 33-year-old Bernhard Beumer started his first work day as an entrepreneur with four employees. Until then, he had been working for a conveying technology company in Essen. One of his most important seed assets was the experience he gained as a repair mechanic for conveying technology, working in the mining industry in the Ruhr area before completing his degree in engineering. Bernhard Beumer had long entertained the idea of being independent and founding his own business. When he learned that a vacant factory building in his hometown of Beckum was up for sale, he seized this opportunity. The classic conveying technology formed the foundation of his business.
The entrepreneur starts from scratch. As a young senior engineer, he knew the business, as well as the customer’s needs. Already when founding his new company, he brought with him his first orders from the building materials, cement and mining industries. A considerable step towards the success of BEUMER conveying technology was his development of the idler with labyrinth seal. The founder of the company had this innovation patented and integrated it further into other products (Figure 1). The company continued to grow, employing about 100 people at the outbreak of the Second World War.
Not only the company founder, but also his eldest son bears the name Bernhard Beumer. After completing studies in mechanical engineering, he worked at his father’s side for 18 years and took over the company after his father’s death in 1981. In the field of conveying technology, he particularly pursued the development of bucket elevators. He used a belt with steel wires to ensure that the buckets are reliably fixed to the belt. He arranged the steel wires so that there are wire-free zones. Holes can be punched into these zones to fasten the buckets tightly to the belt.
With these bucket elevators, BEUMER created a conveying technology which allows for considerably higher speeds and greater centre distances. BEUMER’s current belt bucket elevators allow centre distances of 178 m or more. By the mid-1980s, the supplier had installed about 100 systems altogether, in 2007 and 2008 there were about 450 installed per year, world-wide. Besides the product development in the field of conveying technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. also continued the initial development of loading systems and set BEUMER on a decisive path for the globalisation of the group, founding companies in Brazil, the USA and Asia.
In the 1960s, BEUMER laid the foundation for curved belt conveying systems. The first theoretical designs on the market were from the company’s Department for Research and Development. Today this group is one of the technological leaders for these systems, either as troughed belt conveyors with open design or as pipe conveyors. One particularly impressive reference project is the 12.5 km long troughed belt conveyor in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which was put into operation in 2008 and currently conveys about 2,200 t of limestone from the quarry to the cement plant. Its routing features several vertical and horizontal curves. The system traverses 1.5 km of water surface and extensive bamboo forests, and can overcome height distances of up to 100 m. For the same project, BEUMER Group has now been awarded the contract to supply and install another conveyor of similar size, and the customer is already planning a third expansion phase.
In the field of loading technology, Bernhard Beumer Jr. developed new products, such as the three-dimensional loading machine for loading cement bags onto trucks. In the 1970s, the engineers further developed this machine until it became completely automated.

Fig. 2: The BEUMER Group management: (from left to right) Dr. Hermann Brunsen, Dr. Detlev Rose, Dr. Christoph Beumer (Chairman) and Norbert Hufnagel. // Bild 2: Die Geschäftsführung der BEUMER Group: (v. l.) Dr. Hermann Brunsen, Dr. Detlev Rose, Dr. Christoph Beumer (Vorsitzender) und Norbert Hufnagel. Photo/Foto: BEUMER
Since 2000, Dr.-Ing. Christoph Beumer, the founder’s grandson, has been managing the company (Figure 2). BEUMER ensures the long-term success of the company through manageable growth, a large range of products and a global market presence. BEUMER machines and systems are in use all around the world. The group consistently pursues its globalisation, by setting up local group companies, and even local production facilities in China and Thailand. The result: the company has exhibited extremely stable organic growth over the last several years. With its acquisition of Enexco Technologies in India, a manufacturer of grinding systems and packaging machines for the cement industry, BEUMER has reinforced its presence in vital markets and simultaneously systematically expanded its portfolio, without abandoning its traditional segments.
BEUMER does not only provide and install machines and systems but has established a fourth, independent business unit, in the form of its Customer Support unit. Customer Support offers various service agreements which are matched individually to the respective needs of the customer, including service intervals and response times as agreed by contract. The agreements can range from maintenance and inspection to a long-term placement of service personnel on site.
Further information/Weitere Informationen:
BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG
www.beumergroup.com