Menzel recently marked its milestone with a feast and unveiled a recent building renovation
TW Special Report
According to Hans Joachim Menzel, current owner of Spartanburg-based Menzel LP, a chance meeting with Roger Milliken at a trade show in Atlantic City prompted his father, the late Gerhard “Gerd” Menzel, to open a manufacturing facility in Spartanburg in 1965. “Mr. Milliken bought all of my father’s equipment, but said he would have to come to Spartanburg to pick up the check,” said Menzel. “When [my father] came to get [the check], he fell in love with the location between Greenville and Charlotte and decided to set up his plant there.” Hans Menzel praised his father for his wisdom in choosing Spartanburg for its U.S. location along the county’s industrial corridor of Business Interstate 85. The company has its roots with Germany-based Karl Menzel Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co., which was established in 1925 by Gerd’s father Karl Menzel.
Initially manufacturing textile web equipment, including the time-saving Menzel A-frame — a material handling system that allows manufacturers to wind large rolls of fabric onto fixed cores using portable carriages — today the company has grown its product range to include machinery for a variety of finishing, dyeing and printing ranges. Menzel’s equipment is suitable for fabrics, nonwovens, foils, glass fabrics and plastics.
The company recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its U.S.-based operation with a feast for its customers, friends and 55 employees, many of whom have worked for the company for more than 30 years.
The building in Spartanburg, which has doubled in size three times since it was first established, recently was renovated to provide much-needed light to the office area. Visitors to the anniversary celebration had the chance to tour the facility to view the upgraded office space.
November/December 2016
