Products:

• Free CAD software “Front Panel Designer” available to download from the Internet or on CD-ROM and the manufacture of customized front panels both as cost-effective individual units and in small production runs

Target group:

• Engineering firms and development divisions in the electronics sector as well as other branches of industry, universities and research establishments and also electronics hobbyists.

Market:

• Predominantly Germany, additionally: Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Ireland and Spain as well as the USA, Canada, Australia and India

Organization:

• 45 employees, 10 CNC machines, annual results for 2008: 3,79 m euros turnover, 12,079 orders, 10,032 customers

Current projects:

• Implementation of the OpenSource ERP-System ADempiere
• Printing of frontpanels with ink jet under eloxal permitting particularly high-quality and surface-resistant prints
• Completion of the Housing Designer and thereby an extension of the product range to include customized housings
• Further opening up of international markets

History:

• 1961 Formation of the individual enterprise by the physicist Bernhard Schaeffer in Berlin, production of amusement machines and measuring equipment
  
  
• 1992 Formation of Schaeffer Apparatebau KG by Bernhard Schaeffer and his sons Jörg and Kai based in Zehlendorf, design and development of amusement machines and thermodynamic measuring instruments
  
  
• 1998 Development of the “Front Panel Designer” and launch of the series production of customized front panels
  
  
• 2002 Relocation to new premises in Zehlendorf, total area approx. 450m² and set-up of a partner company in Seattle, USA
  
  
• 2004 Retirement of the founder Bernhard Schaeffer and the change of corporate form to Schaeffer AG expansion of premises to around 950m²
  
  
• 2008 Relocation to new premises in Marienfelde, total area in use approx. 2500m²