Our history - A long industrial heritage
Gislaved Gummi AB has its origins in Svenska Gummifabriks AB in Gislaved, a Swedish industrial company established towards the end of the 19th century by Carl and Wilhelm Gislow. Their business concept was to manufacture products in the new miracle material “rubber”. It started with balls, bicycle tubes, gaskets, and galoshes to later become car tyres (1905), plastic foils (1945) and technical rubber products (1949). This was the beginning of what eventually became Gislaved Gummi AB and HEXPOL AB.
The brothers had migrated to the USA in the late 1800s and worked in the rubber industry there. Upon their return to Sweden they put their expertise to work and decided to set up their own company, producing galoshes and, eventually, car tires. The original name of the company was Gislaved Gummi (Gislaved Rubber).
Over the following century the company expanded into more technically demanding production processes, including the manufacture of gaskets for plate heat exchangers. Gislaved Gummi was acquired by Hexagon in 1994 and proceeded to grow quickly through strategic acquisitions around the globe.
Timeline
The principal phases in the development into the current Gislaved Gummi have been:
