Milestones

•1821: Jakob  Anton Derndinger (of Ichenheim) founds the Glass Foundry in Niederschopfheim.
•1825: J.A. Derndinger moves the foundry, renaming it Derndinger & Co, Fensterglasfabrik [Window Glass Factory].
•1833: Ludwig Brost buys into the company, now Derndinger & Brost.
•1857: Carl Nikolaus Geck and Carl Ludwig Weißkopf head up the company, now known as C. Geck & Cie, manufacturer of decorative window glass, engraved rosettes, swathes, colourfully decorated church windows, warehouse for all sorts of coloured and white window glass. Production of muslin glass advances beyond initial trials.
•1862: C. Weißkopf and Adolf Schell found a workshop for muslin glass production.
•1863: Wilhelm I. Schell joins the muslin glass factory marking the beginning of actual window painting.
•1868: Otto Vittali joins the company Geck & Vittali.
•1876: Adolf and Wilhelm I. Schell go different ways: Adolf Schell creates the Adolf Schell & Otto Vittali GmbH [Ltd.] and Wilhelm I. Schell sets up his own business. Following his death the business passes into the hands of his son, Paul Schell. Production switches to glass cutting and brass glazing.
•1893: The founding of August Zickwolf Glasbuchstabenfabrik [Glass Lettering Factory].
•1896: Wilhelm II. Schell, another son of Wilhelm I. Schell, founds the Wilhelm Schell Glasplakatefabrik [Glass Placard Factory], Offenburg. Glass placard production commences using ewer glass (special table glass) embossed and printed on the side, silvering, leaf gilding and engraved sheets in 3 or 4 hues. At that time these were highly popular in hotels and opulent villas. At the beginning, production also centred on self-adhesive flashed cameo glass placards.
•1910: Acquisition of Simmler & Venator.
•1913: The company becomes a Limited: Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg GmbH. Co-proprietor: Dr. Alfred Silber.
•1913: Dr. Alfred Silber takes over the August Zickwolf Glasbuchstabenfabrik.

•1919: The company is renamed Glasplakatefabrik Offenburg.
•1922: The Glasplakatefabrik Offenburg is converted into a public limited company: Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg AG.
•1923: August Zickwolf Glasbuchstabenfabrik merges with Glasmosaikwerke [Glass Mosaic Factory] GmbH to form Metallglas [Metal Glass] AG. Board chairmen: Dr. Alfred Silber and Paul Schell.
•1934: Wilhelm Schell leaves the company. Fritz Borsi, son-in-law of Dr. A. Silber assumes management responsibility.
•1934: Mass production of translucent dials for radios.
•1936: Company becomes a Limited Partnership: Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg Fritz Borsi KG.
•1936: Founding of Metallglas Fritz Borsi KG.
•1940: Merger between Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg Fritz Borsi KG and Metallglas Fritz Borsi KG to become Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg Fritz Borsi KG.
•1950: The factory starts producing glass panels with varying degrees of transparency for back-lit one-arm bandits. The manufacturing process involves up to 32 separate print cycles. Also: production of advertising mirrors and POS displays.
•1972: Fritz Borsi leaves the company; Dr. Ulrich Borsi and Klaus Kall become chairmen.
•1974: Company expansion leads to a move to new premises in Schutterwald outside Offenburg.
•1983: Joint development project with Warsteiner brewery culminating in a process for applying brightly polished translucent decoration to the back of acrylic glass. This formed the basis for much successful work with leading breweries.
•1985: Dr. Ulrich Borsi leaves the company. The company is renamed: Glasplakate-Fabrik Offenburg Fritz Borsi KG becomes Fritz Borsi KG; Klaus Kall becomes sole chairman.
•1990: Schutterwald production is upgraded to cover an area of 3600 sq. m. BORSI operations now cover 25,000 sq. m with warehousing capacity of 5000 sq. m.

•1995: DIN EN ISO 9001 certification.
•1996: BORSI supplies new company placards to all VW dealerships worldwide.
•2000: Foundation of the subsidiary „imm-network GmbH“. Directors: Florian Kall and Peter G. Breer.
•2003: ISO certification is upgraded to ISO 9001:2000.
•2005: The new storage depot opens in the north east section of the factory.
•2005: BORSI installs its largest ever vacuum deep-drawing mould machine. On November 28, 2005 BORSI starts vacuum forming sheets up to 3000 x 3000 x 800 mm, a size ideal for outdoor billboards of up to 3 x 3 meters. This is the largest production facility of its kind in Europe.
•2006: Klaus Kall leaves the company; Fritz Borsi KG management fuses with management at „imm-network GmbH“.
•2006/2007: BORSI dedicate themselves to sustainability with respect to product and production:The R&D and the work-shop are trimmed on “saving energy and resources”, printing intelligent functional layers”, and substituting aluminium and metal by organic materials”. The thermal isolation of the head office building has been improved and new windows installed inside.
•2008:A new truck is added to the fleet in order to extend just-in-time delivery services to our customers. The Group’s companies are all moved to central Headquarters in Schutterwald. Implementation of HSSE procedures.
• 2009: Additional office and work-shop areas at „Am Ziegelplatz 20“. Europe's largest vacuum moulding machine (4000mm x 2500mm) for series production operational. To enhance environmental friendly commuting to the plant and in between the different units, a shelter for bicycles was installed and several “company-bikes” have been made available for staff.
•2010: Registration of patent for moulding of fibre reinforced thermoplastics with a „class A“ surface. BORSI “in new colours”, due to colourful façade renovation. Installation of a 5000 m2 photovoltaic collector system, which generates 229,90 kWp. Extension of the production area of 17000 m2, sheltered commissioning and buffer storage of 7000m2, and warehouse of 9.500 m2, respectively.