Forces are concentrated

In order to be able to optimise both our processes and production in future, the entire manufacturing is relocated to the plant in Ahaus.

In the course of this, maschines and technical equipments move to Ahaus too. In addition to that the machinery is expanded by a new hardening and heat treating machine.

Commemorating the grand opening of the new hall by Ralf Putsch and Jonas Putsch.

On 1st April 2017 we inaugurated our new production hall under the motto “now we have more space”.
On this historic day for OrbisWill, 45 years after the opening of the new location in Ridderstraße in Ahaus, Ahaus' mayor Carola Voss and our owner Ralf Putsch were also on site. Together with the employees, managing director Michael Graf was pleased about the growth opportunities associated with the 3,000 sqm expansion.

New construction of production hall

Launch of the 3-components sleeve engineering

Launch of the OrbisWill production system

Orbis-Werk and Will Werkzeuge merged in 2008.

The renamed company OrbisWill GmbH + Co. KG is located in Ahaus. The production plant in Neustadt remains.

Manufacture of plastic parts.

In the 1980s, injection moulding technology at OrbisWill was initially terminated for decades with the introduction of 2-components technology.
After the take-over by Knipex-Werk, production is resumed in 2006 with the first 2-components injection moulding machine.
Today, several modern 2-components and 3-components machines are available for production.

In 2006 the KNIPEX Group takes over Will Werkzeuge from a bankruptcy.

Since 2005 bolt and mesh cutters are manufactured as a new foothold in Ahaus. The components are produced and assembled on modern, CNC-controlled machining centers.

The KNIPEX C. Gustav Putsch KG in Wuppertal acquires Orbis.

Orbis established a quality system in accordance to DIN EN ISO 9001 as one of the first manufacturers of pliers.

Unior Zrece buys the family business.

In 1990 the factory Orbis-Werk Groten is sold to Unior d.d. in Zrece, Slovenia by the Groten family and since then trades under the name Orbis-Werk GmbH + Co. KG.

In 1972 a subsidiary company was founded in Johannesburg. Since that time Harry P. Will manufactured pliers in South Africa until 2005.

New Orbis-Werk Groten GmbH pliers factory inaugurated

From 1971 to 1972 the new Orbis-Werk Groten GmbH pliers factory was built at Ridderstraße 37.
The plant was opened in May 1972 with an office area of 600 square meters and a production area of 4,000 square meters.
The construction costs amounted to the then high sum of 4.8 million DM. Additional halls were added in 1986.

Many construction projects in the 70s and 80s are evidence of the economic boom of company Will. In 1972 a new production hall of nearly 2,000 sqm was put into operation as well as about 500 sqm office space. Another 1,800 sqm warehouse and production area were added in 1987. Due to extensive modernisation in all manufacturing sectors in the years 1990 and 1991 - combined with the largest investment since the foundation of the company - Harry P. Will Neustadt became one of the latest pliers factories in the world at that time.

The sons of Paul E. Groten (left) and Karl Groten (right) joined the management of the company Orbis - here with Paul Groten, sen. in 1965.

Production Orbis-Werk Groten

In 1962 the company Will was sold to the family of Still, whose worldwide activities were in the field of "design and construction of coke and chemical plants".

Harry Paul Will died a few years later in his adopted home of Canada.

Orbis-Werk Groten GmbH moves to Ahaus in the Münsterland region.

In 1955 Paul Groten sen. decided to relocate the company headquarters from Solingen to Ahaus.
The move to the new premises with an area of 1,800 square meters finally took place on the Easter weekend of 1956.

Catalogue front page around 1955

After several moves in the area of Stadtallendorf, Harry P. Will built a new building in the Gleimenhainer Straße. In January 1955 the company moved in.

Harry P. Will emigrated to Toronto /Canada at the beginning of the 1950s. Before the war he had already established close business contacts in the United States and Canada. He was soon well-known under the name "Plier-King". The management of his company in Neustadt was transferred to his partner Richard Gies.

After the end of the war in 1945, Mr. Harry Will, the son of the tool manufacturer Bruno Will, and three employees succeeded in a night and fog action with some machines the escape to the west. From May 1947 the company found a new home in the disused horse stables of a former haulage company in Neustadt (Hesse).
The entry in the commercial register as Harry P. Will Werkzeugfabrik GmbH took place on 4 March 1948.
Finally, in 1955, a new building was started on Gleimenhainer Straße.

Our ORBIS logo in 1946

The air attacks on Solingen in 1944 forced Orbis to move its production site several times.​

After the war the region was originally occupied by Americans. Even before the invasion of the Russian occupation troops in the summer of 1945, Harry Paul Will, the son of the tool manufacturer Bruno Will, and three employees escaped to the West with some machines, blanks and semi-finished goods.

Orbis-Werk in Solingen prior to the destruction in 1944

In 1929 Paul Groten sen. founded “Orbis Werkzeugfabrik” as a tool factory in Solingen. Besides the region around the cities of Schmalkalden and Steinbach-Hallenberg, the area of Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal belongs to the second stronghold of the German tool industry.

The "Bruno Will gun and tool factory" emanates from the original factory in 1918, which successfully continues the tradition of the founding fathers.

Harry P. Will‘s ancestors founded a tool factory in Schmalkalden (Thuringia).

Schmalkalden is considered as the cradle of the German tool industry.

The first documentary mention of a sledgehammer dates back to the year 1348.