At the end of November 2018, the gardening power tool manufacturer STIHL Tirol, formerly known as VIKING, celebrated winning two awards.
Respect for the environment in how the company acts and works has a long tradition at the Tyrolean gardening power tool manufacturer. For many years, the Langkampfen-based company has reaped the rewards with a proactive environmental policy and intensively pursued sustainability strategies. On 26 November 2018, it received official acknowledgement of this. Federal Minister Elisabeth Köstinger honoured STIHL Tirol for its outstanding commitment to energy efficiency, presenting the Tyrolean delegation headed up by STIHL Tirol Production Manager Josef Koller with a certificate to this effect in Vienna.
Through further switchovers to LED lighting in large sections of the company, STIHL Tirol is now additionally saving more than 50,000 kWh of electricity each year. The entire manufacturing setup is energy efficient. The lawn mower specialist has also undertaken to identify energy efficiency potential in its manufacturing and throughout its plant for the coming years.
STIHL Tirol was also pleased to win a special employer award. On 23 November 2018, the Tyrolean state government once again awarded the title "Ausgezeichneter Tiroler Lehrbetrieb" (Outstanding Tyrolean Apprentice Programme). Strict standards apply to the extension of this seal of quality. For example, various training criteria have to be met such as a quota of passed final apprenticeship examinations or attractive additional offerings for apprentices.
A number of the apprentices at STIHL Tirol also completed the "Lehre mit Matura" (Apprenticeship with Matriculation) model. In addition to well-grounded in-company training, STIHL Tirol offers its young employees quite a bit more, such as the encouragement of personal development. There are also bonuses for good performance at the vocational school. For STIHL Tirol, the award is an important acknowledgement of the quality of training offered by the company.
STIHL Tirol:
STIHL Tirol was established in Kufstein in 1981 as VIKING GMBH and has been a full subsidiary of the STIHL Group since 1992. In addition to cordless and electric products, the Langkampfen site also develops, produces and sells lawn mowers, robotic mowers, ride-on mowers, garden shredders, tillers and scarifiers. The continuous and strong growth in recent years has made the Tyrolean company a leader in the gardening power tool sector. With 480 employees, VIKING achieved a turnover of EUR 381.9 million in 2017.
Company portrait of the STIHL Group:
The STIHL Group develops, produces and sells power tools for forestry and agriculture as well as landscape cultivation, construction and private garden owners. The product range is complemented by the gardening power tool range previously sold under the VIKING brand and from 2019 entirely under the STIHL brand. The products are sold exclusively via specialist service-providing dealers, with 38 fully-owned sales and marketing companies, around 120 importers and more than 45,000 specialist dealers in over 160 countries. STIHL has production facilities in seven countries worldwide: Germany, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, China and the Philippines. STIHL has been the world's highest-selling chain saw brand since 1971. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Waiblingen near Stuttgart. In 2017, STIHL achieved a turnover of EUR 3.8 billion with 15,875 employees worldwide.