At all times throughout history, the lifting, transport and lowering of goods has presented a particular challenge – from the building of the Pyramids, through the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, to industrialisation in the 19th century. Methods that were more and more innovative and machines that were more and more powerful were invented, relieving the burden of work placed on man and thus increasing productivity.

Technology instead of muscle-power, machines instead of manpower - that was the motto of the day. And even now, SWF rises to meet this challenge daily. 80 years ago, no-one could have imagined that SWF´s success would be so spectacular. For in the early days, our company moved on one plane only: in 1921 SWF was founded as the Süddeutsche Waggon-Fabrik (”south German wagon factory“) – which is where the three letters of our company`s name come from.

The company took off in a really big way in 1926. With the expansion of our range of products, the three letters ”SWF“ took on a new meaning: Süddeutsche Waggon- und Förderanlagen (south German wagon and lifting equipment). Over the years, the company became more and more specialised in crane and lifting equipment, resulting in 1953 in a new company name. Since then, SWF stands for Süddeutsche Winden- und Förderanlagen (south German hoisting and lifting equipment).

Since 1997, SWF has been a member of the world leading KCI Konecranes Plc group. And during this time, its success has grown continuously – as the facts and figures show: today, SWF has more than 1,000 customers in some 30 countries.