Rolf Östling
- (President and company's founder)
Where do we come from?
In the middle of the 18th century, steel experts of Walloon origin migrated from Belgium to northern Sweden. They were called Pierro. In the striving steel district of Sandviken they grew prosperous, purchased a manorial estate and changed their name: OSTLING.
Their interest in technology remained unchanged. They developed machines to rationally harvest turf, reshape steel or produce nails, for example.
This innovative thinking and the motivation of his ancestors shaped the company founder, Rolf Östling. He was born in the port city of Gävle in Sweden. Following his school leaving examinations and his industrial engineering studies, he had the idea of developing a marking system. In a tiny, dark basement, he began in 1968 to build a machine that was purchased by the Sandvik Company, the world's largest carbide producer.
- thus it began
Innovations such as corrosion-free electrolytes and template material with very long durability promoted further expansion.
In 1978, he moved to Germany (Essen) and founded the company OSTLING Vertriebs GmbH. In 1979, the company headquarters was relocated to Solingen, where the cutlery industry has an international reputation and market potential is conglomerated.
Due to the continuing expansion, primarily in export, a move was made again within Solingen in 1988, in order to satisfy the wish for development and space. The company was renamed to OSTLING Markiersysteme GmbH. The product portfolio in the field of electrolytics encompasses the manual marking stations and extends to semi and fully automatic marking systems. In 1989, the company developed its own pad printing machine and included it in the product portfolio. The needle embossing system followed in 1993, the inkjet and laser marking system in 1995, and the identification system in 1997. Parallel to this, the foreign sales locations in Switzerland, Singapore, France and the USA were established. At the German headquarters in Solingen, a modern development and production centre was set up to develop hardware and software, among other things.
The OSTLING Group now offers marking systems for almost any product.
Over the years our company has achieved something that money cannot buy: experience and expertise.
Today we are looking forward to a great future with you!
