Eberhard Schöck didn't think twice:
He rolled up his sleeves and was right in there to help.
The early 60s were an ideal time to set up a company. The German economic miracle was still in full swing, the economy was booming and housing construction was expanding. In 1965, Eberhard Schöck even spoke of an »hyper-boom« with regard to the construction activity of those years. The graduate engineer founded a small construction company in 1962.
Under the name Schöck Bautrupps he initially specialised in the construction of basements for prefabricated houses. His credo: »Making building modern!«
On April 2, 1962, Eberhard Schöck started work with five bricklayers on the first construction site: they built basements for four single-family houses in Zell am Harmersbach. The first teams worked on the building sites from Monday to Friday, living on site in a caravan; they were paid on a performance- linked basis and often worked day and night. This quickly led to the nickname: »Schöck’s wild construction crews.«
The initial spark for his professional path was the construction of his parents’ house in 1950 in post-war Germany. He was 15 years of age at the time. His parents bought a plot of land in Nürtingen near Stuttgart and commissioned a construction company to build the shell. Eberhard Schöck was part of the team right from the start and helped with the excavation. It was hard work, but interesting. The young Eberhard Schöck was fascinated by how a house is built step by step and so he quickly developed the desire to learn a building trade.
After obtaining his secondary school leaving certificate, he first did an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and then studied civil engineering at the technical colleges for construction in Stuttgart and in Hamburg. His early experiences on a construction site and learning a trade eventually enabled him to become an entrepreneur without equal. From the very beginning, Eberhard Schöck expressed his desire to build better houses.
Being down-to-earth, always open to new ideas, dedicated to people and very innovative and creative, he built up a small empire piece by piece, which today bears a great name: Schöck Group. Schöck is at home all over the world, generating growth and developing innovations with the reliability of an engineer, the precision of a craftsman and the staying power of an entrepreneur.
The Schöck Company has been very successful from the beginning. Eberhard Schöck knew how to steer his company in the right direction, and his wife and employees supported him very well. He skillfully built up several pillars to make his venture future-proof and crisis-proof.
Quite soon after the founding of Schöck Bautrupps, the company expanded from Varnhalt to Steinbach. Although the construction team initially started with building basements for prefabricated houses, Schöck set up an industrial production of basement windows and light wells in parallel. Schöck also manufactured concrete elements and, at the end of the 70s, joined the master builder’s cooperative.
The breakthrough came some time later with the famous Isokorb, which has remained a bestseller to this day. As the company grew, other locations were added to Baden-Baden.
In 1977, delivery warehouses are set up throughout Germany. Just two years later, the company expanded into other European countries, namely Austria and Switzerland. After overcoming the construction crisis at the end of the 90s, Schöck really took off internationally in 2004. Today, Schöck’s solutions are marketed in a total of 40 countries through own sales companies and sales partners.
What makes Schöck special is first and foremost the focus on people, both on the employees and on our customers and business partners. This gives rise to a lively culture of innovation, the results of which ultimately support the work of the foundation.
»The focus is on people: this has always been the basis of our father’s entrepreneurial activities. First and foremost, this concerns every employee who has a job in which he or she enjoys working independently and responsibly. Satisfied employees create a working environment in which people enjoy working and are effective. This results in great products with a high production quality and thus leads to satisfied customers. This focus also includes the liberal basic attitude, which is not based on advantages, but on job performance. Therefore, we do not judge people according to gender, age, skin colour, religion or background. The human being is the centre of attention. We, the company founder’s children, have internalised this attitude and consider it our task to maintain this focus on people in the Schöck Company and both foundations, to promote it and to keep adapting it to new circumstances.«
For me, Eberhard Schöck has been the ideal boss to this day. Although he was fully absorbed in his business, he always had sympathy for every employee. He always had time for us. Even when, or perhaps especially when it was a matter of private assistance. You could talk to him at any time. Sometimes, things went awry for us, but our boss never got really angry.
When it comes to bringing something into the world, it takes both will and action. It is not only the entrepreneur Eberhard Schöck who is very active and committed, but also his entire company.
At the end of 1992, Eberhard Schöck set up a foundation for international understanding with Eastern Europe and the promotion of training for young people in the skilled trades. Training is modernised according to the Western model in Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The demand for well-trained skilled workers is very high in these countries, but vocational training is generally outdated and not very practice-oriented. In cooperation with local partners, the training programmes are revised, instructors are trained, and classrooms and workshops are renovated in order to successfully set up and implement projects.
The Schöck Familien Stiftung gemeinnützige GmbH was founded in 2012 on the initiative of Sabine Schöck. With the foundation, the Schöck Family currently primarily supports projects to promote school and vocational training in India, Nepal and some African countries, as well as development and social projects in Baden-Württemberg.
The family’s main aim is to support existing associations and other foundations in successfully setting up and implementing their projects. It is dear to the family’s heart to enable disadvantaged people to live a successful and responsible life through individually adapted support, good education and training.
At Schöck, people are the centre of attention. From the beginning!
FOR THE SCHÖCK COMPANY, people are the centre of attention from the very beginning. Whether as employees or customers. »You can’t do anything without good employees,« company owner Eberhard Schöck likes to explain. The Schöck Company is also particularly caring towards its employees when it comes to their personal development and securing. It is owed to Schöck’s principles and the company’s attitude that most employees stay with the company for many years or even until their retirement, for the corporate philosophy meets with a positive response and earns respect, gratitude and warm words from the employees.
AS A LEADING MANUFACTURER OF BUILDING COMPONENTS, we want to make building easier and the world a little better. To do this, we need people. This is the insight of Schöck. The fact that the Company is primarily concerned with people is not only evident in the product range, which makes living and building easier. It is also reflected in the commitment to people – and they are happy to give it back in full.
THE WAY PEOPLE ARE TREATED distinguishes Schöck as a company. Schöck began very early on to support the training and further education of its employees, gave them the opportunity to grow and get involved. Eberhard and Sabine Schöck established two foundations that serve the common good on this basis.
In 1969, company founder and civil engineer Eberhard Schöck made his first invention and had it patented. Others followed into the 1980s. They set new standards in the building industry. A few of them also flopped. But the inventive spirit continued unbroken until the developments of modern times.
Especially in retrospect and in comparison, you can see how times change. The development of society is as interesting as the development of individual companies. Schöck has also changed or developed in the individual areas of life and with them some interesting things in everyday life.
Eberhard Schöck started his career quite early with the Bautrupp that built basements. He thus laid the foundation for a successful company. He started with five employees and by today…
... the company has grown to 1,100 employees. A success story without equal!
After moving to Steinbach, the Schöck employees were able to take the first orders by using typewriters and telephones. The telephone sets still had a rotary dial …
… whereas today, the communication devices look markedly different – especially in times of Corona, when Schöck employees have increasingly been working from home. Otherwise, employees work at mobile, flexible workstations following the »open space« model.
Until the 70s, the same workwear was offered for all industries, and specialised offers were usually only available for guild clothing. At Schöck, however, employees at the machines were dressed in special »Schöck workwear« from a very early stage.
This has not changed to this day. The classic blue of the Schöck company is still unmistakable. However, only the industrial employees are equipped with the Schöck work clothing. For all others, the rule is: you can wear whatever you feel comfortable in.
Target group-oriented advertising is part of Schöck’s self-image. A very early attempt to attract attention is this photo for the advertisement of the basement window wrapped in polystyrene.
Over the decades, advertising at Schöck has also developed. Today, it is communicated in a professionalised way via the products.
In 1983, the first Isokorb, named Type M, was presented to the market. The insulating body, the tension rods and the thrust bearing – at that time still made of simple concrete – take on an essential role as a load-bearing thermal insulation element. All components are further developed over time with more modern materials.
The latest type of Isokorb Model CXT now incorporates tension rods made of the pioneering glass fibre reinforcement Combar. An additional 120 millimeters layer of Neopor ensures optimum thermal insulation. And the thrust bearing made of micro-steel fibre-reinforced
high-performance fine concrete also contributes to an energy-efficient product for the balcony.
»NOWHERE IS LIFE EASIER THAN HERE«, the writer Otto Flake (1880 – 1963) already remarked adding that »the argument is only about the time of year when Baden-Baden is most beautiful.« This and many other quotes reflect the spirit of life in the »Kulturstädtle«, the »small town of culture«, as the Merian travel magazine called it.
BADEN-BADEN, once the favourite resort of the aristocracy and the upper middle classes, has not lost its charm to this day. It boasts charming places, such as the Lichtentaler Allee. This makes the region a perfect place to live, also for Eberhard Schöck’s family and his employees.
FACTORY TOURS AT SCHÖCK – Even in the early years of the company, the headquarters in Baden-Baden with its industrial production was a centre of attraction for visitors. In the 70s, for example, the first groups of students visited the premises, and in the mid-80s, Schöck even welcomed a delegation from South Africa. Since the late 90s, the company has offered a customer visitation program for one to two days.
Factory tour at Schöck
Baden is Germany’s third largest and southernmost wine-growing region with a total area of 15,836 hectares. Turnover in the 2020 business year was just under 39 million euros and increased by 5.8 percent compared to the previous year.
BADEN-BADEN, once the favourite resort of the aristocracy and the upper middle classes, has not lost its charm to this day. It boasts charming places, such as the Lichtentaler Allee. This makes the region a perfect place to live, also for Eberhard Schöck’s family and his employees.
In addition to the core city, the touristy old town and the spa quarter, the city of Baden-Baden is also made up of a number of districts. Since 1972, these districts have also included the BADEN-BADENER REBLAND with the three communities of Steinbach, Varnhalt and Neuweier. Around ten percent of Baden-Baden’s population call this area their home. And this is where it all began for Schöck.
The name Schöck is deeply anchored in the construction world but also bound to the future. We asked custormers and employees what they associate with Schöck.
Schöck is a reference name in high-quality construction products that solve technical, insulation and absorption problems for us architects, so that we can carry out our projects and thus help us materialize our ideas. In the field of the projects we work on, it would be very interesting for a company like Schöck to offer products for acoustic absorption and acoustic comfort, especially for public buildings such as libraries or educational buildings. I wish Schöck to continue the research in products that improve the sustainability and insulation of buildings to improve our quality of life.
Joey Dittmar, a young manager in the development department, drew exclusively for this book eight ideas of the working world, the topics and possible future Schöck products.
The pioneering spirit and the ability to repeatedly set standards for the entire construction industry has become a trademark of Schöck. Architects and planners also relied on this expertise when they approached the building product manufacturer’s application engineers with the question: »Do you have any idea how we can insulate columns other than with the conventional, visually unappealing flanking insulation?« And Schöck came up with a solution: Sconnex.
Next-generation Sconnex protects against earthquakes and is suitable for building in existing contexts. The highlight: the retrofitting of the first landmark.
The first magnetic Isokorb for a perfected construction process. Licence-based product properties are activated via a chip. The insulating element made of renewable raw materials is, of course, non-combustible.
The first magnetic Isokorb for a perfected construction process. Licence-based product properties are activated via a chip. The insulating element made of renewable raw materials is, of course, non-combustible.
In the course of digitalisation, Schöck has pooled its expertise with the software specialist generic.de in 2021. Schöck bought a 21.5 percent stake in the company and has combined the strengths of the two medium-sized companies. In 2022, the new company beamionic emerged from the joint development work with Robotic Eyes GmbH. Its new product »chekker« is a novel digital assistance system for plants producing precast concrete elements.
The current building M is only used for beekeeping (above). There are no longer any employees on site. Instead, for reasons of occupational safety, production is remotely controlled via VR (virtual reality).
With Mike Bucher, the progressive company has a visionary CEO. He sums up the prospects for Schöck’s future as follows: »We are working in a very disciplined manner on our Strategy 2025 and thus on our immediate future. However, with our vision ›Shaping tomorrow’s building today‹, we focus on a much longer time horizon. We make our entrepreneurial decisions on this basis and prepare for 2062.«
Schöck’s UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete) takes the next evolutionary step. For the first time, Schöck is supplying the aerospace industry with complex free formed elements and is meeting the high demand resulting from growing space tourism. Architecturally sophisticated prefabricated parts made of the high-strength material are also in great demand.
With Mike Bucher, the progressive company has a visionary CEO. He sums up the prospects for Schöck’s future as follows: »We are working in a very disciplined manner on our Strategy 2025 and thus on our immediate future. However, with our vision ›Shaping tomorrow’s building today‹, we focus on a much longer time horizon. We make our entrepreneurial decisions on this basis and prepare for 2062.«
Schöck’s UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete) takes the next evolutionary step. For the first time, Schöck is supplying the aerospace industry with complex free formed elements and is meeting the high demand resulting from growing space tourism. Architecturally sophisticated prefabricated parts made of the high-strength material are also in great demand.
I imagine Schöck at its 100th anniversary as a globally established company that has opened up further relevant markets. The climate neutrality we are already striving for today has been achieved and our products are based on renewable raw materials. The product range will expand to include more digital products, with a focus on sustainability and innovation. This will also significantly increase the annual turnover. More employees will work at Schöck than today. Man and machine will coexist and jointly master the challenges ahead of us. Schöck’s principles and values have not changed. Increased support will be given to social projects in the area of education and training – in this way, people will continue to be at the centre of our actions.
»You can never rest on your laurels. To be successful, you have to keep developing entirely new things or improving existing things.«
In Memoriam of Eberhard Schöck
