In January 1948, at the young age of 21, Dietrich Hoffman set up a company in central Germany producing agricultural machinery. By 1953 he had launched his first electric chain hoist.
Under the communist government of East Germany the company became the property of the state, but Hoffman was one of the first businessmen to buy back his company from state after reunification with West Germany. Now aged 80, he remains an exceptionally gifted engineer, say colleagues and competitors alike.
These days the company is primarily represented by dynamic general manager Matthias Huehn, who has developed the Liftket brand of electric chain hoist into an increasingly global player within the industry.