Since more than 125 years we have been creating fine surfaces for our customers. Technical innovation and change has always been the only constant for us. Our history covers a broad range of surface refinements – from gold plating, house painting and horse carriage coatings up to today’s highly automated industrial painting technologies. Tapping new technological innovation potentials together with our customers is deeply rooted in our development and coins our self-conception up to this day. We are proud of this history, in particular of our employees who have shaped this development, many of them for decades alongside the company.
Company foundation 1887: Gold plating and decorative painting
In 1887, Julius Bix announced the opening of the decorative painting and gold plating business Bix in the local newspaper „Oberbadischer Grenzbote“. His offer to the much honoured customers ranged from decorative painting services to renovation works for statues and altars.
Second generation from 1912 onwards: Innovation during the years of war
The company founder’s sons learned their father’s profession in the family business and while traveling in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In the meantime, Julius Bix died at an early age. His wive continued the business, quite a particularity in these days. In 1921, Julius‘ son Erwin took over the painting business from his mother. With the largest share of business remaining in decorative and house painting, the painting of horse carriages and automobiles was introduced. The early adoption of the new technology of spray painting helped the business to survive in difficult times.
Third Generation from 1952 onwards: Introducing industrial painting
Erwin’s son, Lothar Bix sen., started his professional education in 1940. After participating in talent programs for painting master craftmen, he was drafted for military service in 1943, only returning in 1949 from war captivity in Russia. Large contracts for house and military barrack painting during the post-war economic boom supported the technical development of the car painting business. The continous enlargement of facilities enabled production on an industrial scale already in the 1960’s. In 1970, a strategic business decision for a new state-of-the-art plant opened the path for a significant expansion to the automotive and industrial painting.
Fourth Generation from 1981 onwards: New coating technologies and automatization
Lothar Bix jun. and Andreas Bix, today’s CEOs, followed in their father’s footsteps and were educated as painter and paint engineer. Successful customer relations and continous technological development required a further expansion. The new plant in Messkirch’s industrial area has been continously growing on its 27.000 m2 site. New plants were built for new Coating technologies, including infrastructure expansions such as the high bay warehouse and administrative buildings around 2000 and new production halls in 2005 and 2008. The era of fully automated coating technologies started in 2001 with our first robot painting plant. Today, 24 robots and nine fully air-conditioned robot painting plants work side by side with our employees.
Fifth generation: The next 125 years in sight
On the new site of Bix Beschichtungen GmbH, the children of Lothar jun. and Andreas are already active members of our business, further advancing technological development in plant engineering and innovative coating systems.