The company history of AFS
More than 40 years ago, Gerhard Arlt and Dieter Frei founded AFS Entwicklungs + Vertriebs GmbH. What began as a distributor of accessories and consumables for the film industry has now become a globally successful company with over 100 employees.
We invite you to join us in looking back on the past years.
1985: Founding
AFS Entwicklungs + Vertriebs GmbH is founded by Dieter Frei and Gerhard Arlt. AFS stands for Arlt-Frei-Systeme. Company address: Dieter Frei's private address.
1986:First premises
Move to a two-room apartment in Augsburg: Sales office and development workshop. The first proprietary product is created there: the high-voltage perforation detector, known as the bag counter.
1987: First employees
Relocation to Biburg, a suburb west of Augsburg. Three rented office spaces and a mechanical workshop in a former triple garage are the new home of the up-and-coming company. With the first employees, the first AFS corona station and the world's first corona generator with microprocessor control are created.
1989: Expansion of production
Move into the first new building in Neusäß, also in the west of Augsburg. This is where the tried-and-tested SD generators and the AVB-100C, of which hundreds have been built, are manufactured. The downside of success: after just two years, the new building is already too small, and the decision is made to build a new one. During this time, the number of employees grows to 26.
1990: Digital memory
With its second generation of SD generators, AFS introduces operating and error memories for Corona pretreatment systems.
1993: New production facilities
Move to the second new building, this time just across the street. Around 150 corona and perforation systems are produced each year in the 2,200 m² facility.
1993: The rotary knob
AFS invents its well-known user interface with a push-and-turn knob to operate the “Segmatic.” The iPod follows in 2001.
1996: Changes
Dieter Frei leaves the company for health reasons. Gerhard Arlt takes over his shares.
2000: Digital twin
AFS creates a digital copy of every single machine produced on its own servers. After-sales and service benefit from this easily accessible internal pool of information.
2004: New building in Horgau
Relocation of mechanical production and the design department to a newly constructed hall in Horgau, the third new building.
2008: New headquarters in Horgau
Relocation of the purchasing department and administration to a newly constructed office building in Horgau and closure of the Neusäß site. With more than 60 employees, AFS manufactures approximately 300 Corona systems annually at the new location.
2013: Modular generators
The first modular M-Generator with 12 kW output per module is delivered. The maximum possible output power reaches an unrivaled 144 kW.
2016:Remote maintenance for generators
AFS generators are now equipped with an Internet interface for remote maintenance.
2016: New production facility
In fall 2016, construction of a new production hall was completed. This enabled a further increase in production capacity and number of employees.
2018: Further growth
The 100-employee mark has been surpassed.
2020: AFS America Inc.
Founding of a subsidiary in Duncan, S.C.
2021: Resilience and records
AFS achieves record order intake across all economic sectors in a year marked by global pandemic and crisis.
2023: Energy transition
At the beginning of 2023, AFS commissioned a new 259 kWp solar park together with a 240 kWh battery storage system. The total of 358 kWp PV and the buffer created by the battery enables the company to generate a large part of its energy demand by itself.
2026: Generational Change in Management
Gerhard Arlt and Albert Biswanger, who shaped AFS and developed the company into the world’s leading supplier of corona treatment and perforation systems, are retiring after many years of dedicated service.
Following a carefully planned transition period of more than ten years, Dr. Florian Brehmer and Dr. Philipp Otto are jointly taking over the management of the company. Building on AFS’s established values and strengths, they will lead the company into the future.