Riedhammer GmbH, based in Nuremberg, Germany, has produced more than 8000 kilns of virtually every type for a range of sectors. A sampling from The Guinness Book of World Records is a testament to the company's prolific output: largest kiln produced (4000 cubic meters); most powerful kiln (9000 kW); fastest firing cycle (25 minutes); and heaviest kiln (18,000 tons). In fact, the company's ubiquity suggests that a number of the items encountered in everyday life-from spark plugs to electronic circuit board components to bathroom fixtures-were likely produced in Riedhammer kilns. Nevertheless, success has never been a given for the company. Over the years, Riedhammer has overcome many obstacles-financial and otherwise-on its way to becoming a premier global kiln manufacturer. In 1924, engineer and Nuremberg resident Ludwig Riedhammer decided to start his own company for the development and construction of industrial furnaces for manufactured carbon. The aluminum and steel industries were growing rapidly at the time, and large quantities of graphite anodes that could only be manufactured through a special baking process were needed. The pit furnaces developed by Riedhammer were soon accepted throughout the world, allowing the company to overcome the recession of the 1930s and focus its attention on a new branch of business-firing porcelain.
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