Story

Reining in the world's largest machines
We are experts. Specialists. Nerds. And we love big machines, because the bigger the machine, the better your brakes must be. Our passion is brakes and braking systems that increase your safety and productivity - and minimise your costs. This is Svendborg Brakes in a nutshell.

Highlights from our history
The company was founded in 1884. Back then, we built machines for industrial companies. In 1989, our degree of specialisation increased markedly when we took over the rights to manufacture disc brakes from Hägglunds Drives. We also changed our name at that time and recognised the new company focus by deleting our first name "Maskinfabrik" and adding Brakes after Svendborg.

In 1990, we delivered our first brakes to customers in the mining industry. We entered into the wind industry the following year. Globalisation began to make its mark on the company around the turn of the new millennium, as we started our German business in 1999, followed by Spain in 2000. We established operations in the United States in 2002 and China in 2007. Today, we have manufacturing facilities in Denmark, Germany and China, as well as offices in Australia, Chile, Canada, Denmark, France, China, Poland, Spain, South Africa, The Czech Republic, Germany, and the United States (Denver, Kansas City and Minnesota). This means that we are always close to our customers, regardless of where in the world their projects are located. We are a truly global company.

New ownership structure
2008 was an exciting year for us. We established a new ownership structure, as Doughty Hanson took at seat at the head of the table in the boardroom, giving the entire company a notable boost. The goal is to develop from a good company into a great company. Thus, we at Svendborg Brakes are prepared to make yet another quantum leap.