55 years of Polyfaser - 55 facts
What do Saudi Arabia, snow cannons and synchronised swimmers have in common and what do they have to do with Polyfaser? Find out here! We present to you: 55 amazing facts from the company's 55-year history. Fasten your seatbelts, let's dive in: Into the past and into the treasure chest full of our company's history:
- Polyfaser is a true family business: the th generation of Wagmeisters is now at work.
- From 1980 to 2022, we sold 30,000 monobloc pools.
- We baptised our first monobloc pool ‘Tyrol’
- The trained carpenter Josef Wagmeister fell in love with the material GfK - glass fibre reinforced plastic in 1968 and founded the company Polyfaser.
- Polyfaser GmbH has been based in Prad am Stilfserjoch since 1971.
- In the very first year of operation, three employees became 36 employees and workers.
- The first element pool was called ‘Record’, was 5 × 3 metres in size and was delivered to Munich.
- In the summer of 1972 a short circuit set fire to the production hall, causing damage totalling over 60 million lire. Less than six months later, we built a new production facility.
- 1974 The new ‘Maderna’ underground swimming pool caused a sensation. Now the world could swim ‘underground’ all year round.
- How exciting!
- Josef Wagmeister receives 1976 the ‘Jumbo-Jet d'Oro Prize’ for up-and-coming companies from the Italian Minister of Industry.
- The Milan Sample Fair 1977 was a milestone: we presented a fully functional swimming pool with an attached filter system.
- The sample fair opens the doors to Libya, where our pools are in great demand.
- In the 1970s, Polyfaser also produced silos for animal feed for the Rieper company.
- In the 1980s the Model ‘Capri’ with Roman steps and massage bench was a real bestseller.
- In 1982 we achieved half of our turnover with the production of parabolic mirrors for telecommunications.
- Our single-seater whirlpool ‘Wirbelstar’ for wellness hotels was operated with a coin-operated machine.
- From 1986 we manufactured steam bath cabins made of fibreglass.
- A Cinecittà show starred alongside the famous revue synchronised swimmers ‘Farfalline’ a Polyfaser pool.
- Bonjour France! 1987 the first Polyfaser pool goes to France.
- Helmut Wagmeister moves to Wels in Austria at the end of the 1980s and builds up sales there.
- Our northern neighbours love Polyfaser and so there are soon sales outlets in Baden near Vienna, in Wels and in Hallein.
- Since the beginning of the 1990s we have relied on our own fleet of special vehicles.
- We have had our own chipping plant since 1994 and 10 years later we expanded it.
- From 1995 we have been supplying cheese vats.They are food-safe, super-light and resistant to salt and lactic acid.
- On average, we deliver 250 customised swimming pool enclosures to our customers every year.
- The 90s are the heyday of public swimming pools, we supply 6 pools in the new federal states of Germany.
- 1999 the turnover increases by 22%,
- In the winter of 2003 it was so cold that we had to temporarily stop production.
- Record! In 2004 1,249 monobloc pools go over the counter.
- Since 2005 we have been manufacturing our own swimming pool roofing systems.
- Polyfaser exists ‘twice’: The Polyfaser GmbH is responsible for the real estate and thermal energy production, the Polyfaser AG for the classic production.
- For our business with swimming pool roofing systems we built our own 3,051m2 factory in 2006.
- In the year 2007 the production burns down for the second time in the company's history. 41 firefighters fight the flames in the factory hall for 10 hours.
- Polyfaser manufactures an average of 800 monobloc pools per year.
- Together with Bootswerft Frauscher we have been producing hulls for sailing boats and speedboats since 2007.
- In 2007, Elda and Josef handed over Polyfaser to their three sons Horst, Helmut and Manfred.
- 2009 the focus is placed on quality assurance and service expertise.
- 2012 the roofs are now TÜV-certified.
- In the early years, the pool colour ‘blue’ was in demand, today dark shades of grey are in fashion.
- Totally digital: In 2017 a top modern software supports us in administration.
- Our slogan ‘We feel pool’ has been around since 2019.
- Colleague Robot has been helping out on the paint line since 2020
- The year 2021 brought us the best turnover in the company's history.
- 2,200 m2 in size is our new production area, which will be ready in 2021.
- In the record year 2021 we sold 339 swimming pool enclosures.
- In the years 1968-2022 we sold 5,000 element pools.
- We generate some of our own electricity. It wasn't until 2022 that further photovoltaic systems were added.
- The excess heat from our woodchip plant flows into the grid of the Prad industrial zone and thus also supplies other companies.
- Polyfaser also feels at home in the snow and has already produced snow cannon cladding, weather protection hoods for chairlifts and ‘snow cat floats’.
- The first Polyfaser logo was a hand-drawn black and white lettering.
- Our overflow pool ‘Venezia’ is 100 % made in Italy.
- In total, the Polyfaser family comprises 102 great employees.
- In 2023, Polyfaser is 55 years old.
- Polyfaser has its own book! In our company chronicle you will find even more amazing stories from the last 55 years.