What Hänchen does

Hänchen (legal: Herbert Hänchen GmbH) is a 100-year-old, third-generation, family-owned German manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders, rod-clamping units, and custom special machines, headquartered in Ostfildern near Stuttgart with a second production plant in Oettingen, Bavaria. The company is built around five cylinder families (Standardzylinder, Normzylinder to DIN/ISO 6020 and DIN 24336, Servozylinder with integrated valves/sensors, Prüfzylinder for high-dynamic test stands, and fully custom Sonderzylinder), complemented by the Ratio-Clamp® hydraulic safety clamping unit (for positioning and fall protection), the Ratio-Drive® modular special-machine system, machine elements, and pressure/media converters. Proprietary technology platforms include the H-CFK® carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite (up to 80% weight reduction, up to 50% energy savings), Servoseal® near-wear-free CFK-reinforced sealing, Servobear® hydrostatic bearings, Servocop®/Servofloat®/Servoslide® sealing and guide systems, and the HÄKO web-based product configurator covering 1,000,000+ variants. Production emphasizes 80% in-house manufacturing depth and ISO 9001:2015 / DGUV Test certification, with approximately 70% of cylinders shipped as custom-engineered solutions.

Name

Hänchen

Legal name

Herbert Hänchen GmbH

Website

https://haenchen.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1925

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Herbert Hänchen GmbH is a 100-year-old, family-owned German manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders, rod-clamping units, and custom special machines serving industrial customers across automotive, aerospace, steel, and machinery sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Hydraulic Equipment

NAICS

Fluid Power Cylinder and Actuator Manufacturing (333995), Fluid Power Valve and Hose Fitting Manufacturing (332912), Other General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (3339)

SIC

Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550)

akta.pro primary industry

Hydraulic Components (Pumps, Motors, Cylinders) (IMAHAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hydraulic Power Units & Systems (HPUs, Manifolds, Integrated Circuits) (IMAHAGAB), Proportional & Servo Hydraulics (Electrohydraulic Valves, Servo Systems) (IMAHAGAF), Hydraulic, Pneumatic & Fluid Power Systems MRO (Cylinders, Pumps, Valves, Hoses) (TLAKAHAI)

Keywords

• Hydraulic cylinder manufacturing
• Industrial hydraulic actuators
• Rod clamping units
• Test cylinders
• Custom machine building

Headquarters

HQ city

Ostfildern

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Hydraulic Cylinder Sales: Core revenue from manufacturing and selling hydraulic cylinders including standard, norm, servo, test, and special cylinders. Product categories serve industrial applications with piston diameters up to 140mm and strokes up to 1,000mm for series production starting at 30 units.
2. Clamping Units (Ratio-Clamp®): Sale of clamping units for positioning and safety applications. Includes positioning clamps and fall protection units, some with DGUV Test certification.
3. Special Machine Building (Ratio-Drive®): Design, engineering, and delivery of custom special machines and testing machines. Covers industrial machines, testing machines, and retrofit solutions. Includes safety concepts up to PLe.
4. Machine Elements: Single pieces and small series production of machine elements including rods, shafts, axes, sealing systems, guide elements, and fastening elements.
5. Pressure Transducers & Media Separators: Hydraulic pressure multipliers, pressure reducers, and media separators for converting pressure and media in hydraulic systems.
6. Hydraulic Seminars & Training: Professional seminars on hydraulic cylinder selection, safety, and maintenance. Company has delivered over 60 seminars with approximately 1,200 participants over 10 years.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Herbert Hänchen GmbH designs and manufactures industrial hydraulic cylinders (standard, norm, servo, test, and custom), Ratio-Clamp® hydraulic rod-clamping units for safety-related positioning and fall protection, and Ratio-Drive® custom special machines / testing machines, complemented by pressure converters, media separators, and machine elements. Roughly 70% of cylinders are delivered as application-specific, custom-engineered solutions built with about 80% in-house manufacturing depth and 100% Made in Germany quality, supported by the HÄKO online configurator.

Product overview

Hänchen is a German manufacturer offering a comprehensive portfolio of hydraulic drive solutions, specializing in hydraulic cylinders, clamping units, custom machine construction, and related components. The core products include five types of hydraulic cylinders (Standardzylinder, Normzylinder, Servozylinder, Prüfzylinder, and Sonderzylinder), supplemented by the Ratio-Clamp® clamping units for safety applications. The company provides complete system solutions through its Ratio-Drive® custom machine building service, pressure converters and media separators, and machine elements. Supporting technologies include the proprietary H-CFK® carbon composite material and Servoseal® sealing system. An interactive product configurator (HÄKO) and Performance Control condition monitoring software round out the digital offerings. With 100% Made in Germany production and 80% manufacturing depth, Hänchen serves diverse industries including industrial hydraulics, steel/rolling mills, foundries, automotive, railway technology, machine tools, and aerospace testing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ratio-Clamp®: Hydraulic clamping unit for securing round rods without energy consumption, used for safety and holding applications
• Ratio-Drive®
• H-CFK®
• Servoseal®
• Servocop®
• Servofloat®
• HÄKO

Products and services

• Standardzylinder (Standard Hydraulic Cylinders, Series 120 and 300) Compact hydraulic cylinders offering full force at full speed without life cycle losses, in a compact design requiring minimal space. For industrial machines and plants with safe, reliable, regulated drive requirements.
• Normzylinder (Norm Hydraulic Cylinders, DIN 24336 / DIN ISO 6020/6022) Hydraulic cylinders with installation dimensions according to DIN 24336 and DIN ISO 6020/6022, ensuring interchangeability between manufacturers while delivering Hänchen quality standards.
• Servozylinder (Servo Hydraulic Cylinders) Hydraulic cylinders equipped with valves and sensors for very large working ranges, enabling highly dynamic, precise hydraulic drives with high energy density through appropriate control strategies.
• Prüfzylinder (Test Cylinders) Test cylinders for static and dynamic testing applications such as material test stands for aircraft components; the Hydropulser Series 320 handles high speeds, frequencies, and accelerations for high-dynamic industrial and testing tasks.
• Sonderzylinder (Custom-Engineered Hydraulic Cylinders) Hydraulic cylinders individually adapted to customer requirements, leveraging decades of experience and a large standardized cylinder range to minimize prototype risk in custom applications.
• Klemmeinheit Ratio-Clamp® (Hydraulic Rod Clamping Unit) Hydraulic clamping units that hold round bars when the clamping head is de-energized, serving as safety components for human, machine, and tool protection during power failures or shutdowns. Available as locking units and fall-protection variants; functions as a redundant safety component (B10D value).
• Sondermaschinenbau Ratio-Drive® (Custom Special Machine Construction) Custom machine construction service offering individual special machines for industrial or testing applications, including industrial machines, testing machines, and retrofits. Drive technology can be hydraulic or electromechanical, with CE conformity support and engineering from a single source.
• Druckwandler & Medientrenner (Pressure Converters and Media Separators) Hydraulic pressure multipliers, pressure reducers, and media separators providing cost-effective solutions when more or less force or different media are needed for specific processes.
• Maschinenelemente (Machine Elements) Machine elements offered in single pieces and small batches, including rods, shafts, axes, sealing systems, guide elements, and fastening elements, with construction services available for individual machine elements.
• Hydraulik-Zubehör (Hydraulic Accessories) Hydraulic accessories for cylinder systems, including control blocks, vibration and structure-borne sound dampers, and screw-in ventilation filters.
• HÄKO Produktkonfigurator (Online Product Configurator) Interactive web-based configurator enabling customers and sales engineers to specify hydraulic cylinders, test cylinders, clamping units, and accessories across over 1,000,000 variants, with direct access to data sheets, 3D-CAD data requests, and price inquiries.
• Hydraulik-Seminare und Schulungen (Hydraulic Seminars and Training) Professional paid seminars on hydraulic cylinder fundamentals, selection, safety, maintenance, testing technology, and harsh-environment applications. Held across Germany, Switzerland, and Austria for engineers, designers, and maintenance personnel working with hydraulics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 80% weight reduction with H-CFK® carbon fiber composite cylinders
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Hochschule Augsburg (University of Applied Sciences)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2019Cooperation with the Systems Engineering degree program. Students spend 3 days in the company and 2 days at the university under the 'Digital und Regional' part-time study program. Enables knowledge exchange and future talent recruitment.
• Voith Turbo H + L HydrauliccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2017Voith selected Hänchen as specialist partner for the cylinder of their hydraulic linear axis CLDP. Together they offer a complete package — valve-less and energy-efficient. Hänchen supplies the hydraulic cylinder as the core component of Voith's integrated linear drive system. The partnership combines Voith's linear axis expertise with Hänchen's cylinder manufacturing capability.
• Hense Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KGminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2017Joint exhibition partnership at Automotive Testing Expo Europe. Hänchen and Hense Systemtechnik co-presented product developments for testing and inspection applications. Collaboration focused on presenting combined solutions for precision testing systems.
• Hannover MesseminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 April 2015Regular exhibitor at Hannover Messe since 1957. Presented H-CFK and machine elements in 2015, winning an innovation award. Company has exhibited every two years at this major industrial trade show, now as a system provider.
• R&S Hydrauliek BV (Netherlands)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDutch representation for Hänchen products. Exhibits at Europort maritime trade show presenting Hänchen carbon products and clamping units. Operates from Zwijndrecht, Netherlands.
• Haenchen (Shanghai) Hydraulic Equipment Co., Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWholly-owned Chinese subsidiary handling sales and support in China. Participates in major Chinese trade shows including Automotive Testing Expo China and PTC Asia. Local presence enables direct customer support for Chinese industrial clients.
• Hänchen Hydraulik AG (Switzerland)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSwiss subsidiary handling sales in Switzerland. Exhibits at maintenance Schweiz trade fair in Zürich. Provides local support for Swiss customers requiring hydraulic cylinders and systems.
• Haenchen Hydraulique S.A.R.L. (France)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFrench subsidiary operating from Wingersheim les Quatre Bans (relocated January 2019 with expanded facilities). Founded December 1987. Led by Mr. Fellrath with approximately 7 employees. Celebrated 30th anniversary in 2017.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bosch Rexroth: Global market leader in hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic power units, and motion control. Directly competes with Hänchen in industrial hydraulic cylinders and servo-hydraulic systems across steel, automotive testing, and machine tools.
• Parker Hannifin: One of the world's largest manufacturers of hydraulic cylinders (industrial, tie-rod, telescopic) and electromechanical actuators. Directly overlaps with Hänchen in hydraulic cylinders for machine tools and heavy industry.
• Eaton: Major supplier of hydraulic cylinders, motors, and motion control products. Competes with Hänchen particularly in industrial hydraulics and custom-engineered cylinder solutions.
• Festo: German-headquartered pneumatic and electric automation specialist with growing hydraulic and servo-actuator offerings. Closely comparable on German mid-market motion control customers and engineered cylinder solutions.
• Moog Inc. Specialist in high-performance servohydraulic actuators and test systems for aerospace, automotive, and wind turbine testing—directly comparable to Hänchen's Prüfzylinder line and Ratio-Drive test machines.
• HYDAC International: German-headquartered manufacturer of hydraulic components, cylinders, and fluid conditioning systems. Comparable as a German mid-to-large hydraulic specialist serving industrial and mobile machinery.
• Bucher Hydraulics: Swiss manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders, valves, and power units for mobile and industrial applications. Closely comparable to Hänchen on custom-engineered industrial hydraulic cylinders.
• AHP Merkle: German specialist manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders (standard, tie-rod, and custom) and clamping systems. Highly comparable mid-sized German hydraulic cylinder peer.
• Stäubli: Manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders and quick-release couplings for industrial, aerospace, and test applications. Comparable on custom hydraulic cylinders for high-precision testing.

Emerging players

• Webtec: UK-based specialist in hydraulic measurement, test equipment, and custom hydraulic components. Adjacent peer with overlapping customer base in industrial hydraulic testing and condition monitoring.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Haenchen
• Facebookfacebook.com/HaenchenZylinder
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/herbert-haenchen
• Instagraminstagram.com/herbert_haenchen_gmbh

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hänchen