With pioneering spirit, courage and the pursuit of progress, odelo has grown into one of the largest manufacturers of vehicle lights in the world over its more than 80 years of corporate history. The odelo history is one that features innovative strength and entrepreneurial courage.
From the first vehicle interior light to the high-tech OLED tail light – in between are eight decades of pioneering decisions and many technological milestones.
Take a journey through time and discover the history of the odelo Group.
Once upon a time….
It all started at the home of Alfred Schefenacker in Esslingen at the shore of the Neckar. Here the Schefenacker company was founded and which started with just ten employees, initially producing interior lighting for vehicles.
Schefenacker includes tail lights in the product portfolio. The export orders start accelerating – especially in Spain - laying the foundation for a long success story.
Two years after construction had started on the Schwaikheim subsidiary the first hall is ready. The resumption of production of supply parts for the automotive industry starts one year later. Interior and tail lights are produced, initially in low quantities for Mercedes-Benz.
A small revolution – The first plastic injection molding machine for manufacturing lenses in the transfer injection process is commissioned. These can be admired at the headquarters in Stuttgart.
Through the establishment of an electroplating and a die casting foundry for metal, by 1950 it is already possible to manufacture exterior mirrors and rear-view mirrors. In both plants there are more than 350 employees.
Six years after that the number of employees increases to 600 people and the assembly program expands with it. Rear lights and interior lights, exterior and interior mirrors, cigar lighters, ashtrays, trims, surfaces of zinc and aluminum and windows for buses are manufactured.
The growth continues. Due to the spatial limitations, the headquarters on Kreuzstraße in Esslingen must be abandoned. The relocation into a newly constructed factory site takes place on Eckenerstraße in Esslingen-Sirnau.
Here the companies own research and development department is in operation. As a development supplier to the automotive industry the challenging products are constructed in consultation with the customer.
The plant in Schwaikheim with 850 employees and its new warehouse and assembly hall is the central production plant. The latest plastic injection techniques at this time already allow the highest quality standards to be taken into consideration regarding productive assembly.
Well-founded experience in zinc and aluminum processing by pressure die-casting technology and in galvanized surface treatment guarantees an economic and reliable production of metal parts.
Schefenacker commissions the largest multi-color injection molding machine in the world to date. The products are getting more and more sophisticated and die quality standards of the products as well as the production are increasing steadily.
In 2005 in Prebold in the East of Slovenia one of the main plants of the odelo Group is developed. Starting with only ten employees the plant has increased its number of employees to 1900 employees as of 2019.
The premium rear lights of the S-class (Mercedes-Benz), the OLED M4 GTS (BMW) and the A5 (Audi) are produced here.
Following the lighting division already being completely dissolved from the Schefenacker corporation in 2007, the company is renamed to odelo in 2008.
The new name conveys a positive association, sounds pleasant, innovative and modern and reminds one optically of the ‘skyline’ of a vehicle’s silhouette.
The Turkish family-owned company Bayraktarlar A.S., which was founded in Istanbul 1935 by Methmet Bayraktar, takes one hundred percent ownership of the odelo Group.
The Bayraktarlar Holding became a success story in Turkey and has been established as one of the leading market participants in the automotive light sector under the name Farba.
odelo is now present in China. The plant, which is located in Tianjin, started in 2013 with 35 employees and has been growing ever since and now boasts up to 400 employees in 2019.
The main production at this location covers essentially the rear light production for Mercedes-Benz.
After nearly 70 years at the company headquarters in Schwaikheim, odelo GmbH moved to the new Sales & Engineering Center in Stuttgart-Hedelfingen at the end of the year.
At the new location about 200 employees shuffle about day after day working on the automotive reality of tomorrow. Due to the relocation into the regional capital, odelo GmbH now has a closer proximity to its customers.
The odelo Group opens its second plant in Slovenia at the location of Črešnjevci. The completely renovated production and logistic plant, which was purchased in November 2015, was initially used for the production of replacement parts and for the storage of semi-finished products.
In June 2017 a new logistics location for the odelo Group was made operational in Mexico. The plant is located in Aguascalientes near the locations of automobile manufacturers, a city 550km from the capital Mexico City.
Another plant of the odelo Group commenced construction in June 2018 in Bulgaria. Celebrated with a big ceremony, the first cut of the spade was made on-site in Kuklen, an industrial zone.
The official opening is planned for autumn 2019.
Since the 2nd of January 2019 Farba has been renamed from “Farba Otomotiv Aydınlatma ve Plastik Fabrikalari A.Ş.” to “odelo Otomotiv Aydınlatma A.Ş.”. The change of names was conducted within the framework of continuous improvement and the optimal integration into the odelo Group.
In July 2019 another location of the odelo Group opened at the European Trade Centre in Bulgaria. Another R&D Centre of the odelo Group is now situated at the heart of Sofia.
