Scheidt & Bachmann: A 50-year history of providing parking systems

When someone drives into a car park anywhere in the world, there is a good chance they will pull a ticket from a parking system made in Mönchengladbach. This year, the Scheidt & Bachmann parking systems division celebrates 50 years of success. During this period, some 20,000 car park facilities have been put into operation all over the world.

Car parks require monitoring and administration. Scheidt & Bachmann was among the first companies to identify this need in the 1960s! Back then, induction loops, barrier systems and information board control systems were already being used at petrol stations and traffic signals, and they were perfect for the new area of application. So it happened that the specialists from the Lower Rhine region fitted the first ever fully automated car park in Munich in 1972.

Once the Mönchengladbach-based system provider had conquered Germany and Europe, overseas expansion followed in 1986. The main focus was on the USA, but Scheidt & Bachmann systems were also used in Australia, Asia, Africa and South America. Regional subsidiaries were set up and cooperation contracts were signed with local technology specialists so as to ensure fast service in the various countries. The company established its own production facilities in Žilina and also in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, guaranteeing the supply of hardware alongside the main site in Mönchengladbach.

Today Scheidt & Bachmann parking management systems of all sizes are in operation in more than 70 countries. The company's customers range from inner city retailers to large-scale international airports - all of whom place their trust in system solutions "made in MG".

Parking management systems have developed over time: while the introduction of PCs and DOS operating systems were ground-breaking in the 1980s, cloud and app-based solutions are in use today. "For instance, we've developed an app that allows customers to scan and pay for their parking ticket without having to queue at the automatic pay station," explains Martin Kammler, managing director of the division. "What is more, reservation platforms such as those that have long been established at airports are now of interest to municipal car parks too, so we include them in our portfolio, too".

Since 2008, Scheidt & Bachmann has clustered its longstanding experience in parking management under the brand name of entervo. "Under entervo we offer highly functional, open management systems that also permit integration of solutions by third-party providers," says Martin Kammler. "In this way we are doing more to address customers' needs."

Scheidt & Bachmann staff will be celebrating their anniversary with a big party and - fittingly - the opening of a new production hall: among other things, this new facility will house modern serial production of the new hardware generation of parking management systems. This investment once again reflects Scheidt & Bachmann's commitment as a family business to safeguarding jobs at its Mönchengladbach site.

The company employs a workforce of some 3,000 worldwide of which approximately 650 work in the Parking and Leisure Centre Systems division.

About Scheidt & Bachmann

The family-owned company with its headquarters in Moenchengladbach, Germany was founded in 1872 and is now managed in its fifth generation. In the four divisions Fare Collection systems, Signalling Systems, Petrol Station Systems and Parking and Leisure Centre Systems, Scheidt & Bachmann is setting worldwide standards. The Parking Systems division dominates the international car park market by nearly 22,000 installations; it is the system provider for more than 75 airports worldwide.Scheidt & Bachmann provides with its brand “entervo” integrated, modular general solutions consisting of up-to-date JAVA software and innovative equipment.