From the hotel bar to the production hall: How a spur-of-the-moment idea became a successful business venture
Offingen (jm).
It all began with a casual chat at the hotel bar; today, the contract cleaning division at Richard Geiss GmbH in Offingen (Günzburg district) has long since become a key pillar of the family-run company’s service portfolio. Over the past ten years, just under 100,000 tonnes of various steel and stainless steel components have passed through the contract cleaning facilities at Richard Geiss GmbH. The company, which specialises in the recycling of solvents, is one of the leading providers in the whole of Europe.
“It’s quite incredible what has been achieved here, and that we can now celebrate a decade of success in the contract cleaning business which is now used by over 150 customers,” says Bastian Geiss, managing partner of Richard Geiss GmbH. The idea came to him one evening at the hotel bar in the Black Forest: “A customer had closed down his business and offered to sell us his degreasing plant. At some point, we said: OK, we’ll buy it.”
Really good
The original idea was to set up the plant at the company’s headquarters in Offingen and use it solely for in-house training and trials in order to gain further experience in handling various solvents and stabilisers. That was until a business friend in the metal industry got wind of the installation and sent the first pallet cage to Offingen for testing. “The result was so good that he suddenly started sending us more and more components, because they were able to integrate the parts we had cleaned much better into the subsequent
Launch in May 2016
From that moment on, it was clear to Bastian Geiss and his team: “This could work.” So the company built a new hall and finally installed a Pero R5 cleaning plant in May 2016. That marked the official launch of the new business division. The first customers for the contract cleaning service came through word of mouth, and eventually the service took on a life of its own, becoming an indispensable pillar of the all-round service offered by Richard Geiss GmbH which has even been operating under its own brand name – RG4CLEAN PARTS – since 2025.
Customers avoid having to make investments
“Cleaning processes in the metal industry are always a delicate matter. For many companies, it is no longer worthwhile to operate their own facilities. They’re then grateful that we’re taking this work off their hands,” says Geiss. This was also the case for an automotive supplier based in the Allgäu region which was experiencing problems with its existing plant and was also facing a capacity bottleneck. Instead of investing in new technology, the company has been using Richard Geiss GmbH’s contract cleaning service for many years now, with around three million components processed a year. The process is certified in accordance with VDA Standard 6.3.
Ensure we remain able to deliver
Customers benefit from Richard Geiss GmbH’s outsourcing services not only when faced with capacity bottlenecks, but also – and particularly – when quality issues arise in their own degreasing processes. “In industrial manufacturing, nobody can afford to have production come to a standstill and components not be delivered.” “We help our customers to ensure they can guarantee their ability to deliver – even if there are issues with their own in-house cleaning process,” according to Bastian Geiss. More and more companies are also using contract cleaning services as a fallback option, for example during scheduled maintenance work on their own facilities.
Complete flexibility
This is also included in the comprehensive service offered by Richard Geiss GmbH: “Our customers are free to choose whether we should send the cleaned components back to their factory or directly on to their customers,” says Bastian Geiss. They are also free to choose the type of container. Blister packs are available, as is delivery in standardised SLCs (small load carriers). “We also tailor the logistics process precisely to our customers’ needs,” says Geiss.
Unique selling point
With its high-end contract cleaning service as part of its portfolio, Richard Geiss GmbH has a USP throughout Europe: “We are the only provider that covers all sectors: we are solvent recyclers, solvent developers, solvent suppliers and, at the same time, users. With the help of our laboratory, we are also able to carry out a full range of services, such as residual contamination analyses. This combination of process, analytics and quality assurance is truly unique,” explains Bastian Geiss.
All under one roof at RG4Chemicals
This uniqueness now has a name: “RG4Chemicals” embodies Richard Geiss GmbH’s commitment to offering its customers a one-stop service: from distillation and product distribution to laboratory and consultancy services, right through to the professional disposal of waste materials and, indeed, the cleaning of components in Offingen.
About Richard Geiss GmbH
Richard Geiss GmbH is one of Europe’s leading specialists in the field of solvent recovery, based in Offingen in the district of Günzburg. The company produces high-purity distillates from solvent waste by distillative processing. Richard Geiss GmbH supplies solvents for industrial surface cleaning, textile cleaning, and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Contract cleaning rounds off the range of services as the fourth business area. Richard Geiss GmbH employs approximately 110 people in Offingen. The company has an approved processing capacity of 50,000 tons of solvents per year, which are processed into high-purity distillates and is certified according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001 as well as being a waste management specialist. Richard Geiss GmbH was founded in 1959 by Richard Geiss and today Bastian Geiss manages the family business in its third generation.
Info:
Richard Geiss GmbH
Lüßhof 100, 89362 Offingen, Telefon 08224-807-0, info@geiss-gmbh.de, www.geiss-gmbh.de
Press contact:
Fabian Baur, Product Management
Tel. 08224-807-78, fabian.baur@geiss-gmbh.de
