Ziehl-Abegg (Künzelsau, Germany) is one of the leading global companies in the field of ventilation, control and drive technology. In the 1950s, Ziehl-Abegg established the basis for modern fan drives: external rotor motors which even today are still seen as state-of-the-art worldwide. Another area of business is electric motors which provide the power, for example, for elevators, medical applications (computer tomography equipment) or deep-sea underwater vehicles. The high-tech company has an impressive innovative capability. Ziehl-Abegg employs 2,800 personnel in its production plants in southern Germany. The company has a global workforce of 5,100 spread between 15 production plants, 30 companies and 117 sales locations. The products, approx. 30,000 in all, are sold in more than 100 countries. Turnover totals 873 million euros. Emil Ziehl founded the company in Berlin in 1910 as a manufacturer of electric motors. After World War II the company’s headquarters were relocated to southern Germany. Ziehl-Abegg SE is not a listed company but instead is family-owned.