Thyssen Polymer GmbH (D-94327 Bogen; www.thyssen-polymer.com) is one of the leading manufacturers of PVC profile systems for windows, doors, winter gardens and facades. The 680 employees in Germany and 200 abroad achieved sales in the 1999/2000 fiscal year (30.9.) of EUR 181m. According to a company report, production is running round the clock on 50 extrusion lines with an output of 60,000 t of profiles per year. It also has its own tool design department. Founded in Bogen in 1956 as Kunststoffwerke Gebr. Anger, the company was taken over in 1962 by what was then Rheinstahl and was renamed Thyssen Polymer in 1985.

The export quota is over 50 percent. The company´s international presence is being strategically strengthened by the acquisition and setting up of subsidiary companies. For example, Thyssen Polymer took over Vinyl Building Products Ltd. (VBP; www.vinyline.com) in the US in 1995. According to the parent company, VBP is, with two production facilities in Arkansas and New Jersey, one of the biggest US profile manufacturers. There are also two companies in Thailand, which were established as part of a joint venture with the Gaysorn Group, Bangkok, namely Polymer Solutions and Thyssen Polymer (Thai). The latest company to be established is Thyssen Polymer Polska in Wroclaw, which provides the company with an important location for the growth markets of eastern Europe.