The German plunger pump company Uraca GmbH & Co KG is marking its 125th anniversary this year. Founded in 1893 as a mechanical workshop by cousins Friedrich Krumm and Gustav Magenwirth, there were two small companies initally: Krumm & Magenwirth Mechanische Werkstätte and Krumm & Magenwirth OHG zum Betrieb einer Maschinenwerkstätte.
The Krumm & Magenwirth Maschinen-Werkstätte developed its own 3.5 HP horizontal gasoline engine to drive its machine tools. This piston engine laid the foundation for generations of plunger pumps.
In the early 1930s, Pumpenfabrik Urach brought a single-gun high-pressure car wash pump to the market; this small pump unit and its attached spray gun became the basis of Uraca’s current offerings for high-pressure cleaning. A product range for automotive-related applications was developed, including compressors and vehicle lifts, as well as components for oil hydraulics, such as control blocks for hydraulic lifts.
In 1937, the Uraca company name was adopted and the current Sirchinger Straße company site in Bad Urach was purchased.
With the economic expansion of the 1950s and early 1960s, the product range expanded to include large pumps for the chemical industry as well as high-pressure pumps for sewer cleaning.
Uraca currently has annual sales of around $79m, with exports accounting for more than 60%. The company has subsidiaries in China and France and employs more than 300 people, including 21 trainees.
Uraca recently expanded its high-pressure cleaning product line with the acquisition of Dynajet.
