In 1954 KABELSCHLEPP – known today as one of the world leaders where cable carriers, guideway protection and conveyor systems are concerned – introduced its steel drag chains to the market for the first time. The inventor, Dr Gilbert Waninger and the owner of the company Dr Waldrich recognized the great potential of these chains.

Until then energy flexibles such as cables and hydraulic hoses had simply been allowed to hang loose from machines, causing damage and rapid wear. With KABELSCHLEPP's idea, this all changed: energy flexibles and control cables were bundled, guided and protected within the Siegen company's carrier systems. The then subsidiary of Waldrich Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik immediately patented this idea – a patent which was to become the first of many over the following years.

From the original steel prototype there developed a variety of steel and plastic models offering a solution for every area of application. Thus for example in 1967 KABELSCHLEPP invented the first solid plastic cable carrier comprising of one-piece injection-moulded links – just one of many innovations. Whether for systems which are very lightweight, moveable in three-dimensions, link-free or extremely long cable carriers, KABELSCHLEPP has remained one of the technology leaders in the market to the present day. Its innovations have over the last 50 years often made KABELSCHLEPP the pacemaker for the industry, and the good idea of 1954 has led to the development of a continually growing branch of it.

The upstart of that time has become a global player, with foreign agencies and subsidiary companies in over 50 countries and systems which are in use around the world: from a sliding door on a van to an industrial robot on an assembly line, from an offshore oil rig to the space shuttle and in many standard application areas such as for example machine tools, cranes, car-wash plants and medical and laboratory technologies.

Two further lines joined the cable carrier systems during the 1960s: guideway protection and conveyor systems. In these two areas it is not only innovations which lead to success, but above all reliable quality. KABELSCHLEPP's telescopic covers, way wiper systems and conveyor systems are today being used by numerous well-known machine builders in Germany and abroad.