History of the brand Rodenstock Instruments
Since the foundation in 1914 Weco established numerous pioneering innovations in lens edging as well as set standards in the work flow of optical workshops. Weco's merit for opticians lead to being a synonym for modern optical workshop and formed the basis of Weco's success. Participate in our success!
| 1914 | Otto Wernicke a mechanical engineer founded a company manufacturing speciality machinery factory in Rathenow, which is located some 50 kilometers from Berlin. |
| 1935 | Weco develops the first edging wheel with groove and device for edging V profile bevels. |
| 1945 | Weco moves to its current home in Düsseldorf. |
| 1952 | Weco launches the first automatic edger globally. The Weco FM9 employed use of a ceramic grinding wheel. |
| 1953 | Weco introduces the first diamond wheel for optical workshops. Weco develops decentration sucker. |
| 1954 | Weco launches the FMD - the first fully automatic lens edger incorporating a diamond roughing wheel. |
| 1971 | Weco offers the first fully electronically controlled edging machine. |
| 1975 | The popular Weco 12SC compact edger is released, which later grows to become one of the most widely used conventional edgers available. |
| 1979 | Weco becomes part of the German based Rodenstock Group, who offers a complete range of optical products and services. |
| 1980 | Weco obtains as first company the GS-Siegel (Geprüfte Sicherheit) for optical equipment. |
| 1982 | Weco launches the first CNC (patternless) automated lens edger globally - the Weco 480 CNC. |
| 1987 | Weco invents the trace-n-edge-system. |
| 1988 | Weco produce the next generation of patternless lens edger - the CNC90. This edger made startling new ground with a compact system highly suited to the prescription lab and opticians workshop alike, and featured a fully enclosed grinding chamber with up to four separate diamond wheels. |
| 1991 | Weco launch the first conveyor fed robotic edging system with a manipulator arm automatically loading/unloading four CNC90 lens edgers. |
| 1992 | The first Weco ZET90 3D CNC lens edger was launched, featuring comprehensive electronic control of bevel position. |
| 1994 | Weco produce the world's first parallax-free CNC blocking system - the CAD 2000. As sole supplier Weco products are certified according to CE. |
| 1996 | Weco is certified according to ISO 9001 standards. |
| 1988 | Rodenstock took over Weco as independent business division. |
| 1999 | The Pro-Laser Group acquires both Weco and Rodenstock Instrumente, whose ophthalmic instrument activities are consolidated into the Weco organisation in Düsseldorf. |
| 1999 | The world's first CNC lens edger with automatic lens drilling is launched. The Weco Edge 450 Drill features automatic and integrated rimless hole drilling as part of a continuous process, and has a wide range of technologically advanced features to ensure exceptional results every time. |
| 2000 | Weco introduces with the Verifier Pro the first fully automatic centering and blocking system which checks, centers and blocks the lens with the help of images processing. For the first time drilling holes can be automatically laid down by a system. The centering course has been greatly simplified and causes of errors eliminated. |
| 2000 | The Weco 880 wins the OLA Award of Excellence, USA, in San Diego, California, USA. |
| 2001 | Buchmann Optical Holdings takes over 51% of the shares of Prolaser AG in June. |
| 2002 | Weco is purchased by Buchmann Optical Holdings, making the combined company of Briot and Weco the largest optical technology company in the world with more than 70 distributors representing over 50 different countries. |
| 2002 | Weco launches the world's first block-less robotic lens edger incorporating the Verifier Pro - the Edge 860 VI. |
| 2003 | Weco is awarded the OLA Award of Excellence for the Verifier Pro in Orlando, Florida, USA. |
| 2004 | Weco launches at the Silmo Fair in Paris/France the Cad 5 which is an automatic centering and blocking system with optical tracing and modifying functions for the optical shape processing and shape modifying. |
| 2005 | Weco introduces the new lens grinding system Edge 455 with Cad 5 and Trace 3. |
| 2005 | Weco Optik GmbH is renamed as Buchmann Deutschland GmbH. |
| 2006 | The Verifier Turbo is introduced as the succeeding device of the Verifier Pro, with considerable short processing times. |
| 2006 | Weco introduces the Edge 950, the new edging machine for opticians with average to high numbers of lens grinding. The Edge 950 is fast, can drill, groove, chamfer and polish and is ideal for small, flat shapes. |
| 2006 | WECO introduces the first blockless All-in-One-Finishing System: die Edge 990. Blockless-Technology (edging without blocks) prevents axis distortion for hydrophobic layered lenses and increase the output of finishing labs. |
| 2007 | Weco introduces Edge 550. Drill holes in angles can be manufactured with the Edge 550. It stands out through its two-sided chamfering, polishing and a self-explanatory function. |
| 2007 | Buchmann Deutschland GmbH is awarded the ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 13485:2003 Re-certification. |