Excerpted from:

WAFIOS: 100 Years of Excellence
Copyright 1993 by WAFIOS Maschinenfabrik

The Early Years (1893-1918)

Ernst Wagner established his mechanical workshop in Pfullingen on April 1, 1893. As early as 1905, Wagner's wire fencing machines were awarded prizes in exhibitions held in London and Brussels. The company grew and moved to Reutlingen in 1909 when Hans Ficker joined the company as an active partner, and the firm's name was changed to "Wagner & Ficker Maschinenfabrik."

In Stuttgart, just a few kilometers away, Otto Schmid had likewise developed a fencing machine and both companies launched their products,  advertising in the same newspaper. Negotiations took place in 1914 and the result was a merger of, Wagner & Ficker & O. Schmid. By 1926, drawing from the first initials of the founders names, the new company name,  WAFIOS, was in use.

By 1932 the company's products had grown to include spring coiling machines, nail presses, wire bending, upholstery and mattress spring machines and hexagonal wire mesh looms.