ABOUT US
FROM A FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS TO A GLOBAL PLAYER
The Lang Group grew out of a small backyard workshop in Fürth. Today, this innovative family-owned company is a leading global manufacturer of vision systems for commercial vehicles, employs approximately 2,900 people, and operates at 7 locations in 7 countries around the world.
FOUNDING & HISTORY
The history of the Lang Group began in 1932 in a small mirror workshop in the basement of a courtyard in Fürth. Shortly after their marriage, the company’s founders, Hans and Frieda Lang, registered the company “Spiegelfabrik Ing. Hans Lang” and began producing hand mirrors and pocket mirrors. The company’s core business initially focused on silvering glass and processing mirror glass.
The sons of the company’s founders and managing directors since 1960, Heinrich and Günter Lang, subsequently specialized in the production of small mirrors. To meet the steadily rising demand, the company relocated in 1964 to larger premises on Schuckertstraße in Fürth/Stadeln. Following the move, the brothers acquired their first injection molding machine and began manufacturing rearview mirrors for commercial vehicles and passenger cars, as well as producing plastic parts. The success of their products led to the establishment of the Ergersheim location in 1978, which became the nucleus of MEKRA Lang following the acquisition of the long-established Nuremberg-based company MEtallwaren KRAuse.
Over the years, the product range expanded steadily, and in addition to mirrors and mirror systems, the company also developed its own camera-monitor systems and mirror replacement systems. In 2004, the company expanded with the founding of Lang Technics, which specialized in the development and manufacture of mirror lenses.
Today, the family-owned company is successfully managed by the third generation. Susanne Lang serves as managing partner, while Bernd Dehner and Thomas Kolodziej serve as managing directors.
Successful from the very beginning, the company is now a leader in the field of indirect vision for commercial vehicles, employs around 2,400 people, and is represented at 7 locations in 7 countries around the world. As a provider of innovative products and solutions, the Lang Group is today a valued partner to virtually all major commercial vehicle manufacturers, a system supplier for mirror and camera-monitor systems, and a supplier to the truck, construction, and agricultural machinery, bus, and RV industries, as well as the van sector.
FAMILY BUSINESS
The Lang Group traces its origins to a small family-owned mirror manufacturing business founded in 1932, which has grown into a global enterprise and is now in its third generation of family ownership under the Lang family. The Lang name stands not only for innovative, high-quality products, but also for social responsibility toward its approximately 2,900 employees worldwide.
From the very beginning, people have been and remain at the center of everything we do, and our philosophy of solidarity and openness applies equally to both customers and employees. We place particular emphasis on the professional and social development of our employees and offer them additional training programs and opportunities for continuing education to help them continually develop their skills. Equally important to us is our responsibility as a training company. We also offer our apprentices and dual-track students a wide range of development opportunities.
In addition to a range of attractive benefits and a comprehensive health program, we—especially as a family-owned business—are particularly committed to ensuring an optimal work-life balance for our employees. Our company founder, Frieda Lang, was already balancing work and family life herself, thereby establishing a company tradition that continues to this day. Thus, in addition to a variety of flexible work schedules and retirement plans, we offer our employees full-day childcare at our Frieda Lang Haus. In the nursery, kindergarten, and full-day elementary school, our qualified educators lovingly nurture and care for the children.
PARADIGM SHIFT
As a leading provider, we are committed to continuously evolving through innovation. We combine experience, expertise, and creativity to develop new products for our customers and thus solve challenges and address future issues. Our goal is to pioneer new solutions and actively shape industry trends—from the initial idea through to series production. A particular focus for us is actively shaping the future of indirect vision for commercial vehicles through electronic mirror replacement systems.
In addition to the continuous optimization of our mirrors and mirror systems, which cover ever-wider fields of view, camera-monitor systems are also developed in our in-house laboratories. Our mirror replacement systems are used on many vehicles today, impressing with their functionality and robustness while ensuring additional safety and more efficient operations.
As a provider of innovative products, however, we have gone one step further and taken the monitoring of visibility areas in the commercial vehicle segment to a new level. Our Vision 4.0, also developed in our in-house electronics development department, is a mirror replacement system in which, for the first time, the mirrors on the vehicle are completely replaced by HDR cameras and monitors. The corresponding fields of view are combined and displayed on a monitor in the cab. This allows the driver to assess the surroundings even more quickly and evaluate hazardous situations even more effectively. The new system thus significantly supports the driver in operating the vehicle, leading to a further increase in safety.
LEAN MANAGEMENT
“Lean Management” (i.e., fast, agile, flexible management) is an approach based on the original Toyota Production System. At MEKRA Lang, we have been applying these methods and principles since 2005 and have successfully implemented numerous projects during this time to establish the concept of a smooth, error-free, and above all customer-oriented business process. We are continuously engaged in the development, optimization, and sustainable design of all areas. Because “Lean” concerns everyone. That is why we raise awareness among all employees regarding the principles, methods, and procedures for the efficient design of the value chain.
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Since our company was founded, social responsibility and the protection of people and nature have been central to the Lang family’s corporate philosophy, which has been passed down from generation to generation and extended to our affiliated companies.
Taking social responsibility is a matter of course for us. We are happy to support a variety of projects, including a partnership with a workshop for people with disabilities run by Lebenshilfe e. V.,
a sponsorship program for low-income families in partnership with Diakonie, and support for local youth and community organizations. We are a premium partner of SPVGG GREUTHER FÜRTH. Following the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015, MEKRA Lang rebuilt three schools.
Environmental protection is also a top priority for us, and its implementation has been consolidated since 1996 in the so-called “Integrated Management System” (IMS).
This means that the areas of quality and the environment are inextricably linked through cross-functional roles in occupational safety, health protection, and energy management, and are thus coordinated with one another.
As essential elements of our environmental management, occupational safety, health protection, and preventive care have the highest priority in our company. Therefore, it is of particular importance to us to continuously improve the framework conditions in these areas so that the respective requirements are exceeded wherever possible.
Our IMS includes the following standards and requirements: DIN EN ISO 9001, DIN EN ISO 14001, ISO/TS (IATF) 16949, DIN EN ISO 50001, KBA, and VDA. In addition, MEKRA Lang has been
1996 as a founding member and Lang Technics since 2016 have been part of the
Bavarian Environment and Climate Pact.