From Agriculture to International Corporation – Everything from a Single Source at Wolf System
Interview with Georg Wenzl, Managing Director, Wolf System GmbH
Wolf System GmbH started in the 1960s with concrete silos for agriculture. Today, the company with 1,450 employees is one of the largest full-service providers in the construction sector. Managing Director Georg Wenzl explains in the interview how the family-owned company navigates through crises and why the company continues to grow even in difficult times. The corporation focuses on sustainability and innovative solutions.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Wenzl, you have been the managing director of Wolf System GmbH since January 1, 2025. What was your path into the company?
Georg Wenzl: I have been with the company since 1999 and started in the human resources department. There, I was responsible for the entire HR area, from payroll to hiring new employees. In 2014, I was appointed as a procurator and now at the beginning of the year, alongside Jean-Luc Herrmann and Alois Konrad, I was appointed as the third managing director.
Wirtschaftsforum: Wolf System is an international group of companies. How is it structured?
Georg Wenzl: Wolf Holding GmbH comprises 31 locations in 19 countries and is headquartered in Austria, where the Wolf family, the owners, also reside. The group is divided into two parent companies – Wolf Austria and Wolf Germany.
Wirtschaftsforum: How many employees do you have at the Osterhofen site?
Georg Wenzl: In Osterhofen, we have 1,000 employees, with 500 in the office and 500 in production. Another 450 employees work nationally as fitters. The office staff cover all areas – from planning and statics to work preparation and logistics. In production, we mainly manufacture steel and wood components.
Wirtschaftsforum: What did everything start with at Wolf System?
Georg Wenzl: The origin lies in reinforced concrete construction for agriculture. Our founder, Johann Wolf, developed his own formwork system for manure tanks in the mid-1960s on his family farm and was the first to manufacture these tanks in concrete. At that time, many tall silos for grass silage were also built before drive-in silos later came along. From there, we have continuously expanded our portfolio.
Wirtschaftsforum: What does your service offering look like today?
Georg Wenzl: Today, we operate in various complementary sectors that allow us to truly cover all customer needs. In reinforced concrete construction, we serve both agriculture and industry, for example with state-of-the-art chip or pellet silos that meet the latest technical standards. Building construction includes a wide range of agricultural buildings such as cow, pig, and horse stables, as well as complex industrial and commercial buildings that we realize according to individual customer requirements. In addition, we have sophisticated residential construction and as an important subdivision, foundation construction, which forms the basis for all our projects.
Wirtschaftsforum: What makes you a special provider?
Georg Wenzl: Our biggest advantage is that we can offer all sectors from a single source. For example, when we build a complete outlying farm, we provide the stable, the machinery hall, the drive silo, the biogas plant, and the residential house – this is unique; no other competitor can do that. Moreover, with about 35,000 tons of processed steel per year, we are one of the largest steel processors in Germany.
Wirtschaftsforum: How did you overcome the crises of recent years?
Georg Wenzl: During Corona, we even had record sales because people had time to build. The biggest challenges were the extreme price increases and delivery difficulties. Our pre-Corona price list was worthless within five months. But we didn't let any customer down and built everything – even if we didn't make a profit on every project. We could afford this because we had managed well in the years before. Our owning family has significantly contributed by keeping the money in the company and investing it, instead of paying out to themselves.
Wirtschaftsforum: Are you currently feeling the restraint in construction investments?
Georg Wenzl: Contrary to all trends, the curve for us is currently upwards significantly. We were able to compensate well for the more difficult years thanks to our broad positioning.
Wirtschaftsforum: What about the issue of skilled workers?
Georg Wenzl: As one of the major companies in the construction industry and with our financial strength, we are a very attractive employer. According to Creditreform, we are among the top 2% of the financially strongest companies in Germany. We are honored that many applicants value us as a secure and reliable employer. For instance, we are naturally implementing the tariff increase of 4.2%.
Wirtschaftsforum: How important is sustainability to you?
Georg Wenzl: Very important, especially in timber construction. The prefabricated housing share in Germany has risen to 25%, moving away from pure stone construction. The industry is increasingly jumping on this bandwagon – we build many office buildings, social buildings, and multi-storey buildings in timber construction. Another future topic is our carport systems with integrated PV installations. From 2026, 50% of parking spaces in industry and supermarkets must be covered and equipped with PV installations. Here, we have developed our own concepts that make sensible use of already sealed surfaces.
Wirtschaftsforum: Where should we be heading in the next few years?
Georg Wenzl: We still see many possibilities, both with the products and the quantities. In Italy, our colleagues just built the first eight-story high-rise, and in Finland, even twelve-story buildings are being constructed using timber. An important trend is also the increasing prefabrication in the factory, which creates better working conditions for our employees than assembling in wind and weather. The market will settle down after the overheating of the last few years, and we want to further distance ourselves with our financial strength.
Wirtschaftsforum: What personally attracts you to Wolf System?
Georg Wenzl: One is the family management despite the size of the corporation. We have flat hierarchies and see ourselves as partners at eye level. Another is the success – when I started in 1999, we had under 500 employees and were proud of 100 million EUR in revenue. Today, we have quadrupled. Moreover, I am proud of our low turnover – a quarter of the workforce has been with the company for over 15 years, many fitters even for 40 years or more. This is very unusual in construction and shows that people feel comfortable with us.