A Century of Discovery

In April 2024, there will be two official events for Waldner's Laboratory Solutions business unit, celebrating the laboratory as an important place and service provider. One of them takes us from deepest Allgäu to Mumbai, India, where the history of GD Waldner began in April 1924. Happy anniversary to India!

World Laboratory Day, which the industry traditionally celebrates on 23 April, will probably have just passed when this article is published. The anniversary year of GD Waldner begins at almost the same time:

"In April 1924, partners Gordhanbhai and Desai founded the humble beginnings of GD," Chairman and Managing Director Mayur Patel tells us when we interview him about the company's 100th anniversary celebrations. "We have retained their initials in the name of our joint venture with Waldner to this day. They remind us of the two pioneers who started out in Bombay with a handful of employees and the import of high-quality laboratory equipment from Sauter, Pyrex and Zeiss," adds CEO Adhiraj Patel. Today, a century later, father and son are responsible for 200 employees, a state-of-the-art factory and offices spread across the country from Mumbai to Vadodara, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Laboratories - the birthplace of important discoveries

The fact that World Laboratory Day and the start of the anniversary coincide is both a nice and fitting coincidence. With "A Century of Discovery", GD Waldner is paying tribute to precisely what the day of action on 23 April also publicly celebrates: the achievements of laboratories and laboratory professionals. "Laboratories are places where people make important, often far-reaching discoveries," says Adhiraj Patel, explaining the idea behind the anniversary motto. "Whether systematic research over years or chance discoveries like Röntgen or Fleming: Scientific breakthroughs are achieved in the laboratory that enrich all our lives and, in the best case, improve the world," Adhiraj ends, and we sense a familiar spirit blowing here: like Waldner in the Allgäu region, GD Waldner also wants to achieve the most humanly possible for health, nutrition and education with its customers. This motivation drives everything.

In the service of science and society

"The will to bring about positive change characterises us," says Mayur about the company's philosophy. "Under the British government, it was difficult to establish excellent educational institutions in India. In the early years, GD therefore focussed on equipping universities and institutes with scientific instruments. A century later, we want to build the best laboratories," he adds, before CEO Adhiraj Patel takes over: "We conceptualise laboratories, design, plan, manufacture individual components and turnkey solutions, install, carry out maintenance and, if necessary, repairs. In other words, the complete programme so that today's discoverers from science, research and industry have the ideal conditions for their innovations. Who knows? One of them could make the world a better place!". For the Patels, social commitment is an integral part of everything they do. In addition to the privately founded school, which Mayur reported on in the last interview, the family has already set up a college and a bookshop.

Wood meets steel. A mutual discovery

Just as harmoniously as father and son, Chairman and CEO, complement each other in their storytelling, so it was in 2021 when Waldner and GD Lab Solutions* came together to form today's joint venture. "We had already been working together since 2016. Then we met by chance in Mumbai, got talking and decided without further ado to make the partnership official," recalls Mayur and is delighted: "The Allgäu and India are a perfect match! While Waldner manufactures laboratory furniture primarily from wood-based materials, GD Waldner adds steel furniture to its portfolio, which is particularly in demand in the Indian and South Asian markets."

Regional presence for local needs

The city of Bombay, where it all began 100 years ago, has long since returned to its origins. And with GD Waldner India Pvt. Ltd. we are also consciously focussing on the regional background despite our internationality. The company scores points in its core markets with technology and design from Germany and a local presence. "For laboratory solutions that are extremely customised, proximity to the regional context helps enormously," explains Adhiraj. An important discovery - probably one of the most important of all in recent years for global companies like Waldner.

*official name until 2021