IWA – F. Riehle GmbH - An innovative family business for over 90 years.

Founded in 1920 by Franz Riehle as an engineering office for rationalisation, after a short time the company began to produce special slide rules under the name IWA-Rechenschieberfabrik F. Riehle GmbH. As opposed to normal slide rules these were designed with special sector specific scales to make calculations particularly simple to solve. IWA developed into a leading manufacturer in this field with a patented process for printing on plastic.

Dipl. Ing. Harald Riehle joined the Company in 1962 and under his direction the handicraft orientated works developed into innovative specialists on an international front. At the same time there was a change in emphasis in the applications of the products. In addition to the use as a calculator, its use as a communication medium for marketing technical products came more and more to the forefront. This change proved to be a distinct advantage with the emergence of electronic pocket calculators and ensured the future of the Company through an innovative market approach. The "slide rule" became a "data slide", the IWA brand came to mean "Information medium, Work aide, Advertising carrier".

The new direction was a radical success and led to an all-embracing innovation not only for the product but also in the extensive use of automatic production processes.

In 1996, Franz Riehle Jr joined the Company and extended quality management and export activity. In the meantime he manages the Company and is Head of Sales.
Today, IWA is the leading manufacturer of Slide charts and Wheels in Europe and operates in nearly every industrial country in the world. Or, as in the USA, through its own sales subsidiary. The export content is now 50%.