Bowe Industries history

1950 presented Böhler and Weber the first chemical cleaning machine for textiles.

1952 Böhler & Weber present their first dry cleaning machine at the Textile Care Exhibition in Paris

1954 Ironing equipment for dry cleaning shops added to the Böhler & Weber product line.

In the early 1960’s Bowe Machine teamed up with Riverside Products, a division of Riverside Foundry, working with them to manufacture industrial shear blades and shredder rotors.

1961 Steam automation and textile finishing machines added

1962 5,000th Böhler & Weber dry cleaning machine delivered

1966 10,0000th dry cleaning machine leaves the factory.

1967 Industrial dry cleaning machine and fur and leather degreasing developed.

1968 New generation of dry cleaning systems and solvent textile finishing machines introduced.

1970 BOWE acquire Sermac Ltd and renames Permac UK Industries

1971 First delivery of machines for carpet yarn milling operation.

1973 Production of textile dry cleaning cleaning machines working under vacuum begun.

1974 Production branch environmental technique established.

1975 20 kg capacity vakumat-machine introduced.

1977 change of name from Böhler & Weber KG to BÖWE MASCHINEN-FABRIK GmbH.

1978 Fourth generation of dry cleaning machines with closed drying cycle introduced at the sixth IWC at Frankfurt.

Under Jim’s leadership, the company weathered the rough economic climate of the 1980’s and continued to expand.

1982 New dry cleaning machines with integrated refrigeration technique and heat recycling introduced at "Laundry & Cleaning '82" in Birmingham

William J. Bowe passed away in 1985, and his son, James E. “Jim” Bowe became President and CEO of Bowe Machine Company.

1986 Purchase of the PASSAT-Group (Laundry Technology), consisting of the companies PASSAT/Heilbronn,VOSS/Sarstedt, POENSGEN u.

1989 Fifth generation of BÖWE machines introduced featuring reduction of solvent emission (perchloroethylene - perc).

1994 BÖWE-PASSAT hydrocarbon dry cleaning machine "K540", the slimline dry cleaning machines P240/P300 and P300 /P350 introduced at TexCare in Frankfurt.

Mike Bowe has since retired, and Tom Bowe has been General Manager of the Bowe Knives division since Dennis’s passing in 1997.

1998 article by Jim Bowe

2002 Presentation of P12-15 dry cleaning machine with Power Drying System (PDS)

2004 Availabliity of the M12/M15/M18 Multisolvent® dry cleaning machines for Hydrocarbon, Greenearth®, Rynex ®, SolvonK4 etc

2006 Presentation of the StarLine PX and KX dry cleaning machines for Perc and Hydrocarbon

2010 Launch of LaundryLine range of industrial washer extractors and tumble dryers

Under Simon’s management, Bowe completed one building addition in 2011, adding 12,000 square feet of new construction.

2013 BOWE CometLine machine installed in SML HQ demo suite in Fleet, Hampshire