100 Years of Max Müller in Allgäu

Double the Century: In its hundredth year, the Max Müller Group achieved an annual turnover of 100 million euros for the first time. At the headquarters in Opfenbach, the family-owned company in its third generation presented donation bags of 10,000 euros to the food bank in Lindenberg.

(Opfenbach) For every year of its company history, the Max Müller Group donates 100 euros to the food bank in Lindenberg in Allgäu. There, Franz Müller founded his business with a horse-drawn cart on April 1, 1922. Over three generations, it has evolved into a service provider for transport and logistics along the entire supply chain. Today, 940 people generate a turnover of more than 100 million euros, including the subsidiary Logistics Center Allgäu GmbH & Co. KG (LZA) and Matrium GmbH – a joint venture between LZA and Airbus. Max Müller Spedition GmbH is also a shareholder of the cargo cooperation Cargo Trans Logistik (CTL) AG. DMS Max Müller Umzüge GmbH and Max Müller Service GmbH are further subsidiaries of the group, which has had its headquarters in Opfenbach for 25 years.

Image Caption: Aerial view of the company’s headquarters in Opfenbach (© Max Müller Spedition GmbH)

A Man, a Horse, a Beginning

The company history begins with a freight transport contract from the Royal Bavarian State Railway Administration. For the Lindenberg train station, company founder Franz Müller collected and distributed cargo shipments in the Westallgäu using a horse-drawn cart. In the 1930s, the construction of the spa clinic in Ried brought the first major order. Müller’s carts transported several hundred tons of building materials to the construction site, located two kilometers from the train station. Shortly after World War II, the company was completely destroyed by fire. After reconstruction, the freight forwarding business flourished and in 1961, including car trips, rental cars, and ten employees, was passed on to the son Max Müller.

Focus on Freight Forwarding & Transport

Max Müller gave the company its current name and focused on expanding transport in the region. When the train station in Lindenberg closed in 1973, the cargo business shifted to Lindau-Reutin and expanded. Max Müller passed away at the age of 47 in 1977. In the following year, Walter Müller relieved his mother of her responsibilities. At the same time, he secured a major order for cheese and transported 200 tons of it weekly by refrigerated wagons. In the early 1980s, he started with relocations and by the end of the decade became a partner in DMS. Concurrently, the cargo business expanded throughout the Lindau-Bodensee district and into the neighboring Oberallgäu, with a branch in Kempten. Today, the broadly positioned freight forwarding sector accounts for about one-fifth of the group’s turnover.

Expansion of Supply Chain Expertise

Currently, contract logistics generates about 80 percent of the turnover. After initial investments in the mid-1980s, the company expanded its supply chain expertise in the 1990s, particularly with time-sensitive food products and C-parts. Rapid growth led to the establishment of the subsidiary LZA in Immenstadt in 2002 and the takeover of material management for Airbus as part of Matrium a year later. Today, the Max Müller Group manages 180,000 m² of logistics space at 27 locations. These include Opfenbach, Tettnang, Amtzell-Korb, Immenstaad, Lindenberg, and Wangen with 44,000 m², and the LZA locations in Immenstadt, Kempten, Wolfertschwenden, Krugzell, and Seltmanns with 30,000 m². The remainder is distributed across the nine locations of Matrium. The logistics division employs 80 percent of the workforce.

Fourth Generation Takes Off

With daughter Stefanie Müller (23), the fourth generation is currently at the starting block. In the coming years, the business economist with a focus on transport, logistics, and traffic will grow into the business alongside her father and managing director Oliver Groten. Walter Müller, managing partner, comments: “In everything we do, we think as a family business across generations. I will pass on a financially and organizationally well-positioned company, including the responsibility for people and nature.”

Photo: © Max Müller Spedition GmbH / Image Caption: Managing Director Oliver Groten (left) and Walter Müller (right) with Stefanie Müller (center) in front of the headquarters in Opfenbach