History

History

AV Stumpfl History

The company was founded by Reinhold and Ulli Stumpfl more than 40 years ago. It all began with a 10m² room in a shared house, a lot of skill and a passion for creating nifty and innovative products that would bring joy to many people's lives. Continuing on this path of precision and perfection is still our most important goal. 

1960s

Reinhold Stumpfl discovers electronics as a hobby and begins to build loudspeakers, amplifiers and similar gadgets. His teachers, his school performance and his parents "suffer" a little bit due to this new development. 

1970s

Reinhold moves to Graz to study at the Graz technical university (TU) and joins the Austrian Alpine Association, who ask him to build an "image blending device" for slide show projectors. 
During his time in Graz he meets his future wife Ulli, who soon takes a liking to managing the accountancy side of selling ever more of the "image blending devices". 
Due to more and more customers asking for projection screens, the Stumpfls begin to construct and build their own, the predecessor of today's Vario-system.

The first projection screen systems get assembled in a shared house, then in a cellar and finally in Reinhold's in-law's living room.

1981

After not being being allowed to expand his activities further inside his in-law's house, the young company (with all its' assets and the two entrepreneurs themselves still fitting inside a van) moves to Bad Schallerbach in Upper Austria.
A former kindergarten belonging to the local parish is found, rented and becomes both the new company headquarters and the new private residence.

1986

The former kindergarten ceases to be adequate in terms of size, subsequently the first building owned by AV Stumpfl gets built in Bad Schallerbach.

1980s

During the 1980s, AV Stumpfl becomes a household name, especially in German speaking countries, for being the innovation leader in the area of presentation technology (image blending devices + projection screens + accessories).

1990s

The products are seeing more and more development, with the product portfolio undergoing substantial growth. More and more customers from non-German speaking countries begin to invest in AV Stumpfl's mobile projection screens in particular. This business area develops rapidly. At the same time, a software is being developed to go hand in hand with the image blending products, the latter being the foundation for today's "Wings" software.

2000 onwards

The first "proper" company building gets built in Wallern. Until that time, the HQ had continued to be in the same building as the Stumpfl's private residence. Visitors are impressed by the innovative architectural style, with floor heating and floor cooling extended to the actual factory space.

Concrete core activation, photovoltaics, solar power and heat pumps are some of the features of the eco-conscious construction.
 
The revolutionary Monoblox-System gets developed and gets shown at important US trade fairs. 
US sales begin to pick up, more countries follow. The new Monoblox system becomes the de-facto standard, with many competitors trying to copy the Monoblox frame system. 

2004

The great demand makes it necessary to add more production space. The eastern "halls" get built and production capacity is doubled. The switch from slide show projectors to digital projectors leads to a new stage in the development of Wings, projector distribution begins. Event companies begin using AV Stumpfl software for professional system integration.

2008

AV Stumpfl looks for a new system to use for their numerous trade fair presentations. Available systems do not satisfy the AV Stumpfl team, which leads to the development of the Fullwhite system, which gets shown to the public that same year.

2012

The construction of the new competence center and logistics hall begins. The media server department grows and development work intensifies. VarioClip has its premiere as the first projection screen system with hooks (instead of snap buttons).

2014

Construction of the first Fullwhite Curve commences, a product that sets new standards in the area of show design.

2015

The new HQ extension is finished, the company celebrates its 40-year anniversary. Operative management is handed over to the next generation. Tobias Stumpfl takes over as CEO. 
The prototype of the new software „Wings RX“ sets new performance records in combination with the RAW hardware platform.

2018-19

New products: T32-SHIFT and AT64-SHIFT, - adjusting a mobile projection screen's height has never been easier. The next generation media server platform PIXERA wins numerous awards.

2022

Stefanie Niederwimmer and Harry Gladow join the board of the company to support CEO Tobias Stumpfl. Stefanie Niederwimmer is responsible for the Projection Screens division while Harry Gladow is leading the PIXERA division. Both managers have been working with AV Stumpfl for years and gained extensive experience in the global AV market.