TÜV Rheinland Worldwide for Quality and Safety
Active abroad since 1970 / 12.550 employees outside Germany / Own companies on all continents
TÜV Rheinland: Although the name suggests it, the independent testing service provider for quality and safety is active not only throughout Germany today with 8,486 employees but beyond German borders as well. TÜV Rheinland operates at sites on all continents around the globe—in countries ranging from Argentina to Morocco to Vietnam. The gradual internationalization of the operation began in 1970 with the founding of the first subsidiary in Luxembourg; the enterprise has been active on all continents since the founding of its own testing company in Australia in 2006. People from over 110 countries work together at TÜV Rheinland.
Around 12.550 employees work at TÜV Rheinland outside the German home market. That accounts for approximately 60 percent of all personnel. They generate almost half of the revenues in the entire Group. The focuses of international business are in the regions of Asia—above all China, Japan and India—, America and Europe outside of Germany.
Driving forces of internationalization
There are three main reasons for the internationalization of TÜV Rheinland:
- The internationalization of individual companies (clients), their production and target markets;
- The interconnectedness and harmonization of global goods and economic areas;
- The development and industrialization in numerous rising countries, such as Brazil, China or India.
In a growing number of economies and societies, the latter results in higher standards of living and therefore safety and environmental standards that are often additionally monitored by governmental authorities or technical testing organizations like TÜV Rheinland.
The international orientation and transnational work of TÜV Rheinland are reflected in the company in many ways. The testing of products, for example: In this area, 80 percent of the business is done outside Germany because the tests logically take place where products are manufactured, especially in Asia. Worldwide, TÜV Rheinland has roughly 780 of what are known as accreditations—an official recognition permitting the performance of tests—from national authorities. The Global Technology Assessment Centers in Bangkok, Budapest, Cologne/Nuremberg, Milan, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and Yokohama are the largest laboratory locations of TÜV Rheinland and feature an extensive program of testing services. For manufacturers, this also means that they can obtain testing from a single source for all of the important markets worldwide from TÜV Rheinland and, with successful tests, meet standards in the U.S. just as, for example, for Japan, India, Europe or South Africa.
Similar factors apply to numerous other economic sectors and industries in which TÜV Rheinland is active. Be it foodstuffs or auto parts, textiles or components for wind turbines, they are all manufactured, traded and purchased worldwide. Independent quality and safety monitoring, by TÜV Rheinland for example, ensure that the required standards are met. If, for example, pipeline tubing is ordered from an Indian or Chinese manufacturer for a project in Europe, TÜV Rheinland’s international expertise allows the company to perform supplier audits at the manufacturer and monitor production qualities.
International orientation of competences and responsibility
TÜV Rheinland itself also endeavors to provide its acquired competencies and available testing services to companies internationally. For example, management systems are certified by specially qualified auditors according to globally accepted ISO standards irrespective of whether the customers are located in Germany or Indonesia. This also holds true for classical testing services: Technical vehicle inspection takes place not only throughout Germany but also in Chile, France, Spain and Latvia. Of the more than 9 million vehicle inspections that TÜV Rheinland performs annually, nearly 7 million are conducted outside Germany.
The employees shoulder great responsibility from the implementation of such testing services for human beings, technology and the environment. This responsibility expresses itself in the mission statement of TÜV Rheinland as well as in the membership in the United Nations Global Compact. TÜV Rheinland joined this alliance for greater sustainability in business back in 2006 and, in addition, confers the International TÜV Rheinland Global Compact Award upon individuals who are especially committed to sustainable business. Key issues of the global alliance of companies and organizations are the fight against child labor and corruption, and for higher environmental and social standards in the economy worldwide.
TÜV Rheinland International
Today TÜV Rheinland has concentrated and organized its international business in various regions outside Germany: Asia-Pacific, Greater China, India/Middle East and Africa (IMEA), Central and Eastern Europe, North America, South America, and Western Europe.
As of April 2023
| 1970 | Establishment of the first foreign company in Luxembourg. |
| 1978 | Establishment of the first subsidiary in Asia (Japan). |
| 1986 | First activities in China. |
| 1993 | Start of the work in South America (Argentina and Chile). |
| 1996 | Establishment of the first subsidiary in India. |
| 1997 | Establishment of a company in Brazil. |
| 2003 | TÜV Rheinland has over 3,000 employees outside Germany (already 40%). |
| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 | Absorption of the Brazilian company Ductor; the approximately 600 employees specialize in supervising industrial and construction projects. |
| 2010 | Through the absorption of further engineering companies, TÜV Rheinland rises to be the second largest technical service provider in Brazil. |
| 2011 |
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| 2012 |
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 | Opening of a further Global Technology Assessment Center for product testing in Milan. |
| 2017 |
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| 2018 | Opening of several laboratories for wireless technology testing and the IoT Excellence Center in Shenzhen, China |
| 2019 | Acquisition of the Spanish company Certio with twelve vehicle testing locations |
| 2020 | Chinese sites in Shenzhen and Beijing celebrate their 25th anniversary |
| 2021 | Groundbreaking ceremony for the Yangtze River Delta Operation Hub, a state-of-the-art laboratory site in Taicang near Shanghai |
| 2022 | Acquisition in the UK D/Gauge Ltd. – TÜV Rheinland acquires British Railway Clearance Company for the further growth in the rail technology sector |