1898 Establishment of a fitting shop in Sachsenfeld near Schwarzenberg by Julius Otto Keltzsch for the manufacture of cutting tools and stamping dies for enameling shops and sheet metal works of the area
	1899 Takeover of the shop by Max Wutzler and Wenzel Zenker; repeated moves and expansions of the company; increase of the number of employees to 30; procurement of first machines
	1906 / 07 Holding change to a GmbH with a capital stock of 50.000 Marks; name change to „Erzgebirgische Schnittwerkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik GmbH Schwarzenberg“ (ESEM); move to its current location in Schwarzenberg
	1922 / 23 First participation in the Leipzig Trade Fair with presentation of the first tools for the automotive industry; start of a gradual conversion of production to industrial tools
	1926 Start of serial production of passenger car bodies in Germany by the Berlin-based AMBI-Maschinenbau AG and the Berlin branch of the American Budd Manufacturing Corporation; companies such as Adler, NSU, Ford, BMW, and Hanomag become customers of the "Ambi-Budd"; through its corporation with "Ambi-Budd," ESEM becomes an important supplier of industrial tools for the automotive industry
	1929 Nearly all well-known German and European automobile manufacturing companies, including Opel, Audi, Wanderer, Mercedes-Benz, Steyer, Horch, DKW, MAN, Citroen, Renault, Peugeot, and Ford are on the supply list of ESEM, the company has become the most renowned German tool maker of the time
	1934 Dr. Ferdinand Porsche awards ESEM the contract for the design and production of forming dies for the "Volkswagen" (KdF Wagen); for the first time in German automobile manufacturing, the roof, rear window, and wind draw are drawn from one piece - the publications of the time call the draw die the "largest tool manufactured for the autmotive industry to date"
	1940 - 1944 ESEM predominantly manufactures defense products such as torpedo casings; the only industrial tools manufactured during the war are side panel dies for the  so-called "Schwimmwagen" (amphibious craft)
	1945 Big decrease in production towards the end of the war and finally complete breakdown due to the lack of electrical power; the Province of Schwarzenberg remains the sole unoccupied German territory for several months ("Free Republic of Schwarzenberg"); ESEM owner Friedrich Volk is disowned; ESEM comes the jurisdiction of the Soviet Military Administration; ESEM equipment is almost completely deinstalled and shipped to the  Soviet Union for war reparations; Establishment of a Soviet Design and Testing Institute
	1948 The Soviet Military Administration relinquishes control; ESEM is nationalized and renamed "VEB WMW ESEM - Erzgebirgische Schnittwerkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik Schwarzenberg/Erzgebirge", 197 employees
	1952 Procurement of the first copy milling machine after World War II; the company is remaed again to "VEB Formenbau Schwarzenberg"
	1950 - 1956 ESEM resumes production of tools for the automotive industry (EMW 340, F9, Wartburg 311, Sachsenring 240)
	1956 - 1958 Orders for the VW Beetle; introduction of mechanized components to mold making toolsTools for the metal body and the plastic outer panels of the first Trabant (P50)First export orders into the then-Eastern block - this business defines the production of the following years  (e.g. CSSR: Tatra 603, Skoda MB1000/S100/S105/S110/S120, Poland: FSO, Soviet Union: Moskvich)
	1965 Introduction of Styrofoam to produce cast patterns in mold making
	1970 Integration of the VEB Formenbau into the new "Kombinat Umformtechnik Erfurt"; this company becomes the most important manufacturer of industrial tools in the then-Eastern block
	1980 Commissioning of an additional manufacturing plant in Markersbach near Schwarzenberg to increase heavy tool-making capacity; the company now has more than 1,000 employees
	1990 Conversion of the VEB Formenbau into a capital holding and renaming to "Formenbau GmbH Schwarzenberg/Erzgebirge"
	1993 Takeover by the "KUKA Schweißanlagen + Roboter GmbH" Augsburg; renaming to "KUKA Werkzeugbau Schwarzenberg GmbH" (KWS), first large-scale order by Mercedes  Benz
	1994 Start of an investment program: Groundbreaking for new production facilities for tool-making and tryout presses; first order for a one-piece passenger car side panel (VW  Passat)
	1996 First Supplier Award "Value to the Customer Award" for 1995 by the VW Company; the Saxon Prime Minister Dr. Kurt Biedenkopf participates in the inauguration of the new  facilities; numerous orders by BMW, Opel, VW, Audi, among others, reestablish KWS at  the top of industrial tool-making in Europe
	1997 Second Supplier Award "Value to the Customer Award" for 1996 by the VW Company; establishment of the first KWS subsidiary in Ostrov, Czech Republic
	1998 The company celebrates its centenary, among the guests is the Saxon Minister of Commerce Dr. Hajo Schommer; for the first time, revenues top DM 100 million
	1999 Expansion and commissioning of the the new hall tract; establishment of the second KWS subsidiary in Dubnica, Slovak Republic
	2007 In the course of reorientation of KUKA AG, KUKA Werkzeugbau Schwarzenberg GmbH affiliates to KUKA Systems GmbH Augsburg and operates under the name KUKA Systems GmbH Business Unit Tools & Dies since that time.
	2008 Dedication of a new manufacturing hall at KUKA ENCO in Dubnica / Slovakia