Bridging cultures and eras through metal roofing

By Jenny Yu.  

Schechtl’s commitment to craftsmanship, innovation and youth education highlights the evolving future of metal roofing. 

At the International Federation of the Roofing Trade (IFD)’s Young Roofers Competition in Austria, Heidi J. Ellsworth had the opportunity to speak with Maria Schechtl, CEO and owner of Schechtl, along with Kristoff Jacob, sales director at Schechtl, about the company's journey to becoming a leading manufacturer of metal bending machines and plate shears.  

Started in 1910 by Maria’s ancestor, Josef Schechtl, Maria reflected on her role in the family’s legacy. “I'm the fourth generation, so it's a long history,” Maria shared. “We started with manual bending machines, and now we build motorized CNC-controlled machines.” 

Now headquartered in Munich, Germany, Schechtl has over 120 employees and sells its machines all over the world. MetalForming LLC in Peachtree, Georgia, exclusively represents Schechtl in the United States. “We started with MetalForming nearly 25 years ago,” Maria said of the partnership. “It’s not common to have these kind of bending machines, so we did a lot of work in the first years to explain to the customer how it works. Now, we have a very good basis and long relationship.” 

The global reach of this long-standing company made its presence at the Young Roofers Competition all the more special. For the event, Schechtl provided some manual bending machines that allowed the students to demonstrate their metal forming skills. “We are very proud to sponsor and give the young people the right equipment to get the best results for a very nice championship,” Kristoff said. “I want to wish my best to all the roofers in the US and also for the US team, that they can run a very nice championship here in Austria.” 

Maria echoed the warmth and enthusiasm for the international youth learning about the metal roofing trades. “All over the world, we don’t get as many craftspeople, so we have to make it nice and easy for them to have fun with this job by providing good machines and automation. That will be the future,” Maria expressed. “The idea of having young people from different countries traveling to have the chance to see something new is very interesting.” 

Watch the full interview to learn more about Schechtl’s history and role in forming the future of metal.