About us

We would be proud if you took an interest in DM-Folien and gave this page a moment's attention. Join us on a short journey back in time.

Dieter Mühlinghaus took over the company Jeske/Karlin in 1987, operating it as a one-man business in a small hall in Pfullingen near Reutlingen. At that time, the company was predominantly a local business. Originally, Jeske/Karlin served as the factory outlet for the film manufacturer Schlayer Polydress, where Dieter Mühlinghaus was employed. The company name DM-Folien was derived from the initials of Dieter Mühlinghaus.

Over the years, DM-Folien GmbH developed and blossomed into a company with multiple employees and apprentices. DM-Folien became better known, more efficient, and increased its sales through numerous trade fair appearances. As a result, more space was soon needed. In 1993, we found what we were looking for in the Markwest industrial estate in Reutlingen Betzingen, then planned and completed the construction of a much larger warehouse and offices at our new company headquarters on Hans-Böckler-Straße.

In 1999, the website dm-folien.com went online, making us the very first packaging retailer in Germany. Success was not long in coming, as the company's turnover doubled within 12 months. This served as the initial spark for further growth. Imports from Eastern Europe, and later from Asia, followed, gradually enabling us to acquire large packaging retailers and very large industrial companies as customers. During this time, DM-Folien employed around 7-8 people, who further supported the company's success.

Growth continued unabated as our website was continually expanded, and more and more customers were acquired. Our purchasing activities were also constantly adapted, reviewed, and improved. Every year, we increased our turnover in the high double-digit range. Growth harbours immense challenges, as we have experienced time and again. Our warehouse and office space quickly became significantly overstretched. In 2004/2005, we more than doubled our warehouse and office capacity once again by building an extension.

In 2005, our highly respected managing director and company founder passed away far too early and suddenly at the age of 64. Patrick Mühlinghaus took over the management of the company. After all, the company had to move forward. And move forward it did—how!

An idea to offer our customers even better service was born in 2007 and quickly and consistently realised out of deep conviction. We planned to purchase a machine for manufacturing polyethylene bags and cut-to-size bags.

The idea behind it was to offer our customers:

This has enabled us and continues to enable us to offer our customers a unique service. We are in control and can answer every customer request with a 'YES.' It's a good feeling for us to be able to fulfil almost every wish. However, we quickly reached the limits of our capacity in our small but excellent production facility. That's why three additional machines were purchased. The production range was not only significantly expanded in terms of quantity but also in terms of the variety of production options.

In March 2011, Patrick Mühlinghaus and his childhood friend Markus Riehle took over Schönhaar Verpackungen and founded Polythen Folien GmbH together.

Just over a year later, when Polythen Folien GmbH was also developing well, the newly founded company acquired the Nuremberg-based manufacturer and confectioner Seyfert-Weilguny. Once again, three more converting machines were added. With seven machines now in operation, the range of our capabilities expanded even further, and our customer service improved steadily.

And once again, there was a shortage of storage space. So, in 2012, we planned and built the third extension to provide a more spacious location for our products. After completion, DM-Folien had around 5,000 m² of storage space available. All these undertakings and improvements led to continued growth.

In 2014, after three years of working together, Mr. Riehle and Mr. Mühlinghaus realised that the collaboration was very harmonious. As a result, we decided to merge the Polythen company with DM-Folien GmbH. In return, Markus Riehle was appointed partner, shareholder, and managing director. This was a good decision, considering the development over the following years.

In the course of 2015, another opportunity arose to ensure that DM-Folien never gets bored. We seized the opportunity to found the company in/ventio GmbH together with three stretch film professionals with more than 50 years of combined experience in the industry. DM-Folien is still a shareholder in the successful company in/ventio GmbH today.

On 1 January 2017, our head purchasing agent and long-time employee Viktor Brazel became a partner and shareholder due to his outstanding and impeccable performance. This created another pillar of security and consistency for DM-Folien GmbH.

Over the course of 2017, the warehouse situation became extremely tense due to strong growth. It was no longer possible to expand at our previous location on Hans-Böckler-Straße. So, we began searching for a completely new company headquarters and found what we were looking for on Markwiesenstraße, not far from our previous location. The storage capacity of our former building on Hans-Böckler-Straße has been, and will continue to be, utilized to ensure we are not ‘bursting at the seams’ again. Since 2018, we have been serving our customers in Germany and abroad from a total of 15,000 m² of warehouse space and 1,100 m² of office space.

Another milestone occurred, somewhat by chance, in late 2017, when we acquired the entire machine park of Brüggershemke & Reinkemeier KG in Gütersloh at auction. A total of 11 additional manufacturing machines were now available to us, allowing for even more extensive customer service. With 18 machines, we were—and are—now able to fulfil almost every customer request quickly and professionally.

On 1 January 2018, our long-time and outstanding employee, Markus Vollmer, who is primarily responsible for personnel, finance, and accounting, also joined DM-Folien GmbH and has been supporting us as a partner and shareholder ever since.

In the years that followed, opportunities kept arising that we couldn't resist. In 2018, we founded our sales office in Emsdetten, Westphalia. Two long-standing professionals from the agricultural sector contacted us and wanted to work with us because they had known us for years and understood us very well. The idea was quickly realised.

In September 2020, we took over the company Scancell Verpackung, whose owner retired after many years of service. Due to the ongoing expansion of our sales activities, the broadening of our product range, the development of new purchasing sources, and the continuous growth of our online activities, we quickly reached our capacity limits again in 2021. As a result, we decided to purchase another vacant warehouse, including office space, in Pliezhausen near Reutlingen. Additionally, we were already storing several truckloads with external logistics service providers at this time to ensure that we could continue to supply our customers quickly and efficiently.

When we were offered a company specialising in exactly these products in 2021, the next company takeover was on the cards: the acquisition of Affeldt Verpackungssysteme GmbH, a company specializing in potato packaging. It fit seamlessly, like a perfectly fitting piece of the puzzle, into the DM-Folien GmbH product range and sales team. Another packaging machine was now in Reutlingen, ‘rattling’ and ‘clacking’ as it diligently produced rustle bags with printed labels.

At the same time, the sales office was moved from Emsdetten to Wettringen, as the former location had become too small for three employees.

In 2022, part of our product range was relocated to a logistics company in Bielefeld to create additional storage space at our headquarters. The outsourced product groups are delivered directly from Bielefeld to our customers. In the same year, Jan Gutbrodt, a very reliable and long-standing Sales Manager in the Agriculture department, became a partner and shareholder of DM-Folien GmbH.

On 12 December 2022, the sales team in Wettringen was strengthened by an additional employee to support further growth.

On 1 January 2023, Patrick Mühlinghaus' long-time colleague Goran Klokocki joins dm-folien GmbH as a shareholder.

July 2024 Termination of participation in in/ventio GmbH

November 1, 2024 Acquisition of the customer base of Interbag GmbH & Co. Kg and the associated brand Interfol

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The acquisition expanded the product range for the following areas:

• Specialist wholesalers for butchers, bakeries, catering and agriculture (vegetables/fruit)
• Food retailers, discounters and supermarkets
• Retailers, vegetable and fruit producers

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dm-folien is certified! On November 7, 2024, our new environmental management system was certified for the first time! We now meet both the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards. The foundation for long-term improvement of our environmental performance has been laid.

In January 2025, we launched a project to determine our corporate carbon footprint (CCF with Scope 1 & 2 and Scope 3). This is another important step on the path to true sustainability at dm-folien. With Bosch Climate Solutions, we have a strong partner and expert at our side. The project with Bosch Climate Solutions was completed in March 2025. We are now able to calculate our own greenhouse gas balance for 2024 and subsequent years. As the icing on the cake, we can calculate the product-related emissions (= Product Carbon Footprints) for selected product groups.

We have arrived in the present

Today, dm-folien gmbh has more than 20,000 m² of warehouse space and employs over 80 people at several locations in Germany:

The company consists of the following departments:

What else is there to tell?

Be good to your fellow human beings, and you will receive good in return.

Admittedly, this attitude can sometimes lead to a painful crash landing. However, over the course of our company’s history, which now spans several decades, we have had predominantly positive experiences with this philosophy and fundamental attitude. We celebrate far more successes than crash landings. We want our work to be fun and enjoyable. As a great reward for our win-win philosophy, we are surrounded by friendly and satisfied employees, customers, suppliers, and service providers.

Fun and enjoyment are a must

We simply enjoy being nice, friendly, open, and fair to each other, and it's also a great way to endure the morning walk in front of the mirror.