while the company's building hardware division remained in heide, in may 1895 - ten years after the company had been founded - gustav mankenberg started valve production in the hanseatic city of szczecin. the city is conveniently placed at the mouth of the river oder as regards transport facilities with good connection to berlin via the finow canal and later the oder-havel canal. that location proved successful as well as the demand from factories and shipyards such as the renowned shipyard vulcan werft.