SCM, purchasing and logistics – now and in the future

From apprentice to technical manager licensing

When Fabian Unterweide started his apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic at EJOT at the age of 16, he had no idea that a few years later he would leave his small hometown in the rural district of Siegen-Wittgenstein. It was one of the most important decisions of his life, both privately and professionally: Going to Mexico as an expat for several years.

>>Text: Eva-Maria Homrighausen

In 2005, Fabian Unterderweide decided to train as an industrial mechanic at the EJOT site in Bad Laasphe. He decided early on that he would like to pursue a practical profession in industry. He immediately chose EJOT as the largest and bestknown employer in the region. One year after completing his apprenticeship, he decided to complete a technician’s course in night school while working. At this time, EJOT planned to recruit a junior staff member for the joint venture in Mexico. “That was my luck. It was perfect timing”, he says.

When he began his technician training in 2010, Fabian Unterderweide moved from the Production department to the International Processes department and went through all the production areas at the German production sites in preparation for his assignment abroad. “That way I was able to learn an incredible amount. During this time, I made numerous contacts in the company”, he says. This allowed him to clarify many things directly with his colleagues in Germany, which was very helpful for him in his daily business later in Mexico.

In October 2014, his three-year stay at EJOT ATF began. With a three-month Spanish language course under his belt he travelled to San Luis Potosí, a large Mexican city with about 900,000 inhabitants in north-central Mexico and the location of EJOT ATF. “My language skills were just enough to survive”, he jokes and laughs. “For the basics, like saying ‘hello’ and ‘bye’ and ordering food.” But that didn't worry him at the time. “I used to be very hesitant to speak English – I never had that in Spanish.” Abroad, he learned to just speak without any inhibitions. Today, he speaks fluent English and Spanish. He is convinced: “Communication in the native language is the key to close and trusting cooperation with my colleagues in Mexico, especially in manufacturing.”

At EJOT ATF, he was responsible for production, the acquisition of new machines, project management and the implementation of new processes from 2014 to 2017. He describes the local culture as very open and warm: “Here the motto is ‘mi casa es tu casa’ – my house is also your house. And that is really how they live”, he explains. “I was welcomed like a member of the family from the first day. Mexico is now a second home for me.”

He returned to Germany in October 2017. In April 2020, he moved to the position of Technical Manager in License Management. In this role he supports production roll-outs of EJOT patented products for licensees, acts as the contact person for technical questions and problems and introduces new production technologies.

But Mexico didn’t let him go. Fabian Unterderweide has been back in Mexico since November 2021. He currently works 50 percent for EJOT ATF and 50 percent in a management role for EJOT License Management. So he spends up to eight months a year in Mexico and comes to Germany for four weeks every three months. A well-functioning model: “For ATF, it is important that I regulate and advance things on site. While I can easily control the technical license management from Mexico”.

Today Fabian Unterderweide is 32 years old. Going abroad as an expat at a young age was a formative experience that he would not want to miss. “My day-to-day work as an industrial mechanic would certainly be different today”, he says. A time that has helped him both professionally and personally: “I became much more independent and have grown significantly”, he says and adds: “In addition, I met my fiancée in Mexico.” For Fabian Unterderweide, the opportunity to work as an expat in Mexico is a success story both in his professional career and private life. E

2011

EJOT is awarded as Supplier of the Year by Continental. The prize recognizes the best of the global company’s more than 900 strategic suppliers. At the “International Purchasing Manager Meeting”, which was attended by around 140 Continental Automotive buyers from all over the world in Frankfurt, Continental’s Executive Board Chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart emphasized the importance of firstclass partners for Continental as one of the world's leading automotive suppliers.

2011

Since May 2011 EJOT has a company page on Facebook. Once or twice a week photos, short reports about EJOT, links to newspaper articles in which EJOT is mentioned, or current job advertisements are posted.

2012

EJOT Italia with a new company. Activities in Italy began as early as 2001. After the sales in the area of ETICS and Building Fasteners have grown strongly, the company invests in its own building with warehouse.

2012

Environmental certification for EJOT TEZMAK concluded. The Istanbul location is the first international production site with ISO 14001 environmental certification.

Fabian Unterderweide (front row, 3rd from left) with his Mexican colleagues from EJOT ATF.

Machines are his passion

At work, Thomas Prasse’s heart beats for FORMAX® machines. They are the pinnacle of multi-die headers. “Mechanics and machines have always fascinated me, but the FORMAX® is the ultimate,” says the 44-year-old, who quickly familiarised himself with the details of this type of machine after joining EJOT in 2000.

>>Text: Eva-Maria Homrighausen

Today, Thomas Prasse has become a specialist for the FORMAX® headers with special orders. With his passion for mechanics and technology, he’s the perfect fit for EJOT. Good thing, too, because it was only by happenstance that his career path led him to Bad Berleburg. When the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, Thomas Prasse was twelve years old. He grew up in the small district town of Zittau in the extreme southeast of Saxony, where Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic converge. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he completed an apprenticeship as a body and vehicle builder at the age of 16. In his spare time, he was active in professional motor sports for many years. During his military service at the Stralsund naval base, he trained as a ship operations technician and sailed the world over on the frigate Köln (named after city of Cologne).

While he was sailing the seven seas in 1999, the labour market situation in his home village became increasingly worse and his parents decided to leave Saxony. The family came to Bad Berleburg through family contacts. Thomas Prasse could not look for a new job while at sea, so his father got him an interview at EJOT. Then everything happened very quickly: he got off the ship shortly before Christmas, conducted the interview and in January 2000 started working for ‘old master’ Georg Dickel at the Herrenwiese site in the manufacturing area of the 2 die 3 blow headers.

The department quickly noticed that he was helpful, hardworking and enthusiastic about technology. Technical functions and processes came to him quickly: “For me, a machine works similarly to an engine, which made it very easy for me to understand the machines,” he said. Within a short time, he made a name for himself in the company as an accomplished header operator and two years later switched to FORMAX® machines for multiple blow parts.

In 2007, a new FORMAX® machine had to be accepted at the manufacturer National Machinery in Tiffin / Ohio, USA. In recognition of his good work, Thomas Prasse was commissioned to carry out machine acceptance on site for a week. “I was mighty proud to be trusted with that. A great and formative experience for me – and the first time I ever flew in my life,” he explained. At that point, he didn’t speak a word of English: “As an East German student, I had only had Russian lessons,” he said. “I was incredibly grateful that EJOT sent me.” The crucial test was a success and was the go-ahead signal for many more short stays abroad in Mexico, the USA and China. In 2011, Thomas Prasse prepared for a one-year position as an expat at the Chinese subsidiary EJOT Fastening Systems in Taicang. There he would, among other things, assist in setting up the Chinese tools on a new FORMAX® machine. For this, he completed a six-week intensive English course with a stay abroad at Oxford House College in London. Before setting off, Thomas Prasse wrote down the most important phrases in a small notebook, but he left it at home. “I was very excited,” he said laughing. “But luckily I somehow managed to give the taxi driver the address of my host family.”

Working at various EJOT locations abroad has since become routine for Thomas Prasse. Hans Werner Kocherscheidt was a major influence on his decision to go to China for a year and made it clear to him how important this technical support at the foreign locations was for EJOT. The senior boss, who passed away in 2017, often dropped by the production department and greeted the colleagues with a handshake: “What you all do here on the multi-die headers is a fine art. You are true artists.” An extraordinary personality, Prasse emphasised.

Thomas Prasse is certain that, thanks to EJOT and his stays abroad, he has matured a lot and developed significantly as a person. “It gets you thinking; it changes your perspective on many things in Germany. I was very fortunate to be able to take a lot of the things I learned with me – be it in dealing with people, languages or foreign cultures.”

The progress and successes at the Taicang site in recent years and the good cooperation with local colleagues are what drive him. He said: “I put all my energy into the Taicang project. Because it is important to me. Because I realise that it brings EJOT and me further.” His visa for China is valid until the end of 2024: “That’s how long I need on site to implement everything as planned and to achieve our goals.” E

2012

Prognosis program ALTRA Calc: EJOT also offers a solution for the area of light metal fastening with the ALtracs Plus screw. This is now supplemented by the ALTRA Calc prognosis program. Customers can send calculation orders free of charge via the Internet. These will be processed by qualified EJOT employees and the results will be returned to the client via e-mail in the form of so-called calculation reports.

2012

New ETICS anchor STRU 2G. After a successful market start in 2003, the ejotherm STR U has developed into one of the most successful products of the EJOT Group. The new member of the ejotherm family, the “STR U 2 G”, is the result of this extensive development process. The advantages for the customer are improved efficiency and reduced thermal bridging.

2012

EJOT supplies the drilling screws for the new protective shell that seals the dilapidated sarcophagus of the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl that was damaged in 1986. This is a prestigious order that requires the highest quality competence, especially since the new protective shell is to seal the nuclear reactor for the next 100 years. Regional and national newspapers report as well as radio and television.

Around the world in 30 years

First EJOT U.K. in Leeds, then EJOT Middle East in Dubai, and finally EJOT-Octaqon in New Delhi. In the 30 years that he worked at EJOT, Dirk Homrighausen was always drawn to work abroad.

>>Text: Andreas Wolf

Apparently, he already had the affinity to move from Wittgenstein out into the world during his training as an industrial sales clerk. After completing his training and military service, he spent eight months at the then British subsidiary EJOT ECOFAST in Leeds in 1991. A bit homesick at first, he went on to write in a report in the employee magazine WIR Verbinder at the time.

The uncertainty then very quickly gave way to total enthusiasm. After his return, Dirk Homrighausen had only one thought: “I want to go back to England.” But that turned out to be a bit difficult at first because Bruno Kayser, Head of Human Resources at EJOT at the time, had entirely different plans for the then 21-year-old: Dirk Homrighausen was to be built up as an employee who could be deployed universally from sales departments to controlling. “Of course, this plan by Bruno Kayser unsettled me in my own plans,” Homrighausen recalls. Dirk Homrighausen then arranged for his return to England with the help of Don Fox, the CEO of EJOT ECOFAST in Leeds at the time, after Don had consulted with Bruno Kayser. Bruno Kayser gave his consent to the young Dirk Homrighausen at a colleague’s wedding party over a beer at the bar: “You can go to England. But you have to promise me to stay with EJOT.” Two months later, the journey started with North Sea Ferries across the English Channel to Leeds to EJOT ECOFAST.

The trip turned out to last 16 years. In 2007, Dirk Homrighausen left the national company EJOT U.K., founded in 1985, as Managing Director. First he gained experience as a field worker in the sale of window screws, followed by positions as Commercial and Sales Director with overall responsibility for the construction area, as General Manager and finally, from 2000, as Managing Director with overall responsibility for the EJOT U.K. branch office, then totaling 58 employees. A three-year break from EJOT followed. Dirk Homrighausen and his wife Jackie, whom he met in England in 1995 and married in 2000, fulfilled a dream: converting an old farmhouse in France and renting it out as a holiday home. They found their dream property 60 kilometres east of Bordeaux, in the Aquitaine region. They realized another business idea by importing and selling Frenchstyle furniture: “When we wanted to furnish our house, we realized that there wasn't much between furniture from IKEA and furniture made from French oak.” Apparently many felt the same way, and the two discovered a gap in the market.

The contact with EJOT remained. Michael Hofmann reported regularly with interesting projects. The return to Germany and EJOT was sealed quite quickly. Dirk Homrighausen took over the business development as Sales Director International for the region of Southeast Asia and India with many trips to the regions that offered excellent market opportunities, especially in the construction industry. But of course, as a long-term solution, this back and forth was not feasible. Without a permanent presence in the region, this market could not really be served in the long term.

On the recommendation of Dirk Homrighausen and the associated business plan, the national company EJOT Asia Pacific was founded in Singapore in 2012. Dirk Homrighausen moved to Dubai with his wife Jackie to take over the management of EJOT Middle East there. Here, too, the 54-year-old did development work for EJOT. “We started with seven employees, later there were 19 at times.” As Operations Manager, his wife Jackie was responsible for the introduction of SAP at the site, among other things. Dirk Homrighausen and his team made sure that the EJOT brand could develop into an industry leader in the region. The most successful new product was the JT2 C1000 (today EJOguard), a series of construction screws with a short development time, which originated in the Middle East. Some of EJOT's largest airport projects were supplied with JT3 screws during this period in the Gulf region.

During his successful work in Dubai, Dirk Homrighausen was already looking to India to research the market opportunities for construction screws there and at the same time to set up sales.

This time, too, it quickly became clear: “It doesn’t work without being there, it doesn’t work without an EJOT site,” emphasizes Homrighausen. A country of 1.3 billion people, 65 percent of whom are under the age of 35. A country that is building up an industry and has China as a model – meaning it does not want to remain a country of imports. “Anyone who wants to be successful in India in the long term should also have their production there,” says Dirk Homrighausen. And so the journey continues to India: At the beginning of 2019, Dirk Homrighausen and his wife Jackie and their three dogs, a 12-year-old Cocker Spaniel from the time in France and two Salukis, greyhounds from the Middle East, move to New Delhi.

From “glitz and glamor” in Dubai to New Delhi and a completely different culture, in a country full of contrasts: A visible economic boom, on the one hand, with average growth rates of over 5 percent, and, on the other hand, people who live in the poorest of conditions. Added to this is the extremely strong and persistent air pollution, especially in New Delhi. “It takes a lot of getting used to and has nothing in common with western lifestyles,” Dirk Homrighausen points out. Social networks work very well among expats in Delhi. “There is a lot of contact with people of various different nationalities and you make friends very quickly.” In terms of sport, Dirk Homrighausen has dedicated himself to the popular Indian sport of cricket and is a member of the Delhi Expat Cricket Club “The Viceroys”.

The EJOT-Octaqon Fastening Systems production branch has 35 employees, most of whom are trained specialists with experience from other fastener manufacturers. In the area of sales, experience from the industry is important.

The expert knowledge of EJOT products is trained internally. “We are in a permanent recruiting process, not only because of our strong growth, but because the people here often only think very short-term,” explains Dirk Homrighausen. If the salary is two or three percent higher somewhere else, there is a risk of losing an employee. Nevertheless, the employees value the fact that EJOT-Octaqon is a multi-national company and is managed by a Western manager: “That looks good on the CV.” The employees can also relate to EJOT’s 100-year history, since traditional companies in India generally have a good reputation.

“EJOT will continue to be successful with its products in India.” In this regard, Dirk Homrighausen has a very positive forecast. “We have unique selling points, we are the first quality manufacturer of self-drilling screws in India.” There is nothing comparable. And the investments to be made in infrastructure in India over the next few years are enormous. This is not only good for our business in India, but also for the continuous international growth of the EJOT Group. E

2012

Open House in San Luis Potosi Mexico for the customers. This shows the commitment of ATF and EJOT to the Mexican site.

2012

The Wittgenstein Education Center undergoes fundamental renovation. The Bildungszentrum Wittgenstein was established in 1975 by nine companies (amongst them EJOT) as a training shop for their apprentices. The objective was a training facility where Wittgenstein companies from the metal, electronics and later also plastic industry were able to introduce the apprentices to the work during the first year of their career.

2013

Start of the eCommerce sales channel. The new channel has to be integrated into the existing organisation which involves concepts for designing order processes, dovetailing with logistics processes, or outlining a suitable pricing structure.

2013

Opening of the new building at EJOT Taicang in China with a ”Grand Opening“ and 300 invited guests. Optionally, an area expansion of 11,000 m2 is possible on the site.

EJOT is a family matter for the Hauer household

The Austrian Managing Director Jürgen Hauer has been working for EJOT for 30 years. He has experienced a lot over the years and draws a clear conclusion: There is nowhere he would rather work than in the family business EJOT.

>>Text: Andreas Wolf

EJOT is a family business. In the case of the Hauer family in Voitsberg, this is to be taken literally. Because there was a time when the entire Hauer family was employed at EJOT Austria: Father Jürgen has been working for EJOT Austria as a long-standing CEO since 1992 and will retire in summer 2022. His wife Anna joined in 1994 as the head of HR. She has been retired for a year now. Daughter Julia has been working in marketing at EJOT Austria and the Southeastern Europe region for years and will be returning from parental leave in autumn. And last but not least, son Thomas also worked at EJOT in Voitsberg during his studies and was also employed at EJOT Construction Fasteners in Germany for a time.

30 years at EJOT – Looking back on his time at the company, Jürgen Hauer says: “Discovering EJOT was like winning the lottery for me.” “But,” the 62-year-old admits, “if you take responsibility seriously, like I do, you are running at full speed around the clock, which isn’t always healthy.” When he retires he says he will allow himself more time to rest – and to spend with his family and friends.

The Japanese are to blame. As QA manager of the ATOMIC company in 1990, he first became aware of EJOT. And how else could his EJOT story begin, than with the search for a special screw joint: The largest Japanese importer of his then employer, ATOMIC, asked that the heels of the ski boots manufactured by the company not be fastened with nails, but with a plastic screw so that the heel parts could be replaced. “While researching potential suppliers, I came across EJOT thanks to the plastics supplier Du Pont,” says Hauer. However, because the responsible EJOT sales representative never showed up at ATOMIC, Jürgen Hauer called the EJOT export manager at the time, Wolfgang Basedow. Very soon Wolfgang Basedow and the EJOT sales manager at the time, Bernhard Reck, were sitting in the office in Köflach with Jürgen Hauer and solved the connection problem on the ski boots. “And over a nice dinner, the foundation for my future at EJOT was laid.”

His future at the company was sealed during a job interview in the sweltering summer heat of 1991 in Bad Berleburg, when Jürgen Hauer and his wife Anna were extensively interviewed by Hans Werner Kocherscheidt, Christian Kocherscheidt, Bruno Kayser, Bernhard Reck and Wolfgang Basedow. “I was slightly nervous and was greatly relieved that Hans Werner Kocherscheidt created a familiar atmosphere with his brilliant way of conducting the conversation.” And after the interview, we had dinner together. “A toast was made to my future at EJOT with a glass of champagne – it was my first glass ever,” laughs Jürgen Hauer.

Whe he started at EJOT, Jürgen Hauer completed a three-month training course covering the entire technical program: production in Bad Laasphe, Applitec and all other departments. “I learned a lot back then from Peter Hau, who had started the training programme a little earlier than me,” says Hauer. Hauer not only experienced something new during the day, but also at dinner at the Hotel Fasanerie in Bad Laasphe: “For the first time in my life I saw that you can also eat a Wiener Schnitzel with sauce, the Wittgensteiner Krüstchen.”

Jürgen Hauer started as an application engineer for fastening technology in Austria in January 1992. “I took the Austrian market by storm with the service that EJOT was able to offer its customers thanks to the support of the export department and the technical office.” The customer meeting was scheduled in the morning, and the draft including the offer was already delivered to the customer by afternoon. “It was just perfect.” For two years Jürgen Hauer was on the road as a “lone wolf” before his wife Anna and Eugen Perisutti joined him. When EJOT Austria GmbH was founded in 1999, the company had seven employees. The sale of EJOT building products followed. The number of employees increased continuously – there are currently 65 at the Voitsberg site. Since 2000, EJOT Austria has established branch offices across Southeastern Europe: Croatia (2001), Serbia (2003), Hungary (2003), Bosnia (2007) and Italy (2010). A total of 144 employees work in the region. Jürgen Hauer sees the motivation and freedom of the employees as the key to this strong growth: “Everyone should be allowed to demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills,” says Jürgen Hauer. Workers shouldn’t simply receive orders and act according to rigid specifications, but should be allowed to use the freedom to help shape success and failure in equal measure.

After 30 years at EJOT, the mountain bike tours organised by Christian Kocherscheidt across the Alps and the fantastic bike tours in Mallorca organised by Wolfgang Bach are still fresh in the memory. “Those were great experiences.” The visits to the foreign companies also remain firmly in Jürgen Hauer’s memory. Getting to know the country, its people and their cuisine: “That has enriched my life a lot.”

Is EJOT still a family business? “Yes”, says Jürgen Hauer. Of course, the larger a company gets, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the family character the way it used to be. But the feeling of working in a family business has remained to this day. “The owners look after their EJOT family in an exemplary manner and are interested in the people who work there.” E

2013

EJOCLEAN clean room Bad Berleburg. The orders for goods packed according to special requirements become more extensive. For this purpose, a two-part space is set up. One area is used for packing of finely cleaned goods (ISO class 8), the other area is a clean room for secondary packaging (ISO class 9 ).

2013

EJOT supplies over 10,000 sandwich screws for state of the art distribution centre in Erlensee near Frankfurt. The cladding is made with a high-quality sandwich panel facade system with 200 millimeters of insulation thickness. More than 10,000 EJOT stainless steel screws are used to fix the facade.

2013

In 2013 the EJOWELD® strategy project became a separate business unit. With this step EJOT is now on the path from fastening element manufacturer to system supplier of friction welding equipment. The first plant delivered is used in the production of the Audi Q7.

2013

Opening of the Automotive Center Südwestfalen GmbH. This represents an important step towards networking the local automotive supplier industry, the university of Siegen and the technical university Südwestfalen. The research facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for the study and further development of lightweight automotive construction.