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Jubilee celebration 2019

GEDIA engineering divisions handle a record high volume of new technology projects.
Lightweight body constructions and new drive concepts are main drivers.

On November 22nd traditionally the honour of the GEDIA jubilees 2019 took place at the castle Schnellenberg. This year they celebrated 22 jubilees. Four further employees were sent into their well-deserved retirement.

Jürgen Hillesheim, representative of the shareholders, and the managing directors Helmut Hinkel and Markus Schaumburg seized the opportunity to explain the current development of the GEDIA Group.

With around 4,300 employees and an expected total turnover of 655 million Euro, GEDIA will reach the turnover level of the previous year again despite the worldwide economic slowdown in the automotive industry. The headquarter plant in Attendorn contributes significantly with a turnover share of 186 million Euro.

Even though the automotive industry is currently taking a breather after many years of steady growth, our large Attendorn technology areas as development/construction, project management, tool and prototype construction are currently more than well utilized as a record volume of new customer projects has been acquired. This additional turnover will contribute to a solid utilization of the production plants in Germany and abroad in the upcoming years.

The strategy of having invested early in new technologies for body lightweight construction is paying off. Not only investments in machines and systems but above all in highly qualified and experienced employees who, together with the major car manufacturers, are in a position to advance product developments and process innovations in order to make tomorrow’s cars lighter and especially crash safer.

The newly constructed GEDIA production plant at Askay II in Ennest (Germany) is an example of the enormous technological change in the automotive industry.

The high-performance blanking line which is set up there will soon start the series production. The installation of the world’s first highly innovative TemperBox® hotforming system is also well advanced and commissioning is planned before Christmas.

Due to the extensive plant investments, the weak demand in some production areas due to the economic situation was well compensated by transferring existing personnel to the new plant.

Because of the numerous political uncertainties in the world, GEDIA remains cautiously optimistic for the upcoming year. Thus, a further increase of employment is planned in Attendorn.

This makes GEDIA one of the largest employers in the domestic region. Actually there are about 950 employees in Attendorn. The number of trainees remains at a high level of 69 and the number of dual students has even risen to 11.

The significant increase in personnel and extensive investments in the plant in Attendorn as well as the high pay rises in recent years have led to an additional cost burden overall. This is why it is particularly important to use creativity and ingenuity on a daily basis to ensure that the company’s organisation and processes are a little better and thus fitter for the future.

In addition to the necessity of critically questioning oneself, we also have to be well prepared to always have a sufficiently high number of qualified specialists and managers in times of the progressive ageing of society.

The visionary development of junior staff shows that GEDIA has recognized the signs of the times. One should expect the same from politics. Unfortunately, a comprehensive industry-friendly immigration law for Germany is still awaited.

In the future it will be a major challenge for GEDIA but also for any other company to recruit qualified, team-oriented and cosmopolitan employees in sufficient numbers to retain them long-term.

The high number of 22 jubilees makes it more than clear that GEDIA succeeded in doing this quite well. In total, there are already 153 employees who have been working in Attendorn for more than 25 years and stand for the success of the family business GEDIA.

In this sense, we thank the jubilees and retirees on behalf of the entire GEDIA team for their many years of loyalty and personal achievements. 

 

Jubilees 2019

25 years

Stefan Bock

Diethelm Cramer

Ralf Waschkewitz

Zdenka Hübel

Andreas Kukuk

Carsten Wurm

Matthias Gabriel

Guido Mennekes

Matthias Kremer

Peter Pütthoff

Jürgen Schiemann

 

35 years

Ahmet Topaloglu

Dündar Caliskan

Mario Damm

Hans-Peter Witte

Frank Hoffmann

 Bertholt Zeppenfeld

Winfried Freitag

Thomas Herberholt

 

45 years

Domenica Vazzano

Ludwig Rotthoff

Hubert-Peter Steinberg

 

Retirees

Ulrike Hütte

Monika Mertens

Uwe Woitha

Gerda Struwe