Within the last decades Tettnang has developed into a center for electronic engineering within the eastern region of Lake Constance. About 2,000 people are currently employed in this field. One of the most successful companies in the field of electronic engineering is the company wenglor sensoric. Dieter Baur, the founder and managing director of wenglor, tells us about the secret of his success.
Mr. Baur, in the 80´s you found a market niche in the area of photoelectronic sensors. Now, what exactly are photoelectronic sensors?
Photoeletronic sensors are devices which can identify objects via light beams and can then trigger steering, switching and regulating modes of operation. Nowadays, in our highly automated Industries, we can´t do without them anymore. When we began our work in 1983, such sensors already existed, but our goal was to develop new technologies and functional principles in this area in order to extend the performance and the application range of those sensors. For example we have developed sensors which can precisely measure distances through the integration of laser technology. Later we incorporated security technology for personal security into our program and in 2005 we took on the field of industrial image processing.
Your company has been constantly expanding, and in many companies this also means a relocation of the company headquarters. Have you ever asked yourself if you should leave the Lake Constance region?
When you live in a place and already feel comfortable there, you obviously try to stay in those surroundings. Despite some initial resistance we were able to acquire our present company premises in 1989. In addition you can only build up a successful company together with committed employees. We have found those committed employees in Tettnang without a problem. The employees are the most important asset for wenglor, since only through motivated and satisfied employees we can work and grow innovatively, flexibly and internationally.
Many companies in the region complain about a shortage of skilled workers. How do you handle this challenge?
When you constantly achieve double digit growth and furthermore are based in a region, in which unemployment is not an issue, it can be difficult from time to time to recruit new employees. That is the reason why wenglor has been attaching great importance to its own vocational training from the start - about 50% of our employees have gone through our own vocational training.
Is it a problem for you to attract employees from other regions to the more rural area around Lake Constance?
Of course you often hear that well-trained specialists prefer metropolitan regions like Munich or Stuttgart. On the other hand there are also people who contrarily want to get away from the big city and move to provincial areas. At the moment I rather get the impression, that many people are fleeing from the big cities. Also the recreational value is gaining more and more importance and the recreational value around here naturally is very high.
Many companies have been hit hard by the crisis last year. How has wenglor coped with the crisis and how do you assess the prospects for the coming years?
We have felt the crisis since we manufacture products for the capital goods industry, and there especially for machinery and plant engineering. Of course these industries have been suffering from the crisis during the last two years and therefore we have been affected as well. With regards to the future I am an optimist and I think that with creativity and brain power and ever-new ideas we will be able to launch new products for years to come, which will sell well worldwide. I am against criticizing everything - when you are an entrepreneur, you have to DO something if things aren´t the way you want them to be. This is the only way you can change something or you will have to come to terms with the situation. There is no way in between.