SiLibeads - In
Transcription
SiLibeads - In
English 18 5 4 2004 SiLibeads SiLiglit ® ® TRADITION I N N O VAT I O N SY M PAT H Y COMPETENCE RELIABILITY TEAM QUALIT Y One must use past experience, to make the best decision in the present. And be awake, go forwards and develop, thinking ahead and follow one's intuition. Then things will move in the way that's best and success can't fail. PROVEN SUCCESSFUL FOR GENERATIONS In the year 1854 SiLi was founded by Sigmund Lindner. Today we are a family business of the 5th generation and one of the most important manufacturers and suppliers of Technical Glass and Ceramic Beads as well as Decorative Glitter – worldwide. 150 years of experience and constant innovation enable us to guarantee the highest possible benefit and the best available quality for our customers, now and in the future. NO STAGNATION IN SIGHT Our highly specialized products are known as SiLibeads and SiLiglit. They have been manufactured according to a locally developed process at the company base in Warmensteinach in Bavaria, Germany. Various manufacturing technologies are applied in the complex production processes. Both the processes and the applied technologies are continually analysed, optimised and modernised by our R&D team. We have enlarged our industrial capacities progressively. Moreover, new business fields arise in the course of the renewal processes. The development of Ceramic Grinding Beads and the manufacturing of Type I Glass Beads for the medical field was realized with the most modern plant- and laboratory technology. INNOVATION OF THE TOP The enterprise is owned by the family Trassl and is managed in the spirit of the family tradition by the two Managing Directors Stefan and Rolf Trassl. The wide product range of SiLi GmbH is well-positioned in the market. A comfortable position, providing security for our customers and employees. We build on our experience. In all areas of the enterprise we act with anticipation of the future, adapting fast and flexibly to short-term changes. It is our aspiration to always remain up-to-date, improving in the process. Our innovative management aims for these targets on all company levels. PREFACE 5 Stefan Trassl, Managing Director STEADY DEVELOPMENT IN CHANGING TIMES LATEST TECHNOLOGY PRECISION AND PURITY The product development as well as the implementation of customer demands is carried out by our R&D department. Other than that we maintain close contacts with universities and International partners. A local production plant for SiLibeads of Type ZY was built in 2002. The latest manufacturing technologies installed enable us to produce Ceramic Grinding Beads for the paint- and varnish industry as well as for the pharmaceutical-, pest control- and ceramic industries. SiLibeads of Type P fulfill the quality demands of the pharmaceutical industry, being of the highest quality and purity grade. A special grinding process guarantees absolute precision at production. 7 ENTERPRISE HEAT MOLDING DURABILITY WITH EFFECT SECURE WAREHOUSING SiLibeads Glass Beads Type S, SL and H are produced according to a locally developed heat molding process - in a revolving furnace. This production process saves energy and ensures the highest quality of rounding. We manufacture SiLiglit Decorative Glitter applying the traditional metallization process. The surface coating by sol-gel-process guarantees extreme durability. A production and storage area of approximately 7000 square meters secures a smooth and punctual handling of all orders. The latest storage and packing technologies protect the goods, thus making sure the products stay undamaged and flawless - starting at production right down to delivery to the customer. Europe Rochdale North America Paris SUBSIDIARY COMPANY Milan Africa Middle America South America WORLDWIDE AVAILABILITY FAR AWAY, YET CLOSE SiLi products are at home everywhere. A worldwide export network in over 80 countries and with our own sales offices in England, Italy, France and Moscow as well as a subsidiary firm in the USA, show the steady expansion of our international presence. The customer is the central point of our business. Modern communication closely connects the continents today. Nevertheless it can never replace direct contacts between people. We seek personal closeness with our customers. We pursue this expansive course consistently on all continents. As a global player in the niche market for Technical Glass and Ceramic Beads as well as for Decorative Glitter, our main aim is to be as close to the customer as possible. Russia Moscow As a global player in a niche market we are available to our customers, Asia all over the world thus creating local nearness and optimal support for WORLDWIDE 9 all people working with us. Australia GROWING WITH THE CUSTOMERS Our customers have an immediate influence on our business goals. By our efforts to take their requirements, needs and wishes into account, in the context of their culture and mentality, our partnership becomes a creative process. Our product developments increase and our confidence grows, developing from the dialogue with our customers. They are the center of our attention and they give us the impulses which are necessary for permanent growth. Our customers are our compass, they show us the direction in a constant development process. THE OPTIMUM CHOICE AT THE BEST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS Our international presence has another positive effect: the purchasing of raw materials. We buy on the basis of three factors: quality, availability and price. Knowing the sources gives us the possibility to make the best choice globally. The result suits our aim, our customers get the optimum product at the best possible conditions. People first – the suppliers, the customers, the employees. Then follow the products and the processes. Without people everything is nothing. STRATEGY OF PARTNERSHIP The high tech production methods which we employ for our business partners are yet exceeded by our employees. Their commitment reveals our partnership strategy. It is based on quality and individual, personal customer service. SUCCESS THROUGH SATISFACTION The satisfaction of the employees contributes considerably to our competitive edge. We employ our people on a long-term basis and do our best to support them fully. Employee satisfaction polls and bonus systems motivate our team to contribute to further development. The applied quality orientation, comprehensive know-how and high social competence of all employees are integral parts of our company policy. We are people working on products for people. THE LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD UNDER ONE ROOF Our international staff supplies perfect support for our customers all over the world. Next to their technical competence their knowledge of languages makes international customer service run smoothly, on top of that creating a pleasant international working atmosphere in our company. INTERPLAY OF FORCES IN CHANGING TIMES Both our employees and our customers act their weekly scene in their individual companies. The best part of their time is spent there. We think it important that this shared time is based on common ground. The teamwork of the employees with one another and in their contacts with our customers must be characterized by human kindness and the desire to continue developing themselves to encounter the changing times with awareness and flexibility. Life means movement. An enterprise is alive. It develops by growing together with its employees and customers, set on their common objectives. PEOPLE 11 Perfect all around... SiLibeads ® Glass Beads for technical applications Type S Type SL Type H Type P TRADITION AND STATE-OFTHE-ART PRODUCTION SiLi has been developing Technical Glass Beads for decades. We have always been rightly able to say that our production is according to modern technologies. Of course, our products are produced with the latest machine technology for various application areas today. We always try to ensure state-of-the-art technology, by our own in-house R&D and by steady observation of worldwide technologies. VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS SiLibeads are used in various industries and application areas: Glass Grinding Beads are used in the paint and varnish industry in their bead mills in the chemical industry. There is hardly a limit to their applications. Note the application for the retroflective beads for road markings to increase night visibility. The pharmaceutical industry uses Precision Glass Beads, the food industry needs ball caps and in applied technical engineering beads are used as bearings and valves. The range can yet be much enlarged. ADJUSTABLE FORM AND MATERIAL We meet the demand for this variety of applications. The steady optimisation and the expansion of our production processes consolidate our lead permanently. Today, three different design processes and many different glass types are at our disposal, a variety which makes us unique amongst our competitors. A COMPLETE PROGRAM Many industries profit from the wide range of our high tech production possibilities. We serve this broad “gamut“ with our technologies and materials and consider ourselves full-range suppliers of Technical Glass Beads, especially aimed to fulfill specific customers’ wishes. SILIBEADS 13 Type M Small beads, great effect ... SiLibeads ® Ceramic Beads for technical applications Type ZY STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY FOR BEST POSSIBLE QUALITY After a long period of development, starting in 2002 we have been producing Ceramic Beads made of Zirconia Oxide. By this investment in a manufacturing method of our own, a completely new production line was generated. It is based on self-developed plant- and process technology, which secures the high quality standard of the SiLibeads. HIGH-TECH CERAMICS IN SMALLEST SIZES With the Ceramic Beads made of Zirconia Oxide we offer our customers a high-quality, highly-efficient product for grinding, meeting the current demands of the grinding technology market as to micro particle sizes down to nano-sizes. VERSATILITY IN ITS APPLICATION SiLibeads Ceramic Beads come as Grinding Beads for use in the paint and varnish industry. Furthermore they are applied in the ceramic, pest control, cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry. OPTIMISATION BY ADVISING We do not leave our customers on their own when using SiLibeads. Besides offering sales services we offer local technical advice to integrate the Ceramic Beads into the grinding process in the best possible way, determining the optimal application criteria on-site. Thus we guarantee application of a high-quality product, achieving a maximum cost-benefit ratio, the best possible quality at the best available terms. SILIBEADS 15 Type Z Shine, glitter, glamour ... SiLiglit Decorative Glitter ® Polyester Glitter Aluminium Glitter Iris Glitter / Hologram Glitter Deco Polyester Glitter Glass Glitter / Glass Nuggets / Deco Beads SILIGLIT – A SPARKLING BRAND The brand SiLiglit is another division in our enterprise, besides SiLibeads. Our Decorative Glitter Products are sold under the brand name SiLiglit. Decades of experience have established us as one of the most important supplier in Europe, with our SiLiglit products. WIDE FIELD OF APPLICATIONS SiLi Decorative Glitter accentuates effectively and serves a very wide application range. From glittering Christmas balls, coating of wallpapers to fashion cosmetics: SiLi Decorative Glitter finds many applications. A KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOURS AND MATERIALS The base materials of Decorative Glitter are as diverse as the scope of applications for SiLiglit. There is Polyester (PET) Glitter with Iridescent and Holographic effects, Aluminium Glitter with epoxy and polyurethane coating and SiLiglit made of glass in innumerable particle sizes. In turn these materials are available in most diverse forms, colours and qualities. A range as colourful as the medium itself. LASTING GLITTER Besides the variety of forms and applications SiLi Decorative Glitter also stands for high quality. The products impress with their high chemical, mechanical and thermal resistance. FULFILLING WISHES At present, we run the largest stock of decorative glitter in Europe. For our customers this means that we serve them fast and can supply them with many of the products they enquire about. We guarantee the prompt handling of enquiries and quick execution of orders. SILIGLIT 17 Glitter Shapes QUALITY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL INDUSTRIES WHICH TRUST US The quality of our product ranges SiLibeads and SiLiglit is of the highest level. By the certification of our quality management according to DIN ISO 9001:1994 in 1996 this claim was also honored publicly for the first time and consequently officially recognized. Today we work according to the process-oriented ISO standard 9001:2000. By our high quality demand we have become a partner to industries that demand the highest standards. We are a supplier to the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industry and supply them with a perfect product, guaranteed. SAFETY BY CONTROL Our products are subjected to highest safety and quality controls. SiLibeads Type P from Type I glass are produced up to a clean room standard 10,000. On request the balls are subjected to a 100% inspection with regard to diameter and surface quality. Microbiological cleaning of our products for the food industry goes without saying. We manufacture according to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) for the pharmaceutical industry and medical engineering. CLAIM TO PERFECTION To be able to guarantee this, all products are tested according to the customers’ demands and our own testing methods. A completely equipped modern laboratory and up-to-date testing technology is at our employees' disposal. Our endeavour is perfection of the highest level, thereby daily proving our customers’ confidence justified. 19 QUALIT Y Quality isn’t simply meeting a certain standard, but rather: making improvements continually in a lively and dynamic process. Dr. W. Edwards Deming MANAGEMENT SERVICE ISO 9001 Two things are imperative in our line of work: untiring stamina and the readiness to, after having devoted much time and work into something, throw it away again. Albert Einstein THE LATEST INNOVATIONS We pursue continuous development in all parts of our enterprise. Besides continual innovation of the product and production area, we are always seeking to improve the company and personnel management, the quality management, process control as well as marketing and sales. We interpret development in this comprehensive sense . The results of our commitment are mainly tangible in the product area. The development of high performance Grinding Beads made of Zirconium Oxide and AluminiumBorosilicate-Glass is still fresh. And recently some new coating techniques for Decorative Glitter have enabled production of still more applications for our customers, even for critical applications at the highest demands. DEVELOPMENT WITH PARTNERSHIPS LIFE AS A MOVEMENT We maintain an in-house research and development team which works on new developments and cares for the permanent optimisation of our processes. Besides this we also employ and maintain project teams in cooperation with universities and external research institutes. All these teams enable the steady progress in the product development and process optimisation. One can compare an enterprise with a living organism. It must never stop growing, developing, learning. In this metaphorical sense we see ourselves as an organic structure, steadily making progress in all its areas – for our own contentment, but especially for the lasting contentment of our customer. DEVELOPMENT 21 PERMANENTLY AND COMPLETELY INNOVATIVE Central Premises around year 1956 1887 1854 Glass Bead Manufacturer around 1860 Staff around 1925 THE BEADS MAKERS OF WARMENSTEINACH THE 150-YEAR-OLD SUCCESS STORY OF SILI SIGMUND LINDNER A SMALL SUCCESS STORY The company history is closely connected to the history of the families Lindner and Trassl. The brewer’s son Sigmund Lindner (1828 - 1883) from the Fichtelgebirge married into the Steiniger’sche estates in Warmensteinach in June 1850, which included a brewery, the inn „At the Golden Lion“ as well as extensive farming estates. The enterprising young man soon got caught by the beads boom in his new place of residence. After first participating in a small furnace, he built his own bead furnace in 1853. That was the founding of this traditional Sigmund Lindner company and the start of an uninterrupted history of business success to date. Now, 150 years later, SiLi is managed by Sigmund Lindner’s great-grandsons Stefan and Rolf Trassl, who have made the company fit for tough competition by their targeted innovations. HISTORY This year in spring, SiLi looks back at its 150-year company history. Memories of the Warmensteinach beads- and diamantine production come to mind. The history of beads production in the Fichtelgebirge reaches back far into the Middle Ages but it came to full bloom only around the middle of the 19th century, at the time of Sigmund Lindner’s company founding. Local glass bead production was a lucrative business in these days through its worldwide connections. People worked round-the-clock in modest, airy wooden huts where, as a rule, 14 workers each, in twelve-hour shifts, took turns at the large melting furnaces. 23 BY BERND MAYER 1925 1920 Glass Diamantine (Glass Glitter) Blower around 1920 Boiler men and Smelting men at a woodfired furnace around 1925 Gerda Trassl General Manager during World War II A HARD TIME AND A HOT ONE BEADS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD There is a world of difference between today's ultra-modern production center and the old beads furnaces of the 19th and early 20th century. In those days the workers sat with small melting pots before the open powerful furnace made of stone and loam. Each of them handled two iron spindles which were dipped alternately into the soft, fiery, molten glass in the furnace to turn beads of various forms. According to the descriptions of the historian Harald Herrmann of Warmensteinach this manner of production was hard and strenuous. Already at that time beads went from Warmensteinach, from Sigmund Lindner all over the world: to Russia and England to the Pacific Ocean and to South America but also to Zanzibar, Calcutta and Bombay. The reason for this was that glass beads already had many versatile uses. Mainly necklaces and bracelets were manufactured from Warmensteinach beads. Furthermore they were used as ornaments on textiles, such as on camel and horse blankets. Also religious symbols, primarily rosaries, were made from these beads. Glass Bead Manufacturer around 1930 Toward the end of the 19th century Sigmund Lindner’s descendants, son-in-law Alfons Trassl and grandson Hans Trassl started the additional specialization in the production of glass diamantine, also called glass glitter. The product range was gradually enlarged in the course of time. Today SiLi also supplies polyester and aluminium glitter. 1960 1955 Heinz Trassl - general manager and share holder from 1970 to 1999 in front of the first company owned car (1960) 25 The Trassl Family - 4 Generations in one picture from the right side: Hans Trassl - owner of the company from 1934 to 1970; Alfons Trassl - owner from 1892 to 1934; Rolf Trassl - share holder since 1993; Arno Trassl - share holder from 1970 to 1993 Glass Producer in the Fichtelgebirge with wooden stock around 1900 A COMPANY ON THREE PILLARS The company Sigmund Lindner was the lone surviving bead manufacturer of this fatal crisis in Warmensteinach - thanks to a flexible company strategy. After all, there were three very different enterprises under the company umbrella, besides the beads and glass-diamantine furnace there still was the brewery Trassl with the traditional inn „At the Golden Lion“ (burned down on January 17th, 1999) as well as a farm with cattle (until 1958). The oxen of this farm transported Trassl's beer barrels for quite a while until the first company car - a Hanomag - was put to use in the beginning of the sixties. HISTORY The summit of bead production had long been passed at this time and the following decades saw the further decline of this economic sector which had provided so many people in the Fichtelgebirge with a livelihood. This process was triggered by a number of unfavourable factors such as by the growing competition from machinemade beads but also by the loss of the German Colonies, where beads had been a very popular merchandise. The effects on the local labour market were devastating: The rate of unemployment in Warmensteinach reached a sad peak of eighty percent in 1932. Flexibility was preprogrammed in the family Trassl, all family- and company members could make themselves useful, whether at bottling, haymaking or by helping out in the beads factory. The company even ran its own forge for a while. FROM SKYSCRAPER TO BEADS NECKLACE The company also produced glass buttons. Meanwhile, the afore-mentioned glass Aerial Photograph around 1970 1972 1965 Glass Bead Production at woodfired furnace year 1954 Staff member with pearl making tool diamantine was to become particularly important. These Sigmund Lindner product became a selling hit in the form of glass sequins primarily in the thirties. There were many applications for the glass diamantine covered with genuine silver, whether as Christmas tree decoration, for use in crafts or as shop window decoration. Furthermore, glitter had become an export success: the shine of glitter was in demand for the façade of skyscrapers as much as for female cosmetics. Thus Warmensteinach made its contribution to the shine of the International World of Glitter of this modern age. Heinz Trassl, the father of today’s head of company, reports that in those days glass glitter was shipped from Warmensteinach to New York by ship containers as raw material, where it was then used in the exterior render of the New York skyline. The Company Sigmund Lindner adhered to pearl production for more than one hundred years. As the last beads factory in the Fichtelgebirge it still produced beads in all sizes for a long time after the second World War. An employee could produce up to 15 000 pearls in one shift with incredible dexterity. The demand was still huge in the sixties at times as Heinz Trassl recalls. “The market situation was just great – people simply tore them from our hands.“ On the other hand it got ever more difficult to gain young qualified employees for production. The break came in the seventies when the first bead mills for pulverizing paint pigments entered the market. The fashion beads stopped being in the String of Pearls produced by homeworkers around year 1950 2004 2001 1987 Central Premises year 2001 focus of SiLi’s commercial attention. The main business now shifted to the small grinding beads of 0.4 mm diameter and upwards, which have since been shipped from Warmensteinach to all over the world. The retroflective beads for road marking and for road signs already were a SiLi product at that time. The technology in our production plants has been systematically and consistently modernized over the decades. An outstanding step forward was the development of the rotary furnace for production of industrial glass beads. The company of craftsmen has developed into a highly modern and innovative industrial plant in just the last 30 years. Our company employs approximately 70 employees today, a number of those representing us in our worldwide sales offices. After having disposed off the beer brand Trassl and the complete machinery and equipment of the Trassl brewery in the years 2002 - 2003, the enterprise now concentrates fully on the business of Sigmund Lindner GmbH. Having started the production of ceramic Beads in 2002 will mean another important milestone in our company history. Much has changed. The enterprise stands on a solid foundation today. This is a good basis, motivating us to continue combining our innovative energies and flexibility with the traditionally lively spirit of the enterprise. Text: Frank Fingerhut, Bernd Mayer, Stefan Trassl · Photographs: Thomas Köhler · Concept and Design: GMK Werbeagentur · Print: Ellwanger Bayreuth · Date of issue: May 2004 HISTORY 27 Central Premises year 1987 www.gmk.de SIGMUND LINDNER GmbH Oberwarmensteinacher Strasse 38 • D-95485 Warmensteinach/Germany Phone (++49) 92 77 - 9 94 10 • Fax (++49) 92 77 - 9 94 99 E-Mail: [email protected] • www.sigmund-lindner.com