The OPHARDT production site in Issum sets standards throughout the industry. The success factors include state-of-the-art systems and machines for stainless steel processing, good team chemistry and the special touch of ‘tinkerer’ spirit, which Hermann Ophardt has already firmly rooted in the company. Production Manager Jakob Koch took us on an exciting journey from the coil to the finished hygiene dispenser.
‘The centrepiece of production at OPHARDT is definitely the DIMECO system introduced in 2018,’ emphasises Jakob in an interview with the editorial team. From here, the stainless steel material, which runs from a large coil weighing four to five tonnes through the system and is processed, is transferred to the other machines in the factory halls for the next production processes. ‘The DIMECO is a kind of combination that allows us to punch, emboss and laser on a single system,’ explains Jakob, using the back panel of a SanTRAL® Plus paper towel dispenser as an example of the versatility and precision of the DIMECO.
The material undergoes further production steps before it becomes a finished hygiene dispenser ‘Made in Germany’. These include welding, bending, grinding and powder coating for dispenser systems in a different colour. For Jakob, ‘the ideally coordinated interplay of manual and automated processes’ is another important success factor for dispenser production in Issum, which, according to the Issum resident, requires ‘high precision and discipline’ in every single step.
Jakob, who is also responsible for the production staff and conducts interviews with potential employees, emphasises the importance of working for OPHARDT. ‘Every single part is manufactured here with love,’ is a guiding principle he emphasises time and again during job interviews.
People, tradition and the special OPHARDT spirit.
‘The basis for the success of the production site in Issum is simply the people,’ emphasises Jakob during our two-hour tour, during which we repeatedly look into smiling and cheerful faces and notice that everyone puts their heart and soul into their work. In this context, he adds that the company mission ‘Break the Chain of Infection is really lived’ and that every single employee is ‘aware of their responsibility and there is a high level of quality awareness’.
Like a common thread that runs through the entire OPHARDT Group, the close integration of different departments also plays an important role in the success of the organisation in Issum. ‘Everything is under one roof here: production, quality management, design, research and development,’ emphasises Jakob, who appreciates the short distances between the specialist departments. Physical proximity is one thing. The other is the team chemistry and composition in the teams, which the Production Manager appreciates: ‘In the individual specialist departments, we often have a combination of experienced people, some of whom have been with the company for over 30 years, and young specialists who are just 30 years old but make a big difference with their fresh ideas. That’s a great structure.’
With over 60 years of history, the OPHARDT company site in Issum is the oldest of all seven plants worldwide and the home of the SanTRAL® brand. The inventive spirit of Hermann Ophardt, who developed and manufactured the first ingo-man® hygiene dispenser in his garage in the 1960s, still permeates the company today – we can feel this in many places during the conversation and during the tour of the production facility. Jakob also describes this in our conversation: ‘During the production tours with our customers, it’s not the fully automated systems that impress our visitors the most – it’s actually the precise hand movements of our employees.’
It is the unique symbiosis of craftsmanship, tradition and modernity that characterises the success of the stainless steel hygiene dispensers from Issum.
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