"An Exciting Process of Constant Adaptation to New Things"
Interview with Clas-Ole Widderich, Managing Director of H & H Maschinenbau GmbH
For nearly 60 years, H & H Maschinenbau GmbH in Porta Westfalica, Eastern Westphalia, has been ensuring with its products that what belongs together comes together: The company develops and produces customized adhesive application and coating machines for customers from numerous industries. In a conversation with Wirtschaftsforum, Managing Director Clas-Ole Widderich reveals why product innovations from customers are so exciting for his company and why he focuses on growth with a sense of proportion.
H & H operates its products in an environment dominated by change and innovation. "We cannot simply build a machine 'just like that', off the shelf," explains Managing Director Clas-Ole Widderich. "For us, innovations and changes in the sectors where our customers operate are very interesting, because they also demand that we adapt our products. It is a process of constant innovation on all sides."
Customers come from various industrial sectors: electronics, automotive, solar, wind power, winter sports, foams, insulation – "all sectors in which a lot is changing right now. It's about any material that can be glued, there are virtually no limits," the managing director clarifies.
But precisely because there are so many areas, it is also never clear from the beginning whether a specific process can be portrayed as the customer wishes. "We have our own technical center, in which we demonstrate each process beforehand. Only then do we see if we can implement the whole thing at all, and only then does the customer decide whether they want to work with us," explains Clas-Ole Widderich the procedure.
Success Through Collaboration
Since the machines must be designed to meet customer-specific requirements, they are the result of close collaboration between H & H and its customers. The managing director sees this as a key factor for success: "We always try to find the right solution together with the customer. Of course, we also want the customer to be able to handle the machine well. That means we train the employees on the machines. This gives us feedback that enables us to identify and solve problems."
Well-Considered Growth
For the coming years, Clas-Ole Widderich aims for further growth at H & H. "We want to expand not only physically but also in our team," he says. "However, gradually and with oversight, because every growth brings changes that we must also adapt our processes to. Since we already make many changes product-wise by adapting to new products, we must approach this process carefully. We do what we do very well. And that has always been our philosophy."