In keeping with tradition, machine manufacturer Klingelnberg has in 2023 once again honored its long-standing employees with an anniversary celebration. This year’s honorees included four colleagues celebrating 40 years with the company and 22 employees looking back on 25 years of service. Three employees are even marking a full 50 years of service. The corresponding celebrations are planned for early summer 2024.
“An anniversary is always something special. Not only in one’s personal life, but also in our company. Especially when employees look back on a quarter century or even half a century of their working life at Klingelnberg, it is an occasion for us to celebrate these anniversaries in a fitting manner. Every year, we are delighted with the extent to which our employees identify with the company,” said CFO Christoph Küster. Klingelnberg congratulated colleagues Rainer Tietze, Cornelia Päper, and Klaus Höller on their 50th anniversary with the company.
Rainer Tietze – Mechanical engineering service technician
Rainer Tietze began his training as a toolmaker in 1973 in the measuring instrument and mechanical engineering sector. Originally, he wanted to train as an electrician. However, because all the electrician training positions at Klingelnberg were filled at the time, he quickly decided to switch. “The Klingelnberg company had an excellent reputation for vocational training. So it was very important to me to get an apprenticeship there. That’s why I became a toolmaker instead of an electrician. Klingelnberg also had a high level of commitment toward its trainees. As long as you weren’t too bad at it, you were guaranteed a permanent position,” Tietze recounted. After completing his apprenticeship, Tietze initially worked as a machine fitter in mechanical engineering, and after his military service he was employed in the field as a service technician. “In the field, I had the opportunity to continuously develop my skills. In addition to looking after a large number of different machine types, I also helped with many software developments as a user. My tasks also included supporting the construction of various special machines and the creation of user manuals,” said Tietze, recalling his professional life. Most recently, in addition to his service role, Tietze was responsible for the development and sales activities of retrofit kits for old machine models.
Rainer Tietze considers the introduction of the phone to be the biggest change in his fifty-year career at Klingelnberg. “During my four-week trips to places such as China and Russia in the early eighties and nineties, I was often only able to speak to my family on the phone after making an appointment two days in advance. Nowadays, with cell phones in everyone’s pocket, this is unimaginable. When it came to technical problems on site, you were also on your own at first, as it was not yet possible to quickly call a colleague for advice. Unlike in the past, we can now connect to the machines via remote maintenance,” continued Tietze.
“The belief that working at Klingelnberg is something special was instilled in me during my apprenticeship. Klingelnberg has always been a family business for me, as several generations of employee families work there. We all quickly grew to understand that if Klingelnberg was doing well, then we were doing well too. I would particularly like to acknowledge that I have always received my salary on time during my fifty years with the company. So I was always prepared to do my bit at any time,” said Tietze, summing up his 50 years with Klingelnberg.
Cornelia Päper – Tools product management
Cornelia Päper completed her training as a technical draftswoman from mid-1973 to early 1977. She became aware of Klingelnberg at the time because the company was the only employer in Hückeswagen to offer technical training for girls. “A careers advisor from the employment office visited us in the final year of secondary school,” recalled Päper. “As was common back then, girls were generally only considered for commercial professions; women in technical fields were still rare. It was the training manager at Klingelnberg at the time who first introduced me to the vocational training program for technical draftswomen. And since Klingelnberg was also known for its excellent training, I quickly made the decision to join the company,” said Päper.
From the end of her apprenticeship in 1976 until 1994, she worked in the testing department, and from 1994 until 2003 as a technical employee in technical sales. “It was a very exciting time in the testing department back then. Not only were tests being carried out on newly developed machine prototypes, but gear cutting tools were also being developed and designed. So I was able to make my contribution to many drawings of cutter heads and stick blades,” Päper added.
From 2003 until her retirement in 2023, she was responsible for tools as a product manager. Her tasks included computations, calculations, preparing technical quotations, technical customer consultations, and the preparation of series planning, monthly reports, presentations, and price lists. “I am particularly proud of having created the tool catalog for the entire product range of gear cutting tools. At my suggestion, this catalog was compiled and published for the first time around ten years ago using all the data I had collected,” recalled Päper. “I have always identified with the company and my knowledge has always been recognized. Last but not least, I was very grateful to work for a global market leader,” she said, summing up her 50 years with the company.
Klaus Höller – NC programming
In 1973, Klaus Höller began his training as an operator of universal milling cutters, which he successfully completed after three and a half years at Klingelnberg. He has been an NC programmer since 2000. He came to Klingelnberg thanks to his aunt, who lived in Hückeswagen and encouraged him to start an apprenticeship at Klingelnberg. His father had originally planned an apprenticeship with a local electrician for him, but the position had already been filled.
“In retrospect, training at Klingelnberg was the best decision I ever made. For me, it was always special to have a secure job where I could continue to develop. I found the shift from hand-operated to computer-controlled machine tools particularly exciting. Despite various crises, my salary was always in my account on time. For this, I would like to say thank you once again,” said Höller, summing up his fiftieth anniversary.
