Müller: Mr. Kappler, what made you decide to apply for a job at KOCH?

Kappler: Actu­ally, a minor detour was involved. One of my fellow students wrote his thesis while employed by KOCH. He recom­mended the company and orga­nized an appoint­ment for me. I received an accep­tance within a day – in addi­tion to a second one from another company. I decided in favor of the other job as the company was better known. KOCH was still a genuine insider tip. However, after having made the deci­sion, Dieter Koch called me and said: “Mr. Kappler, should you ever have any regrets, get in touch.” When I saw a job vacancy at KOCH for an engi­neering manager a few years later, the time was ripe to accept this offer – even though I was given an earful along the lines of “We told you so”. I have been with KOCH ever since and sensed the great faith placed in me from the start. I have never regretted this deci­sion. What about you? What led you to start an appren­tice­ship at KOCH?

Müller: I often drove past KOCH and when I finished school I looked more closely into what actu­ally takes place behind the familiar walls. I had resolved to opt for an employer of manage­able size in order to be able to get to know all areas and as many employees as possible within a short time. I did not just want to be a number in a large corpo­ra­tion. That was a deci­sive factor for me. Everyone I had spoken to about KOCH was posi­tive. I wanted to discover whether the company has the same posi­tive impact on me and makes me feel welcome.

Kappler: What is impor­tant these days to young people like you regarding your employer?

Müller: I think that varies greatly. The personal inter­ac­tion between colleagues is very impor­tant in my opinion – not only the exchange between young colleagues, but also the sharing of knowl­edge with more expe­ri­enced employees. A newcomer then has a clearer view at the begin­ning regarding whom they can approach and does not feel left alone. How was your start? Do you recall your first day at KOCH?

Kappler: Not really, but what I do still know is that my work­place on my first day was rather impro­vised. I sat at a small side table behind a drawing board. That soon changed, fortu­nately. Before long, I also attended customer visits without detailed knowl­edge of every­thing we produce. Never­the­less, customers were inter­ested in my opinion. As a result, I learned to be spon­ta­neous and to trust my instinct in my early days. You joined us just over a year ago. How do you find the atmos­phere in the company?

Müller: Friends, who already worked for KOCH, reported on the very posi­tive working atmos­phere and about how one is made welcome here. That is true. I look forward to my work and my colleagues every day. After all, I spend a large propor­tion of my time here. It is impor­tant that the human factor plays a major role. The rela­tions between the depart­ments are also always full of respect. Partic­u­larly at the begin­ning, I need more assis­tance with some things. It means a lot to me when I sense that the doors are open to my ques­tions. What I also rate highly is the trust placed in employees, which you mentioned. I see that I already have a certain amount of respon­si­bility. After 26 years, you can undoubt­edly tell me more about the spirit of the company …

Kappler: Partic­u­larly the chal­lenging construc­tion of special­ized machines, which is our busi­ness here at KOCH, can only func­tion when all employees pull together. That is the spirit prac­ticed here. The teams do their utmost to accom­plish their projects. Char­ac­ter­istic is that we never stand still, but always move with the times. Each and every one is willing to adapt to meet the needs of our customers and markets. We prefer­ably want to bring out tomorrow what the market requires the year after next. After all, we have never believed it good enough to be satis­fied with what is already on the market. Further­more, KOCH culti­vates close rela­tions with its customers. Prac­ti­cally all employees are in regular contact with our customers, and get to know their pains and prob­lems. Accord­ingly, we have a deep customer under­standing in the company.

Müller: What has changed since you joined the company?

The head of logis­tics at the time would go to the front of the hall, whistle through his fingers, and call: “Who ordered this part?” That would no longer func­tion these days.

Karl Kappler

Kappler: Our expan­sion inevitably led to changes. The work­force numbered 65 when I joined KOCH. Over the last seven years we have grown from 200 to 400 members of staff. We had to estab­lish struc­tures and work processes. As an example, when a new part was deliv­ered, the head of logis­tics at the time would go to the front of the hall, whistle through his fingers, and call: “Who ordered this part?” That would no longer func­tion these days. The real­iza­tion that struc­tured work proce­dures were neces­sary was very impor­tant. Another key issue is docu­men­ta­tion. Previ­ously, it was primarily the case of a customer coming and wanting a machine for his pack­aging job. We designed it for him and he tested it on our premises. Any neces­sary modi­fi­ca­tions were made before deliv­ering the machine. We have a completely different approach today.

The customer must describe what he needs in a user require­ments spec­i­fi­ca­tion (URS), which forms the contrac­tual basis. A spoken agree­ment and a hand­shake no longer suffice. Every­thing is docu­mented these days – from the quote to the test reports, and to subse­quent retro­fits. As we build special­ized machines, this docu­men­ta­tion is very impor­tant. Time and again, we come across matters that have never been encoun­tered before. Once docu­mented, we can draw on these topics and learn from them. That applies to all depart­ments in all coun­tries.

Another of my main prior­i­ties was to change our engi­neering process. When I started at KOCH, the engi­neering depart­ment drew what Assembly was currently building. That was where the know-how was focused. In the mean­time, we know that we are much faster if we first draw up the construc­tion plan and then let the assembly experts imple­ment this. That was a crucial a-ha moment and, as a result, Engi­neering has expanded and become more effi­cient over the years.

Müller: Have you witnessed mile­stones in the company history?

Kappler: One of the major mile­stones was our step across the pond – the founding of our first over­seas office in the USA. That was the first time that we sent employees abroad for a longer period and also engaged local personnel for the subsidiary. This was repeated a few years later in Singa­pore in 2003. What also sticks in my mind is what Dieter Koch insti­gated in 1999. He asked: “We build blister machines, but what follows on?” Conse­quently, we moved into the secondary pack­aging market, acquired a company in Pirmasens with 15 employees in 2000 that devel­oped and built machines for this sector, and were able to resell that company in 2011 after having tripled the work­force.

Another key mile­stone, of course, was the acqui­si­tion by Uhlmann in 2006. I was one of the first employees to be involved in the thoughts of Dieter Koch. His deci­sion not to sell to the highest bidder, but to move to where we are best suited was a clever move. In my opinion, we could not have done better. Moving from one family-owned company to be inte­grated into another family-owned company allowed us to preserve our atmos­phere. However, these are all stories of the past. How do you envisage your future path at KOCH?

The many depart­ments I have come to know are helping me to discover my strong points.

Sarah Müller

Müller: I find it diffi­cult to decide where I might see myself in years to come. It was the best deci­sion I could have made to start an appren­tice­ship at KOCH. The many depart­ments I have come to know are helping me to discover my strong points. At the end, I think it will be more likely that I will be able to say what appeals to me most, what suits me best. If every­thing falls into place – on my part and that of the company – I would be pleased to find a role at KOCH and further my career. Perhaps you have some advice for me based on your expe­ri­ence?

Kappler: You certainly should always be willing to adapt to the situ­a­tion and be prepared to contribute to change. Evasion it is not an option. Courage and commit­ment promote progress in the company. Deci­sions are no longer only made at the very top. They rest on many shoul­ders at KOCH and we are grateful when young people contribute their ideas and partic­i­pate in deci­sion-making processes. That also makes one person­ally proud and adds a sense of satis­fac­tion to one’s daily work. Further­more, make the most of an oppor­tu­nity to go abroad. An over­seas trip – if not through KOCH, then through the Uhlmann Group – gives one valu­able expe­ri­ence.