Open, commu­nica­tive, barrier-free, sustain­able, and digital: The attrib­utes ascribed to the new building – with the address Diesel­strasse 13 – apply no less to its owner, KOCH Pac-Systeme GmbH. The building was inau­gu­rated by Hedwig Uhlmann punc­tu­ally in the fiftieth year after the company’s foun­da­tion. After all, KOCH has been a member of the Uhlmann Group since 2006.

The glass façade, with deco­ra­tive elements in KOCH blue, reflects the working atmos­phere; some­thing that distin­guishes the whole company and also made the new building neces­sary. The company has been attracting more and more people: the work­force at the head­quar­ters in Pfalz­grafen­weiler in the Black Forest has increased from 180 in 2012 to approx­i­mately 430 today.

Inviting recep­tion

Dunja Gall-Dixon is one of the two employees in the recep­tion area. She was been working at KOCH for two years. Prior to the move into the new building, it was not really correct to speak of recep­tion, as she explains: “At the time, when I arrived for my inter­view, I virtu­ally stood before a closed door.” The recep­tion area had been moved to a container. Dunja Gall-Dixon now feels much more inte­grated at her new, inviting, and very brightly designed work­place with a view opening out onto a green moss wall. “We, Marion Hölzle and I, are the points of contact for a lot of people, not just for visi­tors, but also for all employees.”

Commu­ni­cating with one another, regard­less of hier­ar­chies or depart­ment affil­i­a­tion, char­ac­ter­izes KOCH according to Jörg Sche­betka, Head of Marketing Commu­ni­ca­tions. The new building was designed and furnished with a view to facil­i­tating easy coop­er­a­tion: open kitch­enettes, discus­sion zones to encourage spon­ta­neous get-togethers and curb the flood of meet­ings, and parquet flooring to create lounge flair.

Keeping pace with the times

Not only does KOCH focus on digi­ti­za­tion and sustain­ability in terms of its prod­ucts. Evidence is also found in the building. On the touch­screen on the first floor is a digital bulletin board. Contacts can be located here and the control tech­nology accessed. The lighting is self-regu­lating, as is the air condi­tioning. Heat is supplied by a local coop­er­a­tive and is derived from renew­able fuels.

Distrib­uted over three floors, the Exec­u­tive Board, Marketing, Human Resources, IT, Accounting, and Control­ling have been working hand in hand here since the end of 2019, pursuing their common field of busi­ness – custom machine engi­neering. “In addi­tion to presenting ourselves appro­pri­ately to our customers, we wanted to unite the divi­sions in the new building and maxi­mize syner­gies. At KOCH, we have a culture that encour­ages everyone to address things beyond depart­mental borders”, explains Sche­betka.

At KOCH, we have a culture that encour­ages everyone to address things beyond depart­mental borders.

Jörg Sche­betka, Head of Marketing Commu­ni­ca­tions KOCH Pac-Systeme

The employees not only demon­strate this in their work in the four fields of appli­ca­tion: consumer goods, contact lenses, medical tech­nology, and services. “Nobody was too proud to pack boxes for the move into the new building or to clean windows just before the inau­gu­ra­tion”, says Sche­betka. On behalf of all the helpful KOCH employees, Mike Burkhardt, Head of Elec­trical Assembly, was awarded a golden hammer at the inau­gu­ra­tion. Together with CTO Karl Kappler, Divi­sion Manager IT & Process Opti­miza­tion Hein­rich Horn­berger, Project Assis­tant SAP Andrea Wurster, and Jörg Sche­betka, he was a member of the team that addressed major and minor ques­tions concerning the new building.

The answers that the building team came up with speak for them­selves.