When Alfred Schuh­macher and Franz Schaible first enter the training work­shop at Uhlmann in 1974, little do they know that they would still be returning to work at the same place every day 50 years later. The two young men initially start their training together at Uhlmann, and after three and a half years in the training work­shop and moving through various depart­ments, they emerge as qual­i­fied machine fitters. After their appren­tice­ship, the two of them take up jobs in mechan­ical produc­tion and tool­making. They work there for a year and then do 15 months’ mili­tary service in the German army. Two years after returning to Uhlmann, Alfred Schuh­macher and Franz Schaible pass their part-time master craftsman training in mechan­ical engi­neering with flying colors.

They then go their sepa­rate ways: While Alfred Schuh­macher becomes immersed in the world of numbers and details in the cost accounting depart­ment, Franz Schaible packs his bags and travels from one assembly plant to the next as a service tech­ni­cian – ready to propel Uhlmann’s inno­va­tions out into the world and keep machines up and running around the globe. Today, 50 years on, we cele­brate not only their indi­vidual careers, but also the remark­able loyalty to Uhlmann that has always united them on their different career paths.

Not a man of many words

When we asked Franz Schaible why he trained as a machinist, he simply says: “That’s what most people did back then, when there wasn’t such a huge fuss about choosing a career.” But it was the right deci­sion for Franz Schaible, given that the 65-year-old has remained loyal to his profes­sion and employer for over five decades.

As a newly qual­i­fied master craftsman, his path at Uhlmann led him to the then new cartooning machines. One of the first to commis­sion the new machines, Franz Schaible knows them better than almost anyone else. He has now been part of the service team for 30 years, mostly trav­eling abroad, and has worked with so many different compa­nies that he has lost count. But that, for Franz Schaible, is what makes his work so appealing: “What inter­ests me most is converting and repairing machinery, because each and every machine presents different chal­lenges. It never gets boring.”

Always on the move

For Franz Schaible, being tied down to one place is not an option. His trips to assembly sites mean he is constantly on the move – some­times for one to two weeks, and occa­sion­ally even for six. “You have to be pretty flex­ible because jobs change quickly,” he says. But that doesn’t bother him. Nor does the fact that he can’t always pursue his leisure activ­i­ties when­ever he wishes. He still has suffi­cient time for the volun­tary fire depart­ment, and he also gets to see his many siblings, nieces and nephews on a regular basis. “I’m virtu­ally always on the move.”

What he partic­u­larly enjoys is the spon­taneity, novelty and excite­ment of his job. “I often trav­eled to Cuba on busi­ness,” he recalls. “Thirty years ago, Fidel Castro bought three machine lines from Uhlmann. They then stood idle for ten years and my job was to get them up and running again. That was a fasci­nating chal­lenge!” Due to an agree­ment between Venezuela and Cuba – Venezuela supplied oil and Cuba supplied tablets in return – the job had top priority and high-ranking Cuban govern­ment offi­cials were involved. It was an exciting time for Franz Schaible.

So far Franz Schaible has not made any specific plans for his retire­ment next year. But he is already looking forward to being able to spend more time working with the volun­teer fire depart­ment. And if he misses trav­eling too much, no doubt he’ll start packing his bags again.

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From late bloomer to high-flyer

Alfred Schuh­macher remem­bers his school days with a smile. “I didn’t really take school that seri­ously,” admits the 65-year-old. “You were more likely to find me outside playing sports than studying so I was more of a late bloomer.” Never­the­less, Alfred Schuh­macher soon real­ized that he wanted to do an appren­tice­ship. “When I was at secondary school back in the day, there were three compa­nies that partic­u­larly stood out as far as appren­tice­ships were concerned,” he recalls, and that was Lieb­herr, Weishaupt and Uhlmann.

“Uhlmann was already offering an inter­esting appren­tice­ship 50 years ago,” says Alfred Schuh­macher. Today, he is certain that an appren­tice­ship at Uhlmann was the right choice to make. “But it was quite the announce­ment back then!” he adds with a laugh. After completing his master’s degree in mechan­ical engi­neering, Alfred Schuh­macher took evening classes – for a whole eleven years. This is where he obtained his REFA technician’s certifi­cate and his advanced tech­nical college entrance qual­i­fi­ca­tion and completed a degree in busi­ness admin­is­tra­tion. All this with two small chil­dren at home.

Calcu­lating instead of spec­u­lating!

After completing his studies, the next chal­lenge awaited him. Alfred Schuh­macher was given the oppor­tu­nity to join Uhlmann’s cost accounting depart­ment, now called UCE. But he quickly real­ized that: “Without specific exper­tise, your prices, cost reduc­tion programs and calcu­la­tions were not accepted by the indi­vidual depart­ments we had to nego­tiate with.” It was clear to him that giving up was not an option. So he set about acquiring the neces­sary know-how – and success­fully so. He has now been working as a group leader in cost accounting for 35 years and is respon­sible for the pricing of special machinery. This essen­tially comes with a lot of respon­si­bility and calls for assertive­ness. But he never tires of the discus­sions he has with the purchasing, sales or assembly teams. He is satis­fied when, at the end of the day, a good joint solu­tion is on the table.

Alfred Schuh­macher sits in his current office just a few meters from the building where his career at Uhlmann kicked off. “When I first started working here, Uhlmann had 280 employees, today we have over 1,500,” he says. If you ask him what he partic­u­larly values about Uhlmann as an employer, two things imme­di­ately spring to mind: a feeling of secu­rity and appre­ci­a­tion. “For 50 years, I’ve never been worried about not getting my salary,” he clar­i­fies. “And Christmas and vaca­tion bonuses were never an issue either. They have always been paid, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. And the fact that Uhlmann is a family-owned busi­ness means that as a family man myself, I have always felt very much at home here.”

Family is the most impor­tant thing

Alfred Schuh­macher describes himself as open, reli­able and loyal. And at home he knows all about girl power: his wife and three daugh­ters keep him on his toes and in August he will be a grand­fa­ther for the first time. The family also has 22 chickens, and he enjoys supplying their freshly laid eggs to his colleagues at Uhlmann. He will retire in six months’ time and is already looking forward to embarking on new gardening projects and outings with his wife. He also enjoys spending time in the moun­tains: hiking in summer and skiing in winter.

Never­the­less, retire­ment is still a big step for him: “I still enjoy going to work just as much today as I did 50 years ago,” he explains. “Uhlmann has always been a powerful inno­vator and I was happy to be part of the journey.” Alfred Schuh­macher is grateful for the last five decades and is leaving the company at the end of the year with mixed feel­ings.

Congrat­u­la­tions to our long-serving employees! We hope you thor­oughly enjoy your retire­ment and say thank you for the past 50 years!