July 5, 2010

Not just once, but twice in the past few days I’ve read that the Made in Germany’seal of approval is out (SZ 23.06.2010) or that the importance of the Engineered in Germany trademark is on the wane (VDI-Nachrichten, June 2010 supplement). I haven’t a clue which products this claim is supposed to refer to, but I can’t see how it applies to our grinding machines. Just the opposite!

German engineering enjoys international acclaim
In our capacity as machine manufacturers exporting considerably more than 50 per cent of our products, I work with international engineers and technicians all the time – in the United States, China, Ireland or France, to name just a few countries. And you know what? I get the impression that Made in Germany or Engineered in Germany still enjoy a very good reputation abroad. However, I feel that we should all do more to promote them. Instead of constantly grumbling about the conditions facing small- to medium-sized companies in Germany (yes, I know they’re really not particularly good), we engineers and technicians should invest our energy in developing new technologies – preferably those that are of some real use to the consumer and also make economic sense. As far as Haas Schleifmaschinen is concerned, this strategy of resolute customer-oriented development is paying off.

MWP Award for Multigrind® CB
Our customers are highly satisfied with the performance of our machines; what’s more, just a few days ago we even won the British MWP Award 2010 for our Multigrind®CB. In the world of engineering, the MWP Award is something like an Oscar for the film industry or a Grammy for musicians. In conjunction with our English partner Chris Boraston of Dorman Machine Tools, we are proud of the accolade Best grinding and finishing machine and, although we can hardly believe it ourselves, of being voted the outright winner across all categories – the Grand Prix, so to speak. Who says Engineered in Germany is losing its appeal? Or perhaps it should now be changed to Engineered in Trossingen?

Strong competition, clear criteria
The MWP jury was particularly impressed by the fact that the Multigrind® CB can be used to grind components with highly complex geometries (turbine blades made of titanium alloys or knee-joint replacements) from the blank to the finished part in a single operation. Incidentally, other contestants for the MWP Awards included such machine manufacturers as DMG, Vollmer, Blohm, Mori Seiki, Mazak and Okuma, to name just a few. That’s quite an elite line-up that our Multigrind® CB left behind. Across the board, the jury consisted of high-calibre specialists from the fields of research, teaching and industry. The judging of the machines was based on the following criteria: innovation, ease of operation, replacement of old technologies, increased productivity, reduced costs, dependability, low maintenance, sustainability, conservation of resources and technical brilliance, among others. Last but not least, the machine also had to set new technological standards.

Not saying anything is also a form of praise
We Swabians are not naturally inclined to be too lavish with our praise. There’s a local saying ‘Nix g’sagt isch au g’lobt’, which amounts to ‘Not saying anything is also a form of praise’. So we’re very pleased that the British MWP judges did the praising for us and awarded our Multigrind® CB the prize for outstanding quality and performance. By the way, did you know that the Made in Germany seal was first introduced in England as a warning at the end of the 19th century? The aim was to protect indigenous British products against supposedly inferior replicas from abroad. During World War I, this classification was intended to help boycott any items manufactured by the enemy. I’m really glad that these days are over. It’s far better to compete against each other in the field of technology or on the football pitch. But that’s a different story altogether ...

So long, till next time. Yours sincerely

Thomas Bader

n es ja von Natur aus nicht so mit dem Loben. „Nix g’sagt isch au g’lobt“, sagt man bei uns. Auf gut Hochdeutsch: Nichts gesagt ist auch gelobt. Deshalb freuen wir uns, dass die britische MWP-Jury das Loben für uns übernommen und die Qualität und Leistungsfähigkeit unserer Multigrind® CB ausgezeichnet hat.
Wussten Sie eigentlich, dass das Siegel Made in Germany im England des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts als Warnsiegel eingeführt wurde? Damit sollten einheimische englische Produkte vor vermeintlich minderwertigen Nachahmerprodukten aus dem Ausland geschützt werden. Im ersten Weltkrieg sollte diese Kennzeichnung helfen, Produkte des Kriegsgegners zu boykottieren. Ich bin echt froh, dass wir diese Zeiten hinter uns haben. Da messen wir uns doch viel lieber im technologischen Wettbewerb oder beim Fußball. Aber das ist jetzt eine ganz andere Geschichte...

Bis zum nächsten Mal. Ihr
Thomas Bader