Providing open and honest information

They are responsible for the areas where almost all flat knit Bauerfeind products are made. Could you tell us a little bit about your typical workday?

I’m mainly busy managing my two teams consisting of 50 colleagues. I coordinate shifts, assign machines, help with patterns and pilot lots – all in all, there’s a lot of organizing to do. Previously, when the team was smaller, I used to join the knitting – but now, I don’t get around to doing that anymore.

Does that mean you would like to work on the machines yourself every now and then?

Yes, even just to stay up-to-date. I still often go to the production stations and talk to my colleagues – that way, problems are detected and solved early. We’re currently knitting wearing test samples for various Train products.

How are you able to continue your work in the usual way and still comply with hygiene and distancing regulations?

At the moment, the early and late shifts don’t meet: the teams are finishing a little earlier or starting slightly later. Everybody must keep a distance of 1.5 meters. That works quite well because each colleague looks after 4 to 7 machines, which means quite a large working area for each person. Masks should be worn if colleagues talk to each other for more than 15 minutes.

What are the challenges that the situation has brought about for you and your team?

Incoming orders continued to decrease, and it became obvious quite quickly that we had to start short-time work – of course, I had to explore ways to find a viable solution. I rearranged the shifts, in the Curaflow Team, we left out the night shift and some employees started to use up their overtime.

How did you explain to your team that there will be short-time work?

I asked everyone to meet. Initially, I felt a little uneasy. I know that this subject triggers uncertainty. I felt that it was important for me to speak openly and honestly with my teams right from the beginning, not sugarcoating anything – but, at the same time, I wanted to show how we can use the situation for our benefit.

Which advantages do you observe?

We can now train employees for additional work processes. In this way, they can develop, and we have more flexibility in responding to absences. And we’re servicing some machines. That can sometimes take up to 7 days per machine. Week by week, we’re now preparing for the current order situation, which, luckily, is going in a positive direction again.