“We are becoming faster, more flexible and more productive”

Werther (Germany), February 12, 2016 - The concept of occupying and claiming attractive niches enables Poppe + Potthoff to be successful around the world. In 88 years, the family business has grown from a regional pipe manufacturer to an internationally active group of companies. With 1,200 employees, the group generated a turnover of more than 170 million Euros in 2015. At the original factory, the Haller Kreisblatt won insights and perspectives.

Since 1928, Poppe + Potthoff has been processing steel tubes in Werther to meet special, customer-specific requirements. Experienced employees operate the heavy machines, their inner life is constantly being refined. Under the heading »tube production 4.0«, digitization is now expanding into the tradition-steeped manufacturing halls.

Commercial Director Konrad Fischer summarizes the undertaking: “We take an analog machine and set a digital superstructure on it”. Equipped with digital measurement technology and interconnected via computer, the production is continuously being optimized. “We are becoming faster, more flexible and more productive while reducing rejects,” adds Bengt-Henning Maas, CEO of the tubing plant since 2015.

Dr. Christian Potthoff-Sewing, CFO and majority shareholder of the Poppe + Potthoff Group, knows many examples that demonstrate how old technologies can be improved: For instance with maintenance-free couplings for the space station ISS, precision components for driver assistance systems or the high-pressure tubes for fuel injection systems. Whether with diesel, petrol, biogas, natural gas or hydrogen: Poppe + Potthoff will continue to step on the gas with precision, innovation and flexibility.

Continue reading at the Haller Kreisblatt (in German).