From what idea did the decision of self-employment come?

Manfred Walz: Many years before, I had been employed at another tool manufacturer in Baden-Württemberg. At some point it was important to me to implement new ideas for tool concepts, had innovative solutions for tool developments in mind, but unfortunately the implementation in the company at that time turned out to be quite difficult. That's why I pushed for the path to self-employment. My colleague at the time, Nastula, felt the same way, so he got on board. We were then able to hire additional employees quite quickly.

Mr. Nastula left the management in 2002 due to health reasons, and already in 2003 a strong partner was available in the form of EMUGE-FRANKEN. What has changed for you since then?

Plans for a new company building with a possible increase in capacity were quickly on the table. In addition, investments were made in new machines. It was again a small new beginning, with a strong group of companies behind it. However, the focus on tool production and also the product range initially remained the same. Only in the last few years have we expanded the portfolio to include diamond tools. We were inspired to do so by a customer who had also requested PCD tools in the project business. Initially, we bought in the tools, but later, not only because of delivery problems, we manufactured the PCD tools ourselves. That is why we now offer the complete product range: Starting with HSS drills, solid carbide tools, carbide brazed tools, indexable insert tipped tools, PCD and CBN tools. Our customers appreciate the fact that they can choose from the complete product range. At the same time, we operate quite self-sufficiently, which means we can offer the customer everything from a single source. In addition, we also have tools for woodworking in our portfolio.

What do customers particularly appreciate about NAWA?

As already mentioned, our customers attach great importance to product diversity, but we can also score points with delivery speed, as we can manufacture almost all tools in-house. Customers therefore receive everything from a single source, as already mentioned. Another major selling point is our comprehensive documentation, which we can make available to our customers at any time. This starts with the quotation phase and continues right through to delivery. Especially with recurring orders, these records play a decisive role. Customers can rely 100 percent on the same execution. In this respect, we are very different from similar companies that cannot offer these records, or not to this extent. In addition, we manufacture almost only special tools that require special know-how. Our customers receive customized, individual tool solutions from us. NAWA can design the tool for the customer exactly the way he needs it.

Up to now, NAWA has mainly manufactured for the automotive sector, or rather for the combustion engine. What is your response to the European policy of no longer focusing on the combustion engine?

Fortunately, our export share for non-European markets is very high. Especially our foreign subsidiaries, such as Mexico or USA, remain stable sales partners when it comes to our tooling solutions.

How have you organized your field sales force, or sales?

Mr. Weizenegger and I are on the road for NAWA directly with the customer. In addition, we are connected to the EMUGE agencies with NAWA. This means that our tools cover a large market.

What are you working on right now?

Not only because of the shortage of skilled workers, but also in order to increase efficiency, to relieve our employees and to positively influence desired results, we are working on automating business processes. However, the number of pieces naturally plays a decisive role here. For this reason, automation is only worthwhile in many areas if the batch sizes allow it. For this reason, every investment decision must be carefully weighed up.
Only recently, we invested in a system with unmanned production. From the company's point of view, this investment was certainly an important step for the future.

For some years now, you have only been working in single-shift operation at NAWA. For what reason did you make this decision?

In the period before Corona and also during the pandemic period, we unfortunately lost some orders and short-time work was announced. It turned out that our employees very much welcomed the routine working hours from early in the morning until the midday/evening hours. As a result, our machine park was expanded somewhat so that there would be no capacity bottlenecks.

At NAWA, have you ever thought about expanding or changing the portfolio or adding products? Spatial capacities would indeed be available...

In previous years, we had included the area of subcontracting. This enabled us to employ staff despite the economic downturn, but it did not pay off in the end. The bottom line is that we were not able to profit from it. Our machinery is not designed for this kind of work. Overall, we offer all the tools that are available on the market. As part of the EMUGE-FRANKEN group of companies, we can offer a very extensive range of tooling solutions. Of course, we could additionally produce standard tools here at the Veringenstadt site, but here we then correlate with EMUGE-FRANKEN. It definitely does not make sense to manufacture the same products at both locations.

Do you also offer laser machined tools?

We usually only need the laser for chip grooves. We get all other tools manufactured with our EDM machines in sufficient quality. There are certainly some products that can be manufactured more precisely using laser processing. It is possible that an investment in this direction will be made in the next few years. We are still exploring this possibility.

At the EMO trade show, which is now taking place in September, customers can also get an idea of NAWA tools. Can you use the cooperation with EMUGE-FRANKEN here?

On the one hand, it is an opportunity to share the booth space with EMUGE-FRANKEN in order to present our entire portfolio and product variety. On the other hand, this fair not only allows us to initiate new business contacts, but EMO is also a meeting point with our long-standing customers and sales partners from abroad. The meeting in Hanover is therefore very efficient on all sides.

What do you think, Mr. Walz, what challenges will you have to face in the next few years?

Of course, there is a risk that energy costs will rise even further and that Germany's competitiveness will also be impaired. Of course, other countries are also having to contend with rising energy costs, but not to the same extent as we are being expected to do here in Germany. In order to reduce energy consumption, we have also decided, among other things, to abandon shift operation.

Where do you see NAWA in 10 years?

Our aim is to further expand the project business, as it is becoming increasingly important due to the progressive expansion of international business activities. We are in a position to provide this service because we have positioned ourselves very well in recent years in terms of project business and organizational effectiveness. With our strong partner - EMUGE-FRANKEN - behind us, we are able to take on the challenges. The first successes already prove us right. Therefore, the focus will be increasingly on this in the next few years.