Thanks to my many years of experience in the industry, I have a very clear understanding of our customers’ requirements. I have established CBN and diamond manufacturing operations in various companies, qualified as a master craftsman, and worked in sales for major tool manufacturers. As a result, we know exactly which products are suitable for which customers and for which applications.
Our strength therefore lies in targeted selection and marketing: we work with established, reliable partners, purchase as required and set the quality specifications ourselves – that is our core competence. In principle, any manufacturer can handle the production for us, according to our specifications and formulations. The decisive added value comes from our market knowledge and the tailored advice we provide to the customer.

For one thing, we had gained a wealth of experience over the years and had certain values and goals in mind. Eventually, the time was right to take the plunge into self-employment. We had a clear vision of how we wanted to operate as a business – which values and visions would guide us and which goals we wanted to achieve. Together with Mr Ritter, who thinks along similar lines and shares the same values and goals, we clearly divided the roles: I take charge of technical sales, whilst Mr Ritter handles all commercial tasks. This allows each of us to contribute our strengths and ensures we complement each other perfectly.

It took about six months from the decision to the actual launch. We were full of enthusiasm and convinced that we were taking the right step. Each of us contributed our experience and skills, and we proceeded step by step.
Of course, making the leap from a secure salaried job to self-employment is a leap into the unknown – with personal commitments and, at times, sleepless nights. Nevertheless, we mastered the start together, and our company grew very quickly. Throughout our company’s history so far, we have always moved forward; there has never been any standstill or setbacks, and our success has proved us right.
One thing we are particularly proud of is that we have been entirely self-financed for many years. In 2013, when we started out, we still had to go to the bank. I remember it clearly: we took our business plan to the savings bank, but the advisor wouldn’t even look at it and advised us to think it over again. We were briefly unsettled, but we didn’t let it faze us: we quickly found another bank that carefully reviewed our plan and gave us the go-ahead straight away. After that, everything moved quickly, and we were really able to get off to a flying start.

Martin Welsch: Another of our greatest strengths is our flexibility. We have many custom grinding wheels manufactured to our customers’ specifications – orders that other manufacturers often turn down because they involve greater effort. This is why we are particularly strong in the field of bespoke tools. Over the years, we have built up a network of selected tool manufacturers who possess the necessary expertise for these special orders. We select them according to clear criteria to ensure that quality and delivery reliability are always up to standard. Speed is another crucial factor. We usually deliver a CBN wheel within two to three weeks; for call-off orders, the goods are normally dispatched directly from our Buch site to the customer on the same day.

The fact that we do our job well is also evident from the recommendations we receive from our customers. For us, this is the best proof that we are doing everything right: when the customer is satisfied, everyone involved has done their job successfully.

Martin Welsch: At the start, we naturally visited customers much more frequently to build trust and establish a working relationship. Over time, this has decreased somewhat, because once customers are satisfied and a stable relationship has been established, constant visits are no longer absolutely necessary.

Nevertheless, it remains important to be present at regular intervals. Some customers prefer more intensive support, and we visit them more often accordingly. Personal presence therefore remains a key element in maintaining relationships and responding individually to our customers’ needs.

Dirk Ritter: Looking ahead, we plan to hire another sales representative. It isn’t difficult to find staff – the real challenge lies in attracting the right person: someone who brings specialist knowledge to the role, identifies with our company and already has experience in the industry. Hiring an employee quickly is one thing; finding the right person with the motivation and expertise who really suits us is far more demanding. In sales in particular, a personal presence with customers remains the be-all and end-all. And that is what we are working on.

Dirk Ritter: When we started out, our focus was weighted differently: around two-thirds of our production consisted of conventional grinding wheels, and around one-third of CBN and diamond grinding wheels. Today, this ratio has completely reversed, and the trend is clearly continuing – CBN grinding wheels are steadily gaining in importance.

Martin Welsch: A few years ago, there was also a trend towards wheels with carbon backing. These are still on the market, but they are often used for applications where their use makes little sense. There are often cheaper alternatives that work just as well. Carbon sounds appealing, but it has disadvantages when it comes to disposal and, in our view, is not as environmentally friendly as one might wish. That is why active consideration is now being given to how carbon can be replaced by other materials – whilst the appearance is appealing, for us it is efficiency, practicality and sustainability that count above all else.

Martin Welsch: Absolutely – we offer a complete range of dressing tools, including our own specially developed dressing spindle. We designed this spindle in collaboration with an experienced design engineer, and it is manufactured here in Germany. This enables us to guarantee the highest levels of precision, quality and reliability – for the best results every time.

Dirk Ritter: Wir sind sehr breit aufgestellt und ein großer Schwerpunkt liegt interessanterweise im Bereich der Lebensmittelproduktion. Das spielt uns aktuell in die Karten – essen tun wir schließlich immer! In der Pharmaindustrie sind wir ebenfalls sehr stark. Daher spüren wir die wirtschaftlichen Schwankungen kaum. Im Automotive-Bereich sind wir kleiner, und im Werkzeugbau ist die Lage unterschiedlich: Manche Kunden sind voll ausgelastet, andere haben Kurzarbeit eingeführt. Insgesamt können wir aber klar sagen: Wir stehen solide da – flexibel, krisenfest und bereit, Chancen aktiv zu nutzen.

For us, trade fairs are above all a direct line of communication with our customers and potential new clients. Being there in person makes a huge difference – people simply perceive you differently. Does every trade fair pay off financially straight away? That’s difficult to measure. For us, customer contact, nurturing existing relationships and forging new connections are clearly our top priorities. That is why we continue to focus on targeted trade fair participation, such as the upcoming GrindingHub in May. At the same time, we remain flexible: if it becomes apparent that an appearance is not delivering the desired added value, we adjust our strategy. Nothing is set in stone forever – we react immediately if we realise that it no longer makes sense. But we will definitely be back at GrindingHub in Stuttgart in May.

The market is increasingly demanding precision and innovation. Materials are becoming more complex, tolerances tighter, and customers expect tools that can effortlessly meet these requirements. This is precisely where we come in: with high-quality, precision-engineered solutions and our constant pursuit of the best results, we ensure our customers’ success – today and in the future.

Source | RWS