600 guests at the Annual Party

16.12.2008

This year's Annual Party of J. Schmalz GmbH, Glatten was held on Friday, 05.12.2008. About 600 employees, business partners and their families came to the event in the Community Hall in Dornstetten. The motto of the party was "Watching the goggle box" (where goggle box is an English colloquialism for a TV set). In addition to organising the entire event, the trainees also provided some entertaining episodes.

The event began with a short memoriam for Artur Schmalz, the father of our managing directors, who died in September 2008 at the age of 95. After this, the managing directors Dr. Kurt Schmalz and Wolfgang Schmalz presented a brief recapitulation of the year 2008 and a look at the prospects for the coming year. Schmalz has grown further in 2008 and now employs more then 600 persons throughout the world. The company grew according to plan in the individual business processes of vacuum technology and, in particular, in the area of globalisation. The international Schmalz companies, of which there are now 16, generated almost half of the total turnover. Due to the enormous growth of the company in the past few years, some internal changes have become necessary: the reorganisation of the various business processes in the middle of 2008 has made the company more able to meet the international requirements.

In the coming year, the company must adapt itself to the rapidly changing economic situation and react in good time to these changes. This is the only way of emerging from the current crisis in a good, or even better, condition. The fact that Schmalz is optimistic with respect to its future is demonstrated by the new building which is currently being erected. This is the largest building project in the company's history and will double the floor area available for production. In spite of the wintry weather, great progress has been made, and completion of the new building is planned for the autumn of 2009, when production can start in the new building.

The next item on the agenda was a tribute to all employees who celebrated an anniversary in 2008. Each of these received personal thanks and a small present from the management for their loyalty to the company.

The guests then had the opportunity of visiting the sumptuous buffet and selecting what they would lke to eat before the entertainment provided by the company trainees began. The trainees parodied many well-know TV programmes, including "Germany's Next Top Model" and many commercial spots. The fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel", which was told and sung by "Otto" in a very unconventional manner, resulted in gales of laughter.

Professional care for the guests' children is a traditional element of the parties at Schmalz. The children were kept busy with various Christmas crafts and games, allowing their parents to fully enjoy the party.

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