Development Stories

“For me, selling is not a job, but a passion.”

In 1995 e-mobility was still a dream of the future. Back then MEISER made its first contacts with Scandinavia through its cooperation with the company NTJ Sweden. After it acquired its partner, 2008 saw the founding of MEISER Sweden AB. “I have been on board since day one and have accompanied the change here”, says Jerry Hägglund, who leads the Swedish team. Initially the focus was on stairs, but in 2017 there was a complete change of strategy: “Together with the Meiser family, it was decided to use all the expertise and competences here in Sweden – which includes a lot more than just stairs.”

Thus MEISER Sweden AB developed into a sales office focussing on gratings, sheet metal profile planking and GRP, which are also used in the e-mobility industry: “For me this is a very special project, which I follow with real passion. We have the ideal prerequisites here for the production of lithium-ion cells for electric cars, for example plenty of renewable energy via hydropower. It makes me proud when MEISER can be a part of it.“ For many of his projects Jerry Hägglund uses his large network – which plays a particular role in Sweden: “Everything only works via good contacts. People know each other, and business relationships often turn into friendships. Or vice versa. Just as I always take time for my family and friends, I am here for my customers to reach me day and night.” Jerry Hägglund’s job is his passion – which also becomes clear through the cooperation with the Oelsnitz site. They have a close connection, and contact is very direct. That was not always the case in the Swedish team itself: “In the past everyone used to work mainly for themselves. It’s entirely different today, because we have managed to find the right people.”

Jerry Hägglund has brought them together at MEISER Sweden AB – and would like to keep them together. His next objective is to extend this cooperation beyond national borders, strengthen the connection between the Scandinavian countries, and successfully follow the path together – electrically, of course.

“I am passionate about communication with people who want to look further than the end of their own nose and achieve something.”

Forests instead of skyscrapers, a beer garden instead of a roof terrace, and short trips instead of crossing the world: anyone coming from Frankfurt to the introspective Saarland first needs to find their way round. That is how it was for Claudia Wagner too. The directions she was given for getting to her job interview as Marketing Manager at MEISER did not exactly make things easier: “They told me to turn off at the filling station, drive through the forest and if I thought I had got lost, I would be in the right place.”

Claudia Wagner found MEISER – and along with it an open ear for good ideas: “I was used to working very self-sufficiently and independently. The management made it clear to me right from the start that I could achieve a lot and work creatively here and that has certainly been confirmed.” Today she passes on this experience and the prospect of going your own way to apprentices, students, talents and future managers at MEISER: “In marketing I actually had nothing to do with training. But I got very involved with the brand MEISER and its values, which also include sustainability, and thus the question: What can we as a company do for the environment and people? I saw potential in the human capital area. When I presented my concept, they gave me free reign, and that’s precisely how things work here: If you want to achieve things at MEISER, you can. If you want to, you will be listened to.” Claudia Wagner has developed various programmes together with her team, from apprentice workshops, to supporting of young talents and their better integration into the company. One thing is clear: MEISER trains people to retain them – there is no such things as hire and fire here. The lengthy service of many of the employees is probably the best proof of this. Of course, additional benefits such as health management, language courses or external training are a good incentive for employees, but what is really important is the working environment built on respect and trust, in which prospects repeatedly present themselves. “Important hints for the further development of machines or products often come directly from Production – precisely from the people who have to deal with them day in, day out, and therefore see potential improvements more directly. Then new things are often developed in collaboration across all hierarchical levels.

So in principle, all MEISER is doing is implementing the guiding principle of Saarland ‘Something big always comes from something small,’” explains Claudia Wagner. Precisely because the company is growing so fast, it is vital to maintain connections and keep the information flow going between people, so that they can continue to learn from each other: Everybody is networked with one another via internal information systems. “And of course digitalisation helps us keep in contact. But the really important thing is that people know each other. For instance, I know almost every managing director of the international sites personally.” And people meet up at MEISER. There is even a place that has been created especially to enable communication: The new company restaurant is a place for encounters, further training, think tanks, and a location for networking.

Every employee can find just what they need here – whether it is a sandwich or a good conversation. “Initially it was planned only as an eating place. But then we started asking the employees what they would actually like. This meant we could make well-founded decisions, and didn’t have to rely on the office grapevine. What emerged was the new restaurant as a meeting place for all the employees.” And of course they practise environmental sustainability here too: many of the ingredients come straight from the local region – which is good for the climate and the employees.

“What excites me is that we are trusted to initiate further development in these dimensions, and I can be a part of it.” _{(Steffen Lang)}

When Steffen Lang started at MEISER Vogtland as a fitter in 1997, he had a clear goal in sight: to take on a management role in the company. He got involved, gathered experience, familiarised himself with every product and every process – from vineyard posts to special profiles. Until in 2016 he finally took over the technical management in Oelsnitz. “One of my first tasks was to plan the further development of the site for the next few years together with the management and the owners. And it soon became clear that if we wanted to develop not only ourselves, but in particular the press welded grating area, we needed a new plant concept. And then in turn more space for this new plant.” The relocation, the associated improvement in the material flow, the new plant – the project took on huge dimensions. But it was clear to MEISER that innovation needs investment. Finally the new hardware was delivered in 27 truckloads, but Steffen Lang and his team were not yet satisfied with the software: “The control was simply insufficient for our needs. So we developed our own algorithm for controlling the plant.“

Because having the ideas to turn something standard into something individual is also part of what makes MEISER tick.

“At MEISER we can move mountains together and develop further innovations from head office.”_{(Christian Kirsch)}

It is this mix of craftsmanship and automation which especially characterises Christian Kirsch too. Like Steffen Lang, he worked his way through all the production positions before becoming Technical Manager in Limbach: “I started as a fitter in maintenance, then became a foreman, shift leader and finally Production Manager. When you have gone through all these stages, you know the production inside out. This is the basis for making it better.” The further development of the technology in particular has changed a lot at MEISER – and contributed not only to better quality, but also to better working conditions: Where previously an employee had to move 15 to 20 tons of steel in every shift, today a high level of technology makes this physically difficult work easier. “Robot technology and muscle power go hand in hand here”, explains Christian Kirsch. The ideas for innovations and improvements often come directly from the employees: “Naturally we are dependent on the input and feedback from the rank and file, in other words from the people who work directly with it. Whether it comes from an apprentice or the foreman is not an issue here. We always listen to good ideas and take them seriously.”

In this way the close connections
between all levels of the company have a direct influence on the quality at MEISER – including across locations.

“Honesty is really important for me, whether advising customers or among ourselves as a team. That is what makes us stand out.” _{(Jürgen Langenfeld)}

It takes a bit of courage, maybe also a grain of luck, but above all  a large portion of expertise: in 2003, Jürgen Langenfeld promised to deliver 30,000 m2 of sheet metal profile planking to a major German automotive manufacturer within a very short time. He knew that MEISER would be able to keep this delivery promise in such a short timescale – because there were no other orders: “Up until then MEISER had only produced gratings, but sheet metal profile planks were actually a comparable product. After taking over one of our competitors, we had to start from scratch and give some thought to the possible uses.” His commitment to building up sales of sheet metal profile planks paid off: with this major order, Jürgen Langenfeld laid the foundation stone for many other projects. Since then a lot has changed, but Jürgen Langenfeld has always closely followed the further development of sheet metal profile planking and gratings. He has been at MEISER for more than 30 years, since starting in sales in 1990 after his apprenticeship with a Saarland steel manufacturer. Today he runs Vertrieb 2 in Limbach, and has also been an authorised representative of the company since 2016.

“Gratings used to be simply a robust industrial product, but little by little this has changed. When an architect approached me at some point, I was surprised at first by his request, or to be honest, I was actually sceptical, but once he had shown me his plans, we developed a solution together. I liked the fact that gratings were becoming more flexible. And just a short time later it was becoming a real trend, and among other things we were able to clad the facades of a large number of multistorey car parks belonging to the automotive manufacturer Audi”, says Jürgen Langenfeld, looking back.

“We don’t suddenly completely invent our product. But we try to make it a little bit better every day.”_{(Bernd Paulus)}

Bernd Paulus also rates the flexibility of the basic product. He not only knows the material and its possibilities particularly well, but has also done so for a very long time, as he began his career at MEISER back in 1985 as an apprentice in the sales department.  Today, as an authorised representative, team manager for shelf grating and stock technology, he is focussed on communication, not only with customers, but also amongst ourselves. Just recently a new fixing clip which can be used universally was developed in this way. “We are actually still a factory, a fairly large one, it’s true, but nonetheless we develop many products hand in hand with the customer. There are so many options now, so it definitely never gets boring.” Jürgen Langenfeld also sees things the same way when he thinks back to the beginnings of the fall protection mats: “A customer approached us and said they needed them, so we tinkered and thought about things until we created the first fall protection mats using tube production and wire mesh plant. Today we design and develop gratings for major projects in the USA and Mexico.”

Keeping an eye out for new things is extremely important at MEISER, which is why every salesperson here also knows what a construction site looks like: “When I am on-site with a customer, I can confidently say ʻYesʼ, we can do that, because we have this or that equipment”, explains Bernd Paulus. The ability to repeatedly try things out and thus developing the products bit by bit, is an inherent part of the corporate culture at MEISER: we are the embodiment of flexibility, whether it is the mesh size or the decision-making channels.

“A lot of colleagues have now turned into friends – all over the world.”

Over the years Edmund Meiser has travelled again and again to tap into new markets. Including at the end of the 1990s, when he was approached by the trading company NTJ AS from Norway: “At that time, the company was looking for a production site in Europe, and I invited Edmund Meiser to visit us in Norway. He agreed – and drove across Germany and Denmark. When I found out that he had not flown here, naturally I was all the more interested in getting to know the man, and finding out why he had taken on this onerous route”, says Per Kilvaer, who was a member of the management of NTJ AS at the time, and today runs MEISER Norway AS. When he finally got to know Edmund Meiser, he was impressed by the person, but not yet by the business idea. Yet Edmund Meiser succeeded in convincing him. “Our meeting ended with a handshake: I promised to work with him – and he promised me success.” They both kept their promises: NTJ AS has been exclusively and successfully marketing the MEISER products in Norway for more than 10 years.

The cooperation developed into a market presence, and finally in February 2015 the one hundred percent subsidiary MEISER Norway AS was founded to open up the Norwegian market better for MEISER. “We can cut the press welded gratings and galvanize them directly here on the spot, which of course makes us very flexible. If a customer needs a special solution, we can respond rapidly. If the products came from Vogtland, we would have to wait maybe six or seven weeks”, explains Per Kilvaer. Despite this great independence, the connection to MEISER in Germany is close. “In principle our cooperation was simple right from the start, because the mentalities in Norway and Germany are not that different. They are both open to the other culture. It was only the language issue that was not quite so simple initially.” Naturally the language problem has long since been overcome, and the relationship with the Meiser family is close: in Per Kilvaer’s office there is still a photograph showing him and Ulrich Meiser concluding the first contract. “I feel part of the family and I’m very proud of that.”

Per Kilvaer and his team are almost equally proud of the Holmenkollen project – which is hardly surprising, as the only steel ski jump in the world finally even has its own public holiday: At least in jest the Holmenkollen Ski Festival, which is held annually in March, is known as Norway’s “second” national holiday.

“It is always the people who make a difference to a company.”

The story of RST MEISER Nederland B.V. started on a tablecloth, on which Edmund Meiser sketched out the company he wanted to found in the Netherlands. Shortly before this, Franz Louwers had put his old friend in contact with a possible distribution partner: in January 1994 Ruud Enzlin travelled to Limbach to take a look at the production and get to know the company. “When Edmund Meiser asked me whether I was interested, my answer was a definite yes. I found it exciting, and could well imagine myself representing MEISER in the Netherlands. However, there was a problem: my boss at the time had no interest at all in selling gratings.” Edmund Meiser received this with a brief frown and suggested going for a meal first. They did this, and while the three gentlemen were sitting at the table together Edmund Meiser pulled out a pen: “He probably had the impression that I was a reasonable chap and because I thought the same about MEISER’s products, he started drawing the structure for the new company in the Netherlands on the paper tablecloth.” With that, founding the new company was a done deal. Shortly afterwards, Ruud Enzlin started – from scratch. But the learning curve rose steeply, and MEISER was soon able to book its first major order in the Netherlands. It was also thanks to the particular way of working and philosophy to which Ruud Enzlin attached great value: “A personal connection is simply very important. Which doesn’t mean you have to be constantly going out for a beer together.

I can also develop a good connection to my customers and business partners on the phone.” And it pays off: In 2004, RST MEISER Nederland B. V. received an order which doesn’t come along every day. It involved 50,000 m2 of material for Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport. But shortly after the contract was concluded, steel prices rose radically and Ruud Enzlin had to utilise his good relationship with the customer: “We were quickly and simply able to agree an increase to the contract. Then one year later, it was the customer who needed help and a concession when he was threatened with a contractual penalty from his client. We had to react quickly, and completed 7 weeks’ work in just 3 weeks, because the whole team was enormously committed, and people even came back from holiday to help. Naturally this kind of give and take requires huge trust.” Trust which Ruud Enzlin had in MEISER right from the very first day: he still has the tablecloth from the meeting with Edmund Meiser today: “I retrieved it for the 10th anniversary of RST MEISER Nederland B. V. being founded, and we drank coffee together on it once again.”

Certainly, the personal connection will continue to play a role in the future for Ruud Enzlin, his wife Jana Theilen-Enzlin and their five dedicated employees.

„A good partnership consists 80 % of trust.”

Chance, a mishap and communication without words – this is how you could probably sum up the way Hady MEISER Egypt started: while looking for an opportunity of operating in Africa, MEISER came across the Multi M Group based in Cairo. The traditional family-run company with around 1,000 employees had already been manufacturing and selling gratings in North Africa since the start of the 1990s. At the first meeting MEISER did not leave a lasting impression – but at least they left a business card, which disappeared into the wallet of Eslam El Sayed, the son of the El Sayed family which owned the company. Two weeks later he travelled to a trade fair in Essen to find out about modern manufacturing techniques. “I came back to my hotel room in the evening. I was tired and wanted to get changed. When doing so I dropped my wallet – and the entire contents lay spread out all over the floor.

While I was picking everything up again, the card fell into my hands. It was sheer chance.” Eslam El Sayed contacted MEISER, and just a short time later he had his first meeting with Edmund Meiser in Limbach: “I was impressed by the production, the quality and the organisation. So I told Edmund Meiser that I wanted his machines, to which he retorted that he didn’t sell machines and technology. But he could become my partner.” Trust quickly developed between the two owner families, El Sayed and Meiser: although neither of them spoke the other’s language, the both felt they were doing the right thing. “Our joint venture company didn’t grow out of any figures or agreements, but from a feel for one another and the partnership.” Nothing about this has changed right up to today: Wolfgang Meiser and Eslam El Sayed have now taken over for their fathers, and continued to maintain their good relationship. “We can rely on one another despite the huge distance.

We are always joking that we are almost like brothers.” This strong connection is also important because the cultures are so very different. “You can’t simply transport the German way of working and mentality to Egypt”, explains Eslam El Sayed. So here too, MEISER remains true to an important recipe for success, and allows Hady MEISER Egypt total freedom to act successfully locally: “Of course MEISER is there and helps us, but we have every opportunity of acting independently on the spot. Our motto is quite clear: If there is a problem, we will solve it.” And Hady MEISER Egypt does this successfully – despite the increase in competitive pressure. “For 11 years we were a monopolist, but that has changed now.

Yet MEISER has always invested to increase the capacity and quality. This means that today we can still exist successfully among the competition – and develop new ideas at the same time.”

“Our trump card is our flexibility and responsiveness. We want to retain these so that we can continue to grow.”

Facts and figures are important. But they are usually only the result of MEISER’s success, and not the basis: It is trust that really matters here – ensuring that managers are capable of decision making. Like François Bernardeau, Managing Director of MEISER Sarl: “I don’t have to constantly wait for approval, I’m able to act autonomously. This makes working very efficient, and of course it also makes everyday life very pleasant”.

But trust does not appear overnight, it has to grow – just like any connection: When François Bernardeau joined the company 15 years ago, MEISER had just taken over the grating and sheet metal profile planking manufacturer LE CAILLEBOTIS TOLARTOIS, and had merged all the French operating sites to form MEISER Sarl, headquartered in Béthune. “At that time the market situation was difficult and MEISER monitored the development of the site very closely from Germany. With every step in the right direction, the freedom this gave me in making my decisions grew too.” This means that MEISER Sarl can respond rapidly and flexibly – to the market, customers’ wishes, but also to trends and new opportunities. While the grating production was moved completely to Limbach in 2013, and at the same time the business was relocated from Béthune to the neighbouring Lestrem, the sheet metal profile gratings area was able to consolidate its strong market position in France. In addition, François Bernardeau had developed a completely new business area: barrier-free products and ramps were showing strong growth.

“The Meiser family is always open to new ideas. That was also the case when our largest trading partner drew our attention to the need for barrier-free products. We thereupon developed a corresponding product line, which we offered via the specialised online trade in France. This enabled us to appeal to customers in a completely new market, which is very large in France on the basis of a law on protecting people with disabilities.” The products from MEISER Sarl are fundamentally different from the competition, where materials such as rubber or plastic are mainly used: the barrier-free products made of aluminium, stainless steel and with a galvanised finish have benefits not only due to their materials, but also visually: “Today accessibility is an element of architecture too, particularly for public buildings.”

So products from MEISER have found their way into France’s national library and the National Assembly in Paris, where they impart security to people – and with it the trust from which they were developed.

“Good relationships are what matter most, with customers and the industry, but also among ourselves at MEISER.”

When Timo Koivistoinen met with Ulrich Meiser and Robert Vièl for the first time in Helsinki in July 2011, he could already look back on plenty of experience: he had already worked in the sector for 20 years, knew the business and the people in Finland. For MEISER, however, the Finnish market was still uncharted territory: “MEISER was on the lookout for expertise.

We soon came to terms, because there was a certain type of trust there right from the beginning. It was a conversation between equals, and we got on together in a very honest and friendly way.” Shortly afterwards MEISER took over the gratings division of Finnritilä OY, a company founded in 1979, which had developed over the years into the market leader in the gratings segment and one of the strongest grating suppliers in Scandinavia, and was sold to Helmet Capital in 2007. From then on, as Managing Director Timo Koivistoinen used his experience in the market: Finnritilä OY has developed into a strong market partner for northern Europe, and realises major projects such as power plants which require up to 40,000 m2 of material.

For Timo Koivistoinen, reliability is important for every project, however large or small: “In Finland, when you say you will go out for a coffee together, it’s not just rhetoric or small talk. It means that sooner or later you will ring to actually agree a date and time – and the other person expects this too.” This straightforward interaction characterises the relationships which the 5-person team around Timo Koivistoinen cultivate – and not just in their own country, but also with Sweden and of course with Germany. “We work very closely with the team in Oelsnitz. Many of our colleagues have also been there for a long time, have experience and get involved, which made things very easy for us right from the start.”

The work within the team remains constant, the market in Finland is dynamic – and the passion for selling continues to be a major factor for the success of Finnritilä OY

“I can give my best, but trust always has to come from the other person – as it does with MEISER.”

They were not strangers, but friends: Back in 2010 MEISER decided to enter the market in Brazil, and founded a cutting plant in Mogi Mirim, 80 km from São Paulo – directly opposite Marangoni, a Brazilian family-run company. The business relationship between supplier and customer quickly grew into more: “It was difficult for MEISER in Brazil at that time, the cultural differences are simply very great. They had the product, and we had the service. So one day Wolfgang Meiser came over to me and said that in principle there were only two options: either MEISER would leave Brazil, or I would become his partner”, says Ricardo Marangoni Brandao Bueno, who has been Managing Director of Marangoni MEISER pisos metálicos Ltda. since 2012. He liked the suggestion, but at the same time he had misgivings because he had already had experience of partnerships – and they were not the best: “We have a saying in Brazil: if you have a partner, you have a boss.

But this time there was a major difference: MEISER is a family business – just like Marangoni. With the same values and ideas.” So they understood one another, and their mutual understanding developed into a deep bond, with a shared strategy for the future: the joint venture between the two companies was conceived as a long-term partnership built on mutual trust: “Our industry and our business here are something you have to look after like a baby, with plenty of love and energy”, explains Ricardo Marangoni. In addition, it needs one thing in particular: communication, to understand the culture, lifestyle and attitude: “Germany and Brazil are just different, and you have to accept that. Fighting against it would be a losing battle.” Above all, to be successful you have to immerse yourself more deeply in the culture, and look behind the scenes of the warm weather and beautiful beaches: “The motto of Brazilian businesses is often: We will find a way. Of course that is very non-committal. But in the meantime we have actually found a way: namely a good middle way, not too German and not too Brazilian.”

Marangoni MEISER is continuing along this path – towards success.

“Reliability is in our blood – and we will continue in just the same way in the future too.”

In early 2004, when the opportunity arose for Alexander Imhof to merge with MEISER Gitterroste (Schweiz) AG, it immediately aroused his curiosity. The framework conditions were right: over the years his own company, PMI Gitterroste AG, had developed into a leading commercial company in the gratings sector in Switzerland. However, MEISER had just completed a change of strategy with its takeover of Wema or Eberspächer Gitterroste AG, at that time the best-known grating manufacturer in Switzerland, in order to better tap into the Swiss market. “Erich Petry and I met for the first time in Basle, in the middle so to speak. My head was convinced very fast, but my gut feel took a bit longer”, says Alexander Imhof, who runs the business and holds 50 % of the company’s share capital alongside MEISER. But that too followed just a few months later – and turned out to be right: today PMI MEISER Gitterroste AG based in Weiningen near Zürich successfully looks after the Swiss market.

The two former competitors work closely together, and because of their relative proximity, regular personal contact is also possible: “In principle it’s like in a marriage. There are highs and lows, but we are going down the path together whatever happens”, explains Alexander Imhof. Reliability is also important for the 6-person team on the spot. Ultimately safety plays a major role for sales in Switzerland and the principality of Lichtenstein: “When we Swiss are waiting to cross the street, we look right and left twice, then we hear precisely whether there might still be a car coming and then we go when it’s all clear. It’s no different when it comes to business. We can create trust in our customers by working precisely.” So precision is paramount, even if the project is small: “Switzerland is small, so of course we have a lot of small projects, but we often grow very fond of them.”

It is precisely these familial structures which make MEISER stand out – and make for a special connection.