When he started 50 years ago, he was still too small to stand at the workbench: that's why reinhold ramer was soon given a small platform the height of a euro pallet, which he had to pull behind him when he changed jobs. No wonder that he attracted all eyes on him and for his podium was soon known company-wide.
That was a long time ago: in the meantime, he is no longer an apprentice, but also trains – and he is no longer known for his pedestal, but for something else that no one before him has achieved at the luminaire manufacturer RZB: the 50th anniversary of his employment.
After that, however, it will soon be over, he reveals: on the 31st of january. January, his 65th birthday. On his 60th birthday, he goes into well-deserved retirement. But he will certainly not be bored, because, as he says, he is only changing companies: "from RZB to the company "desdoo"" – with the words "do' desdoo and do' desdoo", he predicts with a wink, his wife will keep him on his toes.
From manual labor to high-tech
But it's still a little while before the trained toolmaker can retire – a job title that no longer exists, he explains. "Today he is a toolmaker."
And Ramer has also undergone a number of other changes over the course of time. For example: "in the past, a final test took 21 or 22 hours, spread over two and a half days, so a lot of filing had to be done by hand. Today, the apprentices only have six and a half hours to do it." but of course there are more and better technical aids for this.
At RZB, for example, the "agie, a swiss eroding machine that can cut the finest contours in or out of metal with the help of a wire. And no one today has to transport steel by the hundredweight while it is still warm.
Not a blob "a knobla" print
"Nevertheless", according to managing director alexander zimmermann "the toolmakers are still the ones who are under the most pressure."
"it will take at least three months", says ramer "until a tool is finished." and the toolmakers are at the end of a long chain of designs, prototypes and further improved designs. When the product is finally ready for mass production, the tools for it should also be available as quickly as possible.
The quality must not be neglected, and the managing director attaches great importance to this: "we only use high-quality, long-lasting materials!" millions of parts can be made from one tool. Whereby "tools in this case, he is not referring to the usual DIY equipment but, for example, to the molds in which the lamp housings are pressed out of plastic granulate in press molds.
That is also one of the reasons why reinhold ramer has remained at RZB for so long: "here i am allowed to make tools for all the machines, not like at other companies where you are allowed to print a button blob!" he also praises the good working atmosphere – in the whole company, where everybody still knows everybody, but of course also among the colleagues in the tool shop.
Responsible for over a hundred apprentices
Head of human resources bernhard schonlein and head of the company zimmermann can in turn express their praise for "one of the cornerstones of the RZB team" just give it back: reliable, hard-working, and conscientious is the ramer, they say. Over the years, he has also been involved in the training of around 100 apprentices and trainees. "And this is still modestly calculated!", emphasizes schonlein.
Ramer himself says modestly: "I just enjoy passing on the knowledge and the little tricks that you have acquired over the years."
During a small ceremony, zimmermann and schonlein thanked ramer with an anniversary bonus of two and a half months' salary and a day of special leave. But RZB's other long-serving employees, who don't have quite as many years under their belt, were also honored with gifts in kind and monetary contributions.