Klöcker Bros. reorganize production
Weseke (kus). The end of the weaving shuttle era in Weseke approaches. After more than 80 years, Klöcker Bros. close down the production of the wooden parts being commonly known as „weaving ships“. Weaving shuttles are being inserted into weaving machines, contain the yarn and are being moved back and forth. The company had produced around 60.000 weaving shuttles per year at last.
„We will close down the production of weaving shuttles, not the company“, the general manager Dr. Christoph Schwemmlein expressed. The company rather will be realigned. The focus will be tool design and construction. Besides textile companies, also customers being subject to the automotive and air conditioning sector will be supplied. „We will detach ourselves from focussing solely on the textile sector“, Schwemmlein said. The 50 jobs in Weseke will be maintained. Two present employees working at the premises in Weseke have learned the weaving shuttle handcraft professionally. One of them will be retrained. The other one is close to retirement.
The situation is different at the subsidiary SKD in Indonesia. The number of employees will decrease there, Schwemmlein said. He did not provide any further information concerning the number of people working at SKD. The site in Indonesia will have to move due to the restructuring of the production.
Schwemmlein cited two reasons for the abandonment of the weaving shuttle production. On the one hand, purchasing the raw materal being white beech wood was a long-term business. On the other hand, the increasing electricity costs tipped the scale. Nevertheless, the company wants to keep one weaving shuttle, being the one in the company logo. However, the chimney overtopping the premises will disappear. In the course of the renovation, a bypass road will be built from the premises to the adjoining estate which was bought by Klöcker in 2010 and could be used by the company in the future. „But first of all we are starting to build in Indonesia now“, Schwemmlein said.
Source: Daily Newspaper “Borkener Zeitung”, March 6th, 2012