Cross-linked industries: Workers from the aviation industry assist WEINMANN Emergency in the production of ventilators
07-01-2020 | News
The medical devices manufacturer WEINMANN Emergency has received short-term assistance from the Aviation Cluster for the booming production of urgently needed ventilators. So far, 12 workers have been supplied by the industry-leading personnel service provider AviationPower.
The coronavirus crisis is posing new challenges for the economy: While manufacturers in the medical technology industry expand production in order to continue fulfilling their customers' orders in the face of increased market demand, other industries are in a situation where certain activities are being temporarily reduced to a minimum.
In Hamburg, these two cases have recently created a win-win situation, as a cross-sector supply and demand for personnel have been brought together. This was mediated by the two north German industry networks Life Science Nord and Hamburg Aviation, who have been in contact with many of ‘their’ stakeholders since the crisis began to find out about their current situation and pandemic-related challenges. In the search for potential synergies, it turned out that the aviation and medical technology industries are not quite as different as one would expect.
“The diverse and often incredibly high demands placed on the employees in their respective entirely safety-relevant work processes are actually very similar,” summarizes Christian Kokot from AviationPower. “A pronounced sense of responsibility, a precise working style, accurate documentation and a great deal of sensitivity to the issue of occupational safety, for example, are essential in both industries.”
In other words, ideal conditions for deploying currently unemployed workers from the aviation industry, affected by the coronavirus crisis, into the medical technology industry.
Together, they have so far managed to successfully integrate 12 workers from AviationPower into the ongoing production process of WEINMANN Emergency within a very short period of time. Until recently, all the workers from the AviationPower Group were employed in production or service jobs at aviation companies.
Marcus Schmid, Legal Counsel at WEINMANN Emergency, also attests to this: “From the very beginning, the collaboration with Aviation Power was uncomplicated and reliable. We are delighted with the active assistance in the assembly of new devices at our plant in Henstedt-Ulzburg. Our team leaders have informed me that we have been provided with highly qualified and experienced employees who, in a very short time, have already successfully integrated themselves into our teams of experienced and highly dedicated employees, who are currently working in shifts.”
Christian Kokot is pleased that the integration has also gone so smoothly “at a human level”: “We are delighted about the smooth and pragmatic cooperation with the employees from AviationPower. Our colleagues were very warmly welcomed and extremely quickly and comprehensively instructed. We would also like to thank our employees, who have demonstrated a high degree of flexibility and thus also made a significant contribution to the success of this cross-industry cooperation.”
A cooperation that can certainly be described as a small success story in these challenging times and which deserves to continue. Hinrich Habeck, Managing Director of the Life Science Nord cluster, agrees: “Together with our colleagues from the Aviation Cluster, we have pooled our resources across industry boundaries and thus contributed to the expansion of capacities for the production of ventilators, which, of course, play a vital role in the coronavirus pandemic. We hope and are working to ensure that further cooperations of this nature will guarantee the production of key goods and will provide workers with good employment."
