Protected Workshop St. Pölten
The quality makers
Doorplates, camera housings, control systems for escalators in London and bespoke parts for car doors: What do these things have in common? They are all made by the Protected Workshop St. Pölten. The company has conquered its place in the free market by specifically counting on quality management, standards and certificates.
- Ing. Daxbacher, Protected Workshop St. Pölten
[2007-04-02] “Standards define a framework in which we can use our creativity and flexibility in a targeted way,” says Ing. Alfred Daxbacher. In his function as the quality manager of Geschützte Werkstätte St. Pölten Ges.m.b.H. (Protected Workshop St. Pölten), he is at the interface between organisation, work and external presentation.
The offices of the headquarters in Hart near St. Pölten prove that this is not only his personal opinion: Right in the lobby, the company showcases the ISO 9001 certificate, an environmental management award, quality labels and other “quality trophies”.
A great variety
The Workshop does not merely manufacture a single product. Its activities range from contract processing to the supply of components and entire systems. The product range covers seven areas. The most important segments are electrical assembling as well as metal working and processing.
For the big customers SIMEA (Siemens Industrial Manufacturing, Engineering and Applications) and Schindler (elevators and escalators), for example, the company produces control cabinets, cable harnesses, controls, thyristor groups, high-performance heat sinks, turned, milled, stamped and bent parts and much more.
At the headquarters in Hart, the focus is on diverse metal working and locksmith products: car components, special parts for gearboxes and specialised welding work. In the nearby production hall in St. Pölten, control cabinets are assembled for international customers, cables are perfectly pre-assembled and, in most cases, the related housings are produced individually. The factory located in Gmünd processes textiles.
Last year, the Protected Workshop generated revenues of 25 million euro. Persons with special needs account for 71 percent of its employees. Hence, sanitary facilities for handicapped employees and ramps for wheelchair users are a matter of course.
- Credit: Protected Workshop St. Pölten
Special needs
Some of those who work at the Protected Workshop suffered an injury on their skilled jobs that made it impossible for them to return to a “normal” workplace, e.g. the installer who broke three vertebrae.
Today, he can work here and meticulously installs cables in control cabinets. As he cannot sit or stand any longer after one hour, a specially designed worktable was built for him. With his foot, he can lift and tilt the table so that he can continue to work. Such adaptations go far beyond any standard and regulation.
The best way
Standards are important for the company especially in its external presentation. “We adjust the quality of our products and services to the requirements of the customers and the market,” explains Mr. Daxbacher.
He is responsible for quality management certification according to ÖNORM EN ISO 9001 in the company and will make efforts to obtain international product certificates in the future. Gradually, the planning system is aligned to ISO 14001 (environmental management), but the Protected Workshop still wants to wait before embarking on certification. “Standards ensure compatibility, define a code of good practice and provide guidance,” states Mr. Daxbacher.
- Credit: Protected Workshop St. Pölten
International success
The success achieved proves the strategy right. Since the company’s foundation approximately 25 years ago, the small workshop that had less than ten employees grew to become a medium-sized and eventually into a big industrial company — at least by Austrian standards.
It employs approximately 450 people who manufacture products for diversified markets. Ten percent of the production is exported, e.g. to Germany, England and North America. SIMEA has already awarded the preferred supplier status to the Protected Workshop St. Pölten several times.
A wrong attitude
Standards are seldom experienced as an obstacle. “If the users do not realise the purpose and meaning of standards, further explanations are needed,” says Mr. Daxbacher. Frequently people believe that standards are prescriptions that must be observed.
Mr. Daxbacher holds a different view: “We take account of the requirements laid down in standards because we want to achieve our objectives.” And this attitude may be the secret behind the success of the Protected Workshop St. Pölten.
