The last interview in the series today is with an employee who has been loyal to Clouth for over 30 years. Joachim Szczyrba tells us when and how he came to Joh. Clouth in a personal interview.

From further education to Clouth

“I was still attending a further education college until 30/01/1990. At this time, I also got to know the then technical manager at Clouth. He offered me a job as a machining technician”, remembers Joachim Szczyrba who started to work at Joh. Clouth just 10 days after passing his final exams.

“I was employed on the trimming machine and am still working there. It was the right decision for me!”, he says happily.

He continues: “I like my work, it’s varied and you can decide how you want to organise yourself. Also, there are always new innovations that provide constant challenges.”

Development and growth

Mr Szczyrba has experienced many changes at Clouth. “The development of the previously small family business into the modern Clouth Group was tremendous”, he says and adds: “In matters of safety, technology and the company structure, there have been very many positive changes for employees.”

He is particularly interested in technology and innovation: “The company always tries to position itself with the latest technology on the market in order to set a significant benchmark in the sector. The introduction of forward-looking innovations ensure that we remain competitive and therefore secure all of our jobs.”

Mr Szczyrba has already optimised processes and contributed to changes himself thanks to his ideas: “The changes to my job over the last 31 years at Clouth are immense. From a small company with just a few employees to the large Clouth Group. But the changes do not just apply to technology and to the large fleet but also to the diversity of the items manufactured. The jobs are perfectly tailored to each other here and safety is the top priority.”, he praises.

Premiere of the first coater blades

If you have been working at a company for so long and been involved in producing the different items, you always experience product developments that are more than successful! Joachim Szczyrba was involved in production of the first coater blades and says: “On 30/01/1991, we were finally able to produce the first coater blades on the trimming machine after a great deal of teething trouble. Looking back, this was my first positive experience. The quality was as high back then as it is now.”

He explains: “You have to realise that production of doctor blades and creping doctors was in full swing back then. However, production of coater blades was new and posed a great challenge to us, and therefore great success to me personally together with the Joh. Clouth team.”

We end our “People at Clouth” series with these kind words and would like to thank Joachim Szczyrba for this interesting interview and the journey into Clouth's past.

The summer break is upon us over the next few weeks. We’ll be back in September. Until then, we recommend our articles about occupational safety again or the visit our trainee pages.

Have a pleasant, sunny and relaxing summer.

The Clouth Media Crew