Smooth floors that are particularly easy to clean, fly screens in front of the windows and controlled ventilation. Anyone who wants to enter the room has to go through a hygiene sluice: This is what the new work areas of the IWL workshops for people with disabilities in Machtlfing look like. The employees put together special equipment for dentists from plastic on behalf of the Seefeld company 3M Espe. The injection molded parts look like syringes and are used to apply material for dental impressions or cement for bridges or fillings. Therefore, high standards of cleanliness apply here. The new rooms for “Hygiene Montage 2”, as the department is called, have now been officially inaugurated.
“Nice and quiet, nicely sorted,” is how one of the employees praised the new rooms. Soundproof panels are attached to the walls, which absorb noise and thus make the working atmosphere more pleasant.
Up to 50,000 spindles and cannulas are now assembled every week
The Isar-Würm-Lech workshops, headquartered in Landsberg, have the task of offering vocational rehabilitation to people with disabilities. The company employs a total of 700 people, with around 180 in Machtlfing alone. Some work in a carpentry shop, others in horticulture or as cleaners. However, hygiene assembly was and is the largest area. So far there have been 30 jobs there. The expansion has now added ten more. This is mainly due to the fact that IWL has taken on additional orders. Up to 50,000 spindles and cannulas are now assembled every week, and around 10,000 for another part.
It is filigree but also monotonous work that is done here in large numbers. It requires finesse, a lot of concentration and a great deal of perseverance. “It must be fun,” says Franziska Strauss from 3M Quality Management. She convinces herself again and again that the requirements of her company in terms of quality and hygiene are met. And she can imagine that there will be even more to do in Machtlfing in the future: “It’s a sure-fire success,” she says of the product, some of which is assembled there. “It sells like hot cakes. The customers are enthusiastic. The numbers will definitely increase.”
At the celebration on Wednesday, the Machtflinger works manager Alexander Härtl described the Seefeld company as a “favorite customer”, the cooperation has been going on for more than 20 years. It all started in modest conditions in an attic, he recalled during a tour. The particularly clean area was only separated by a line on the floor: “That’s how it started.” The cooperation has paid off. “It’s nice that it’s been working so well for so long,” stressed Härtl. IWL people are now also working at 3M Espe. There are also such field assignments at other companies such as the boat engine manufacturer Torqueedo and the Andechser brewery.
Mayor Georg Scheitz once again emphasized the importance of the IWL workshops for the municipality of Andechs. In order to secure the location, it was important to remove the company premises from the landscape protection. The next extension is already being planned. The land in the north of the previous company premises on Traubinger Straße has been bought, the land use plan has been changed, now only a funding commitment is missing. The production sites are to be accommodated in a new building. There are initially four and later up to seven groups and, in the medium term, an expansion of the joinery. According to a call for donations by the IWL workshops, around two million euros would be needed for this. So far, you still have to make do with a temporary solution in two dozen containers.