Description of business and digitisation

OLBRICH GmbH is a globally active, innovative company. As a company of the engineering industry, we work at three locations in Germany and abroad with over 800 employees. In the Converting division, we are a system provider for machines and systems for the production of web-type products such as wallpaper, floor coverings, foils and technical textiles. We have been developing efficient and at the same time sustainable line concepts together with our customers according to their individual requirements for a long time. Our technologies and solutions promote sustainable development worldwide. Sustainable thinking and acting is therefore also reflected in our processes and products - along the entire value chain. Creating more value through our business activities and at the same time reducing our ecological footprint - that is our goal!

Years in business

Foundation: May 01, 1949

Size of your business

Around 450 employees spread over several locations

Supports to set up your business and digitisation

Pitfalls and challenges

Opportunities and plans for the future

Description of business and digitisation

We are a medium-sized and owner-managed family business that has felt at home in Bocholt for more than 170 years. We are experts when it comes to products and services in the areas of steel and technical trade. As a wholesaler and service provider, we see ourselves as an active interface between the needs of our customers and the range of services of our suppliers. We started writing our success story in 1848. Without our 230 employees, none of these chapters would be filled with life.

Years in business

G. Elsinghorst Stahl und Technik GmbH has existed for 174 years

Size of your business

Employees: 230 Customers: 4,000 Locations: 5 Items: 90,000 stock items

Supports to set up your business and digitisation

Pitfalls and challenges

Learning should be fun! The greatest challenge when implementing digital learning processes is to create a learning offer that picks up everyone. Because digital learning will only be used if the needs of the different types of learners are met.

Opportunities and plans for the future

The world is changing and at Elsinghorst we keep up with meaningful ideas. As the fifth-oldest company in Bocholt, tradition and innovation are important to us. In the context of digital learning, this means that we constantly seek out new opportunities and combine them with our proven training courses. With our own e-learning platform, we can access learning materials about our products and services from anywhere and deepen our knowledge. The advantage of this is that learning is possible around the clock and can take place where we prefer it.

Description of business and digitisation

Pieron GmbH is one of the leading suppliers of technical springs, rings, stamped-bent and wire-bent parts. What customers appreciate about our company's distinctive ability to develop intelligent solutions and to solutions and to implement them quickly and reliably. Pieron GmbH is able to these special solutions - from the idea to the prototype to the series series production - thanks to experienced design and development, a flexible flexibly controlled production and an excellently equipped tool shop. completely independently.

Years in business

Since 1925

Size of your business

270 employees

Supports to set up your business and digitisation

Today, in the 4th generation, we no longer know much about the support. Banks were certainly at the ready to help clarify the financial conditions and helped them "learn to walk the walk". learn to walk".

Pitfalls and challenges

At a time when the topic of "digitalisation" has a very high priority, one quickly realises you quickly realise where you still have some catching up to do. This also applies, among other things of the topic of training. We have to be more modern in this area and give young people the opportunity to access learning and teaching material at any time and learning and teaching material at any time and from any place. A company itself is becoming more and more networked and the conditions for this must also be created. This means courage and financial support.

Opportunities and plans for the future

The implementation of digital learning and teaching processes offers great opportunities. opportunities. In the future, we will not only communicate digitally with our customers and digitally with our customers and suppliers, but also with machines, communicate with each other, report requirements, trigger orders and report errors. For specialists will connect to the machine remotely and, if possible, rectify the error. And, if possible, rectify the fault. The Pieron company will follow this path and set itself up in a modern way. It will not be an easy, stony path, but in the end it will be the right way to successfully serve the market for technical springs.

Description of business and digitisation

LMC is proud to be our community’s provider of technical, professional, and creative education, focused on providing young people and adults with the skills and knowledge to enable them to progress into employment or on to further study. We work closely with our local employers to shape every curriculum pathway, ensuring our graduating students are highly employable with the skills that local businesses need. As a key Apprenticeship provider in the local area, we have links to over 700 employers, delivering. Apprenticeships across 30 occupational areas. We have a team dedicated to matching employer vacancies with the right candidate, which often leads to a full-time job. We also work closely with local employers to equip our graduating Apprentices to be well placed to secure full-time employment with businesses across the region, or to progress onto further study.

Years in business

Lancaster and Morecambe college has this year celebrated its 200th year of operations, providing technical education in the local area. Predominantly engineering.

Size of your business

The annual turnover for LMC is roughly around £12 million pounds. We work with over 500 clients/employers and have over 1000 staff members who work for LMC.

Supports to set up your business and digitisation

In all honesty, not great. We feel this is similar for other companies and training providers. We are beginning to see more resources become digitized and we are beginning to move forward as a company. We have secured a new CNC machine. We believe that more digitisation is required. In other areas of the college, we use e-portfolio's, however in the engineering industry and in particular metal working are still using paper-based systems and portfolios. This project is relevant in helping turn to a digitized approach to learners. We are very much at the beginning phases of turning business digital. We expect that financial restraints may be the setback into turning the company fully digital, we will also look at customer demand and listen to our employers on their thoughts. The main recommendations are that a blended approach would be more beneficial than a fully digitised approach, certainly on the training provisions we offer. Some courses require a hands-on approach that cannot be provided on a digitised approach. A lot of businesses are scared to invest in the technology that will ensure digital training.

Pitfalls and challenges

I think the main challenge that I can forsee as a company, in terms of digitisation is staff training. This could be a lengthy and expensive process. With the correct training and digitizing our business, we could offer a cost-effective service. Some people, in the engineering and metal working industry, are not computer literate. As they have been working in a predominately hands on business, the need to be able to use digital platforms was non-existent. Now increased companies and moving forward with the times. We plan to move the business into digitisation where possible. We have trailed some online resources on an 18th edition electrical course. The resources were well put together and full of detail/content. We usually have a 98% pass rate for this course, yet by doing it digitally we got a 13% pass rate. A blended learning approach would be better potentially. In 10 years', time I expect us to have moved forward as a company with new innovative ideas being trailed. We plan to move forward on this!!

Opportunities and plans for the future