This was also the case for a group of six former Haver & Boecker employees, who spent almost two years compiling a 384-page, 2.3 kg book on the entire packaging technology of the Haver & Boecker Machinery Division.
What was initially intended to be a relaxed article about a single technology for the employee magazine HB-Kurier developed after the coronavirus pandemic and thanks to a template provided by Alois Combrink, former Head of the Research and Development department, and Bernhard Allendorf, former Head of Strategic Sales, into a comprehensive work describing all the machine technology that the machine factory has developed in its 100 years of existence. This was made possible by the cooperation of five former employees, who joined forces with Dr Reinhold Festge. Against the backdrop of the company’s anniversary, Managing Partners of the fourth generation set out to spend their free time together as book authors.
In doing so, they brought the combined experience of over 225 years at Haver & Boecker to the table. Firstly, there is Wolfgang Haschke (89), who as former Sales Director had his eye on the major international projects. Alongside Alois Combrink (78), Mechanical Engineer Burkhard Reploh (73) covered the technical expertise as former Division Manager. The electrical engineering and automation sector was represented by Peter Gerdhenrich (75) from Neubeckum, former head of the department of the same name. While Dr Reinhold Festge (79) set the direction and put his well-known ‘writing’ to use, Andrea Stahnke (63) held the organisational and editorial reins.
This comprehensive work describes the two major areas of valve bag technology and open bag technology and provides an insight into the present and the future. It primarily contains technical texts with corresponding photos compiled from the company archive, brochures and the employee magazine – with support from Petra Hermes, Marketing Employee at the HB Machinery Division. Once the first extensive section had been created, work began on the layout of the book, which was taken care of by Christina Scheiwe from Festge. In the meantime, the search for images continued.
After a good year and a half of work, the book went to print at the beginning of April 2025. Everyone involved celebrated this milestone with a glass of sparkling wine. The result is an invaluable asset for the company archive, but above all for the employees who have shaped the company over the past 100 years, as well as for all customers who have placed their trust in those responsible and spurred them on.
On 9 May – shortly before the first customer event – a delegation from the editorial team presented the comprehensive work to Florian Festge, Managing Partner of the Machinery Division.