Allit AG Kunststofftechnik

17 Plastic brought to life. Safety helmets: compulsory on building sites, just as they are when working for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). And it’s no coincidence that many of them come from Allit. At the beginning of the 1970s we started collaborating with the company Voss, who are the second-biggest producers of safety helmets for the manufacturing and construction indus- tries. Allit became their main supplier, with peak production of up to 4,000 helmets a day. The history of this helmet parallels our evolu- tion from contract manufacturer to industry player. Initially we produced the helmets using the moulds we were provided with, but later we constructed new moulds on the basis of our new-found understanding and designed our own inner fittings, for which we then obtained industrial property rights. All this is easier said than done, because before being approved for use by the THW or the emergency services, safety helmets must satisfy stringent standards that had to be documented every day. Only then were they awarded the TÜV Rheinland GS kite mark. For example, the item has to guarantee a high degree of uniformity, because plastic is a ‘living’ material that will respond very differently under varying processing conditions. For in- stance, plastic molecules become mobile when heated, but they return to a rigid state within 25 seconds when cooled from over 200°C back down to room temperature, and this has to be borne in mind during manufacture – all the more so given that the helmet is produced in a variety of different thicknesses. From a struc- tural point of view, the guiding principle is that every molecule counts. Once again, then, in the course of executing an order we learnt a great deal, which we could apply to all our future operations. This is what we call gaining know- ledge through experience. Everything is connected. When developing new items our employees are trained to consider their automatic integration into our production processes. The findings from our continuous improvement process (CIP – for more details see ‘Guided tour 3’) are shared with all concerned, thus setting the course for straightforward, safe and efficient operations right from the start. Save lives. Be comfortable to wear. Offer good value for money. Comply with every standard. And much more besides. The safety helmet had to deliver on all these fronts. And look good at the same time – or at least we thought so.