From carpenter for carpenters

2021/04/09   |   Germering   |   Germany

Germering is just outside Munich, the freeway is just a stone's throw away. In all other aspects the town is rather tranquil. However, since 2017, the town has a new attraction: an impressive wooden hall, situated directly at the entrance to the town. The hall houses a carpentry business, a startup, a high-tech company, an internationally active supplier and a service business. But the commercial register contains not five companies located at Augsburger Strasse 3 but just one: Lindinger Holztechnik GmbH.

From a classic carpentry to a partner for classic carpentries.

The business has been located in Germering since time immemorial. The story started in Salzstrasse, in the middle of the residential area. At some point, however, the space became too small for the machines, the orders and above all, the goals. Even raising the roof can’t change that. Therefore, the construction of the new hall starts in 2016—an enormous project, some locals describe it as a suicide mission. The hall is too big, and probably too expensive, and some think Ludwig Lindinger is simply mad. And what can we say: maybe Ludwig Lindinger is a little bit mad, but just in a decidedly positive way. With a committed team, a clear vision and a hefty portion of courage, he has made Lindinger Holztechnik what it is today: a highly automated high-tech carpentry that supplies its partners with the highest quality at the highest speed—but still remains down to earth. Regardless of whether customers want trimming services, serial products from batch size 1 or complex furnishing, furniture, trade fair or store construction projects—Lindinger supports small and large carpentry businesses as a 100% supplier from CAD planning to cabinet production. To do this, the company needs the right machines, processes and software. And here, even though it sounds almost too kitschy for him, “only the best is good enough” for Ludwig Lindinger. This is because when other carpenters come to him, they want first-class goods that they can set up at their customers without any problems. Ultimately, the master carpenter is responsible for their good reputation.

Inspiration: LIGNA, Perfection: Lindinger

To meet these demands, Ludwig Lindinger uses HOMAG. Even in Salzstrasse the company uses machines from the global market leader. According to Karl-Heinz Brauneisen, HOMAG sales manager for the southern region, the proprietor shows his courage again for the new hall—in three different ways all at once: courage for innovation, automation and for the performance class. The machines used at the company in Germering are not exactly typical of those for a business employing fifteen people. The same is true of the level of automation. Inspired by a HOMAG concept at LIGNA, together with the experts from Denkendorf, Ludwig Lindinger worked out a concept that is unique in this form: the customer makes a call, programming specialist and master carpenter Florian Seeholzer designs the jobs in the work preparation process and then everything happens very quickly. All data goes to production fully automatically. The next day, the workpiece is finished and ready for collection. There are therefore almost no warehouse stocks. According to Ludwig Lindinger, the trick is to have “an empty hall but full order books.” However, this requires the right software. For the proprietor, the software is the “fuel for the machine.” Therefore, in addition to Cut Rite, woodWOP and woodFlex, he also uses ControllerMES. The production progress, utilization and machine status can therefore all be viewed in real time. However, the production didn’t always run as smoothly as it does today.

2017: Every beginning is hard

A plant of this size rarely works perfectly the first day. So it was to be expected that the unique concept meant everything would take longer. And it is actually a real challenge for everyone involved. The period is marked by lots of telephone calls and weekend work. “But the team from Lindinger always kept going,” says Karl-Heinz Brauneisen. The innovative project is also very dear to the HOMAG management: which is why Dr. Markus Vöge, EVP Sales & Marketing HOMAG Group, and Ludwig Lindinger meet in the new hall. After some good conversations, the partners take their leave of one another feeling reassured that the plant will work smoothly. And it does. With tenacity and a high level of commitment, the partners complete the project together. Since 2018 the machines have been working at full speed. But, as Ludwig Lindinger knows, “a machine is only as good as the person operating it.” If you don’t have good people, having the best machines means nothing. And Ludwig Lindinger does have good people around him. He knows that, and he’s visibly proud of it. A lot of people have been with him for years and practice the family-oriented corporate culture just like the boss himself. He has to almost force the edge expert to take vacation; on the way to the machine the trainee disposes of some chips; and in the lunch break, everyone cooks some German currywurst together. A lot of small details that make the business what it is overall. At this point, we must also mention Michaela Scheel. The commercial manager is not just the good soul of the company, she’s also very handy with social media.

All she needs is a rough outline—nothing more

On Instagram, for example, you can get a good impression of the business and its services. One thing quickly becomes clear: even though the machine pool is high-tech, it is real carpenters that work here, carpenters who have wood in their blood. Superb kitchens made from matured wood, unique items of furniture or complete furnishings—at Lindinger, carpenters get top quality at dizzying speeds. Lindinger Holztechnik GmbH therefore provides vital support for many colleagues, regardless of whether they want to extend their capacities or use the highly efficient high-tech production. An edge example: in addition to the PUR process, with the laserTec edge processing, Lindinger provides highly accurate zero joints that ensure a significantly more homogeneous look and greater durability. And because Ludwig Lindinger has been passionate about CNC for more than 20 years, the latest technology is also used there. This is the case for every one of the networked work processes: contractual trimming, CAD design, cutting, surface handling. Always the latest technology for its partners—right up to shipping. However, the best thing for potential partners is that a rough outline is all that is needed in most cases. Everything else is clarified and set underway in a joint discussion and in the design. Speaking of getting things underway: together with Karl-Heinz Brauneisen, Ludwig Lindinger is already planning to extend the machine pool with an automatic throughfeed drilling machine with an integrated high-bay warehouse—to make things even more efficient. Standstill is obviously a foreign word for Ludwig Lindinger.