Highlights of 75 years - Hettich

1/2005
A magazine for customers of Hettich International
1930 to
2005
Highlights of 75 years
By tomorrow, today will be history

Publication data
Publisher:
Hettich Marketing- und Vertriebs
GmbH & Co. KG
P. O. Box 1240
2 D-32269 Kirchlengern
Editors:
Cornelia Hackenbruch M.A.
Wilfried Wadsack
Layout & Production:
Hettich Management
Service GmbH
Tel.: +49 (0) 5223 77-1736
Fax: +49 (0) 5223 77-1737
E-mail: info@de.hettich.com
All rights reserved.
Printed in Germany 04/2005

Yesterday, today
and tomorrow
Hettich‘s 75th anniversary is just one point on the past-future continuum. The
history of our company is far more than a run of sales figures or even a collection
of events and experiences. It is the story of people. People whose ideas and hard work
have made the company what it is today. People who deserve our admiration and
gratitude.
It‘s natural to be fascinated by the future. Newness always has a powerful attraction.
But it also pays to look back. To review the company‘s progress and growth. We‘re
satisfied with what we have achieved. Keep up the good work!
If yesterday is worth a passing thought, tomorrow makes stronger demands on business
judgement. In Germany and worldwide, opportunities and risks are often only a hair‘s
breadth apart. We need to be aware of both and yet to act decisively to shape our
future.
The familiar dimensions are changing. Our future market is not Germany, not Europe,
but the world. A world in a state of constant change. Technology is shrinking geographic
distances and bringing people together. Structures are converging. As ever, global
thinking must translate into local action.
This issue of in time documents a changing scene. Product systems mature. Service
concepts open up new added-value chains. Process innovations change our corporate
culture. Customers become partners. International production and sales companies
feature more strongly in the company picture.
One principle is as valid today as it has been for 75 years: the measure of all our
activities is customer satisfaction. It‘s the repeating pattern running through our whole
company history. And it‘s the formula for future success.
Ingo Schubert
President and CEO
Hettich Holding GmbH & Co. oHG
editorial
3

4
current news
Hettich on tour
Trade shows 2005/2006 6
Highlights of 75 years
By tomorrow, today will be history 7
Winners honoured in the
Architecture Lounge
International Design Award attracts
1,153 entries from 24 countries 12
Hettich Franke
Fit for the future 14
Greve Innenausbau GmbH
Specializing in success 16
innovation
InnoTech drawer system
Seeing the difference 17
Planning for functionality
and ease of use
Intelligent Kitchens 18
Enjoying a quiet life
Silent System – sounds great! 20
The future is innovation
Honeycomb core board – new favourite
for the furniture industry 22
InLine for flush-closing sliding doors
Slide by slide 23
Light and shade, form and emotion
Setting the scene with light 24
Page 12
Page 32
Allianz Arena:
spectacular sports
architecture
World class quality
for VIP boxes
Page 29
Page 27
Hettich Strothmann’s three-tier
product strategy
ProDecor an international brand 25
Evolution Office
Scenarios for tomorrow’s workplaces 26
service
A different kind of headset
Augmented reality adds a new
view of the world 27
ProjectBusiness
Facilitators and communicators 28
Allianz Arena: spectacular
sports architecture
World class quality for VIP boxes 29
Hettich Interpack
Gaining momentum 30
Solutions that work for you
eBusiness options for customers 32
news
New managing director for Hettich UK
Clive Sparrow retires 33
Office workplaces from Edsbyn
Flexible and functional with excellent
ergonomics 34
30 years of Hettich France
A recognized market partner 35

Meubles Délias wins environment award
New organizational structure for
sustained growth 36
La Cuisine Française:
Kitchens in traditional quality 37
OBE Hettich and Hettich Iberia
New attraction for customers 38
GAPSA
One to watch in international
office furniture 39
Taking the hard out of hardware
New showroom opens in Melbourne 40
Australia and New Zealand
Livings worlds for kitchens
and bathrooms 41
Hettich DIY Australia
Mitre 10: an ongoing success story 42
Hot, wet or cold
Hettich… at home in good appliances 43
Successful in India
Strategic development in
a growth market 44
in brief
Kitchen dreams 46
Endowment professorship 46
Ukraine 46
Turkey 46
Breaking ground 47
Board of Management 47
Highlights
of 75 years
Page 6
contents
Enjoying
a quiet life
Silent System –
sounds great!
Page 20
5

Trade shows 2005/2006
Hettich on tour
2005
May:
INTERZUM, Cologne/Germany
29 April to 3 May 2005
K/BIS, Las Vegas/USA
10 to 12 May 2005
EuroExpoMebel, Moscow/Russia
16 to 20 May 2005
July:
AWFS, Las Vegas/USA
27 to 30 July 2005
September:
BIFE - TIMB, Bucharest/Romania
07 to 11 September 2005
Habitare, Helsinki/Finland
20 to 25 September 2005
October:
AMBIENTA, Zagreb/Croatia
12 to 16 October 2005
WOOD-TEC, Brno/Czech Republic
18 to 21 October 2005
EUROBRICO, Valencia/Spain
19 to 21 October 2005
ZOW, Pordenone/Italy
19 to 22 October 2005
WMS, Toronto/Canada
28 to 30 October 2005
November:
MADERALIA, Valencia/Spain
09 to 12 November 2005
Mebel, Moscow/Russia
15 to 19 November 2005
The Big ´5´ Show, Dubai/UAE
16 to 20 November 2005
Innovatech, Erba/Italy
18 to 20 November 2005
INTERMOB, Istanbul/Turkey
19 to 23 November 2005
2006
February:
ZOW, Bad Salzuflen/Germany
20 to 23 February 2006
bautec, Berlin/Germany
21 to 25 February 2006
March:
DESIGN FAIR
Seoul, Korea
März 2006
HOLZ-HANDWERK,
Nuremberg/Germany
22 to 25 March 2006
April:
ZOW, Moscow/Russia
April 2006
K/BIS, Chicago/USA
21 to 23 April 2006
May:
MEBLE, Poznan/Poland
May 2006
More information:
www.hettich.com

By tomorrow, today will be history
Highlights
“At home in all good furniture“ for 75 years. Technik für
Möbel, fittings for furniture, has been our core business for
more than seven decades. Initially in Germany and now on a
global scale. In this time, we‘ve expanded the way we serve
our customers to include all production and logistics steps
– from product consulting, through design and development
to mass production. And not only for furniture. Today, the
name Hettich stands for innovation, quality and dependability
in components for white goods, automotive, and electrical
and electronics.
For 75 years, the company has pursued
a systematic policy of developing
engineering know-how, product quality
and creativity. And of honing its skills
in the sensitive interaction between
customer, market and supplier. We also
welcome this anniversary as an opportunity
to share our vision for the future
with the people and companies that have
contributed to Hettich‘s becoming an
internationally recognized supplier and
service provider for the furniture industry.
We want to identify routes for taking
the industry forward, to formulate goals,
to play an active role in shaping the
future. “The deed is everything, the glory
naught“, wrote Johann Wolfgang Goethe.
The future is the challenge. We need the
ability to build on the past, that is already
gathering dust in the files. We want to
learn from the past and to develop new
goals rooted in our experience.
current news
of 75 years
Hettich‘s success is not the result of
chance. From the start it was based on
prudent policies that have formed the
links in the chain of company history.
Like the decision in 1930 to move from
Schramberg in the Black Forest, where
the original company was located and
found Paul Hettich GmbH in Herford. It
was a bold decision given the daunting
economic environment of the 1930s,
but the brothers Paul, August and Franz
Hettich recognized the potential of the
Ostwestfalen-Lippe region as a growth
centre for the furniture industry. The new
company profited from the technology
advantage of August Hettich‘s invention
in 1928 of the first fully automatic
machine for making piano hinges. These
hinges gave Hettich a strong start in the
furniture world. The creativity that drove
the company‘s early success continues to
characterize our approach in the present
and the future.
7

Part of the story is our ongoing transformation
from a ‘mere‘ components
supplier to a system partner for furniture
manufacturers. We are creating and
building development partnerships with
customers for design, product development
and marketing. As a result, we now
offer system solutions along the whole
value adding chain that enhance usability
for the customer.
In the field of innovation, our focus goes
far beyond product characteristics to
developing scenarios for how people will
live in the future. Our study for a kitchen
of the future, Concept Kitchen 2010,
aroused strong interest in the industry.
A brief reviewof company history
8
Our International Design Award competition
for design students, in its fifth cycle
this year is another way of preempting
the future.
The whole Hettich team – 4,800 employees,
1,800 of them outside Germany
– lives out the company philosophy. Their
commitment and efforts are a major
factor in securing the company‘s market
position nationally and internationally
and to promote our long-term strategic
expansion. Their expertise, skills and hard
work are essential to our success, equally
so is their certainty that they are working
on future-oriented products and services.
At the end of 2004, the Hettich Group
made the biggest single capital investment
in the company‘s history. It was
symbolized by the laying of the foundation
stone for a new logistics centre.
1930 also began with ambitious plans.
Paul Hettich GmbH was founded in
Herford as sister company to an original
company dating back to 1888. In Herford,
a team of seven employees made hinges
for the furniture industry. Their products
ranged from heavy, high-quality brass
hinges for pianos and middle quality hinges
for furniture to mini hinges for cigar
boxes. The range was soon expanded to
This 75th anniversary is also an opportunity
to thank all our partners and
to reiterate our commitment to future
cooperation based on trust, partnership
and productive teamwork.
“As for the future, your task is not to
foresee, but to enable it.“ This quotation
from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry not only
sums up 75 years of Hettich‘s development,
but also signposts the way to an
exciting future of innovation and growth.
include wood screws, wardrobe rails and
connectors.
1945
A fresh start: production began again
after the war with 25 employees and new
determination to succeed.
1953
Hettich and Alfred Günter, the long-time
company agent, bought shares in ONI
Metallwarenfabrik, a company making
high-quality hinges from brass and light
alloys.

1955
A core team evolves. 160 employees
celebrate the company‘s 25th anniversary.
1958
Setting up of Kunststoff GmbH in
Herford, this company later became
Robbi, a leading supplier of fittings to DIY
stores and builders‘ merchants.
1959
Company management in the hands of
the third generation of the family, with
Anton Hettich as chairman. Complete
legal separation from the original company
in the Black Forest.
1966
Kirchlengern becomes the new headquarters
of Paul Hettich GmbH & Co.
KG. Production starts on 8,000 sqm new
production area.
1968
Together with Alfred Günter and his son
Hans-Dieter, Hettich buys Franke GmbH
& Co. KG in Weilstetten/Balingen. Franke
with 70 employees produces fittings for
beds, connectors and other structural
fittings.
1969
Hettich and ONI set up a branch in Berlin
– today Hettich-Umformtechnik.
1971
Injection moulding starts in Frankenberg.
1972
Kunststoff GmbH production plant in
Herford completely destroyed by fire.
1974
Logistics and sales centre set up in
Kirchlengern.
1976
First foreign subsidiaries in Switzerland,
Sweden, France and the USA. Hettich
products exported to over 80 countries.
1977
Hettich takes over August Strothmann
GmbH & Co. KG in Rietberg, a company
making decorative fittings, including
knobs and handles..
1979
Hettich buys shares in Richard Heinze in
Herford, later taking the company over
completely. This takeover gives Hettich a
share in the Spanish OBE.
1980
50 years of Technik für Möbel: 1,600
employees and 60,000 sqm of offices
and production floor. Permanent fittings
showroom opened at company headquarters
in Kirchlengern.
1986
Hettich Beschläge GmbH & Co. founded
with responsibility for sales to professional
fittings users – dealers and artisans.
1987
International presence strengthened by
setting up sales companies in Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, Spain and the UK.
1991
Hettich International launched as the
umbrella brand for all products worldwide.
Founding of a subsidiary in Japan.
current aktuell news
1992
Hettich concentrates increasingly on core
competences, selling the Heinze injection
moulding operation and Koralle, a company
making shower cabin components
linked to ONI.
1994
Founding of Czech subsidiary Hettich CR
k.s. and production roll out at the new
Czech plant in Zdár nad Sázavou.
1995
Hettich restructured as a holding company
with independent, decentralized
subsidiaries. Over 4,000 employees in
15 countries.
Hettich Polska founded in Poland and
Hettich Italia in Italy. The subsidiary
today called Hettich RUS starts production
in Elektrogorsk. Sales agencies set up
in Singapore and Korea – these became
subsidiaries in 2002 and 2003.
1996
Plastipar Industria, today Hettich do Brazil,
in Curitiba becomes part of the Hettich
Group. A new production plant is set
up in China. A sales office is opened in
Moscow to support production in Russia.
1998
A new subsidiary Hettich SR s.r.o. set up
in Trencin, Slovakia.
9

1999
Hettich Hardware Accessories Co. Ltd. set
up in Shanghai.
2000
70 years after the company was first registered,
sales for the Hettich Group top a
thousand million Deutschmark. Hettich
India Ltd. starts as a sales company.
2001
The first teams move into the new
Research and Development Centre.
2003
The two business units, Do-it-Yourself
and Professional (previously Robbi and
10
Hettich Beschläge) merge to form Hettich
FurnTech GmbH & Co. KG with a joint
service and logistics centre in Vlotho.
Opening ceremony for the new Training
Centre in Kirchlengern. New production
building for the InnoTech drawer system
goes into operation.
As the years have rolled by, important
events have followed one another in
ever faster succession. The company has
grown bigger and evolved into the global
success story it is today. Driving growth
has been the company‘s ability to develop
and market innovative products that
meet customer needs.
Innovations in
75 years of Hettich – that‘s a 75-year
tradition of the right products and the
right quality. The current product spectrum
is huge – hinges, drawer runners,
drawers, connecting fittings, interior
fittings for cupboards and drawers, and
complex fittings systems, such as bed
fittings, knobs and handles, and lighting
systems. Supporting the company‘s success
is the know-how and commitment of
4,800 employees worldwide.
It all began in 1930, with production of
hinges in Herford. In 1934, wood screws
were added to the then very limited product
range. Followed by wardrobe rails and
connecting fittings in thenext two years.
The 1950s – strong connections
By 1950, Hettich was firmly back in
business after the devastation of the
war. From 1950 onwards, the company
produced runners in all variations for
rationalized office furniture production.
In 1955, connecting fittings were added
to the product range, leading in 1960 to
the patented, visible trapezoid fitting that
set new standards for furniture construction.
This was a dowelless fitting, saving
furniture manufacturers the effort of
drilling dowel holes.
Logo-history
tune with the times
The 1960s – cup hinges change the
furniture world
In 1960, drilling techniques improved,
enabling the development of flush mounted
connecting fittings like the Elite, the
forerunner of today‘s Rastex connector.
In 1963, Hettich bought the license to
make the first concealed 4-jointed hinge
with a 35 mm cup developed by Heinze.
This hinge revolutionized future hinge
development.
30er Jahre 40er Jahre 50er Jahre 60er Jahre 70er Jahre

In 1968, single pivot and brass hinges
from ONI were seen as the perfect precision
components. With 500 fixing types
and over 10,000 hinge variants the company‘s
range was the biggest in Europe,
and possibly in the world.
The ET 320 marked the birth of the spring
hinge and soon the first all-metal hinges
based on this hinge series were launched.
The 1970s – System 32 and the
Quadro revolution
In 1970, Hettich started production of
ballbearing runners – still among the
company‘s best-selling products. A year
later, System 32 a standard hole-spacing
system devised by Hettich, and accepted
worldwide revolutionized furniture
assembly and production.
In 1975, development work on the
Quadro drawer runner that operates
on the ballbearing principle. The Quadro
principle is now a quality standard
worldwide for kitchen, residential and
office furniture, in home appliances and
contract furniture.
1979 saw the launch of Systema, the
first organizable metal drawer for office
furniture with Quadro runners. Systema
today has developed into a complex
product family which has become a world
leader in office systems.
80er Jahre 90er Jahre 2005
The 1980s – trend to sliding and folding
In 1980, Hettich completed development
of the first three-door sliding door fitting
ready for mass production. In 1985, the
company launched fast-assembly hinges
– the first one was Euromat Top Safe.
Fast assembly hinges have slashed
assembly times and revolutionized furniture
assembly on-site. In 1989, the Wing Line
range of folding door fittings became
the trendsetter in a new generation of
bedroom storage units.
The 1990s – focus on kitchens
In 1991, the launch of the first foldable
steel box for kitchen drawers began a
new era for drawer design and assembly
techniques. Just a year later, the Quadro
V6, a full-extension drawer runner
system pioneered a trend that has lead
to full-extension becoming the de facto
standard for kitchen furniture. 1993 saw
production rollout of the trailblazing
Intermat fast assembly hinge. In 1994,
QuickTech, the first all-metal drawer for
kitchens and bathrooms, went into production.
The system is still unsurpassed,
not only for its logistic and assembly
advantages, but also for its high usability
for the end user. 1994 was also the year
when Multiflex, the most successful mechanical
bedslat adjusting system, went
into mass production.
1995 saw the market launch of the
InnoTech double-walled drawer system.
The Innotech system included a variable
cutlery organizer system made of steel,
which marked a great step forward in
letting users organize kitchen drawers as
they chose. The Innotech system has been
expanded with new developments since
its launch, eg, the XL drawer. In 1999,
the ComfortLine drawer system was
introduced. ComfortLine gives end-users
wide scope in combining system components
to suit their workstyle and wishes.
The Concept Kitchen 2010 was a highlight
of the Interzum 1999 and attracted
overwhelming press interest in national
and international trade journals. Its design
and functionality took account of
four key areas: environment, comfort,
ergonomics and changing approaches
to using living space.
current news
On the threshold of the 21st century
In 2000, Hettich developers perfected
the SoftFlow damped drawer runner.
Building on this early system, they went
on to create Silent System – a complete
damping system, not only for drawers
but for hinges and for folding and sliding
door fittings. An important innovation
in 2002 was the hettlock electronic
locking system. This is a versatile and
sophisticated locking system which meets
the special locking needs of furniture
in offices and similar applications. As a
digital system, hettlock can be seamlessly
integrated in a building- or facility-wide
locking and organization system.
In 2003, Hettich Franke launched mosys,
its first electric system for adjustable
bedslats. The company supplies complete
systems including the motor. With motor
drives attachable at any point, mosys
allows maximum freedom for fine bed
design. This compares favourably with
conventional double drives.
At 75, the Hettich Group has achieved a
successful mix of mature know-how and
trailblazing enthusiasm. In the future
too, we‘ll continue to hone our skills in
tracking coming trends and recognizing
developing needs. And we‘ll work with
developers, designers and customers to
generate new solutions and develop them
to the series production stage.
11

12
Winners
honoured in the
Architecture Lounge
International Design Award attracts 1,153 entries from 24 counties

At the Interzum 2005, Hettich International will be presenting
the results of the most important and exciting student
competition in the world of international furniture design.
The Hettich International Design Award has become a trend
barometer for designers in training. This year again, a highcalibre
jury has selected the outstanding designs for furniture
and handles. Details on the best work are on display in a
special booth at the Interzum.
This year is the fifth cycle of the biennial
Design Award. Directed towards design
students around the world, the competition
invites this up-and-coming designer
generation to turn their imaginative ideas
into concrete designs. The topic for the
2005 competition was storage units
(cupboards, shelves, etc.) and/or furniture
systems for living areas in the home. The
jury looks for creative and forward-looking
designs which pick up on contemporary
consumer requirements.
The huge interest evoked by furniture
knobs and handles in the 2003 competition
led to a decision to again include this
category in the 2005competition.
Participants were told their entries would
be judged on functional and practical
criteria, on the look and feel, on the use
they make of materials and on how well
they are oriented to current and future
design trends.
The competition is open to design students
at universities and universities of applied
sciences around the world which have
departments of furniture design and
development or furniture engineering.
The entries are submitted by the students‘
lead professors and lecturers and the
number of entries from students of any
one lecturer or professor is limited to five.
The number of entries to the 2005 Design
Award competition far exceeded the
previous record year 2003. The grand
total for 2005 was 1,153 entries from 24
countries. A breakdown by country shows
that the biggest contingent of participating
students was from China (260),
followed by Japan with 213 and Germany
with 127 entries. There were 110 French
participants, and 95 each from the Czech
Republic and Slovakia. At the time of
going to press, 754 furniture design entries
had been received and 399 designs for
handles.
International jury
An independent jury, composed of
designers and development managers
from international furniture manufacturers
and independent lecturers and professors
from universities and other institutes
of higher education. In April, the jury
evaluated all the entries in a marathon
two-day session. Chaired by Michael
Schumacher from the architects Schneider
+ Schumacher in Frankfurt, the jury was
made up of Anke Mensing, FH-Darmstadt,
Prof. Anke Bernotat, University of Duisburg-Essen,
Erik Simonsen, Acer Design/
Denmark, Renan Gökyay, Nurus/Turkey and
Sandeep Mukherjee Quetzel Designs India.
The jury faced a stupendously difficult
task, because of the high quality of the
entries. It reflects the excellence of the
education being offered by colleges and
universities around the world. Finally, the
jury sifted out the winners – whose universities
or colleges will share the prize
money of Y15,000.
The winners will be announced during the
Interzum in Cologne. The ceremony will
take place on May 2, starting at 15:00 in
the Hettich Architecture Lounge in Hall 13.1.
As initiator of the international, student
design competition, Hettich sharpened its
profile as a trendsetter continuously generating
and deploying new ideas. Thanks
The Architecture Lounge, the
right venue for celebrating
the winners of the Hettich
International Design Award
to the enthusiasm of the universities and
colleges, the Interzum 2005 is the richer
for a highlight, that effectively supports
this year‘s show focus.
Architecture Lounge
The striking booth that forms a fitting
ambience for the prize winning
ceremony is also a meeting place for
architects, interior designers and designers
throughout the Interzum. Visitors to the
booth can inspect the prize-winning
entries, which are again indicative of the
high calibre of design training around the
world. They will also find the booth a
useful forum for the exchange of experience
and a source of new ideas for their own
projects.
The 40 m long and 10 m wide booth is
dominated by large posters depicting the
competition entries. There are also special
displays on the use of light, on decorative
fittings and on electronic closing systems
for buildings and furniture. The Project
Business team from Hettich Furntech
will be on hand on the booth to discuss
customer projects.
13

Hettich Franke
Fit for
the future
Balingen, home of Hettich Franke, is
60 km south of Stuttgart in Germany‘s
sunniest region. An attractive small town
(population 34,000), Balingen combines
recorded history going back 750 years
with modern flair. People who live and
work there know how lucky they are.
Hettich Franke, a company with a long
tradition, has been part of the Hettich
Group since 1968. Its core competences
are in adjustable fittings and plinth
systems. A restructuring project begun
three years ago and substantial forwardlooking
investment are making sure that
the company remains competitive into
the future.
Improved material flows
major reorganization to improve
A assembly flow began in June 2004
– with careful planning to
avoid disrupting production.
Prior to demolishing
a central section of
the production hall, the
toolmaking operation had
to be moved to the basement.
A new fireproof tool
store was also built.
14
The major demolition and remediation
work in the production hall were timed to
coincide with the annual factory vacation
closure. A new flow-through rack was
built between the punch and the assembly
area. This rack is central to improving
material flow on the FIFO (first in – first
out) principle. Production was affected
for only three days after the vacation,
and customers scarcely noticed.
These were essential investments to
optimize cost structures, ensure prompt,
reliable deliveries and optimize product
quality. Hettich Franke is now equipped
to meet market demand for reliable, ontime
volume deliveries.
Eco certification
Hettich Franke has set itself ambitious
business targets, but it is determined
to achieve them in a sustainable way
through responsible environmental
protection. In 2004, Hettich Franke
implemented an environmental management
system and optimized processes to
achieve eco certification to the EU EMAS
II directive. Validation was completed in
early December 2004.
Product innovations
In 2003, Hettich Franke successfully
launched mosys, a completely new
modular solution for electrically adjustable
bedslats. The next goal – for 2005
– was to expand the basic system. The
innovative new modules have been on the
market since early this year, in the form
of a kit for synchronized adjustment of
two single beds using one remote control.
The company has also launched a
massage option for mosys. In line with
Hettich Franke‘s product philosophy, this
is controlled by 24 volt direct current,
giving users the security of no mains
voltage or magnetic fields in the bed.
The massage unit consists of two easily
installed vibration motors, a control unit

Investment to improve material flows in production processes,
a certified environmental management system and product
innovations focusing on “Wellness in Bed“ are setting new
standards at Hettich Franke in Balingen, Germany. A marketdriven
approach, improved productivity and expanded innovation
potential are protecting jobs and making the company fit for
the future.
and a toroidal transformer. All in the
cause of Wellness in Bed. The motors
gently vibrate the mattress with a soothing,
relaxing motion to improve circulation
and promote deep refreshing sleep.
Other extra kinematics, for example, an
adjustable back section and a telescopic
neck section are in the pipeline. Hettich
Franke is also preparing to market multimotor
mosys versions. All these innovations
give bed suppliers in the mid-range
and high-end price segments the ability
to offer extra options that will appeal to
health-conscious customers who want a
maximum of comfort and convenience.
In the middle ages, Balingen benefited
from its location in an important trade
network, the Schweizerstrasse, which
encouraged the development of trade and
industry. Nowadays, for Hettich Franke,
a different sort of network is promoting
internal restructuring. This is the Hettich
Group‘s intracompany network for development,
production, procurement and
logistics. In sales and marketing too, the
company makes the most of the opportu-
nities offered by the Group‘s international
divisional structure. At the same time,
it maintains its established key account
business with industry customers. With
the backing of the company group and
against the background of Balingen‘s
750th jubilee celebrations, Hettich Franke
is poised on a springboard for growth.
The company is fit for the future.
Richard Weinzierl,
managing director
of Hettich Franke
15

16
Greve Innenausbau GmbH
Specializing
in success
Today the job might be consulting
rooms for a dentist, tomorrow
fitting out a restaurant or a car
dealer‘s showroom. Greve Innen-
ausbau GmbH, in Grevesmühlen,
Mecklenburg (D), plans and
furnishes any venue. Custom
furniture is one of the company‘s
core competences. Its reputation
has travelled beyond the borders
of Germany – the interior of the
Porsche building in San Francisco
was a major project. Other activ-
ities include concepts for VW and
Audi.
The Greve Group has built up comprehensive
know-how in several specialist
furnishing fields, for example, car dealer
showrooms and workshops. The company
developed furniture ranges for Volkswagen
and recently extended their contract as
official Audi supplier. For the Audi dealer
network, Greve developed creative,
modular furniture systems that are as
practical as they are attractive. The units
are purpose-designed for different zones
– from information, vehicle reception and
spare parts to the sales floor and a
waiting zone for customers complete
with refreshment facilities. The meticulously
planned concepts include storage
units, purpose-designed for functionality
and ease of use.
Greve has long used Hettich fittings,
sourcing them via the normal distribution
channels. For the Audi concept,
the company decided to use Hettich‘s
Systema Top fittings for office furniture.
Especially attractive here was the range
of components and organizer elements
that maximize efficient use of the space
inside drawers and cupboards.
Org@Tower from the
Systema Top 2000 product range
The company prides itself on its extreme
flexibility and rapid response to market
change. Two subsidiaries each focus on
different customer groups. Hengelhaupt
Objekteinrichtung in Grevesmühlen
designs and fits out hotel and restaurant
interiors, while Greve Dental in Rostock
supplies dentists with individually
planned consulting room furniture and
equipment.
With 53 employees, the Greve Group
generated sales of over 4 million euro
in 2004. The company provides training
places for two or three young people
every year and the trainees generally find
a company workplace waiting when they
qualify. Greve also supports employees on
their way to becoming master craftsman.
Six employees have already achieved this
demanding qualification. Greve is well
aware that the ability to respond flexibly
and at competitive prices to customer
requirements depends on two factors.
One is employee competence and training
level, the other is investment in advanced
technology. The company‘s creative potential
and its focus on target customer
groups has put it firmly on course for
business success in Germany and around
the world.

The glass TopSide, one of the features that makes
for clear distinctions and a harmonized kitchen
design
Seeing the
difference
Drawers, pan drawers and inside
drawers made of different materials
offer fascinating choices. Using different
drawer variants, designers can produce
cohesive designs, harmonizing design
features even behind the front panels.
Wood drawers, for instance, add to the
warm appeal of a Mediterranean-style
kitchen. Cool drawer boxes in steel, or
now in stainless steel, are right for the
streamlined, high-tech kitchen.
All variants are completely interchangeable
and all offer the same important
benefits: faster installation and removal,
toolless assembly/disassembly, easy front
panel adjustment, simple assembly of pan
drawer rails, and smooth, stable action
with Quadro partial- or full-extension
runners, or full-extension plus Silent
System damping.
InnoTech offers special front panels, ideal
for visible inside drawers in units with no
front panels, or behind glass doors. Then
there are interior organizers made of
wood or wood paired with stainless steel.
TopSide panels offer yet another layer of
differentiation. They‘re available in steel,
translucent plastic or glass.
Impressive functionality adds value to
kitchens. Moreover it‘s easy to demonstrate
and communicate. The list includes
anti-tilt protection for standalone or
mobile storage units. Or EasyLock that
gives parents and carers a simple and ef-
The versatile InnoTech drawer system
optimizes storage space, offers extra
safety features and adds value to kitchens.
Since its market launch, InnoTech has
been continuously improved and expanded.
Hettich has added new looks and multiple
functions. These make it easier for furniture
manufacturers to offer more choice and
differentiation options in all product segments
– from kitchen and residential to
office. Distributors profit from clear sales
arguments easily communicated to potential
customers.
fective device for keeping children away
from knives and cleaning agents. Or the
under-sink drawer with special connectors
for an extra low back panel. This
makes maximum use of the space under
the sink. As do XL pan drawers built into
the plinth making practical use of that
space too.
Inside organizer elements are another
feature of the InnoTech range that sets
this drawer system off from the general
run of kitchen models.
In short, InnoTech gives kitchen manufacturers
golden opportunities for differentiation
through functional and optical
features. The wealth of variants means
that manufacturers can offer choices
across their wide product ranges that are
targeted at different price segments. They
give kitchen studios and other retailers
first class sales arguments that are visible
and can be convincingly communicated.
InnoTech drawer system
InnoTech drawers and pan drawers: soft and silent
with Silent System
Wood drawers look great in country-style
kitchens.
Stainless steel for sleek drawer profiles
17

18
Food storage Food preperation Pots and pans Cleaning agents
and waste
Efficiently planned functional areas with the
right fittings mean optimized work processes
and less fatigue.
Plates and cutlery

Planning
for functionality
and ease of use
Intelligent Kitchens is a concept
that bundles a number of
system solutions to create
a well-planned kitchen that
users will enjoy working in.
Four goals are constants
throughout: good ergonomics,
short distances to cover, a
clear view to find things
quickly and easy access.
Proactive marketing tools help
to communicate benefits at
every stage, and ultimately to
the end user. They also help
kitchen studios with planning
and marketing.
O ne
important ingredient in any
kitchen is adequate storage. A good
way to start planning storage space is
to consider five basic functions that need
to be catered for in any kitchen: storing
food, preparing food, storing cooking
utensils, storing tableware and storing
cleaning materials and refuse. Get the
storage right and the perfect kitchen is a
big step closer.
The Intelligent Kitchens concept offers
ideas for locating the five functional
areas to save time and effort wherever
possible. Furthermore it offers a wealth of
options for cabinet interior fittings that
make kitchen work as easy and enjoyable
as possible. For the food storage area,
this includes XL pan drawers for bulky
items, pull-outs with made-to-match
organizer elements, base units with
baskets for under the worktop, or tall
larder units with baskets or possibly with
inside drawers. All these help to optimize
storage space where everything is easy to
see and reach. In the food preparation
area, pull-outs with special organizer
systems designed to store small electrical
appliances and dry goods, or special spice
drawers for base units, are just two
examples. Corner carousels provide ample
storage and easy access for pots and pans.
Cleaning materials and waste are best
stored close to the sink where special
pull-outs make best use of every centimetre,
while XL drawers are ideal for
sorting and storing waste.
The Hettich brochure “Recipes and Ideas
for a Kitchen that Suits your Lifestyle”
stirs all our ideas on effective kitchen
planning and organization into an
attractive mix. It‘s available in 18
languages and, on request, in customerspecific
versions. Or on CD-ROM. Or as a
multimedia version on the Internet. The
brochure is an attractive and effective
communication tool. There‘s also a
planning disk, available in German and
English, that kitchen planners can use
while talking to customers. Twisting the
Recipe book and kitchen
planning disk: marketing
tools developed by Hettich
to help kitchen studios
communicate benefits to end
users. They explain functional
areas and show fittings
solutions for each of them.
R
innovation
XL drawers: ample space for
groceries, but also to keep waste
bins in easy reach, but out of sight
disk displays different functional areas
and supplies examples of ergonomically
effective fittings for each of them.
Completing the list of marketing tools are
practical suggestions for implementing
the Intelligent Kitchens concept in
kitchen studio displays.
The Intelligent Kitchens concept gives the
trade some strong tools for communicating
the functional benefits of sophisticated
kitchen fittings. The ultimate goal is to
boost consumer awareness of the benefits
of effective kitchen planning – and
intelligent fittings. It‘s important that
consumers experience and appreciate the
added value. When this happens, it opens
up new opportunities for kitchen manufacturers
and kitchen studios to escape from
the price trap and increase profit margins.
19
19

Fine design is not enough. Opinion polls put comfort and
functionality right at the top of the list of end-user priorities.
This is where fittings suppliers like Hettich make a real contribution.
For example, with Silent System damping devices that
close hinged, folding and sliding doors, and all types of drawers,
in slow motion and softly. The extra value can be seen, felt and
heard. Silent System makes a clear difference – in any part of
the home.
Hettich offers efficient damping
systems for furniture doors – hinged,
folding and sliding – and for drawers and
pan drawers, larder and base unit pullouts.
“Damping for a quiet life“ is the
motto. Doors and drawers that shut with
a bang are history.
Silent System brings hinged doors to a
gentle stop and completes the closing
action in slow motion. Hettich offers four
variants – clip-on, screw-on, countersunk
or as a hinge cup adaptation. They offer
equal comfort in different hinge applications.
All versions are fitted on the hinge
side, to avoid spoiling the clean lines of
an opened door.
The clip-on version is pressed onto the
hinge arm of an Intermat or Ecomat
hinge – no tools needed. It‘s the same
process for left or right closing doors.
The manufacturing process for the
cabinet is not affected at all. The clip-on
solution is ideal as an option or upgrade.
A setting screw lets end users adjust the
damping effect as they please and steplessly.
Available not only as a standard
plastic adapter, but also nickel vapourcoated
to harmonize with the hinge
surface finish.
20
Enjoying
a quiet
life
Silent System – sounds great!
For top- and flush-mounted doors on
Intermat or Ecomat hinges, the screw-on
damper version is fixed onto the cabinet
top or bottom panel. The extra effort
is minimal and the screw-on version is
also suitable as an upgrade because the
damper can be fitted on-site in a new or
existing kitchen.
When a design calls for concealed fittings,
countersunk dampers are the answer.
They can be fitted almost invisibly in the
cabinet top or bottom panel. Countersunk
dampers are right for top-mounted doors
on Intermat or Ecomat hinges.
The advantage of a damping version
mounted on the hinge cup is the extra
flexibility. Damping can be offered as
standard, premounted on the hinge cup,
or as an option that can be added later
with very little effort.
An Interzum innovation that‘s ready for
series production is Silent System for
sliding doors. For example,
with Top Line 22, a sliding
door fitting for door
panels weighing up to
70 kg, Silent System
puts the brakes on over
the last few millimetres,
Slow motion for hinges:
clip-on adapter and countersunk
door damper

independent of the load. Then the door
slides softly and gently into its final
position. The damper is clipped into an
adapter that has to be premounted on
the cabinet top panel. Top Line 110 is a
sliding door fitting for door panels up to
20 kg each and it‘s often the ideal choice
for living room storage units. Here too
Silent System offers a significant difference
in comfort when the small, compact
damping device is attached to the
cabinet top panel. Silent System is also
available for fittings like Wing Line 780
for space-saving folding doors. And the
comfort bonus is noticeable.
Top Line 110 sliding door fitting with
Silent System takes comfort to a new
level.
Hettich offers Silent System damping for
drawer systems – for InnoTech drawers on
the full extension Quadro V6 and Quadro
V6+ runners, ComfortLine drawers, and
wooden drawers on Quadro full and
partial extension runners. Silent System
slows the closing movement just before
the drawer or pull-out touches the cabinet
– and then completes the movement
gently and quietly. Hettich‘s approach is
to integrate the self-closing feature and
the damping in the runner. Silent System
is equally effective for larder units and
base unit pull-outs. Cargo BSF for base
unit pull-outs and Cargo PC for larder
units have a light smooth action and
close with barely a whisper.
innovation
With Silent System available
right across the fittings range,
furniture manufacturers can
now offer the bonus of more
peace and quiet in every room
in the house. Silent system gives
every type and style of furniture
the extra function that helps
create a welcoming and relaxed
atmosphere in the home.
Adding Silent System to sliding door
fittings, like Top Line 110 and Top Line
22, and to Quadro drawer runners,
produces doors and drawers that
close soundlessly under perfect
control.
21

The great advantage of honeycomb core board is its lightness.
Only half the weight of chipboard, it reduces logistics effort and
is far easier to handle. The different look sparks new thinking on
design. In close touch with the market, Hettich offers the right
fittings solutions.
The furniture industry has been quick to
see the advantages of this interesting
new material. Using honeycomb core
board supports the growing trend to more
mobility and flexibility in furniture and
life styles. Far lighter than conventional
chipboard, honeycomb core board opens
up scope for exciting new designs. It
suddenly becomes feasible to think in
terms of very large volume work surfaces,
wall elements or shelving that create 3D
structures. New designs, plus the other
benefits of lighter weight, have knock-on
effects all along the value adding chain
in furniture manufacture and marketing.
The strong, lightweight boards are already
widely used in flatpack furniture, but
there is still potential in this segment. In
other segments, honeycomb core boards
are being used in storage furniture for all
living areas, including kitchens, and for
office and contract furniture.
Honeycomb core boards for the furniture
industry are mostly sandwich structures
with a pulp fibre core bonded between
wood outer layers. The board can be
produced at very competitive prices on
highly automated production lines. With
all supply chain partners working to
facilitate its use, honeycomb core board
is the new success story.
The new material has other advantages
too. Because they contain 50 percent less
22
Honeycomb core board – new favourite
for the furniture industry
The future
is innovation
raw material, honeycomb core boards
make fewer demands on resources.
Lighter weight means lower transport
and handling costs. Faster processing also
saves costs. And honeycomb core board
has good soundproofing properties. End
users, are likely to be enthusiastic at the
prospect of lighter furniture, especially
if style and quality are comparable.
Flatpack furniture is an ideal application.
Honeycomb core boards used to be
manufactured with an integrated internal
frame. This construction made it possible
to use conventional connecting fittings.
The new large-area honeycomb core
boards without an integrated frame are
cheaper to manufacture, but for wide
success, it is essential to find new ways
of attaching fittings securely. Hettich
has come up with some innovative
solutions to this problem. Most involve
adding specially designed fasteners
to existing products. At the moment,
furniture manufacturers have a choice of
three grades of honeycomb core board,
differentiated by the thickness of the
outer layers: 8 mm, 4 mm and under
2.5 mm. Hettich now offers fasteners that
enable a range of different fittings to be
used with the two thicker grades.
A lot of R&D is currently aimed at
developing reliable fasteners for
frameless honeycomb core board with
outer layers under 2.5 mm. Hettich
is working intensively with specialist
research institutes on this problem.
Both sides are profiting from the lively
exchange of information. Results from
basic research are being merged with
Hettich know-how from practical
applications and trials. A typical example
is a joint project with the Institute for
Wood Engineering in Dresden.
The advantages of honeycomb
core boards – lightness paired with
rigidity and strength – make them an
attractive alternative to chipboard in
many applications, including furniture
construction. Their market penetration
is boosted by Hettich‘s ability to
respond fast to the new trend. Hettich‘s
specialized fittings make it easy to
achieve the expected quality and
functionality with honeycomb core board.

Photo: hülsta
Is it storage space or is it a
smooth wall surface? You
might well be puzzled to tell
the two apart, if you‘re look-
ing at a wardrobe fitted with
Hettich‘s new InLine hardware.
With InLine, door panels slide
past each other to close per-
fectly flush. It‘s a launch pad
for immensely creative front
designs.
InLine for flush-closing sliding doors
Slide by slide
InLine is a technically sophisticated
sliding door system which allows all the
door panels to close flush, ie, in one and
the same plane. Exciting design options
are matched by strong practical benefits.
On a three-panel wardrobe, for instance,
the middle panel, once opened, can be
moved to either side. To close the unit,
either the panel is returned to its initial
centre position or one of the other panels
is moved to centre position. All door
panels are fully interchangeable. This
could spark the idea, for instance, of
using different materials or colours for
each door panel. By simply sliding door
panels into new positions, users can
change the whole look of a room.
innovation
The InLine flush sliding door fitting is
designed for door panel weights up
to 50 kg, widths up to 1200 mm and
heights up to 2500 mm. Despite butting
edges, the gaps between the panels are
never bigger than 4 mm. Each sliding
panel requires a separate fitting segment,
so that modular storage can easily
be extended by additional elements. An
interesting design option is to mix door
panels with intermediate elements such
as shelves and drawers. Wider design
freedom also comes from the fact that
door handles need not be placed mid-way
up the panel.
Developed in collaboration with Hülsta,
the fitting went into series production
for the furniture manufacturer‘s PASO
product line. At the Interzum, Hettich
will be showing this exciting and creative
hardware system for the first time to the
international furniture industry.
23

Many planners still think of
lighting as simply illumination –
getting rid of darkness.
But awareness of the power
of light and especially artificial
light to affect people‘s moods
is growing. Lighting can create
different moods and even
extemes of emotions. It can
create relationships between
areas, shapes and objects. It can
emphasize furniture features.
At the Interzum, Hettich and
Halemeier will be showing how
it‘s done.
24
Light and shade, form and emotion
Setting the scene with light
esigning with light“ is the motto.
"DAnd the result is a display of
kitchen, living room and bedroom furniture
where light is used to evoke a mood
and to enhance the way people react to
furniture. The aim is to generate awareness
of some of the ways in which light
effects can be used. And it‘s all based on
intelligent fittings.
In recent years, Hettich and Halemeier
have cooperated on joint projects to design
and develop effective, miniaturized
lighting systems with efficient controls.
These systems offer creative opportunities
for furniture designers and interior
designers who want to work more with
light effects. Light and glass, for instance,
make a brilliant team, when light systems
are installed inside glass-fronted cabinets
and drawers. Storage furniture in living
areas and bedrooms can now shine in a
new decorative and mood-setting role.
Very small fluorescent tubes, which
generate a minimum of heat, offer endless
possibilities for concealed lighting. Glass
shelves lit from below, for example, seem
to be suspended mysteriously in space.
Integrated in a run of storage units or
in kitchen cabinets, such shelves create
luminous lines that can be used for
emphasis, or contrast, and to subtly alter
the whole ambience of a room.
Hettich and Halemeier switch to LEDs
when the light choreography really
gets challenging. LEDs have properties
– low heat generation, long service life,
constant light output, toughness and tiny
size – that make completely new applications
possible. Imaginative combinations
of blue, red and green LEDs will create
harmonious colours across the whole
spectrum. Colour and intensity together
create emotional light behind transparent
furniture front panels. In kitchens too,
moody lighting can accentuate or delineate
areas like niches creatively.
Sophisticated control systems and intelligent
light management make the new
light fittings easy to use and to set for
any situation. Instead of a rigid on-or-off
choice, people can use light flexibly and
dynamically to emphasize a style or catch
a mood.
The light effects at the Interzum are only
a hint of the exciting potential. Even
so they illustrate that light is becoming
more and more important in furniture,
and in the whole world of interior design.
Light creates atmosphere, highlights
features and offers users an opportunity
for creative play. And it creates good
sales arguments that people can see for
themselves.

Appliqués provide orientation on fashionable kitchen fascias.
ProDecor
an international
brand
Hettich Strothmann‘s three-tier product strategy
Strothmann GmbH & Co. KG had been
part of the Hettich Group since 1977.
In January 2003, the change of name to
Hettich Strothmann signposted a change
of approach. The company has been
systematically integrated into the Hettich
Group, profiting from synergies within
the Group‘s worldwide operations.
Hettich Strothmann is now a competence
centre for decorative fittings, coordinating
the activities of production plants in
Germany and Brazil and making maximum
use of the potential of the Group‘s
international procurement networks.
Operational integration in the worldwide
sales activities of the Hettich Group has
placed decisions about product strategy
on a broader footing. In this wider market,
Hettich Strothmann has added to its
reputation as market leader for innovative,
high quality handles. Access to international
networks is opening up opportunities
for sourcing cheaper trend items at
competitive prices and in proven quality.
The company has developed a new three
tier product strategy. Tier one is a core
catalogue for industry customers. This
contains a subset – around 200 knobs
and handles – of the complete range.
The core range is available ex stock in
relatively large quantities. The complete
product portfolio is naturally also
available to industry customers, but not
necessarily ex stock. This portfolio of
2,000 models and 8,000 variants has
been expanded, but its underlying structure
and breadth have not changed.
Hettich Strothmann also works intensively
on product development in cooperation
with major customers, creating exclusive
designs to enhance the customer‘s furniture
products.
Intensive use of the ProDecor name as
the lead brand for the handle collection
has its basis in tradition. Hettich Strothmann
has been using the ProDecor brand
for over ten years to sell handles, knobs
and other external decor fittings to distributors
and professionals, like cabinet
makers. Today the ProDecor brand is
established throughout the worldwide
Hettich Group. Tier two is Hettich
FurnTech‘s ProDecor catalogue for distributors
and professionals offering the full
product range, with the fittings packaged
in small units to suit requirements.
In other words, ProDecor catalogues offer
product ranges produced in volumes
to suit different customer groups and
available ex stock. The “core“ products for
industry customers are produced in large
volumes, while the wider product portfolio
is produced and packaged in smaller
volumes for professional customers and
innovation
Hettich Strothmann, a member of the Hettich
Group, has a reputation for manufacturing
excellence, for outstanding surface finishes and
for creative handle ideas. Two years after the
name change to Hettich Strothmann, the
company has perfected a new three-tier product
and brand strategy. It offers a fast-track
ProDecor core range for the furniture industry,
the full ProDecor range for distributors and
professionals, and Hettich Strothmann for
exclusive decorative fittings.
dealers. The ProDecor collections are
sold around the world by all the Hettich
sales companies. And Hettich Strothmann
continues to develop customer-specific
decorative fittings ranges for major
industry customers.
The company‘s design strength and
creativity are also evident in its annual
innovation brochure of new products.
Then there‘s the ProDecor configurator at
www.prodecor.com. This unique tool lets
designers display different handles, in the
available surface finishes, against a wide
range of furniture surfaces. They can
experiment with all possible variations
on-screen before making their choice.
ProDecor has proved an easier brand to
market worldwide than Strothmann. This
has improved the company‘s ability to
meet its sales targets. Within the Hettich
Group, the name Hettich Strothmann
stands for a competence centre for all
decorative fittings, responsibility for inhouse
production in Germany and in
Brazil, for bought-in ranges and for any
future production plants. Selling the
ProDecor ranges worldwide through the
Hettich Group has given the company
access to sales activities and markets,
with a positive impact on sales volumes.
It will inevitably take time to communicate
the three-tier sales strategy to all
concerned. Actually it‘s perfectly easy:
the ProDecor core range for industry
customers, the complete ProDecor range
for dealers and professionals, Hettich
Strothmann for exclusive decorative
fittings.
25

Offices are changing. Instead
of a fixed location hooked in
to an IT infrastructure, the
office is becoming mobile and
a venue for conversation,
communication, and creation.
The new-style office needs
innovative ideas for new-style
furniture. Hettich is working to
develop innovative scenarios
with students of furniture
design in the Wood Engineering
Faculty at the College of
Applied Technology in Stuttgart.
Hettich‘s Office Division will
put the results on display at
the Interzum.
26
Evolution office
New ways of working, advances in
information and communication
technology and more emphasis on people
as an economic success factor make more
demands on the office environment. What
is required is office performance, ie, an
office environment that will increase
creativity and the “feel-good“ factor in
the interest of more productivity.
To contribute to thinking on this topic,
the Hettich Office team commissioned a
concept study for new workplaces from
students at the College of Applied
Technology in Stuttgart. Aspects to be
considered included functionality,
organization, teamwork, mobility, colours
and surfaces, and the integration of
modern office tools and equipment. The
project was formulated so as to allow the
students ample scope for creativity and
innovative ideas.
New workplace concepts generate a lot
of new ideas. To promote teamwork, the
new ideas include work surfaces that lend
themselves to flexible use, so that project
teams can work and communicate more
effectively. On the other hand, job-sharing
and temporary work need compact
workplaces with a small footprint that
Scenarios
for tomorrow‘s
workplaces
are capable of providing maximum space
for office equipment. Users need constant
access to data, services and applications.
What the Office team expected from
the project was not specific details, but
instead ideas for the way offices could
evolve. We wanted a starting point
for discussions with customers about
the possibilities for innovation and we
At the Fachschule für Holztechnik
in Stuttgart, student teams are
developing new concepts for future
workplaces.
wanted some outside impulses for our
own development work. This approach
links up with trade show concept studies
from previous years.
Cooperative projects with higher education
institutions and especially with the Wood
Engineering faculty in Stuttgart have a
long tradition at Hettich. Over the years,
the cooperation has produced a number
of pioneering studies on different aspects
of living and working. The results of the
students‘ work and their visions for the
future encourage us to venture on the
journey into new and unfamiliar worlds
of work. Innovation will be essential, if
we are going to make a successful transition
to a new kind of office. Hettich‘s
Office Division certainly has a role to play.

A different kind of headset
The name may be new to you,
but you‘ve already seen some
of the effects. If you saw Star
Wars, back in 1977, you‘ll
have seen Princess Leia as a
hologram on a real stone table.
Or if you watch soccer on the
box, the arrow that shows
the distance from the ball to
the goal for a free kick will
be a familiar sight. All this is
augmented reality – superimposing
computer-generated
graphics onto the real world in
real-time. Hettich is engaged
on research into industrial uses
for this new technology.
Hettich has long been interested
in this field and has cooperated
with the Heinz Nixdorf Institute at the
University of Paderborn since 2003. With
high-performance servers and high-tech
equipment, researchers are experimenting
with ways of using augmented reality to
improve technical and design processes, or
in a sales situation. For example, instead
of having to consult an assembly manual,
a person doing an task might have the
assembly instructions inserted into their
field of vision as they work. The information
could specify parts and tools required,
and precise dimensions. One stumbling
block in the way of widespread use of
portable augmented reality systems is
that the mobile displays still tend to
be cumbersome.
service
Augmented reality
adds a new view
of the world
Carl Zeiss offered a solution to this
problem at a technology press conference
in 2004. Zeiss researchers developed
a head-mounted display (HMD), that
looks something like a pair of eyeglasses.
This HMD is capable of creating a large
virtual image with outstanding optical
quality which seems to float in front of
the user. Even very small details are crystal
clear, because the image is as good as the
image on 17“ monitor at the standard
working distance.
The speakers at the press conference
suggested several everyday applications
for head mounted displays and
augmented reality. One example was a
car mechanic who could don the HMD,
peer under the bonnet and see repair
instructions inserted into his field of view,
corresponding to the engine parts he is
looking at. Input could be speech controlled
and the mechanic would be able to work
without spending time consulting a
manual. The computer-generated symbols,
texts, graphics or animations would be
superimposed on the mechanic‘s view of
the engine. Zeiss researchers are still
working to refine individual system
components, not only the headsets, but
also the portable computers and radio
units for data transmission to and from a
wireless network (WLAN, Bluetooth).
Small portable computers still lack the
power to process the huge amounts of
data at speed, but mass production and
use are getting closer.
The sky‘s the limit if you think about
the uses for augmented reality. In
the furniture industry this could mean
technical instructions and assembly
information, or even planning support for
designers. Think of wearing an HMD to
look at a piece of furniture and seeing all
the available variants– different colours,
different extras and modifications –
successively superimposed on the unit
you are actually looking at.
Hettich is already moving towards this
future. One example is the ProDecor
Configurator clickable on the Hettich
home page. This tool lets designers position
virtual ProDecor handles on a virtual
piece of furniture in a 3D view. They can
experiment endlessly with different handle
styles and surface finishes. It‘s virtual
reality, a precursor of augmented reality.
Augmented reality makes it possible
to insert extra context-sensitive
information into a person‘s real view of
the world. As a way of communicating
information it has huge potential. Watch
this space and see how Hettich is using
the new technology.
27

T-Mobile building near the Rhine in Bonn
Photo: T-Mobile
Hettich‘s ProjectBusiness team,
set up in 2002 as a separate
business unit, coordinates
the conception, planning,
management and monitoring
of projects in Germany and
worldwide. The team works
closely with architects and
designers, communicating
Hettich‘s manufacturing
competence and product
bandwidth to planning offices.
Project Business also provides
special support within the
Hettich Group for front line
sales activities to all customers,
whether in the industry, dis-
tributor or professional sectors.
“If there‘s an interesting construction
project being planned anywhere in the
world, we want to have Hettich fittings
in the interior design specs well before
the foundation stone is laid!“ says Fritz
Prommersberger, head of ProjectBusiness.
It‘s clear that he is absolutely determined
to achieve this ambitious goal. But he‘s
also realistic: “It takes a big challenge to
28
ProjectBusiness
Facilitators and
communicators
motivate us powerfully enough to take
small steps methodically.“
The trigger for setting up the Project
Business unit was hettlock. This electronic
locking system for furniture, on
the market for over four years, makes it
possible to integrate furniture security
seamlessly in a digital locking and
organization system for a whole building
or facility. Hettich was aware that the
security concept for a building like a
bank, administration complex or hotel is
specified very early in the planning
process. If hettlock was going to penetrate
the market, it had to be in the specs
when a project went to tender. As it was,
for example, with the new T-Mobile
building.
Presenting hettlock to international
architects working on a project achieves
some remarkable results. It‘s an opportunity
to fill in some gaps in knowledge
about furniture fittings in general. We
can present often overworked planners
with convincing arguments on how
Hettich fittings can improve functionality
and comfort in their current project.
We can back our arguments with a long
list of international reference projects.
The new Kanzleramt
building in Berlin
These include the Molson Center in
Montreal, the Sky Dome in Toronto, the
new Kanzleramt in Berlin, the central
station in Frankfurt am Main, the Bank
of China in Beijing and the Banco do
Brasil, Canberra‘s parliament building
and Fairline luxury yachts from England.
Hettich hardware has been used in fitting
out the interiors of all these buildings
and the yachts.
Hettich ProjectBusiness has bundled the
experience from these and other projects
to produce an information pack for architects.
It‘s available online by clicking on
the Architects/Planners button at
www.hettich.com.
Fritz Prommersberger sees himself and
the ProjectBusiness team as lobbyists
not only on behalf of all Hettich sales
divisions and international subsidiaries,
but also for furniture manufacturers,
interior fitters and joinery workshops who
work with Hettich hardware. Prommersberger:
“We act as facilitators, supplying
information, giving advice, suggesting
contacts and generally providing support
to make sure that everything goes smoothly.“

Top: The brilliant stadium facade
Centre: Fritz Prommersberger,
head of ProjectBusiness at Hettich
International (left) and Christian Mittermaier
enjoying a preview of one of the boxes.
Bottom: VIP box
World class quality
for VIP boxes
The Allianz Arena is already attracting
huge attention as an architectural
landmark. Its construction is being funded
as a joint project by two prominent
Munich football clubs, FC Bayern Munich
and TSV 1860 Munich. The competition
to design the new stadium was won by
the acclaimed Swiss architect partnership
Herzog/de Meuron.
The 66,000 capacity arena will be the
venue for sporting events, especially
football, and the new home stadium for
both clubs. The 106 VIP boxes offer seating
and facilities for 1,374 special guests.
The Hans Mittermaier joinery workshops
won the contract to fit out most of these
boxes.
The family company, set up in 1957, has
been headed by Christian Mittermaier for
the past ten years. Today it employs 25
people and its main business is fitting out
doctors‘ consulting rooms, banks, stores,
restaurants and special projects. Its
reference list includes names like BMW,
Siemens, Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods. Now
it can add another prominent name, the
Allianz Arena, to its list.
Allianz Arena: spectacular
sports architecture
service
The Allianz Arena in Munich, one of Europe‘s most spectacular
new stadiums, has 106 boxes, average size 40 sqm, each accommodating
around 12 VIP guests. With yearly rentals ranging from
E90,000 to E240,000, the boxes are fitted out for in top quality
and provide luxurious comfort. One of the contractors was the
Hans Mittermaier joinery workshops in Pittenhart in Bavaria.
The box interiors are fitted out in fine
woods. In choosing the hardware for
the furniture, Mittermaier called on the
consulting services of Hettich‘s Project
Business team. The decision went in
favour of intelligent fittings technology
with high functionality: quality InnoTech
drawers, damped Intermat TopExclusive
hinges, and ProDecor handles and knobs.
The quality is right and the project is on
schedule.
The foundation stone for the stadium was
laid on October 28, 2002 and the opening
celebrations are scheduled for May 30/31,
2005. The celebrations will centre on the
kick-off game for the 2005/2006 German
football season between FC Bayern
and TSV 1860. And on June 9, 2006, the
opening ceremony and the prestigious
opening game of the world championship
will take place in the Allianz Arena with
all the world watching.
29

Alastair McNulty managing director of
NOW Group plc
Interpack was launched on the back of
know-how gained as Hettich moved
successfully into the flatpack (RTA) fittings
market. This know-how was then
leveraged to roll out the highly efficient
Interpack services. Today Hettich Interpack
offers complete packaging solutions
– from consulting to shipment. We can
analyse customers‘ packaging needs
versus existing systems, discuss ideas and
options, design and develop customerspecific
packaging. Customers come to
us for a complete service, for a packaging
and logistics concept that exactly
matches their needs and for packaging
that harmonizes with and supports their
brand image.
Hettich has developed cost- and resourcesaving
packaging of all types – boxes,
bags, tubes and containers – and for even
the most unusual shapes. Pre-assembly
and intelligent picking help our customers
reduce their packing effort and costs still
further.
30
Hettich Interpack
Gaining
momentum
Outsourcing packaging operations is
enjoying surging popularity for some obvious
reasons. Customers cut the amount
of capital tied up in inventory. Lower
administrative overheads reduce costs.
Working with a single supplier also saves
the inspection and coordination effort
involved in dealing with multiple suppliers.
The cost of in-house order picking, which
tends to be labour-intensive and expensive
also falls away. The benefits quickly add up.
Scandinavia sets the pace
Scandinavia, including Denmark,
Europe‘s third largest furniture market,
is the accepted trendsetter in the flatpack
furniture segment. Major Scandinavian
manufacturers with advanced production
lines supply the world‘s markets.
Tvilum-Scanbirk is the biggest Danish
furniture manufacturer with eight
production plants in Denmark and
international operations. The company is
a European technology leader, with the
fastest production line in Europe. The
line is in operation seven days a week
around the clock producing only flatpack
furniture for retail outlets and DIY stores.
Tvilum-Scanbirk has been using Hettich
Interpack‘s single-vendor services since
2004. Niels Jörgen Rasmussen, purchasing
director for the Tvilum-Scanbirk Group,
sees important benefits accruing to his
company through joint product development
projects and opportunities for
growth for both partners through
synergies in cooperation with Hettich
Interpack.
Growth market Russia
With a population of 144 million,
Russia is an attractive growth
market. For the major Russian furniture
manufacturers, the huge distances weight
the balance of practicalities in favour of
RTA. This has made Hettich Interpack a
welcome service partner over the past
five years, as the Russian furniture
industry has built up production capacity.
One Russian customer is Djadkovo, one of
the country‘s leading furniture producers,
which sources bagged fittings for its
residential furniture from Hettich Russia.
Djadkovo purchasing manager Galitzki
says, “Hettich Interpack delivers exactly
the right technical mix of components for
the fittings bag. Outsourcing also gives us
a significant benefit by eliminating the
effort and overheads of coordinating
delivery schedules for separate articles
from different suppliers.“

The name Hettich Interpack stands for a unique
outsourcing service. Launched in early 2000, Interpack
offers the benefits of single-source picking, packaging
and logistics for furniture fittings. Today the service is
used by furniture manufacturers in 14 countries. Major
customers are in Germany, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia
and the UK. Markets in the Americas will be supplied
from Brazil.
Another customer for the bagged fittings
is Angstrem, a company founded in 1991
and today employing 500 people to produce
mid-price residential furniture.
Since the beginning of 2005, WKDP
has joined the growing circle of Hettich
Interpack customers. WKDP, founded in
1952, now employs almost 1,500 people.
The bagged fittings will be combined with
its flatpack living room, bedroom and
teen-room furniture.
Traditional market UK
It‘s hard to picture the British furniture
market without RTA furniture. Roughly
70% of all furniture is produced and
shipped as flat pack products. Hettich
Interpack has been in operation in the
UK for five years and counts many British
companies among its customers.
One of the newest is NOW Kitchens, a
customer since April 2004. At the outset
of the cooperation, Hettich Intepack
carried out an analysis of all the customer‘s
fittings sets, which were then reconfigured
for maximum efficiency and
economy. Up to then, NOW Kitchens had
bought in all components and coordinated
packaging with a number of smaller
suppliers. The efficiency gains and time
savings achieved through working with
Hettich Interpack were quickly obvious,
especially because NOW Kitchens had
opted for just-in-time deliveries.
Alastair McNulty, managing director of
the NOW Group Plc., was impressed with
the service and is pretty upbeat about
the future. “Hettich‘s enterprise strategy
has fully supported our own growth
plans. The Now Group intends to expand
cooperation with Hettich Interpack,
because we benefit enormously, in Europe
and worldwide, from these prepicked and
prepackaged products.“
Furniture manufacturers are not the only
customers for Interpack services. One big
customer is B&Q, a UK chain, part of the
Kingfisher Group. With over 330 branches
and around 36,000 employees, B&Q is
number 1 among the DIY and garden
centres in the UK and sees itself as number
3 worldwide. Hettich Interpack supplies
B&Q stores with flatpacked drawer
systems. The biggest challenge here is the
flexibility required to supply on a justin-time
basis, because consumer buying
patterns are very different from carefully
planned manufacturing schedules.
Newcomer Brazil
Good results in many different markets
were the basis for a decision to
launch Hettich Interpack with Hettich do
Brasil. In Brazil, with its huge distances,
the concept will rely heavily on Internet
technology. Procurement, organization,
packaging and logistics will all be
handled via the Internet using database
solutions developed by Hettich in
Germany. These tried and tested system
solutions ensure transparent and reliable
service
processes. IT systems in Brazil and
Germany will be directly linked, so that
product and development responsibility
for Brazilian Hettich Interpack activities
will remain in Germany. Part of the
equation will involve making best use of
the production capacity and countryspecific
output of Hettich‘s different
international production plants.
Claudemir Facio Perreira, general sales
manager at Hettich do Brasil, predicts
enormous market potential in Brazil,
because the competition, with its local
packaging operations, is limited and
generally does not have the option of
sourcing fittings globally.
Milestones
Hettich Interpack is on a fast track
to growth. The idea of outsourcing
packaging activities has caught on worldwide,
and far faster than anyone could
have predicted when the company was
launched in 2000. Interpack services are
marketed via Hettich‘s sales companies
worldwide, who can quote five years of
growth – in customer base and knowhow
– as a unique and convincing sales
argument. Success in 14 countries is one
milestone along the road.
31

The Internet has become an
indispensable business tool.
Web-based technology creates
communication networks that
can deliver major benefits.
Hettich‘s eBusiness specialists
have developed solutions to
increase our customers‘
competitive edge. Improved
access to information and
online data interchange help
to optimize business processes.
Hettich was quick to see the potential
for streamlining business processes
through electronic data transfer. In the
early days, it was floppy disks with
product data and calculation aids, then
catalogues on CD-ROM. Now we are
exploiting online channels for data communication.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and
the associated UN-EDIFACT standard are
still being productively applied today.
KIS (Customer Information System) has
speeded up data transfer enormously.
And then there is the E2E Network that
bundles all the functions and options.
E2E makes it possible to switch many
intercompany business processes online –
including price quotations, order processing,
order monitoring, order confirmation,
delivery notification and billing.
32
Solutions that
work for you
eBusiness options for customers
The number of Hettich business partners
already linked into an online system is
growing fast. They find our approach
attractive because we say: “Hettich‘s
starting point is the customer‘s existing
IT system. We take it from there.“ This
approach works thanks to ingenious interface
technology developed in partnership
with ConXpert. On this basis, the E2E
Network can interface effectively with
any of the many stock control programs
in use today. Customers need not adapt
their internal processes; the interface
takes the strain.
Our CDs are now far more than simple
electronic catalogues. For example, our
Selection Professional 1.0 software is an
outstanding planning tool for designers
and other professionals. It links product
catalogues with professional CAD systems.
Compatibility with imos CAD/CAM
software is guaranteed.
Our website at www.hettich.com offers
tremendous possibilities. There‘s our
eCatalog, the worldwide Interpack picking
and packaging service, configurators
to facilitate handle selection and office
planning options with Org@Tower.
Hettich makes extensive use of the Internet
to communicate information.
DIY enthusiasts can download tips for
home improvement projects or print out
a fittings list to make sure of getting the
right products at the store.
This issue of in time includes a 12-page
eBusiness special. Hettich options and
services are described in some detail. The
breadth of our offering is some indication
of our commitment to supporting our
customers with proven electronic solutions
tailored to their requirements.

Clive Sparrow retires news
New managing
director for
Hettich UK
After more than 16 years
at the helm of Hettich UK,
Clive Sparrow has moved on
to well-earned retirement.
His successor as managing
director is Tim Leedham, who
brings to the job many years
of success in the furniture
industry and at Hettich. Also
on the management team are
Phil Tipson as general sales
manager and Debbie Rathbone
responsible for finances and
controlling.
Clive Sparrow made the furniture
industry his career for over 40 years.
He already had substantial experience at
Wadkin Woodworking Machinery and LB
Plastics when he joined the Hettich Group
in January 1989, heading up the newly
founded subsidiary Hettich UK, based
in Manchester. He steered the company
through good times and bad. Under
his steady hand, Hettich UK achieved
continuous growth, putting the company
today among the UK market leaders.
In addition to his job as managing
director of Hettich UK, Clive Sparrow
for many years also wore another hat
as chairman of the ASFI (Association of
Suppliers to the Furniture Industry). His
hard work in furthering the interests of
components suppliers and the decisive
role he played in shaping the development
of the ASFI won him wide recognition
in the industry.
Tim Leedham, who takes over from
Clive as managing director, has been
part of the Hettich UK team since 1989
and knows the industry inside out.
Tim Leedham began his furniture industry
career as a designer. He spent two years
in New York, adding an international
dimension to his know-how. In the 1990s,
he began a course of business studies,
finally taking an MBA degree from University
of Bradford Management School
in 1996. Ever since then, Tim Leedham
has played a substantial role in the
successful development of Hettich UK.
The company‘s strategy for the
medium-term is to expand its position
in the professional market segment –
meeting the needs of cabinet makers and
interior fitters. Tim Leedham explains:
“Growth potential for Hettich UK is in the
segment professional/trade and the key
to success here is our product range and
the services we can offer. All business
Tim Leedham (left) has taken over
from Clive Sparrow as managing
director of Hettich UK in Manchester.
with industry customers is handled
directly by the parent company, because
it‘s the only way to compete successfully
in the volume market.“ To reach the goals
it has set itself, the Hettich UK team has
been enlarged. Leedham: “We‘re investing
in a well-qualified sales team supported
by an efficient back office. Close, personal
contact with customers is as important in
generating growth as impeccable service
in online sales.“
The new crew, Tim Leedham, Phil Tipson
and Debbie Rathbone, have their
sights set on new horizons with Hettich
UK on course for growth. In retirement,
Clive Sparrow will be able to keep a weather
eye on developments from the decks of
his yacht off the English south coast.
33

34
Flexible and
functional with
excellent ergonomics
Vertical pull-outs with a perfectly planned
organizer system. Photo: Edsbyn
Edsbyn‘s new Duf range combines
desktops and storage space in
compact, streamlined units. The buildingblock
system can be used, for instance,
to create several linked, space-saving
workplaces. In developing the Duf range,
Edsbyn drew on know-how and support
from Hettich Skandinaviska. Hettich
vertical units are one of the choices for
workplace dividers that double as storage
space. Hettich organizer systems let
people use the space inside the vertical
drawer units effectively. Hettich products
have helped to create a range of streamlined
and attractive office furniture where
workplaces can be linked in ways that
save space and meet ergonomic criteria.
The idea of using a vertical drawer unit
as a divider between linked workplaces
attracted Edsbyn designers. Vertically
organized drawer interiors with intelligent
organizer elements have several
benefits. Apart from providing space to
store traditional office equipment and
consumables, the new drawers provide
dedicated storage space for CDs, laptops,
mobile phones and personal planners.
Swedish office furniture manufacturer Edsbyn has a company
tradition going back to 1899. Today. Edsbyn has annual sales of
around � 30 million and employs about 240 people. One focus
of its product range is compact office workplaces with efficient
storage space.
Office workplaces from Edsbyn
Well-organized, easy-access storage
makes all the difference to efficient
work. The units are available in different
heights to suit individual requirements.
Edsbyn has been supplying office furniture
to government institutions in Sweden
and Denmark for 50 years. In the private
sector too, the company‘s main markets
are in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The
company shares with its customers a high
level of environmental awareness. The
Edsbyverken, in Edsbyn in central Sweden,
operate to exacting environmental guidelines
and three of the Edsbyn furniture
ranges carry the prestigious Swedish
Svanen environment label.
The success of the close cooperation
between office furniture manufacturer
Edsbyn and fittings supplier Hettich
Skandinaviska in this development project
is significant. It illustrates the importance
of working beyond standardized products
towards creative solutions that meet the
special requirements of all concerned.
Workplace plus storage in a compact unit
Photo: Edsbyn

A recognized market partner
30 years of
Hettich France
Hettich France, one of the first foreign subsidiaries of the Hettich
Group, this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of its founding.
Today our French subsidiary employs more than 20 people. Intensive
customer care is a high priority in the company‘s drive for steady
growth. The customer base includes manufacturers of kitchen,
residential and office furniture, as well as cabinet makers and
fitters. The latter two customer groups can access the complete
range of Hettich fittings via specialist dealer networks.
Organized to serve the market segments
Residential, Kitchen/Bath, Office and
Professional, the specialized teams at Hettich
France work closely with colleagues in Germany.
They deploy proven marketing tools
to increase market share in all segments.
Among recent campaigns have been the
successful market launch of the InnoTech
drawer system with integrated damping. In
residential furniture, Hettich runner systems
and especially Quadro concealed drawer
runners are well-established in the marketplace.
Systema Top 2000 is becoming a
trend-setter in office furniture projects and
Hettich France has gained a strong position
in the hinge market. In addition, with the
company‘s know-how and experience, input
from Hettich can make an important contribution
to customer product development.
Marketing strength
As part of its 2004 marketing campaign,
Hettich France distributed the new
Fittings and Applications catalogue to over
18,000 French cabinet makers. Putting
comprehensive information in the hands
of this customer group, has reinforced
Hettich‘s image as a leading manufacturer
of furniture fittings with customer-friendly,
technical solutions to simplify furniture
making processes.
Hettich France has a focus on cooperative
marketing, offering marketing support
services to specific customer groups. For
industry customers this includes promotional
material with well-presented product
arguments for display in the sales outlets
of their dealership chains. For Professional
Division customers – specialist dealers and
DIY outlets – cooperative marketing includes
assistance with preparing catalogues
and promotional material for stores.
New showroom
In summer 2004, Hettich France opened
its new showroom. It‘s here that industry
customers, specialist dealers, architects and
cabinet makers can not only inspect the
huge product range, but also experience
products in action in typical applications.
news
Catherine Courcel,
General Manager Hettich France
The Hettich France team takes an
optimistic view of the future.
New services
On top of the wide product spectrum,
Hettich France offers services aimed at
generating optimal added value:
- Training sales teams from our specialist
dealer partners in our own training
centre (225 people in 2004)
- The Hettich Group‘s Interpack picking
and bagging service supplies manufacturers
of flat pack furniture, for example,
with application-specific bagged fittings.
- Support for industry partners installing
logistics concepts for optimized inventory
control and improved service.
- Once dealers have installed Quick Service,
cabinet makers in all the northern
regions of France are assured delivery of
10,000 products in under 48 hours.
- Order processes are optimized with EDI
and the Internet.
In its 30th anniversary year, Hettich France‘s
proactive and customer-specific marketing
is a guarantee of success. Trailblazing
products and services, and a dedicated and
enthusiastic marketing team give the
company every reason to face the future
with optimism.
35

The POLLUTEC, an international
trade show for environmental
technology oriented to the
needs of industry and local
government, was held in Lyons
in 2004. In a ceremony at the
show, Meubles Délias, placed
third in the category environ-
mental management, received
its award from French environ-
ment minister Serge Lepeltier.
The prize recognizes the company‘s
achievement in reducing and
recycling internal and external
waste, and in drastically reduc-
ing its use of hazardous products.
Meubles Délias is the first French furniture
manufacturer to receive this environmental
management award. The company,
which makes storage, bedroom and office
furniture, is committed to the concept of
sustainable development. The award emphasizes
the progress that can be achieved
by always giving priority to a multi-faceted
global strategy. Components of the strategy
include:
36 36
- Eliminate technologies that require
heavy use of chemicals and substance
hazardous to employee health
- Optimize use of resources and reduce
waste by giving priority to recycling
- Reorientate company organization and
production methods to reduce inventory,
improve product quality and optimize
response to customer requirements
In just 12 months, Meubles Délias slashed
its inventory from 90,000 packing units to
zero. Order lead time, ie, time span between
receipt of an order and shipment, was
reduced to 5 days maximum. Kanban principles
were applied to production. Customer
orders are picked and compiled within two
to five days.
Changes as radical as these could only succeed
with the full support of all employees.
Everyone at Meubles Délias took the new
approach fully on board. Far from being an
economic handicap, the revolutionary new
approach quickly turned into a competitive
advantage, not least because it made more
effective use of resources.
Awards ceremony at the
POLLUTEC: Meubles Délias
directeur général Jean-
François Délias (2nd from
right) accepts third prize in
the category environmental
management from French
environment minister Serge
Lepeltier (centre).
Meubles Délias
wins environment
award
New organizational structure for sustained growth
Parallel to these changes, in the course of
the past three years Meubles Délias has
renewed 90% of its product range. Today
it is company policy to make marketing
and sales aids available for each collection.
These include support with communicating
product benefits right through to point of
sale. Special product information on each
range is prepared ready for dealers to hand
out to end customers.
A long-term partner of Meubles Délias, the
Hettich Group has developed products that
meet the different quality criteria required
by the furniture manufacturer‘s differentiated
quality levels. This includes concealed
hinges, sliding door systems and just-intime
delivery of individually picked bagged
fittings. An important aspect of environmental
management is product stewardship
– unremitting efforts to ensure that
components have a minimal impact on the
environment, from raw material consumption
to final disposal.
In 2003, Meubles Délias sales of E15.5
million were 10% higher than the previous
year‘s figure. In fiscal 2004, the company
again expects double-digit sales growth.

Sofacem, a company managed
by the Cousin family, has been
designing, manufacturing and
marketing high quality furniture
since 1821. The company brand,
“La Cuisine Française“, is known
for the quality, tradition and
manufacturing excellence of its
exclusive kitchens. The kitchens,
in French country-house styles,
are designed as complete entities
and manufactured to very high
standards in the company‘s own
workshops. Sofacem is proud of
its professional approach and
traditional woodworking skills.
Christophe Cousin: skilled in
merging tradition and innovation
Kitchens in
traditional
quality
The company works mainly in wood, a
material that suits every style and epoch.
Wood is also the ideal substrate for the
finishes that are part of the company‘s
reputation. It can successfully take the
“18th century“ patina of the “Gascogne“
kitchen, the antiqued patina of the oak
used for the “Carrouges“ kitchen, but also
more contemporary finishes like brushed,
matt varnished or waxed wood.
Christophe and Fabienne Cousin are
always on the lookout for new ideas and
the latest developments in interior
design. The Cousins have worked with
Hettich for many years, integrating a
wealth of functional details in their
kitchens. These include drawers from
Hettich‘s InnoTech system with integrated
damping and a choice of interior
organizer elements, damped Intermat
La Cuisine Française:
InnoTech drawers
add value inside and out
news
hinges, height-adjustable legs, Cargo
base unit and larder pull-outs and the
wall unit fasteners. By merging traditional
materials and styles with innovative
fittings technology, Sofacem can offer
its customers mellow elegance combined
with all the ergonomic and efficiency
benefits that go with a 21st century
lifestyle.
The company production plant in
Pré-en-Pail (département Mayenne)
employ around 100 people. The kitchens
are sold through more than 60 partner
outlets in France, Belgium, Luxembourg
and Switzerland. Only recently an
exclusive 150 sqm showroom was
opened in Paris. The prestigious La Cuisine
Française kitchens on show will reinforce
the brand‘s upmarket image in the French
capital.
The Cambridge kitchen,
a traditional country-house style
37

OBE Hettich and
Hettich Iberia
The shared OBE Hettich and
Hettich Iberia showroom for
Spanish customers has been
given a makeover. The floor
area was doubled to 200 sqm
and the displays have been
updated. The showroom is now
an attractive venue for meeting
customers and suppliers, for
training and for presentations.
38
New attraction
for customers
OBE Hettich and Hettich Iberia
started planning the showroom
makeover in early 2004. Cooperation
partner was Interfair in Kirchlengern, a
central department that supplies services
to Hettich subsidiaries. The Spanish
companies and the Interfair team saw
the project through to a successful
conclusion.
The showroom is designed to accommodate
the needs of both our Spanish subsidiaries.
Their common goal is to intensify contacts
and partnership with their customers. For
this reason, the displays communicate
more than technical facts. They also show
applications that underline how the right
fittings enhance quality, functionality and
furniture design. By demonstrating how
ideas can be creatively implemented, the
showroom helps to spark striking new
furniture designs with powerful end-user
benefits.
A new addition is a multimedia room
with ultra-modern communication
technology for training and presentations.
It will now be possible for the Spanish
companies to offer services like training
seminars for customer employees and
other groups.
The showroom makeover was only one
item in a package of improvements
and expansions that OBE Hettich has
implemented companywide for buildings
and production systems. Extending
loading zones has improved the material
flow for incoming and outgoing goods.
With a new façade and an attractive
entrance and lobby, styled to corporate
identity guidelines, Hettich is making a
great impression in Spain.

GAPSA
One to watch in
international office
furniture
The Spanish GAPSA (Grupo
Armarios Persiana S.A.) Group, is
headquartered within easy
distance of Barcelona. GAPSA
specializes in tambour-fronted,
metal cabinets, where it is a
market leader in the European
office furniture segment. In 2003,
the owner-managed company,
decided to work with OBE Hettich
on a large development project.
The aim was to develop a new
cabinet as part of a new model
range. By September 2004, the
“Master“ office cabinet range was
ready for marketing.
Tambour-fronted metal
cupboards feature space-saving,
fast-assembly organizer systems.
Photo: Gapsa
It began with a meeting at the biennial
Maderalia in autumn 2003 in Valencia.
GAPSA owner and managing director,
Enrique González Becerra, visited the OBE
Hettich booth to discuss his plans for the
new range. He was interested in integrating
a Hettich organizer system in the new
models, because he liked Hettich‘s cohesive
system approach.
The initial meetings defined the specifications:
a metal, tambour-fronted cabinet,
1,200 mm wide, fitted with telescopic
hanging file frames, Stop Control and
self-closing, and a number of organizer
elements. The hanging file frames would
be wide enough to accommodate three A 4
files side by side. Installation of the organizer
components should be toolless.
In record time, the Office team in Spain,
working closely with the developers in
Germany, came up with an initial proposal
based on steel adapters which would allow
toolless installation of the pull-out runners
in the steel cabinet. Using this solution,
GAPSA showed a prototype of the new
Master tambour-fronted cabinet at the
biennial OFITEC in Madrid in February 2004.
The very positive response to the new interior
fittings during the prototype presentation
led GAPSA and Hettich to re-examine the
project looking at the potential for rationalizing
production. By the end of the second
development phase in June 2004, the
partners had a product that was ready for
series production.
The new secret of success is a heavy-duty
plastic adapter that is quickly mounted
on the steel side panel. The runners for the
GAPSA building in Castellar del
Vallès. Photo: Gapsa
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pull-outs are then attached to this adapter
in a toolless assembly process. The adapter
accommodates the Stop Control and selfclosing
mechanisms. And it is also prepared
for an upgrade with a Parallel System for
perfect lateral stability.
Director Enrique González commented
on the joint development: “I‘m very
satisfied with the committed support we
got from the Hettich Group and especially
from OBE Hettich. This cooperation has
allowed us to benefit from the profound
know-how of a leading fittings specialist.
The space-saving, easy to assemble, interior
fittings, with the very wide pull-out and
hanging file frames, is helping us to meet
the requirements of our customers in Spain
and throughout Europe.“
GAPSA, headquartered in Castellar del
Vallès (Barcelona), was founded in
1996. Today the Group has a daily production
of over 500 units. It sells its products in
24 countries, and exports account for 78%
of total production. Half of this volume
goes to France via the independent subsidiary
GAPSA France. GAPSA also has a 60%
share in GAPSA AMERICA in Caracas.
39

Show the product in a living-
world context. That is the
approach taken by the new
Hettich Australia showroom to
be opened in Melbourne at the
end of May 2005. Fittings are
displayed in a themed context,
organized by topic, for example,
rejuvenation, relaxation,
contribution, preparation and
information. The showroom is
a new departure, aiming to
show designers and architects
how highly functional fittings
can be embedded within
attractive worlds for living.
The new showroom at 57 Haig Street in
Southbank, Melbourne, is conveniently
located just 500 m from the Melbourne
Exhibition and Convention Centre and
close to the lively central business district.
Within easy reach of public transport and
with ample secure parking behind the
building, the showroom aims to bring
fittings and applications closer to the
orbits of Melbourne‘s busy designers and
architects.
Showroom design and implementation
was by renowned Melbourne designer
Martin Reid, who also took on board
feedback from various designer focus
groups. On show are the latest products
from Hettich International and Laminex, the
40
Taking the
hard out of
hardware
leading Australian brand for decorative
laminates, veneers and other surfaces.
The showroom will draw people with its
range of hardware products, shown in
attractive real-life contexts. Rejuvenation
is the theme of the area showing fittings
for bathroom furniture. Relaxation is the
idea that ties the display of bedroom and
living room fittings together. Office and
home office systems illustrate how
furniture hardware makes a contribution
to more efficiency and a better working
environment. Other themes are preparation
(the kitchen) and information (the
resource library). The beautifully styled
exhibition also offers ideas on how living
areas can combine attractive looks and
functionality.
This new showroom reflects a trend away
from the traditional, technology-focussed
way of displaying technical fittings.
Instead Hettich Australia is showing how
the fittings function in a design-orientated
living world. This modern way of communicating
information simultaneously
communicates competence. Hettich and
Laminex planned the showroom as a platform
to encourage learning, to stimulate
new ideas and to communicate. The showroom
will be open during normal business
hours and will be able to accommodate
groups of up to 30 people.
New showroom opens in Melbourne
This catalogue is a reference work
Launched at the Awisa 2004 in Sydney,
Hettich‘s Fittings and Applications catalogue,
adapted for the local market, became a
runaway success. In an 18-month campaign
over 24,000 copies were distributed in Australia
and New Zealand.
Aidan Jury, head of Hettich‘s operation in
Australia and New Zealand, is more than
satisfied with the new Fittings and Applications
(F+A) catalogue and with the logistical
marathon it took to distribute the chunky
volume. “I can only quote our customers. They
say that the design and layout are so good that
everyone always finds what they‘re looking for.
They‘re full of enthusiasm for the F+A.“

For two decades, Hettich
Australia has been supplying
its customers with product
information via the F+A
catalogue. Now Hettich is
appealing to designers and
discerning consumers with its
Living Worlds series. The
publication of Kitchens and
Bathrooms, the first volume in
the series, was timed to coincide
with the designEX show
in April this year in Melbourne.
lot of customers were delighted that the
A catalogue has got bigger. They liked the
wider choice of products in the Kitchen and
Bathroom section, and the additions to
Residential and Office sections. The completely
revised catalogue is 1,080 pages long. It provides
detailed information about almost 3,000
products, 1,100 of them new additions in this
issue. All the products in the catalogue are
available ex stock from the central warehouses in
Sydney and Auckland.
The catalogue was reworked for the Australian
and New Zealand markets. The index, for
example, now includes local names for fittings, so
that even non-specialists can find their way
around.
Australia and New Zealand
Living Worlds
for kitchens
and bathrooms
Today we have virtually limitless choice
in the way we furnish our homes. So
what drives our preferences and personal
tastes? Some people want a cosy cocoon,
where comfort is the priority, a degree of
untidiness is acceptable and everything is
a little bit tatty, like a pair of well-worn
jeans. At the other end of the continuum
are the people who love pure design,
shades of white, uncompromisingly stark
lines, and strictly functional organization.
Probably most of us would admit to being
somewhere towards the middle, although
exactly where is an interesting question.
Some design psychologists identify four
categories depending on the home environment
that best suits us: the starkly
modern, the classical ideal of perfect
organization and aesthetics, the comfort
of familiar surroundings, or the need for
contact with the natural environment.
These four categories can be labelled:
modern, classical, domestic and natural.
An individual might not fit exactly into
one category, there could be overlaps or
mixes, but basically these four categories
can be used to predict choices people will
make about their home environments.
Despite the huge number of products, the
catalogue is far more than just a list of order
codes. It contains functional diagrams and
detailed construction drawings, complete with
dimensions, to aid selection and installation. The
wealth of information makes the F+A catalogue
an essential tool, not only in the field, but also in
training programmes for designers, distributors
and furniture manufacturers. In short, the
catalogue has become a reference work for
furniture design and construction, making it
child‘s play to select the right fitting for every
application.
news
The idea for the Living Worlds series
evolved against this background. Kitchens
and Bathrooms is the first volume in the
series. The publications are intended to
provoke an interesting and ongoing
discussion. And to trigger a creative
dialogue between customers and professional
designers about people‘s preferences,
habits and tastes. At the same
time, they provide ideas for applications
and designs that are only possible
through the use of innovative furniture
fittings. Living Worlds is not intended to be
either a design manual or a style guide. Its
primary purpose is to assist in identifying
different styles and in finding out what
moves people to choose particular
furniture and furnishings. Building on
this, the booklets illustrates how consumer
needs can be better matched by using
Hettich fittings to achieve a design with
still more functionality. As always, the
goal is satisfied customers.
41

The idea for the name “Mitre 10“ is said
to have come from the Mitre Tavern,
a popular pub in what is said to be Melbourne‘s
oldest building. And mitre joints
are familiar to professional and amateur
woodworkers alike. The “10“ is supposed
to have been picked by the five founders
in June 1959 as a target number of stores
that would make for a viable organization.
And it sounded good. The idea took off
and soon there were Mitre 10 stores
across Australia and New Zealand. Now
the chain has over 900 stores and is still
growing.
Today, Mitre 10 is known the length
and breadth of the region as the
perfect one-stop shop where DIY enthusiasts
and local artisans can buy everything
they need for a home or garden
improvement project. Hettich Australia
maintained supplier relationships with
individual Mitre 10 stores for many
years, but it was only in the late 1990s
that the Hettich FurnTech DIY range was
widely introduced. Since then, Hettich
has become a prime supplier of hardware
fittings to the chain. Formulas for success
that attracted Mitre 10 buyers were
Hettich‘s highly effective POS displays
and packaging concepts, the high recognition
value of the Hettich brand and the
outstanding support of the company‘s
customer service concept.
42
Mitre 10 is a leading chain with
over 900 hardware and home
improvement stores in Australia
and New Zealand. The cooperative
was set up in 1959 in the state of
Victoria and has also been expanding
in New Zealand since 1974.
Hettich has a long connection with
Mitre 10 stores and the cooperation
has intensified since Hettich
launched its DIY ranges in the 1990s.
Hettich DIY Australia
Mitre 10: an ongoing
success story
Mitre 10 is alert to pick up on changing
customer needs and preferences
and to supply precisely what customers
want. In February 2004, the first Mitre
10 MEGA store opened in Hasting in New
Zealand. Since then five more MEGA
stores have opened in New Zealand and
four in Australia. Within the next five
years, the organization plans to have a
grand total of 50 MEGA stores in the two
countries.
Mitre 10 says its MEGA stores offer
customers extra value and services.
These include inspiration and ideas, information
and advice, wider choice and special
sections – plus very attractive prices.
It‘s all this that transforms them from
DO-IT-YOURSELF into DO-IT-WITH-US.
MEGA stores are typical of a new
generation of businesses where
innovation and customer service set the
tone. In a friendly atmosphere, customers
can find everything from complete kitchens
and bathrooms to garden products. All
backed by friendly, knowledgeable service
and selling at affordable prices. MEGA
stores are a platform for new ideas, a
place where customers can get expert
advice and choose from a wide range
of outstanding home improvement and
hardware products. The aim is to be a
21st century retail chain with a world-class
format.

Built-in refrigerator/freezer with drawer
Photo: Sub-Zero
From the tropics to the tundra:
runners and hinges from
Hettich are designed to with-
stand extreme temperatures in
hot ovens and icy freezers, and
the water and detergents in
dishwashers. The promodul
team at Hettich America has
an impressive list of reference
applications. A testimony to
the ability of durable and
highly functional fittings to
add extra value in kitchen
appliances.
Hot, wet
or cold
Hettich… at home in
good appliances
Major appliance manufacturers,
including BSH, Dacor, Marvel, Sub-
Zero, U-Line Viking and Whirlpool, set
great store by quality and functionality.
Quadro runners do well on both counts,
performing impeccably, year in year out,
in refrigerators and freezers, ovens and
dishwashers. Full or partial extension
ball-bearing runners are used in many
ovens. They move hot and heavy loads
in fine style and perfect safety. Runners
for baking sheets with stop control help
to prevent accidents with hot dishes.
Runners unclip quickly for cleaning and
can be replaced just as easily.
There are special hinges for refrigerator
doors with an integrated spring
mechanism that ensures the door is
properly closed.
Special height-adjustable, stainless
steel runners for dishwasher racks
make it easier to stack tableware in
the dishwasher. The self-closing option,
with its slow and gentle closing action,
provides extra protection for fragile
glassware and china.
Ball-bearing runners from the Grant
range are heavy-duty fittings designed
to move heavy loads in large freezers.
Hettich America scores highly with the
home appliance industry thanks to many
important details – from ball-bearing
runners for the crushed ice drawer to
concealed hinges for gentle, reliable
closing of refrigerator doors.
Built-in refrigerator with hinged
door; below it the freezer unit
with drawer. Photo: Sub-Zero
news
Scaling up the practical benefits
Hettich America transfers the
technical know-how gained in the
home appliance field to even bigger tasks.
A lot of heavy equipment in fire trucks
and ambulances is stored in drawers that
run on ball-bearing slides. Hettich has
been supplying the slides for so long that
their type number 3300 has become, like
a lot of brandnames, a fixture in these
customers‘ technical vocabulary.
Heavy-duty ball-bearing runners take the load
in ambulances and fire trucks.
43

Anil Goel, Managing Director Hettich India
The head office of the young subsidiary,
Hettich India Pvt. Ltd., is in Mumbai,
the business and financial hub of India.
Three world-class Application Centres
– in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore –
combine training facilities with attractive
showrooms.
Each of the Application Centres is managed
by a qualified architect or engineer.
Visitors include furniture manufacturers,
distributors, cabinet makers and carpenters,
architects, interior designers and
members of the general public. What all
visitors share is an interest in keeping up
to date with the latest developments in
furniture design and in experiencing the
newest fittings and applications from
Hettich.
The company‘s astounding market success
has been largely due to a carefully
planned strategy of organic growth,
expanding steadily outwards in concentric
circles from India‘s big commercial
centres. Staged expansion has allowed
Hettich India to maintain strong relationships
with customers. In just three
years, Hettich India has built up a team
of highly trained and highly motivated
employees, which it regards as its most
important capital.
Hettich India works constantly to enlarge
its customer base, both by extending
marketing efforts to new areas and by
strengthening existing trade channels.
The company also works closely with
trading partners as they add to their
portfolio of Hettich products. Cooperation
with furniture manufacturers begins
at an early stage of their product design
process, so that Hettich fittings are
already specified when new designs are
approved for production.
44
Successful
in India
Strategic development in
a growth market
Today, Hettich India generally works
directly with furniture manufacturers in
India. It is also represented throughout
the length and breadth of the country by
its trade partners.
Training rituals
To develop customer potential in the
small business segment, Hettich India
offers regular training courses for carpenters
and cabinet makers. The training
ritual is followed with almost religious
enthusiasm by distributors and artisans.
Participants sharpen their product knowledge
and their skill in the use of Hettich
products in different applications. At the
same time we are building loyalty to the
Hettich brand.
Hettich India also participates regularly
in furniture industry trade shows, helping
to spread awareness of the Hettich brand
and functioning as a source of new ideas
and new designs with improved functionality
for end users.
Big plans for the future
The next step, planned for 2005, is
entry into the highly price-sensitive
office furniture market. In its campaign,
which involves taking on some of the
big players, Hettich India will be offering
competitively-priced steel drawers.
2005 will be a watershed year for Hettich
India. The company is building a logistics
centre not far from Mumbai in response
to the growing volume of business and
the escalating service demands.
The Hettich India team is ready to meet
the challenges and risks of the coming
years, to seize the opportunities as they
arise, and to play a role in the worldwide
growth of Hettich International.
Indian background
The Indian Republic is an exuberant,
multifaceted country and the impact
of its economic activities on the world
economy is rising. The big and growing
market, the rapidly developing infrastructure,
the highly-developed financial sector,
the flexible legislation, stable political
situation and high economic expectations
all combine to make India a magnet for
investment. For many large international
companies, investment in India holds
out the prospect of high and sustained
growth.
After the reforms which began in 1991,
India is on the way to becoming a social
market economy, although key economic
sectors are still dominated by poorly
performing public enterprises. In fiscal
2003/2004 (ending March 31, 2004),

Political stability and the
liberalization of the country‘s
policy on foreign direct investment
are attracting international
companies to India in
increasing numbers. With the
dawn of the new millennium,
Hettich too began to invest in
India as a strategic market for
international expansion. And
success has been quick in
coming.
Indian GDP rose by 8.2%. This result exceeded
the target of 8% annual average
growth I real GDP which had been set
in the tenth five-year plan, in December
2002. The 9.1% increase in agricultural
production was one of the main factors
in this outstanding growth. Other
economic sectors also achieved above
average growth. The industrial sector
grew by 6.5% and the service sector by
8.4%. Estimates for 2004/2005 predict
year-on-year growth of 6 to 7%.
In India there is a clear shift from primary
industries to the secondary and tertiary
sectors. Agriculture, including forestry
and fishing, now contributes only 24%
to GDP and industry 24.6%, while the
service sector contributes 51%. Although
sections of the Indian economy are world
class – such as information technology
and pharmaceuticals, or rocket science
and biotechnology in the research sector
– even the economic growth of the past
decade has not yet lifted the country out
of the group of developing countries.
The flip side
India‘s size (3.3 million square kilometres)
and its population of over 1.1 billion
are impressive. But India, a country
of extremes, has some of the lowest
human development indicators in the
world. Around a quarter of the population
lives below the poverty line, existing
on less than one US dollar a day. Almost
80% of the population lives on less than
2 US dollars a day. More than a quarter
of all Indians are illiterate. Impressive
economic growth has to be set against
rapid population growth, which still adds
around 12 million people to the population
every year.
The centre-left coalition, lead by the
Congress party, and the prime minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, in office since May
2004, is committed to continuing reform
“with a human face“. Important
areas are infrastructure
improvements, especially in
rural areas, and investment
in healthcare and education.
The middle class a force
for growth
Despite the challenges
still facing the country,
the stable democracy in
India seems set for economic
growth. India is a
huge market. The 250 to
300 million people who
count as middle class enjoy
growing economic power. In
recent years, this group has
been investing strongly in
news
consumer durables. The organized retail
sector is expanding to keep pace with
the growth in spending power, including
modern forms such as large self-service
stores, which are capturing an increasing
share of the market.
Indian membership of supraregional
organizations such as the SAARC (South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)
ensures access to regional and
international markets. Foreign direct investment
is welcome in almost all sectors
except strategic sectors such as defence
and nuclear power. Production capacity in
almost all manufacturing sectors is very
large. One booming sector is information
technology. A lively capital market with
63 stock exchanges and 9,000 registered
companies reflects the country‘s rapid
industrial development.
The banking system includes a network
of commercial banks with over 63,000
branches, supported by a number of
national and state institutions, facilitating
financial transfers even in foreign
currencies.
Hettich International counts India among
the strategic growth markets in Asia. The
successful start-up of Hettich India in
2000, the market position achieved to
date and the Hettich India team ready for
future growth is grounds for optimism.
45

Sales office in the Ukraine
In September 2004, the new Ukraine
sales office of Hettich Marketing &
Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG, Kirchlengern,
was officially opened.
The decision to reinforce our Ukraine
presence with a sales office was a
response to increasing local demand for
high-quality furniture fittings and the
rapid growth of the Ukraine furniture
industry. We will now be able to intensify
sales and customer support provided by
people with local know-how and language
skills. The premises in Kiev include
a showroom with applications for our
fittings spectrum – from connectors and
hinges to sophisticated kitchen fittings
and systems for sliding and folding doors.
At present, the sales office employs
three people. One of our first goals
is to create a marketing structure for
effective coverage of the whole Ukraine
market. Close contact with customers
will help communicate the technical
know-how available in the Hettich Group.
An office on the spot will be a channel
for technology transfer and support for
local industry. In the medium and longer
term, we hope that this commitment
will enable Hettich to build lasting and
constructive relationships with customers
in the Ukraine
46
Kitchen dreams: past and present
Kitchen Stories, a 2003 film by Norwegian director Bent Hamer, takes a satirical look
at kitchen research in the 1950s. Kitchens were also in the spotlight at the Lippische
Landesmuseum in Detmold from September 2004 to February 2005 where the exhibition
Kitchen Dreams – German Kitchens since 1900 offered some serious and some lighthearted
insights into the interaction of kitchen design and social trends over the years.
The museum‘s own collection of historical kitchen furniture was augmented by loans
from other museums and private individuals, and the exhibition was generously supported
by sponsors including SieMatic, Miele and Hettich. One highlight is a complete “Frankfurt
Kitchen“ from 1927, which could be the direct forerunner of modern built-in kitchens,
hugely popular since the 1960s. Kitchen Dreams looked at many developments along the
way to today‘s kitchens. Some of the latter were on show too, like a SieMatic kitchen
with Miele appliances. A row of kitchen units with fittings
by Hettich illustrated how suppliers are developing streamlined
solutions that make kitchen work more efficient and
enjoyable.
Endowment professorship in timber construction
The Department of Wood Engineering
at the University of Applied Sciences
Lippe and Höxter has received a generous
endowment from furniture manufacturers
and components suppliers in the industry
cluster East Westphalia and from the
Stiftung Standortsicherung Lippe, a
foundation set up to promote industry in
the Lippe region. The gift will endow a
professorship in Timber Construction at
the university. Funded by around �
P 300,000, donated in equal shares by
the foundation and the furniture industry,
the new endowment professor will be
appointed for the summer semester 2005.
The endowment will run for three years,
Representative office in Turkey
after which the professorship will be
continued as a regular faculty post.
Part of the new professor‘s remit will
be to intensify the department‘s
international approach. He or she will
be expected to take an active part in expanding
international degree courses and
promoting cooperation with foreign universities.
The industry donors with their
worldwide operations will offer additional
support, for example, internships that will
help to attract foreign students.
In September 2004, Hettich Marketing & Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG also opened an
office in Istanbul, primarily to advise and support manufacturers in the furniture
industry. Our Turkish channel partner, TEM INSAAT MALZEMELERI, will continue to work
with Hettich FurnTech GmbH & Co. KG, Vlotho, providing sales and support for artisans,
architects, designers and planners.
The Istanbul office also has a showroom where local customers can see Hettich fittings
in a range of applications and judge quality, functionality and design for themselves.
Intensified activities for Hettich Marketing- & Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG in Turkey began
with the Intermob in
Istanbul. The new office
will initially employ
three people.

A Frankfurt Kitchen
designed by the architect
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky.
Photo: Lippisches Landesmuseum
Kitchen cupboards with Hettich
fittings demonstrate how system
solutions make effective and ergonomic
use of all the storage spacein
a 21st century kitchen.
Photo: Lippisches Landesmuseum
25 million euro investment for a worldwide delivery service
Hettich is building a new Logistics
Centre. Directly linked to the Kirchlengern
plant, the site is actually in the
neighbouring district of Bünde. When it
goes into operation in 2006, the Logistics
Centre will ship to furniture industry
customers worldwide and keep the warehouses
of the company‘s international
subsidiaries stocked up. Including the
cost of the site, the total investment will
be around P 25 million.
The built-over area will total 15,000
sqm on the roughly 90,000 sqm site.
The complex will comprise a completely
automated high-bay warehouse and an
adjacent picking and packaging hall,
facilities for employees, an office building
and space for the technology infrastructure.
When it is finished, the centre will
employ 120 people working two shifts.
When the new centre becomes operational
at the beginning of 2006,
Hettich will also be able to optimize
information management to improve
stock control, cut lead times and step up
logistics reliability still further. A highly
automated and flexible logistics operation
will also enable Hettich International
to meet the growing demand for
just-in-time deliveries.
Expanded Board of Management
for the Hettich Group
With effect from January 1,
2005, Dr. Andreas Hettich
(35) was appointed by the
Board of Trustees of the
Hettich Group, Kirchlengern,
to the Board of Management
of Hettich Holding GmbH &
Co. oHG. He will be responsible
for IT and logistics in the
Hettich Group. Dr. Andreas
Hettich represents the fourth
generation of the Hettich
family in company management,
continuing the tradition of
this family-owned company.
Dr. Andreas Hettich studied
electrical engineering and
technical information science,
taking a PhD summa cum
laude from the RWTH Aachen.
He joined the Hettich Group
on July 1, 2000 as assistant to
the management and in early
2001, he was appointed
co-managing director – with
Ingo Schubert – of Hettich
Management Service GmbH.
With the appointment of Dr.
Andreas Hettich, the Board of
Trustees of the Hettich Group
is underlining the company‘s
future-oriented outlook and
the key importance of
information technology and
logistics for future growth.
Apart from the addition of
Dr. Andreas Hettich, the
composition and responsibilities
of the Board of Management
remain unchanged: Bernd
Riechers, Ingo Schubert and
Dr. Dieter Wirths.
in brief
Breaking ground for the new Hettich Logistics Centre in
September 2004. Scheduled to become operational in
early 2006, the Logistics Centre is directly linked to the
main plant in Kirchlengern, although the site itself is in the
next-door district of Bünde. (3D animation: DIL/Hettich)
47

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