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6 Expedition – the companions With precision to a unique history usually it is the people who turn a successful company into a really exciting one. This is also the case at Zorn Instruments, which is currently managed by the fourth generation of an impressive dynasty of craftsmen and is celebrating success around the world with precision equipment made from stainless steel. Fourth generation owner: Bernd Zorn We are in Stendal, in the heart of the Altmark, a beautiful region to the north of Magdeburg which can look back on 1,000 years of history. Wilhelm Schließer founded a mechanical workshop to manufacture safes here in 1870. Later bicycles, then sewing machines and finally testing devices for metals and plastics were developed here. Thanks to this specialisation the “Gerhard Zorn Mechanische Werkstätten” escaped the expropriation policy in the GDR. The Zorn products became successful exports, which entitled the Zorn family to the greatest possible freedom of travel and earned the socialist state foreign currency. But the relationship remained tense. As a privately managed company Zorn was regarded as an “enemy of the system”, but the functionaries were not able to close their eyes to the company’s high productivity and success. On 1st of January 1981 Bernd Zorn took over the company management from his father. But before this he had had quite different plans. engineer instead of hairdresser The life of a young man often follows unexpected paths. That was also the case for Bernd Zorn. Ini - tially it was planned that he should become a chemist, but that was too dull for him. One of his brothers suggested: “Let the lad become a hairdresser.” Others argued he should become a “coal bearer” or engineer. He would earn good money and not have to work too hard. Eventually Bernd Zorn was trained as an engineer and was later unfortunately not able to fully enjoy the promised money and leisure time, because he had to survive hard From raw material to a precision tool … … with the help of state-of-the-art technology times with his company to bring it to where it is now. Not to mention the work which the almost 60year-old still puts in today. He gets up each day at 4:45am, and is generally the first person to arrive at the company at 5:45am. He is often also the last to leave. Gearing the company for the future The fall of the Berlin Wall was not really a stroke of luck for Bernd Zorn and Zorn Instruments. Zorn lost the monopoly which it had enjoyed in many socialist states. Other competitors moved into these markets. At the same time many customers from the West – to whom business relationships had existed for many years – used the political change to reduce prices. The GDR regime had also exploited the company and loaded it with debts. All in all the prospects were not rosy. But Bernd Zorn is not a person who
A Zorn deflectometer in use in the field is easily dispirited. He viewed the crisis as an opportunity and a chance to gear the company to a new future. He broke away from many custom ers and concentrated on an almost impossible undertaking: He wanted his independent company to succeed against the West German engineering industry. The key to this was an invention which was almost pure geni- Bernd Zorn and his Works Manager Ronald Könnecke Expedition – the companions us and today is employed in 100 countries worldwide: deflectometers for earth work, underground engineering and road and rail construction. Precision leads to success Deflectometers are required for dynamic plate bearing tests. These are used to determine the bearing capability and compression of soil and rock. Measurement is urgently required before, for instance, roads are constructed or buildings can be erected on a piece of land. The device is easy to operate and supplies the most precise measurement data on any construction site within a few minutes. These test devices from Zorn are extremely popular around the world, as a result of which 65% of Zorn Instruments’ total sales is based on exports. “Export for me has always meant freedom,” explains Bernd Zorn, who has travelled some 300,000 kilometres on his journeys round the globe, visited 140 countries and established countless contacts in the process. From Prince Hassan of Jordan, to Fidel Castro, through to Roman Herzog – Bernd Zorn has gotten to know them all in person and, with his open, straightforward manner, he filled them with enthusiasm for himself and his company. Medical engineering complements the range A second sector in which the precision of the company from Stendal is highly esteemed is medical engineering. In the last ten years the company has earned an outstanding reputation for itself in this sector and does not rest on its laurels: it is continuously enhancing its products. In particular in medical engineering the most stringent requirements apply for the cleanliness of the equipment and the materials used. Consequently Zorn Instruments relies here on products from Stappert’s “… nature of steel”, primarily on bars made from the grades 1.4301, 1.4057, 1.4542 and 1.4404, but sometimes also on welded and seamless pipes or hollow steel made from 1.4301 and 1.4541 and angles made from 1.4301. Work as a calling For Bernd Zorn his dedication to the company is more a calling than work. And he wants to continue as long as possible. He finds his role models for this in his own family, because his great grandfather worked until he was 94, his grandfather until he was 87, and his father until he was 84. But the 40 or so employees also display tremendous commitment to the company. And that with success, as can be seen in the workload on the plant alone. When the company moved into its new halls in 2001, nobody really knew what to do with all the space. Today full use is made of the capacity with state-of-the-art CNC machines filling every square metre. An extension is being planned. Zorn Instruments – a company with an impressive history. And living proof that quality and precision “made in Germany” enjoy great esteem worldwide. This is one of a series of company portraits to have been published in “expedition”, the customer magazine of Stappert SpezialStahl Handel. If you would like to have your company featured here, simply contact the editor. We look forward to hearing from you. High-quality stainless steel products “made in Germany” 7
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