Hans Braun was a loyal colleague for 49 years

It’s a Friday in March. Hans Braun is in his office at the plant in Winterlingen. The Head of the “Regrinding and Repairs” department clears up the last of his personal belongings and takes a walk through the company to say a final goodbye to colleagues. Management is holding a reception in the afternoon. “It was a great day”, Hans Braun will say later. He barely had time to get nostalgic because “there was so much going on, I didn’t have time to think at all.” And he was prepared, the farewell had been planned for a long time. 
The 64-year-old retired in April after 49 years in the company. And at the same time as his wife. They’re both excited and full of plans for retirement. They want to spruce up their home in neighbouring Harthausen, and there’s plenty to do in the garden. And they’ve also booked a holiday on the North Sea coast. Hans Braun isn’t afraid of this new chapter of his life. Especially as he knows he’s leaving his team in good hands. He helped his successor get ready to take over the role. Hans says: “He will do a great job, I’m sure.”
 

Hans Braun was 16 when he started as an apprentice at BECK. He found the training to become an industrial mechanic (still called fitter at the time) easy. He was already well acquainted with the company. A year earlier, he had started as a junior worker, which was not uncommon at the time. Available apprenticeships were rare in the 70s. His father had arranged the job for him. He had been at the pub, where he met the then managing director of BECK. They got talking and things progressed from there. The very next morning, his father sent him to the company. “I signed up right away”, Hans explains, laughing because he had approached the matter so naively. “I didn’t have the slightest idea what to expect.” This year as a junior worker was tough and educational, but he also matured emotionally. At first, he was employed in the shipping department. “I packed reamers there all day long.” Later he became a fill-in worker in the milling shop. Hans put tools into the machines, and soon also took on more challenging duties and worked on various milling machines. 

He remained in the milling shop even after his apprenticeship. An older worker approached the young colleague: “You’ll see, you’ll be a master one day.” Hans was taken aback and first became a soldier. He did two years of military service, which was also a formative experience. Back at BECK, he encountered the first modern CNC machines. BECK, a specialist in reamers and countersinks, also started manufacturing fine boring tools. Hans learnt new things and found it exciting and interesting. He was soon appointed deputy master, although he still hadn’t completed vocational college. He started right away, alongside work. Five years later, he succeeded his boss, who was retiring. Hans became a master and was now in charge of the milling shop and its around 25 employees. 
Business at BECK was not always as good as one would hope in these years. Demand for products fluctuated, and this was noticeable. There were ups and downs in turnover and incoming orders. Sometimes, you had to work overtime, and then there was a cutback in hours again — Hans wasn’t deterred. He believed in BECK and remained loyal to the company. 
 

He ran for the works council for the first time in 2002, “because I was interested in staff issues and because I wanted to get involved.” No sooner had he been elected than he had to prove himself in difficult times. A global economic downturn left BECK in a precarious situation. As the newcomer to the works council, Hans was involved in negotiations, held talks with the management, the employers' association, and the trade union for weeks on end. Hans had a sinking feeling. But he did not give up hope. Two years later in 2004, BECK was still called BECK and was now part of the MAPAL Group. “Since then, business has been steady here,” says Hans and he’s pleased.

Es dauerte nicht lange, und wieder kam Bewegung in das Leben von Hans Braun. 2006 wurde er Betriebsratsvorsitzender und übte das Amt zehn Jahre lang aus. Bald darauf vertraute ihm die Geschäftsleitung den Nachschleifservice und die Bearbeitung von Reklamationen an. Er sollte eine Organisationstruktur für diesen Bereich entwickeln. Seine Arbeit veränderte sich komplett. „Ich war jetzt mit Vertriebsthemen konfrontiert, musste vieles neu lernen.“ Auf sich allein gestellt baute er den Fertigungsablauf für Nachschliffaufträge auf. Bald entstand daraus eine eigene Nachschleifabteilung. Hans arbeitete sich in kaufmännische Prozesse ein, verbrachte jetzt viel Zeit am Computer, blieb dennoch nah bei der Fertigung. „Es war für mich der schönste Arbeitsplatz von allen,“ sagt der 64-Jährige. Er kam nun auch mit den Kunden in Kontakt und arbeitete mit Kollegen in der ganzen Welt zusammen. Englisch hatte er in der Schule gelernt, lange her, aber „es hat funktioniert.“ Er sei dankbar für die vielen Möglichkeiten, die BECK ihm bot, blickt der Neu-Ruheständler zufrieden zurück. „Ich habe diese Chancen genutzt und konnte mich immer wieder weiterentwickeln.“ Wenn Hans Braun heute sagt: „BECK war mein Leben.“ Wer würde ihm widersprechen wollen?