Chicken or suckling pig? Bee sting cake or ice cream? Bouncy castle or darts? Sometimes the decision was not difficult. Tobias, who had been working in Altmann's steel construction department for a year, took both: half a chicken and a piece of suckling pig with dumpling. The bouncy castle was always well occupied. There were around 30 children in total - future junior staff? – at the summer party in Oberdieberg on the Altmann Fördertechnik company premises. The adults agreed on the highlight of the day: the darts tournament! The three apprentices Moritz, Alexander and Johannes also had fun throwing darts and took it easy that they lost out in the match for 7th place. It was certainly not due to the team's name that the "Eberhofer" team came in last, as the police inspector from Niederkaltenkirchen usually hits the bull's eye. Eight teams competed against each other in the darts tournament, which was organized by the local darts club.
If there had been an award for the most original team name, team "Weißwurst is!" would have won it for sure. In the end, the first places were:
1st place: Team "Shield Wall"
2nd place: Team "The Brutzlers"
3rd place: Team "Blast Cabinet"
After throwing darts, the adult employees refreshed themselves with a cold beer or a rosé spritzer from WINZZ: the brand with the tomcat as its logo, which comes directly from the neighbouring property.
Wine spritzer outside, giant cranes inside
New employees and interested family members of the new apprentices had the opportunity to take a closer look at the future workplace. Three apprentices started their training as mechatronics technicians in September. Altmann GmbH now employs a total of six apprentices. For all of them it is the first summer party at Altmann. In the afternoon, a small group led by Robert Altmann got an impression of the halls and was shown the workplace where the young employees will now spend a large part of their time.
Fig. 1: In the afternoon, Robert Altmann took a group of interested party guests on a tour of the offices and assembly halls, where the cleanroom cranes are manufactured - later lifting and floating large objects through the air all over the world.
After viewing the offices, the company boss explained the various stations in the assembly halls where the cleanroom cranes are manufactured. He cleverly evaded all too curious questions about the "secret" of why Altmann cranes in particular are so well suited for cleanrooms. The inventors of Coca-Cola, who did not want to reveal their recipe either, probably felt the same way. However, those taking part in the tour learned a lot of other interesting facts: for example, that at peak times, 100 cranes are manufactured each year. Robert Altmann describes the first cleanroom cranes that were manufactured here at the site in 2008 as "cute" – with a lifting capacity of 500 kilograms. In the meantime, the two largest cleanroom cranes in the world were created here and put into operation five years ago. The two cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 30 tons, are used to lift vacuum chambers in the semiconductor industry. And another interesting detail: the particle emissions of a standard hoist are about a hundred times higher than those of a cleanroom hoist.
Review of highlights in fun atmosphere
It's a good thing that looking back at the highlights of the past year didn't happen with a growling stomach. Tactically clever, the company bosses took the floor only after dinner, to review some of the highlights for all guests of the summer party. They recalled their first appearance at the cleanroom trade fair in Frankfurt almost a year ago and their nomination for the Cleanzone Award. They were proud of winning the "REINER!" cleanroom award from the Fraunhofer Institute IPA and, of course, the Bavarian "Mittelstandspreis" for medium-sized companies in June of this year. Achim Altmann showed a few reactions from customers and suppliers on the screen. Above all, the feedback "You're a really cool bunch and a great family!" was met with great approval.
The series of pictures also showed successfully completed customer projects and was an impressive proof that cranes from Albaching are used all over the world, for example in Ireland, Spain and South Korea, but also in nearby Munich at the Deutsches Museum. Conclusion after the first nine months: things can hardly get better. And another piece of good news: there are so many orders that the employees won't be bored for the next two years. Of course, we had to toast to that with a WINZZ spritzer or beer - but not in a beer mug.
Fig. 2: Shortly before "kick-off": the local darts club organized the tournament in which eight teams of 4 employees competed against each other.
Fig. 3: Was it just luck or was it due to the warlike team name that the "Shield Wall" team, consisting of Achim and Robert Altmann and the staff members Sebastian L. and Raiko W., finally became the winners?
Fig. 4: The children had fun in the bouncy castle and in the handicraft tent.
