In Solingen, the city of steel and cutlery, Willi Moosbach and Otto Kanne, two young friends, founded a grinding shop on November 11, 1919 and called it Moosbach & Kanne. The family business with tradition also has its place in the modern age - and bright prospects for the future.
Starting out as a cutlery grinding shop in Grünewald and moving to Donaustraße, the company finally moved to its current location in 1927 when it purchased Paul Frey's electroplating shop. Two years later, the company was entered in the register of craftsmen. The war years of the Second World War were bridged with the galvanizing of boot irons. As early as 1948, the company set up a silver-plating shop, in which mainly cutlery from the local Solingen cutlery factories was refined. In 1955, Günter Moosbach joined the company as a junior and journeyman electroplater and passed his master craftsman's examination in 1960. In 2010, he was awarded the golden master craftsman's certificate.
In the 1960s, the then junior, Günter Moosbach, slowly said goodbye to the pure cutlery business and looked for other areas of activity. The chrome plating shop became a bright gold plating shop. Cutlery was gradually replaced by other items to be processed in the electroplating shop. Decorative products from the sanitary and lighting industry took their place. In the 1980s, Moosbach & Kanne's product range grew again with the addition of the paint shop.
Responsibility for the environment
Over time, Moosbach & Kanne also became increasingly aware of its responsibility towards the environment. Metal-containing sludge, which is produced during the treatment of process water, is recycled and returned to the cycle as artificial ores. Modern electronic control systems in electroplating, compressed air operation and the waste water system are the first steps towards digitalization.
With skill and prudence, Günter Moosbach manoeuvred the company through the decades, modernized buildings, expanded product ranges and set the course for the future with his daughter Elke as a senior employee and then as co-managing director. The time was now ripe for a woman at the helm of a traditionally male-run craft business. Günter Moosbach retired from the business in 2015.
Dr. Elke Moosbach sees herself as an optimistic entrepreneur who looks at tradition with respect and acts in the spirit of her predecessors to successfully guide the company through the present and strengthen it for the future. In doing so, she relies on a technically competent team for whom both craftsmanship and customer service always come first. In addition to series orders with large quantities, it is always the special individual tasks for which she develops solutions with her employees. She is also interested in thinking "outside the box" and is increasingly involved in trade associations and other committees. In addition to her main job, she is an honorary judge at the labor court. Dr. Moosbach has been a member of the ZVO board since the beginning of 2020, is a speaker at the Z.O.G. and a member of the DGO's precious metals committee.
Having worked alongside her father since 1999 and been the sole Managing Director of "Moosbach & Kanne" since 2015, Elke Moosbach is well aware of the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. It is part of her "company philosophy" to combine both aspects in the best possible way. With her scientific training in analytical chemistry, it is important to her to combine economic efficiency and ecology. As a pacemaker of the "Climate Expo" of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the efforts for climate protection were the first Solingen company to be honored by this environmental campaign of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The company was honored for the many measures that Dr. Moosbach has successively planned and implemented over the years. For example, a combined heat and power plant, which is operated in cooperation with Solingen's public utility company, has been saving around 30 percent energy since 2015. The redesign of the exhaust air system with heat exchanger and controlled air supply in the electroplating hall not only saves energy, but also improves the indoor climate. The lighting in the production hall was switched to regulated LED lights. The measures implemented between 2014 and 2017 reducedCO2 emissions by more than 50 percent. Roof renovations and photovoltaics have since been added.
Next generation in the starting blocks
In the meantime, it's time to think about the next generation. Anna Katharina Moosbach joined the company after studying German and philosophy and is working her way into the administrative areas as assistant to the management. She is assisted by Christian Klose, who trained as an electroplater at Moosbach & Kanne. With his journeyman's piece and his outstanding degree, he was the national winner of the 2012 German Skilled Crafts Competition and received a scholarship for master craftsman training, which he also completed with flying colors. He is now the operations manager and, with his additional training as a business economist in the skilled trades, has the best qualifications. Major challenges await both of them. Globalization and digitalization will be the topics of the future. Integration into the EU and the resulting open trade borders will simplify the movement of goods within Europe. On the other hand, there are always new and extensive rules and laws, such as the European Chemicals Regulation and its consequences.
On 11.11.2019, the workforce and family, former employees and close companions of Moosbach & Kanne celebrated the company's 100th anniversary. A 100-year company history is not a matter of course, especially in the SME sector. Energy and perseverance as well as a feel for economic developments are important in order to overcome difficult times such as war years and economic crises.
An open day was planned for June 6, 2020 to mark the anniversary. The buildings have been spruced up and everyone has contributed their ideas for a varied program. However, the next crisis - this time it is called "Corona" - has thrown a spanner in the works. The company is in a good position and, as things stand today, this crisis will also be overcome with the support of the workforce. The plan will then be brought out next year and all interested parties are invited to the open day.
