Lawyer and entrepreneur

that he had designed. But his real passion was actually criminal law. He was a genius defence lawyer. He fought for his clients and was proud when his defence strategy had been successful. He was then on an equal footing with the famous criminal defence lawyer Rolf Bossi, against whom he had to appear twice and was able to successfully reject an appeal in one case.

As I later heard from his children Christian and Kathrin, the time for EJOT actually was the Saturday morning. In 1960 his uncle Adolf transferred his company to him, and Eberhard Jaeger joined in 1965. On Saturdays he talked to his foreman Adolf Sonneborn and his managing director Kurt Machate in the office. In 1922, Adolf Böhl was persuaded by his comrades-in-arms to go into screw production. The specialists for this came from the cradle of German screw production, from the Lenne valley. Sonneborn was from Wittgenstein, but Machate came from Altena and was a knowledgeable screw specialist. The Mister EJOT, Hermann Großberndt, also came from there. In 1977, after laborious and time-consuming preliminary work, he succeeded in inventing the PT® screw and 20 years later the Delta PT®. As chief developer in the 1980s and 1990s, Großberndt was responsible for the development of the entire range of screws at EJOT.

Hans Werner Kocherscheidt was good with people. He had a charisma that captivated those around him. Somehow he knew who and what could help him and his company. The outsourcing of the construction screw and the first European branch offices made the company continuously larger. He knew them all personally, his managing directors and many employees anyway, but above all the foreign managing directors, who can often report on personal experiences with him.

I have even seen employees ask him for legal advice several times. That went without saying for him. This often resulted in a special relationship of trust, which ensured good employee loyalty.

He was lucky to have his son Christian as his successor who has been fascinated by the topic of cold forming the same way as he was. Christian had just graduated with a degree in business administration and was planning to work as a trainee in an American screw factory for a year. Through various customer contacts, he and his father met Don Surber at a trade fair in Atlanta. Mr. Surber, owner of the company Accurate Threaded Fasteners (ATF) and then chairman of the American Screw Association, drove with the guests to the ATF headquarters in Chicago, where Christian then worked for a year. ATF then became a licensee and partner in other companies, most notably for the founding of Asyst in Kenosha. Not only did a good business relationship develop with ATF and the Surber family, but also a close friendship.

The acquisition of qualified employees was almost like a hobby for him. Once he invited me to go sailing with him and his wife on the Edersee. In addition to the sailing boat ‘Sophie’, he also had a small holiday home there. He had invited an applicant from Thuringia there, whom he wanted to get to know and employ for a job at the Tambach plant. Mrs. Kocherscheidt was sent on a ship of the ‘white fleet’ with the wife who was travelling along. The three of us then cruised on the Edersee and got to know each other very well. A hearty barbecue in the holiday home was the perfect way to end the day. The employee was hired. He advanced an important invention for years and is now Managing Director.

An entrepreneurial feat was the takeover of the Tambach screw factory from the trust agency in 1993. The promise to employ 202 people has not only been kept: In fact, there were more than 300 from day one. Tambach has now hit the bull's eye both in the manufacture of screws and in the hardening and tempering of screws and in the production of technical plastic parts. But here, too, it was and became very personal. Hans Werner Kocherscheidt appeared regularly with his wife Gisela, stayed in one of the three apartments set up for the family and guests in the factory and spoke to the people. And of course, he was there at the Christmas party. That went without saying for him.

And EJOT grew and grew. However, such a continuous growth also caused problems. Crises are always good when they can be overcome successfully and when you have learned from your mistakes. That happened to us in 2002 and 2005 but also in 2008 like to many other companies. We approached the employees with great openness, but above all the works councils and trade union IG Metall, and finally got the problems under control with important employee agreements and company wage agreements. That would not have been possible without Hans Werner Kocherscheidt. True to the motto – if the company is doing well, the employees should also do well – the old-age pension program SENECA and the contingent commission SENECA PLUS were introduced. EJOT really lives the topic of work and family. There is a flexible response when there are problems with the employees. It is particularly important that young mothers are reintegrated into working life after a pregnancy. And Hans Werner Kocherscheidt wanted it all, helped shape it and supported it.

He had a special way to approach his employees. It always included a bit of a demand. He recognised that the quality of the work goes along with education very early on. That’s why he initiated and founded what was then the industrial training workshop Wittgenstein, today’s Wittgenstein Training Centre (BZW), more than 40 years ago. Qualified training for young people in all trades was important to him and he was really proud when, in 2016, an EJOT trainee became the best tool mechanic in Germany for the first time.

None of us expected his sudden death on Good Friday 2017, he will be fondly remembered by many. E

1935

In 1935, when the company had four employees, Adolf Böhl hired a 16-year-old young man, Adolf Sonneborn from Berghausen, who later had a decisive influence on the company's fate for over 50 years.

1935

Between 1935 and 1939, sales revenues for nails deteriorated. The company switched to the production of screw nails. A manually operated flat jaw roller was purchased for this purpose.

1937

At the end of the 1930s, the production of wood screws with a one die single header for screws with 2.4 and 2.7 mm diameter and 10 to 20 mm shank length was started. The business is expanded, new machines are purchased.

1938

In 1938, 16 years after the company was founded, it was entered into the commercial register in Siegen. Production stagnated during the Second World War, and operations were temporarily suspended towards the end of the war.

1945

As mayor and local group leader of the NSDAP, Adolf Böhl was classified as 'NS-incriminated' by the American occupation authorities and was detained from 1945 to 1948. During this time, the company was under the trusteeship of Otto Stahlschmidt.

1946 /1947

Eberhard Jaeger (right) establishes a screw factory near the Bad Laasphe train station and begins manufacturing commercial screws - with a Hilgeland double-blow header, a slotting machine and a thread rolling machine.

Winfried Schwarz Manager at EJOT Holding GmbH & Co. KG from 2000 to 2017

A visionary with foresight and a particular instinct for people

The first encounter with the lawyer Hans Werner Kocherscheidt dates back to 1964. Kurt Machate, CEO at Adolf Böhl in Berghausen, whom I know professionally from our time together at the Lennewerk Altena, invites me to visit Berleburg and introduces me to Hans Werner Kocherscheidt.

>>Text: Bruno Kayser

The first impression: Almost the same age, very eloquent, decisive, conversational, follows words with deeds: When I leave his house, I have an employment contract in my pocket. On my first working day at the Böhl company, I drive to his office to personally announce that I will be starting work.

As we continue to work together, I find out that he knows his company inside and out and also surprises others with his indepth knowledge: We are at a meeting of the German Screw Association in Düsseldorf, where he makes it clear to the group that he is a lawyer and not a screw specialist like the participants of the meeting. A few minutes later, when the conversation turns to special headers and technical details, Mr. Kocherscheidt gives a presentation on double-blow headers from various manufacturers. He goes into detail about wire dimensions, speed and section lengths and even supplies accurate price information. Never again did anyone believe that he was just a layman in the screw business.

Hans Werner Kocherscheidt is inquisitive, and even the smallest details do not go unnoticed. His favourite “tool” is the telephone: He is on the phone with all his senior employees – but not only

them – anywhere from once to several times a day. You may ask yourself how he knows all these things. After all, he is a lawyer and also represents and processes contracts for company employees; and while he already has them in his office, he also knows the necessary questioning techniques in order to get all the information that interests him and absorbs it like a sponge.

He is the “boss”. All major investments in machines, cars, buildings, etc. are co-determined and negotiated by him. Hence, his detailed knowledge. Nevertheless, his senior employees are free to come up with their own ideas, projects and developments. Hans Werner Kochscheidt wants to know them all, and then supports them. He accompanies the development of contacts to new customers, expansions and operational innovations, e.g. the development of facade screws, PT® screws and later also the EJOWELD® research project. This also includes the establishment of new sales offices and branch offices abroad. Hans Werner Kocherscheidt came up with the idea of going into the processing of plastics in addition to screw production. He’s quite an entrepreneur with the courage to take risks, because this is a new area of production that the company has no experience in.

He receives daily reports from sales about incoming orders, with the names of the most important clients. And he wants to know how to increase sales. He contributes his own ideas and makes suggestions. An important concern for him is to utilise the full capacity of plants, the running time of the machines and minimisation of the set-up times due to larger order quantities per dimension.

During an evening or weekend walk with his dog, he often stops by my apartment for a short visit. The conversation quickly turns to company business. He always gives suggestions and explains his ideas. He wants the companies Böhl and Jaeger to grow, also abroad. The umlauts in the company names bother him. This is how the idea was came about to create a common name: EJOT – but not the former sign of Eberhard Jaeger. A few designers are commissioned to create drafts for a company logo. A draft by the designer and graphic artist Ulf Höppner from Berleburg impresses the most. From now on, the red EJOT logo applies to all business papers and can be seen on every company building and on every car. No matter where a building is rented or built, at home or abroad, Hans Werner Kocherscheidt is there to ensure that his ideas about the image are implemented, because corporate identity is important to him. Hans Werner Kocherscheidt is a visionary and thinks ahead. In his early years, he invested in machines in the hope that his sales team would take care of the orders incoming. For example, he buys a rolling machine with attachment devices for several washers, but there is no need for them yet. There are certainly other similar examples. He is constantly on the lookout for suitable experts and also invests beyond current needs. Ultimately, his decisions are always right.

Over the years, Hans Werner Kocherscheidt was aware of how many fates depend on his decisions: He likes to celebrate – also with his staff. Also on the occasion of his 60th birthday. During the preparations, we consider how many people will come together (including spouses). I tell him: “We have about 400 employees.” He replies quite harshly: “But now you've really ruined my day.” The explanation for this statement follows immediately: “You forgot the women and children who are all attached to the company and for whom I am responsible.”

Hans Werner Kocherscheidt came from a very Christian home, which he openly stated. No matter who he invited, for example a business dinner at home or in a restaurant, before the meal he bowed his head and folded his hands in a short, silent prayer of thanks. In the Monday talks with his senior staff, he reported on his Sunday visits to one of the churches in Wittgenstein, after which he liked to visit the plants (he had a master key) in order to inform the plant manager on Monday about everything that caught his eye.

Twice in all those years I've seen something upset him: When the electro-plating shop at the Bienhecke site in Laasphe caught fire and we helplessly watched on as it burned – he had tears in his eyes. He didn’t let anything get in the way of his closest colleagues and friends, especially Adolf Sonneborn. When someone said something negative about the plant manager in a meeting when he was not present, Hans Werner Kocherscheidt could not keep quiet. Rarely have I seen such fiery eyes and heard this sharpness in his voice.

He came up with the idea of visiting East Germany to find out about their screw industry shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The negotiations and deliberations both in Tambach and later in Berlin with the Treuhandanstalt were usually led by him. The acquisition of the Tambach screw factory was the largest investment to date, with the number of employees suddenly doubling from 650 to 1,050 and with it the feeling of growing responsibility.

He loved personal contact and also wanted to get to know the people in Tambach-Dietharz quickly, which is why he invited the department heads and foremen to a relaxed get-together at the local sports club, which at the time belonged to the screw factory, and everyone had to introduce themselves by name, position and career. He wanted to create trust. He also expressed this, by aiming the first investment directly at the workforce: it was the renovation of the washrooms and toilets. Only then did the renewals in operation and administration follow. E

Gisela and Hans Werner Kocherscheidt, Winfried Schwarz and Bruno Kayser (f.l.).

1948

The development of the Adolf Böhl plant is extremely sluggish under difficult conditions. Single-blow headers and rollers, cutting machines and head slitting machines are available. The economy mostly runs on barter transactions only.

1950

In the beginning of the 1950s the economic situation improves at Adolf Böhl. By 1960 the number of employees had been increased to about 60, with sales of DM 2 million per year.

1953

Eberhard Jaeger invests in a new building at the location In der Bienhecke in Bad Laasphe with production hall and office building. The customers come from the electrical industry and purchase slotted screws according to DIN. At this time, the company has six employees.

1957

The first galvanizing plant is built at Jaeger at the Bienhecke location. Zinc, copper, brass and nickel coatings can be applied to the screws. Even then, the operation of this plant was associated with the obligation of wastewater detoxification and neutralization, but by no means to today's standards.

1958

For the time, the Adolf Böhl company had quite a considerable machine park, including double-blow headers for metric threaded and sheet metal

screws.

ANNIVERSARY 100 101

1960

Adolf Böhl passed away in 1960 at the age of 71. As the legal heir, his nephew Hans Werner Kocherscheidt takes over the company. Hans Werner Kocherscheidt invests and, among other things, creates the basis for a modern, more competitive production with the purchase of two high-performance double-blow headers from National.

1963

Kurt Machate joins Adolf Böhl from Lennewerk Altena as the new Managing Director. Together with Adolf Sonneborn, who is responsible for the technical part, they form a very successful team in the production and marketing of sheet metal and chipboard screws.

1965

In 1965, Hans Werner Kocherscheidt acquires the Eberhard Jaeger company in Laasphe. The company Jaeger also produces metric slotted screws, but those screws were sold in other market segments. For the company Adolf Böhl this meant a market expansion.

1962

Addition of a production hall and manufacture of extra-long slotted screws. As the market for slotted screws is under pressure, the product portfolio is converted to stainless steel screws.

1965

At Jaeger, 22 employees with relevant knowledge are available. Another important aspect in the course of the takeover was the fact that Jaeger was authorised to operate a galvanic plant, which could be used for both companies after a necessary expansion.

1967

The company name EJOT is "born": With the investment in a teleprinter at Jaeger, a name abbreviation must be set as the address. At Eberhard Jaeger the first letters E and J where used and the J was then amended to JOT due to the phonetic pronunciation in German.

And so the next one hundred years begins

“Great events cast their shadows ahead,” as the saying goes. The same goes for the celebration of a great anniversary, even if, at first, it seems a long way away. But the more we think about it, the more we realise that a centenary is something worth celebrating. But the question is, how exactly?

>>Text: Christian Kocherscheidt and Andreas Wolf

It soon becomes clear that the aim here is not to throw as much money as possible in the shortest time possible at the centenary event, but instead to link the celebration of the centenary with a future vision that will carry us into the next century. A vision that says “To the next 100 years.” We didn’t want to focus on the past, as significant as it has been for our company's development. Instead, we wanted to affirm that, even 100 years on from the foundation of our company, we remain a vibrant organisation with great hopes and aspirations. Our team around the world should take confidence from this fact and feel encouraged to continue developing and improving products and processes which provide additional benefits to and improve the experience of customers, thus strengthening our relationships even further.

At the same time, the occasion will of course be used to celebrate the past 100 years of EJOT. Initial thoughts on this go all the way back to 2019. We invited event planning agencies to workshops, listened to their ideas and compared them to our own ideas, as well as having what were at times heated discussions as to which direction the project should take. And, yes, we even asked around to find out how other companies have commemorated similar anniversaries. This proved to be an important process, during which it became increasingly clear that we could do a lot ourselves, even without an event planning agency. Our centenary celebration shouldn’t be an event full of glitz and glamour and just be for show. We should stay grounded, as EJOT always has done.

Over the entire centenary year, there will be celebrations at each respective EJOT site with events including family days,