Urban Machine Technology offers opportunities to people with disabilities—specifically in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, and in Lauchhammer, Brandenburg.
Hellraum Fensterbau Lauchhammer GmbH, based there, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrationswerkstätten g.g.m.b.H. Niederlausitz and was founded in 1993 as one of the first social enterprises in Brandenburg.
It is a social enterprise with the distinctive feature that 40% to 50% of its jobs are filled by people with severe disabilities. The same applies to Augustinuswerk e.V., which currently employs 24 people with disabilities in window and door production at its Wittenberg branch workshop.
Thanks to Urban’s machine technology, the employees at Hellraum in Lauchhammer and those at the Augustinuswerk branch workshop in Wittenberg manufacture high-quality plastic windows and doors that are sold on the open market.
Both workshops use Urban AKS 3950 twin-head welding machines. In Wittenberg, two welding machines load an SV 530 with a turning station, and final assembly is performed using the FAS 320 assembly table.
With AKS 3950
At Hellraum in Lauchhammer, an AKS 3950 is used in combination with an SV 405, and cutting is done on an Urban DGU 600 double miter saw. “With Urban technology, we achieve several goals. On the one hand, we can provide people with disabilities with a rewarding and meaningful job; on the other hand, we can also ensure that we fully comply with all safety requirements while offering high-quality windows that are in demand on the open market. Because we have to cover our own operating costs from the proceeds and can also use the funds to finance other social projects within our organization,” says Tino Jörke, managing director of Integrationswerkstätten gGmbH Niederlausitz.
The Augustinus Workshop must also generate its own operating revenue. “Of course, as a workshop for people with disabilities, we receive government support, but we are in direct competition with conventional window manufacturers, who naturally have a significant advantage over us in terms of productivity. Thanks to Urban’s new machine technology, however, we’ve been able to catch up significantly and can now handle much larger order volumes than before,” says Horst-Ulrich Fellmuth, who manages the branch workshop in Wittenberg.
Working with joy
Both facilities are managed by Fred Karsten Karl from Urban Sales. “It’s great that we can actively support integration efforts here and help ensure that people with disabilities enjoy their work. Because that’s exactly what matters here,” says Karl.
