Nussbach, Austria with josef HaidlmairNussbach, Austria with josef Haidlmair

Josef Haidlmair''s office sits four flights up, with large windows giving him a first-rate view of the snow-capped Alps. But this entrepreneur prefers to focus on his employees. The results speak for themselves.

The company had a staff of five working in a converted barn when he took over from his father, Friedrich, in 1979. Growth was steady but not rapid, the firm manufacturing small injection molds and metal forming tooling. Things changed dramatically in 1989 when one of Germany''s largest breweries, Paulaner, tasked the firm to make large molds for its beer bottle crates. "It was a big contract, and from there we moved to the top pretty quickly," recalls Haidlmair. "We had new equipment and good employees, so we could make a big splash."

Big splash indeed; the firm, now the Haidlmair Group, is global leader in molds for returnable crates for beer and other beverages, and is in the top handful for returnable plastics crates used for shipping produce. "We got into collapsible crates early, too," Haidlmair recalls.

Entering markets early, and staying ahead of the competition, has proven lucrative. The original Haidlmair injection moldmaking company now includes facilities in Germany and Hungary. The Nussbach headquarters is being expanded this summer. Josef Haidlmair acquired extrusion die manufacturer EMO and a 50% share in injection and thermoforming moldmaker Mould & Matic, both near Nussbach.

Haidlmair employs about 500, with just over one-third in Nussbach. "Employees have proven the key. Moldmaking is very demanding-which is why training is so important," he says. He was one of the founding members of, and investors in, the KTLA (Kremstaler Technische Lehrakademie) in nearby Kirchdorf, where apt teenagers have the chance to attend an engineering career-oriented school while also working in one of the Academy''s partner firms.

The firm also runs its own apprenticeship program. "About 80% of our employees have come through our apprenticeship program. In the last 10 years we''ve kept every one of them, and 90% of them pass their final testing with honors," says Haidlmair. Employees have their own cafeteria. Wide-screen TVs, games, and an outdoor patio make it more than a place to simply eat lunch; the firm''s walls are plastered with notices of upcoming events such as company barbecues.

Every two years, the company closes for one week and Haidlmair takes his workers on an all-inclusive paid vacation. In 2004 the group went to Greece, and next year he is eyeing Turkey or Malta. Josef Haidlmair says a pro-employee stance is a pro-business one, too. "We''ve almost zero employee fluctuation among our workers, as well as our management team," he says.

Haidlmair says his toughest competition can be found within 500 km of his headquarters in Switzerland and Germany. "We need to be better, on quality and delivery. And as it happens, they cannot make molds as fast as we can," he claims. Talk is cheap, he admits, but in his office sits a bottle crate made on a mold that his firm built recently in less than one week-without slowing other projects.

In the moldmaker''s basement are 750- and 1500-tonne Engel injection molding machines. Molds to be tested can be lowered through holes in the ground floor directly into the presses. The company is among the most experienced in manufacturing molds capable of running Engel''s Watermelt water injection technology. Injection molds account for about 85% of sales-the rest from metal stamping tools.

"The key to success at our size moldmaker is development," insists Haidlmair. Current R&D includes work on injection molds for wood/plastics compounds. He believes his is already the only firm capable of making molds for two-component beverage crates-soft grip handles are the rage-that can run in a single injection press; usually overmolding requires a second machine. "I see a good future here," he says. Looking around, it''s difficult to disagree.

Matthew Defosse [email protected]