Company interview: QFE

In a few lines, can you present your company, its activities, products and key figures?

QFE, Quality First Engineering GmbH was founded in 2005 by Dr.-Ing. Günter Schad and Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Langsdorf. Our mission: We make good companies even better! In the last 15 years, we have successfully completed over 300 projects and can thus draw on a wealth of experience.

As production experts, we advise on new planning, optimisation and restructuring of production systems. We answer questions such as: Is my production internationally competitive today? How and where can my production become more efficient? Is my production capable of Industrie4.0? Where is automation worthwhile?  After a targeted production analysis, we develop concepts and measures that consistently and sustainably improve the production organisation. We support our customers according to their needs, from analysis and planning to the implementation of improvement measures and programmes. In doing so, we guarantee that the costs of our own work will pay for themselves within a very short time as a result of the measures implemented (e.g. : rationalisation of a plastics processing plant with a significant reduction in personnel costs, increase in productivity by 3% p.a. and minimisation of waste by 15 T€/month).

Our customers are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises in the automotive industry, but also well-known component and system manufacturers and OEMs.

Which portion of your activity is dedicated to cross-border projects? Do you have an example of cross-border collaboration that you would like to highlight?

For an internationally active automotive supplier in the Greater Region, for example, we created a new system for global production controlling based on operative production key figures and introduced it in the worldwide production locations such as the USA, Brazil, France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia and China.

This important networking of production data throughout the group has intensified cooperation between the international locations and achieved wonderful cost savings in the seven-digit range through the use of know-how and synergy effects.

The automotive industry is undergoing major changes (energy and digital transitions, etc.). In the face of these changes, what are your perspectives for future developments?

We help manufacturing companies in the industrial SME sector in this necessary technological and organisational transformation process.

As specialists, we are always at the cutting edge of science and development. Through excellent networking in industry and science, we have the latest knowledge at our disposal and can thus competently accompany our clients in every phase of the transformation. In doing so, we take on the role of advisor, sharing partner, coach, project manager or energetic supporter depending on the situation.

The automotive industry is an important sector and represents a key market within the Greater Region. What advantage(s) do you find in being located in the heart of this territory?

We are pleased to be part of the strong economic alliance of the Greater Region. In order for the automotive industry to remain so successful here, it is important to meet the current challenges of technological and digital transformation and, at the same time, to continue to work consistently on remaining internationally competitive. We can make a valuable contribution to this as a partner, advisor and service provider to the industrial SME sector.

What can a project like PAE bring to companies in the automotive industry? What interest do you see in participating in certain actions of the PAE project?

We are pleased that the EU is supporting the regional development of companies in the border region with this Interreg project.

A member of the board of a large German company in the electrical industry once asked: Why is the German electrical industry so successful? The conditions for the success of this industry are also very good in other countries. However, there is one significant advantage in Germany; that is the excellent networking of the companies, through the work of about 80 industrial network clusters throughout Germany. The companies are excellently networked with each other on many levels, that’s what makes them so successful and that’s what makes the important difference.

We hope that this good nationwide networking of companies will also be promoted across borders to France, Belgium and Luxembourg. We have to think European today ! The PAE project can make a big contribution to this.

Thank you to Mr. Langsdorf for his statement!