I came to Germany in 1980. There was a great deal of unrest in Turkey at that time. My father and my mother emigrated to Germany ten years before me and were already working in industry there. Many many people came to Germany as guest workers during that period.
I’ve been working at KERN-LIEBERS since 1998. I was a bit uncertain in the beginning because I’d never worked for such a big company. So many people, the size of the production halls and so many buildings. But my colleagues helped me a lot while I was training and settling in, and so I got used to it quickly.
I worked in the strip springs business unit from the very beginning. I was trained on the Maximo-Bahn, but in recent years I’ve got to know and worked in many different areas. For example as a machine operator for the constant force springs or as press operator. I also like working as a machine setter. I enjoy the work I do and it remains interesting even after many years. Because we work in three shifts, I work either in the morning, late or night shift on a weekly basis. This has benefits and drawbacks. The changing rhythm means that my family sometimes comes up a little short. But then that’s also offset by the flexible scheduling and very good pay.
In my job, it is particularly important to pay attention to the precise settings for the machines and the different specifications. That’s the only way can we produce the consistent quality that our customers are used to. That’s why we have our quality control after all. Whether it’s on a testing machine or by visual inspection, no spring leaves our factory without being checked beforehand.
Although KERN-LIEBERS offers many different training occupations and opportunities for study, my daughter decided to study linguistics. But who knows. With her expertise, maybe she’ll later work at an international company like KERN-LIEBERS at some point? I’m just happy that my job allows me to keep all future opportunities open for my daughter.