Living integration: Volker Dallinger moves his workplace from the Diakoniewerkstätten Rhein-Neckar to the Weinheim Simmerring production facility three days a week.
To ensure that rubber and metal form a permanent bond during the production of radial shaft seals, various preparatory work is required in metal part pre-treatment (MVB). For some parts, such as those made of stainless steel, this includes sandblasting. This involves roughening the metal surface to improve the adhesion of the rubber to the metal.
Simmerring production in Weinheim has assigned this work to a new colleague: Volker Dallinger. He has been working at Diakoniewerkstätten Rhein-Neckar for almost three decades. His wish was to try his luck on the “primary labor market” and operate a production machine himself. Thomas Schwöbel, Head of the Pre-Products Business Unit (BU), was receptive to this wish. “I immediately thought of our sandblaster,” Schwöbel recalls.
During a four-week internship, Dallinger proved that he was qualified and reliable in this task. This meant that nothing stood in the way of long-term employment. Since then, Dallinger has been a permanent member of the MVB team three days a week. “He is a very valuable member of our team and does a great job. We are very happy to have him,” praises BU Manager Schwöbel, adding: “Volker is a friendly, very pleasant person. He has integrated very well into the MVB family and is appreciated by the whole team.”
Operating the sandblaster is not trivial. Work plans specify the parameters of the blasting process. Dallinger loads the appropriate quantities of metal parts and makes the necessary settings on the machine, setting the blasting duration and intensity in particular. Once the process is complete, he removes and checks the parts and prepares them for further transport for phosphating.
He also takes on packaging work – if the sandblaster’s workload allows. Sometimes boxes have to be prepared for their next use, sometimes individual radial shaft seals have to be packed in bags, which then have to be sealed and labeled. Time and again, Dallinger proves its flexibility.
This good example has set a precedent. “I told the other BU managers in our LPMS group about our positive experience,” says Schwöbel. As a result, a second employee from Diakoniewerkstätten has been working in another Weinheim Simmerring production unit for a few months now.
The Diakoniewerkstätten Rhein-Neckar of the Gemeindediakonie Mannheim offer jobs to around 600 people with disabilities in several workshops and external work groups. One of the workshops is located in the Weinheim Industrial Park, i.e. on the Freudenberg site. One of the external work groups will soon be starting up in Corteco’s new central warehouse in Weinheim.
