04 when it comes to competence when it comes to competence www.biw.de/en/imagevideo www.biw.de/en/martencommercial biw isolierstoffe gmbh pregelstraße 5, d-58256 ennepetal tel.: +49 (23 33) 83 08-0 fax: +49 (23 33) 83 08-10 responsible persons: ralf stoffels, dr. markus wiethoff editorial staff: ralf stoffels, lutz stoffels, sven braatz, dirk holstein, anja langner, hanns-walter tunger layout and typesetting: lessingtiede.de all rights reserved. no section of this document may be reproduced without prior written authorisation, saved to a data system or transmitted in any form whether electronic or mechanical by means of photocopying, recording or any other method. imprint contact compact ralf stoffels – sihk president biw presents itself at the izb iip/tl introduction an important trade fair for us – the k 2016 standard investors in people was introduced at biw in 2012. with around 3,300 exhibitors, the world's most impor- tant trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry once again presented the entire range of plastics and rubber products in 2016. 230,000 visitors from over 160 coun- tries attended the fair. for the ninth time already, biw can look back on a suc- cessful participation in the rubber and plastic trade fair. our booths were very well received by the visitors to the trade fair. in particular, our "sample display", a 1968 ford mustang bullitt, proved very exciting. it was used as an example to show how biw's products are used in the automotive industry. we were able to wow our cus- tomers and potential future customers with our product range. our image video and marten commercial were also shown for the first time. it is definitely worth having a look. at the end of the trade fair week we wound up with more than 200 registered contacts and can now look back on many interesting conversations with national and international customers and business partners. the next k will take place from october 16 – 23, 2019 in düsseldorf and one thing is for sure: we will once again be there. the quality management system has the goal of enabling a framework guideline and neutral evaluation standard. companies are evaluated based on how they improve the performance of employees and the organi- sation. biw works hard to achieve steady improvement in all areas and at all management levels. the audit in 2015 made it clear that another management level was necessary. the subsequent introduction of team leaders showed a clear improvement in the area of leadership and communication in this year's iip audit. the team concept, which is to develop along the process chain, continues to grow and allows for common learning. the kaizen sessions, during which the employees discuss day-to-day business and ideas for process improvement, help coordination within the team. training courses can also be conducted during the kaizen sessions. with the introduction of team leaders and the investors in people standard, biw is focusing on continuous development and increasing performance that also go beyond the certifications required by the market.. the 14th of september was president's day at the south westphalia chamber of industry and commerce in hagen (sihk). the plenary assembly unanimously elected ralf stoffels as the new chairman of the chamber. he has been a member of the sihk plenary assembly since 2003. the highest decision-making body of the chamber, made up of entrepreneurs from all industries, selects, among other things, the president from among its ranks. the 54-year-old, who in the future will represent the economic region to the outside world, immediately made a few focal points of his future work clear. "south westphalia must show its strength as a region more clearly," he explained. this included future-proof jobs as well as "very good housing and living conditions". on the other hand, the infrastructure is still far from being the best, the new president criticized. "the existing data networks in particular are far from satisfying the requirements of an increasingly digitized economy." in parallel to the k trade fair, biw also exhibited another booth at the izb (international suppliers fair for the automotive industry). with around 800 exhibiting companies from 32 nations, the international suppliers fair took place in wolfsburg from 18 to 20 october. biw seized the opportunity to introduce its expanded brochure for the automotive industry brochure to its customers in the industry. the brochure, which originally had 37 products, was expanded by 57 new products to a total of 94 products. feel free to take a look inside ›› biw.de/en/epaper-automotive — source: www.come-on.de — anja langner — lutz stoffels 30 25 celebrating their anniversaries 30 years of biw ralf stoffels, 1st september 1986 thomas perian, 3rd november 1986 25 years of biw peter mathea, 1st october 1991 — anja langner tel.: +49 (2333) 8308-0 fax: +49 (2333) 8308-10