Craftsmanship Brings Families Together: 48 Years of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Delligsen has a long history as a center of the metalworking industry. Iron ore mining, smelting, and manufacturing continue to shape this town in the Holzminden district to this day. Gerhard Dietrich, the company’s 92-year-old founder, learned his trade from the ground up.
48 Years of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Delligsen has a long tradition as a center of the metalworking industry. Iron ore mining, smelting, and manufacturing continue to shape this town in the Holzminden district to this day. Gerhard Dietrich, the company’s 92-year-old founder, learned his trade from the ground up. In 1965, he established his precision and turret turning shop in Stroit near Einbeck. In 1978, his son-in-law Hans Gereke-Bornemann joined the family business and, together with Gerhard Dietrich, dedicated himself to the company’s further development. In addition to producing standard parts, the company quickly shifted its focus to the rapid and flexible delivery of custom-made products in the field of thread manufacturing. Since 1984, management has been in the hands of the current owners, Gudrun and Hans Gereke-Bornemann. Together with their daughter Kathrin and son-in-law Moritz von Soden, they pour all their energy into the dynamically growing company. Kathrin and Moritz von Soden left Hamburg and took the plunge together. To this day, they have not regretted the decision—quite the contrary.
After a brief period of consideration, you joined the family-run business in Delligsen. What did you study, and how does Bornemann benefit from your background?
Moritz von Soden: Kathrin and I have both studied and worked in international settings. I studied “International Business with French (BA, Hons)” at the University of Greenwich in London and earned my “Master’s in European Business” at a Grande École in Lyon, France. After graduation, I worked for two Japanese corporations both domestically and abroad—most recently as a “Global Account Manager.”
Kathrin von Soden: I studied “International Information Management” at the University of Hildesheim and the University of Granada. After that, I worked in marketing and human resources. Before we came to Delligsen, I managed the Hamburg office of a staffing agency, which had about a hundred employees. Thanks to our professional backgrounds, my husband and I complement the company’s existing skills and knowledge in many ways. This has allowed us, together with my parents and our employees, to optimize many processes within the company over the past few years.
Your parents own Bornemann Gewindetechnik GmbH. Are your parents and grandfather among your role models?
Kathrin von Soden: I’ve always had a very close bond with my family, and of course my parents and grandparents are also my role models. I admire what they’ve built, and I’m proud to carry on their legacy with my husband.
Bornemann has quickly grown into an internationally active company: What is the secret to its success?
Hans Gereke-Bornemann: The foundation for our success in recent years was a detailed strategic development process in which we defined the company’s direction and identified strategic gaps. We were then able to close these gaps with targeted measures. To drive internationalization forward, we deliberately left the beaten path and broke new ground. The use of online marketing tools, as well as a local presence in target markets, are part of this.
Was denken Sie, ist Kunden heutzutage wichtig?
Moritz von Soden: That is a key question we must ask ourselves time and again. We need to help increase value creation directly for our customers—only through a strong customer focus can we set ourselves apart from the competition in the long run. Simply becoming cheaper isn’t enough in the long run.
With all that work—doesn’t your personal life get neglected? How do you like to spend your free time?
Gerhard Dietrich: In addition to my passionate interest in my work at the apiary, I’ve always made good use of my free time and have also devoted myself intensively to beekeeping. After years of experimentation, I succeeded in developing a now-patented system for redirecting foraging bees, with the goal of preventing swarming and reducing the Varroa mite population in the hives.
Kathrin von Soden: We spend most of our time with our children. Aside from that, we enjoy cooking with friends.
Gudrun Gereke-Bornemann: My husband and I spend a lot of time with our granddaughters. I devote the rest of my free time to painting. My husband is an avid recreational pilot and also serves as chairman of the WIR business association in Delligsen. He invests a lot of time in representing the interests of local businesses to local politicians and improving the quality of life for people in the community. We also enjoy traveling to distant countries with friends.
People often say that having children and pursuing a career are mutually exclusive. How did you manage to balance family and work despite that?
Gudrun Gereke-Bornemann: We’ve always supported each other within the family. When my daughter was little, my mother spent a lot of time with her; today, my daughter and I share many of the tasks related to work and childcare. I enjoy having more time for my grandchildren now and experiencing what I may have missed out on with my daughter.
Kathrin von Soden: My older daughter attends preschool part-time. My younger daughter will start daycare when she turns two. The big advantage of a family business, of course, is the flexibility. Both we and our employees can adjust our work schedules on the fly to meet our needs.