Opti­mal­ly pre­pared – both then and now

At Ket­tel­hack, we pro­du­ce and sell high-qua­li­ty and dura­ble tex­ti­les. As an inde­pen­dent fami­ly busi­ness in its fourth gene­ra­ti­on, we are very fami­li­ar with long-term plan­ning and respon­si­ble action. In doing so, we focus equal­ly on the envi­ron­men­tal per­for­mance of our com­pa­ny and on the qua­li­ty of our pro­ducts and processes. 

Hein­rich Karl-Georg Ket­tel­hack, who foun­ded the com­pa­ny in Wett­rin­gen in 1874, would pro­ba­b­ly be rub­bing his eyes in ama­ze­ment as he wan­de­red through the pre­sent-day pro­duc­tion halls and offices. Around 100 employees hand­le tex­ti­les, sup­pli­ers and cus­to­mers: nego­tia­ting, dye­ing, finis­hing and ship­ping. For over five deca­des, we have been pro­ven experts in mono­chro­me fabrics. Our cus­to­mers use the­se to pro­du­ce both high-qua­li­ty and dura­ble work­wear and bed linen for hotels, hos­pi­tals and nur­sing homes.

Anyo­ne fami­li­ar with Ket­tel­hack per­haps still remem­bers that we made our name in house­hold tex­ti­les like table­cloths, tea towels and bed linen. Chan­ges have always shaped our busi­ness, like sun and rain shape the cot­ton har­ve­st. Loo­king ahead ins­tead of clinging to yes­ter­day, stay­ing fle­xi­ble ins­tead of fix­a­ting on pre­ser­va­ti­on: “This stra­tegy has been taking us for­ward for four gene­ra­ti­ons, making us effi­ci­ent and fit for the future.” Cou­ra­ge­ous, but only con­sis­tent, when the pro­duc­tion of house­hold tex­ti­les for pri­va­te end users is no lon­ger eco­no­mic­al­ly via­ble: to sepa­ra­te our­sel­ves from this seg­ment and sell the bed linen brand Hei­ke (a neo­lo­gism made up of the initi­al syll­ables Hein­rich and Ket­tel­hack). Say­ing fare­well to spin­ning mills and remai­ning wea­ving mills four years later was also not a decis­i­on we took light­ly. It’s the grea­test tur­ning point in our com­pa­ny histo­ry and marks a radi­al rethink.

Exter­nal links

www.kettelhack.de

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Com­pa­ny Policy

“Not­hing is more para­ly­sing than an ope­ra­tio­nal rush during a men­tal lull. Being mobi­le and proac­ti­ve pro­tects us from being over­whel­med by new developments.” 

Ins­tead of wan­ting to do ever­y­thing our­sel­ves, from now on we are focu­sing on what we do best: dye­ing and pro­ces­sing textiles. 

Becau­se the­se stages in the tex­ti­le value-added chain are cru­cial to the qua­li­ty of the final pro­duct: whe­ther it stands the test in ever­y­day work, how com­for­ta­ble it is, how many washes it with­stands. We are also con­cen­t­ra­ting more on what mat­ters: the crea­ti­ve dimen­si­on. This means we can offer our cus­to­mers con­sider­a­b­ly grea­ter grea­ter varie­ty, cate­ring to needs and pre­fe­ren­ces. “Chan­ge can only suc­ceed from a posi­ti­on of strength,” Jan Ket­tel­hack empha­si­s­es. Firm foun­da­ti­ons are essen­ti­al: values such as loyal­ty, fair­ness, relia­bi­li­ty, rigour. Towards all busi­ness part­ners, cus­to­mers and sup­pli­ers. But also the wil­ling­ness to take respon­si­bi­li­ty and to think out­side the box.

“We have been a fami­ly com­pa­ny for 150 years – and we want to stay this way.“

Sus­tainable thin­king and action, on all levels and down to the last fib­re, is the key. And that includes each and every employee, whe­ther it’s the HR mana­ger, tex­ti­le lab tech­ni­ci­an or machi­nist. Our grea­test asset: is not only first-class pro­ducts and deca­des of exper­ti­se. But abo­ve all, the peo­p­le who sup­port and car­ry this com­pa­ny for­ward with toil and dedication.

Fur­ther articles

Infographic
Development of water consumption in m3

The high level of water consumption in production brings with it a corresponding volume of waste water. Compliance with the limit values from the Waste Water Ordinance is ensured by the indirect discharge permit. The daily control of the mixing and equalisation basin by our employees, as well as through the regular inspections by the responsible monitoring authorities, give us the necessary security. 

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