If you have a problem, you go to the Eibl joinery

2023/12/15   |   Aham   |   Germany

The traditional company in Aham, Lower Bavaria, has existed for more than 100 years. Josef Eibl is the fourth generation to lead the company, while the fifth is already in the starting blocks. His oldest daughter is currently completing master training, and his son his apprenticeship. So the Eibls will continue as before – whereby "as before" does not fit with this joinery at all. 

Own patents, tons of aluminum, solid wood processing, Varicor ®experts – life proceeds at a different pace at Josef-Eibl-Straße 1. But one step at a time: on its property in the Loizenkirchen district, from 1905 the family produces wagon wheels, hay carts and feed grids for cattle sheds for the surrounding farmers. Josef Eibl senior then also learns the joinery trade in order to supply private customers in the surrounding area with windows, doors and furniture. 

In 1988, with Josef Eibl junior, the family business enters the fourth generation. Almost at the same time, the joinery starts working increasingly with the mineral material Varicor ®. Josef Eibl junior makes the contract before even joining the company – at the tender age of 16. He learns more than just contract negotiations: What does the cooperation with wholesalers look like? How do you rate suppliers? And, most importantly, how do other markets work? Before the turn of the millennium, there is no denying it: the catchment area is getting bigger, the space in the center of Loizenkirchen is getting tighter, and a move has to happen. Josef Eibl builds a new building in the industrial area, using state-of-the-art but still conventional technology. That changes in 2003.

Zero hour: Opening ceremony of the HOMAG Competence Center in Denkendorf.

Eibl receives an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the Bavarian HOMAG Competence Center in Denkendorf. Together with a friend, a CNC-savvy carpenter, he drives up – without any intention to buy, without any premonition. His friend jokes, "When you buy a CNC, I'll hand in my notice and come to work for you." One day at Denkendorf and one night of sleep later, the master joiner drives up again. And buys the exhibited Venture 5 as it stands in the showroom. A purchase of historical dimensions – after all, it is the first machine ever sold in Denkendorf. Josef Eibl still doesn't know what he's going to do with it. He certainly doesn't know that it's the starting point for a really successful partnership.

The following Monday, his friend leaves his job and starts in Aham. When the machine arrives, the HOMAG technician is initially flabbergasted. A new machine purchased – without any training. An absolute no-go, but Josef Eibl is sure that he already has the CNC specialist in-house. And that's exactly the case. He quickly trims a front door frame in segment arch shape – according to the technician, this is actually outside the machine's range of possibilities. 

The technician is thrilled, Josef Eibl too. Little has changed in that. Today, the master joiner from Lower Bavaria still raves about how with the CNC, he can get zinc plating that is so precise that it takes grooves to get glue in between at all. Or that his employees cut hidden cable ducts for integrated lighting concepts into wooden tables.

Open eyes open up markets.

Over time, the company gets more and more HOMAG machines; today there are 13. Why are there so many? Because the machines are real growth factors. "No company has taken me as far as HOMAG," says Josef Eibl. The first storage system in 2013 in particular is a decisive step. The entire operating structure changes – a stressful time for the master joiner and joinery. But he would do it again and again. The range of customers then grows with the machine pool. Step by step, the company moves away from the portfolio of a classic joinery. Instead, the company in Lower Bavaria supplies customers throughout Germany and beyond with washbasins and system solutions: from cruise ships, through state buildings and clinics to airports. Among other things, Munich's highest washbasin comes from the Eibl joinery, the washbasins in Neuschwanstein Castle too – Josef Eibl is virtually a Bavarian court supplier.

And he's an inventor. When a highly complex shop construction order came in a few years ago, the challenges piled up before Eibl: the premises were still being used for other purposes, neither measurements nor work preparation were really possible. In addition, the time frame was more than tight. His solution: complete production in the joinery; in the shop, his people would then simply hang the individual parts on the wall with rails. The only problem was that there was no suitable rail on the market. But this didn't stop the master carpenter. He used a random contact to an aluminum plant, worked day and night to get the perfect shape, had the appropriate tools produced and accepted the three-ton minimum purchase. The patented EILOX assembly system was ready – one of the three main pillars of Eibl alongside Varicor® and the joinery.

From carpenter to system provider.

Of course, the broadly based company still stands for classic woodworking, with almost all projects being batch size 1 – now for the most part for the public/commercial sector. Josef Eibl GmbH is in demand not only as a supplier, but also as a system provider: custom-made mirrored cabinets for retirement homes, designed in such a way that exactly eight items go onto a europallet; media columns for public facilities co-developed by Eibl, which are delivered with the complete electrical installation; ergonomic endoscope sinks that radically simplify the work process – Eibl brings innovative solutions to series production time and again.

The Eibl spirit is the decisive factor. Employees should enjoy working together, take responsibility. This produces the best possible result for the customer – and success follows on its own. Josef Eibl is convinced of this. The interpersonal factor, which you can feel at every corner of the company, simply works. It is not without good reason that Josef Eibl maintains his motto: "Good relationship with suppliers, very good relationship with customers, extremely good relationship with employees." This also includes the boss listening to his people. His idea ten years ago of having specialists work on edges and saws does not convince the foremen. They want to continue along the traditional Eibl path: one employee is responsible for a project – from start to finish. Every employee can work with every machine, participates in the decision-making process and assumes responsibility. Josef Eibl allows himself to be persuaded. As a result, the machines are not fully utilized, but the quality is at its best – and the employees are proud of what they produce.

The next step: Digitalization. 

Josef Eibl is a realist. Even his company, which rarely has to look for new employees thanks to employee recommendations, will experience the shortage of skilled workers on day X. The important thing is to be prepared, with digital solutions that support skilled or weaker employees so that they can make a valuable contribution. This is why the company is currently testing a cabinet generator, equipping more and more workstations with barcode scanners and using the Edge Data Package with edgeband rack. HOMAG is providing advice – and Josef Eibl also is also advising HOMAG. He painfully misses the cherished slow-moving goods function for the edge that woodStore and the storage system offer. In his very unique way, he doesn't let go until his EDGETEQ also shows him which edgeband hasn't been used for a long time.

This constant questioning, the permanent optimization, has made the company what it is today: the first point of contact for many customers who do not know where to turn. For example, while we are on site, Josef Eibl gets a call. At the other end of the line is a long-standing business partner from the field of shop construction who starts with the words: "I have a problem. And you can solve problems." The reason for the call: a global brand needs a trade fair stand – in five weeks. Actually impossible, but as Josef Eibl says at the beginning of our visit: "Things that aren't possible excite me."

The generation change is looming.

He wants to pass on this drive to his children. Both are in the boat when important decisions need to be made. In this way, he wants to tell them what matters: Why this supplier? What does the customer need? Why is the employee with us? His children should get a sense of the company and the market, to carry on the spirit – in their own way. So the next generation is being made fit for the future, as the business already is: unwelcome investments such as a suction device, heating and compressed air are up to date, the roof has photovoltaic panels. In the end, there is only one question: Which customer problem can the business solve next?