Integrating handicapped people
At Siemens subsidiary mdexx disabled workers are fully integrated into the production process.
The joint effort by mdexx and the sheltered workshop “Martinshof” in Bremen has made an important contribution toward helping people with disabilities integrate themselves into the workplace and gain professional and social recognition. For ten years, disabled and regularly abled employees have worked side by side in fully integrated production processes.
Handicapped people have been working in production at Siemens subsidiary mdexx in Bremen, Germany, for many years.
Martinshof is one of the largest workshops for people with disabilities in Germany. For over 50 years, people who would not normally have any opportunities in regular workplaces are individually trained in various activities. A total of 1,680 people now work not just in dedicated workshops but also in some 30 commercial and industrial sites in the Bremen and its environs.
One such site is mdexx, Magnetronic Devices GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Siemens Automation and Drives in Bremen, which produces transformers, commutation chokes, filters, fans and power supplies. A group from Martinshof has worked here for ten years now assembling commutation chokes.
The aim of the collaboration is to provide disabled persons with meaningful, long-term challenges. A two-week internship is followed by an assessment to determine how each individual can best be employed in the production process. The concept also includes training in more complex manufacturing assignments. The disabled employees are supported both by Martinshof staff and mdexx personnel.
For the men and women from Martinshof, who commute to their workplace on their own and work side by side with the regularly abled, working at mdexx means greater autonomy and self-esteem. Integration into the very same production process with the other employees affords them validation and professional recognition. The project is thus making an important contribution to integrating disabled persons into the workplace and society.
It also helps mdexx employees interact more normally with disabled persons and raises awareness of their situation. From a financial perspective, the project improves the cost situation at mdexx by shifting wage-intensive activities to the Martinshof workers.
Martinshof and mdexx have formed a partnership that benefits everyone: The disabled workers are given regular employment, the Martinshof organizers receive regular income and mdexx can improve its competitive edge.