Our new member company, headquartered in Hamm, is a reliable partner for industry when it comes to the planning, manufacture and assembly of complex industrial systems. Hoffmeier offers a comprehensive service for maintenance work, revisions, conversions and dismantling and could also support other member companies in these areas.
The history of our new member began in 1970, when Werner Hoffmeier founded the company. His business idea arose from the experience that for many industrial companies, their own maintenance work and maintenance tasks during ongoing production were too great to manage themselves.
Since its foundation, Hoffmeier has developed from a small maintenance company into one of the leading medium-sized companies in German industrial plant construction. With 55 years of experience, more than 1,300 employees and a production area of around 33,000 m² with six plants in Germany, Hoffmeier covers the entire spectrum of planning, production and assembly of complex industrial plants.
The expertise of our new member company ranges from steel and mechanical engineering, conveyor and dust extraction technology to maintenance, inspection, conversions and dismantling. With its six locations and strategically important investments – for example at the port in Hamm-Uentrop or the Bedburg plant – Hoffmeier guarantees fast response times and the highest quality.
The Hoffmeier Academy is particularly noteworthy for the training and further education of its own employees, but also for external training partners. We are already cooperating with our NIRO Academy on load securing topics.
High standards of occupational safety, quality, environmental and health protection are the hallmarks of our new member.
We are delighted to welcome Hoffmeier Industrieanlagen GmbH + Co KG to our network and are sure that Hoffmeier’s core competence in keeping production plants running will make our network stronger.
5 questions for Jörg Schmitt and Dr. Peter Krone, Managing Directors of Hoffmeier Industrieanlagen GmbH + CO. KG
NIRO: Welcome as a new member of the Industrie RuhrOst network! Your company is now strengthening our network. What was the main reason for you to become a member of NIRO?
Jörg Schmitt/Dr. Peter Krone: The main reason for our interest in the NIRO network is that Ms. Lange introduced it to us in a very friendly manner. In addition, the head of our technical office had already had extremely positive experiences with NIRO in a previous position and was therefore very keen to participate.
We are also very interested in a professional exchange with regional companies that share similar values and convictions to ours. It is particularly helpful for us that they are not direct customers or competitors. We hope that this will lead to an unbiased and constructive exchange.
NIRO: Which topics are currently particularly important in your company? What should be discussed in the network? What role does sustainability play in your company?
Jörg Schmitt/Dr. Peter Krone: We are a down-to-earth family business that has been in existence for 55 years. The typical themes of a family business characterize our actions: Responsibility and reliability towards our employees, our customers and suppliers as well as towards the region and the location – and this across generations.
Sustainability plays a central role in this. We already rely on environmentally friendly technologies in our own production and implement customer projects that make a significant contribution to reducing CO ₂-Exhaustßit in German heavy industry. Therein übeyond thatöour group of companies includes a largeßforestry area and an organic farm, with which we also actively contribute to climate-conscious corporate governance.ü
We would like to use the network to exchange ideas on the topics of employee retention and recruitment. We are also interested in the experiences of other companies in the use of new technologies such as AI. Dealing with rapidly changing economic conditions – such as US tariffs, increasing bureaucracy, digitalization or changing customer requirements – is also an exciting topic of discussion for us.
NIRO: Which products, services or innovations from Hoffmeier Industrieanlagen GmbH + CO. KG could also be of interest to other NIRO member companies?
Jörg Schmitt/Dr. Peter Krone: At Hoffmeier, we see ourselves as the “lubricant” of German heavy industry. We plan, manufacture and assemble operating systems and carry out maintenance, servicing and repairs. These services are probably less in demand within NIRO. However, we run our own academy, where we offer seminars on occupational safety – for example, fire safety training or load securing training.
NIRO: What current challenges do you see for your company due to increasing digitalization processes and to what extent could being part of NIRO be helpful?
Jörg Schmitt/Dr. Peter Krone: Digitalization does not affect our business area to the same extent as other industries. Our core activities are still locksmith work and welding. Although very good welding robots already exist, their use has not yet become established on construction sites. In the area of planning and administration, on the other hand, digitalization is progressing rapidly. For example, we are currently introducing a new ERP system. In order to stay up to date in this environment, we consider the exchange with other NIRO members to be extremely valuable.
NIRO: And finally, a bit of wishful thinking: Which event can NIRO plan for you or your team?
Jörg Schmitt/Dr. Peter Krone: We would be particularly pleased about events in which best practice examples or change projects from different companies and divisions are presented.
NIRO: Thank you very much and here’s to good cooperation!
