Jochen dislikes producing waste. He tries to avoid it wherever possible – although he is not an "eco", as he laughingly assures. He also displays this conscious behavior at his job with ebm‑papst, where he has been working for over 30 years and always walks through the production area with an open eye.

Jochen was already confronted with automated production processes after his training as a toolmaker. Today, as a line supervisor, he is responsible for the fully automated production lines in Herbolzheim, which of course he knows inside out. Just as well as the repetitive production processes - at least that’s what he thought. "It's amazing how without ever questioning them, you get used to the processes," says Jochen.

At that time, the task was to produce radial fans for cars, and more specifically to assemble and install the winding, fan housing and bearing system. To do this, an employee placed the winding and housing on position 1 of a workpiece carrier. The bearing system was placed on position 2 by machine. The winding was then automatically pressed into the housing. A force-displacement sensor monitored and measured the process. If the measured value deviated from the specified tolerances, the production process was aborted and the workpiece carrier was rejected as n.i.o., short for "not in order". While the bearing system remained untouched in position 2, the winding and housing were checked. If they were i. o. ("in order"), they were processed further. But for years, the brand-new bearing system ended up in the scrap container. "An incredible waste that no one had thought about," Jochen reflects in retrospect.

Until one day it clicked for Jochen and he made a simple calculation: With an average of 20 n.i.o. parts per shift, in a three-shift operation around 60 storage systems ended up in the trash every single day. For the self-employed waste avoider, this was unacceptable. Through the corporate suggestion scheme, Jochen suggested that the storage systems should also be visually inspected in future and, if possible, returned to the production cycle. This great idea was gratefully accepted and rewarded with delight.

Jochen thus saved the company around 1,700 euros per year. However, this is not the most important thing for him. Rather, he finds it rewarding: "That from time to time it is worth questioning what you do out of habit." The production step no longer exists, but the realization spurs Jochen on and he promises to keep his eyes open.