CHT Beitlich, Dußlingen (21/01/03)

Truly speaking, I have found the 2003 programme very interesting and more rewarding in the sense that we have learnt many things that we never thought of before. We have visited a number of places, to give but few example Wurmlinger Kapelle, Stiftskirche, City Hall, DaimlerChrysler museum, Bebenhausen monastery, CHT Beitlich and many more. Above all places we’ve seen, CHT Beitlich drew a lot of interest to us, we never expected what the CHT Beitlich company offered to us. We were welcomed by Dr. Hettich and the two tour guides. He briefed us about the company before we began the factory tour. CHT is quite a big company, because it consists of 250,000 employees which work in two shifts. We were told and witnessed that this company manufactures products which finish different kinds of textiles or which give them specific properties for subsequent treatment. Application fields of their products are pretreatment, textile printing, flocking of surfaces as well as textile coating. They also supply products for producing we food in tins, dishes or bags for achieving the desired appearance, texture, acceptance and productivity.Interestingly, we were told that this company is based not only in Europe, but it is present in every important market in the world, for example there is a branch in Cape Town, South Africa. This is one of the reasons that has made CHT one of the leading producers of this industry. After all the products are manufactured, they are labelled and then packed for delivery. We even saw programmed packing machinery which they use to pack their products.With this highly improved technology we have seen, customer oriented product developments, diverse product range, high degree of delivery capability and excellent service, eventually, it maks sense why this company is a more effective partner for the textile processing industry. Although not all of us are in the field of chemistry, this information challenged us and we benefited all a lot from it. It it worth mentioning that all questions we hade about chemistry and related intolerances were eventually answered. Besides the terrible smell of gases, nevertheless we enjoyed every second of that tour. After the factory tour we had a delicious lunch which we were gratefull of. Above all we expressed out appreciations to the manager and out tour guides by singing our national anthem.

(Siiso Mabuza, Durban Westville University UDW)