News from VACU-form WISCHEMANN GmbH & Co. KG

Sometimes apprenticeship pathways do not go as planned. Due to operational reasons, Samuel Berteit could no longer remain with his previous company, but we were delighted to welcome the nineteen-year-old at our team and are continuing the journey together towards a successful qualification. In the first few weeks, Samuel has already had a chance to get an insight into our various production areas and is currently working on one of our inliner machines. No doubt he will also have the opportunity to work in his favourite area, the extrusion machines. Dear Samuel, we say a warm welcome to the VACU-form team and are pleased to have you with us!

In the photo from left: Samuel Berteit, trainer Marius Sowa

Instead of giving large Christmas gifts to customers, we at the WISCHEMANN Group traditionally donate to a good cause. This year, we chose to support children and young people, including those at Haus Patria in Salzbergen, Haddorf and Ohne, where young people with challenging backgrounds find a home and reliable support. VACU-form’s Managing Director Christian Herdering was delighted to hand over four bicycles and lots of new games for the facilities, with a total value of €2,500. WISCHEMANN donated a further €2,500 to the terra nova facilities in Ochtrup for a new outdoor ping-pong table and leisure activities.

We wish all residents and staff at the facilities, as well as our business partners and our employees, a wonderful Christmas season!

In the photo, from left to right: Frank Tann (Managing Director, Patria), Noah, Christian Herdering (Technical Managing Director, VACU-form), Angelina, Theresa Heckel (Facility Manager, Haddorf)

At the invitation of the Emsachse Plastics Network (many thanks!), our trainee Tom Konermann and project manager Thomas Schütz from technical development, together with many other trainees and their companions, had the opportunity to explore the K plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf – with great dialogue, exciting insights into the future of the industry and an interesting panel discussion on the topic of recycling. Conclusion: a great day – and 35,000 steps full of impressions! Of course, some of our other colleagues are also visiting K – so that we are always up-to-date!

At VACU-form, we are busy planning, printing, packing and looking forward to seeing you as we will be exhibiting at three trade fairs in the coming months:

• September 23–25, 2025 Fachpack in Nuremberg (booth 4-152)
• October 21–23, 2025 Automotive Interiors Expo in Detroit, USA (booth A704)
• November 9–15, 2025 Agritechnica in Hanover (booth 17 E67)

From 30 August to 19 September 2025, it's time to get on the bike and rack up the kilometres in Salzbergen! Every kilometre cycled counts in City Cycling - for the environment, the personal fitness and the community.

VACU-form is supporting the campaign with a donation of 5 pence per kilometre cycled to the Salzbergen Community Foundation (max. € 1,500). Of course, we are also participating as Team VACU-form.

A new training year has begun and there is a breath of fresh air at VACU-form too: we welcome Tom Konermann to his apprenticeship for a technical product designer with us! After a few weeks, we check in to see how he is getting on, and Tom's initial verdict is ‘Really good!’ He is particularly impressed by his colleagues, the exciting foundational learning and the good working atmosphere. He is currently working with his colleagues on projects in the agricultural machinery and packaging sectors, learning right from the start how his work directly influences the products.

We warmly welcome you to the VACU-form team and wish you a great apprenticeship with us, Tom! And if you would like to know what other apprenticeships are available at VACU-form, we recommend taking a look at our website for prospective apprentices: www.werdewischemann.de.

Our region is close to our hearts - as is sport. That's why we are delighted to be able to provide the SVA Salzbergen 1st men's team with new jerseys and thus contribute to the team spirit.

We wish the team a successful season and are delighted to be a part of it.

14 footballers hitting a ball onto a goal wall made of our Aircell® air chamber panels - it's not every day you see a picture like this in our halls. The B youth team and their coach Jörn Eversmann from FCE Rheine visited us this week to find out more about VACU-form and the career opportunities we offer. After the company tour, there was pizza for everyone, a lot of ambition at the goal wall and once again proof of the versatility and stability of Aircell®.

Thank you for the nice visit!

This week it was time again: the annual apprentice day took place. Every year, the WISCHEMANN Group invites the apprentices from WISCHEMANN Kunststoff and VACU-form to a full-day surprise trip with their trainers. This time, the programme included a very interesting visit to a long-standing WISCHEMANN customer, where they learnt what happens to our products once they leave our company premises. In the afternoon, our trainees and trainers were then put to the test in an escape game in a wild forest. Chained (or velcroed) together, they had to reconstruct what had happened ‘last night’ at the campfire and gradually free themselves from their bonds. Fortunately, they were able to solve the puzzle and arrived safely back in Ochtrup and Salzbergen. To summarise: it was a great day - and there will definitely be another trainee trip next year!

It started for Nico Volkow at the beginning of the year when he was hired as a temporary worker in our production, but then an idea grew on both sides: how about an apprenticeship as a plastics and rubber technologist? Nico likes the diversity and the different departments in production: “There is no time boredom there”. And so, since the beginning of August, department head Marius Sowa and apprentice Nico have been going into a little more detail when discussing the production processes. We are happy and wish you an exciting apprenticeship at VACU-form, Nico! 

In the photo from the left: head of department Marius Sowa, apprentice Nico Volkov

It's a long way to the beginning of Michael Volkert's employment with the company, because he had even been employed at the VACU-form predecessor company since the 80s. For an impressive 42 years he gave his all, especially on the thermoforming machines and in assembly, and now production manager Stefan Haget and managing director Christian Herdering have bid him farewell on his well-deserved retirement. A real team player with a big heart is leaving us; some may still remember his fundraising campaign in favour of the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. From now on he can devote himself entirely to his wood decoration hobby and if you miss him, you can certainly meet him at the Christmas market. The VACU-form team wishes you a lot of fun sawing and carving and says THANK YOU for everything, Michael!