A. Lange & Sohne Factory Trip Part 2

Turn-over for these positions is very low, and a position working at A. Lange & Sohne as a watch maker is a secure and highly regarded position. Most workers will do the same task each day. Some of them are content doing this, others slowly move their way up to room leaders or other facets of the watch movement *** process.The rooms where the watch makers sit is always headed by a leader - who sits in the back. The room leader is a more senior level watch maker who is there to answer questions and over see work. These leaders are not only there to ensure that the output is as planned, but to mentor the more junior members of the team. You can see from the pictures that the rooms are neatly organized, and have large open windows as to not make anyone feel stuffy. The rooms are kept small on purpose (I saw no more than 20-30 people per room), as to enhance the level of team work and cohesion as everyone is there to focus on a common goal.When your business is steeped in generations upon generations of a craft perfected over time (no matter the technology used) you get the point where all the kinks have been worked out, and all you have left is a seamless system.I was particularly keen on the decoration component of the watch *** phase. I looked over the shoulders of many a worker to consider their work, and the skill seemingly involved. Each worker goes through training. for some people it can take years and require special educational degrees. This is particularly true with anyone assembling movements. Work rooms are divided by specific tasks. I entered a room called "Perlage" for example, and perlage polishing is all that they did. Notice the image with the polished movement plates. They are applied with a perlage polish. While the process could be done completely automatically with a robot, Lange does not do it that way. "This way each piece that is decorated comes out just a little bit different. It is unique - and that is the way we prefer it." I liked the response. The workers have total ownership of their work stations - and they spend as much time working on small parts as they do maintaining the machines they work on to keep them working perfectly. The rooms are clean and comfortable, and it is common to see watch makers decorate their own work stations with trinkets, images, and other person belongings. These really are homes away from home.