Dienes

The Internationally acclaimed award-winning furniture designer Reinhard Dienes, is debuting an exclusive line of cardboard furniture with Fashion4Home.

Speech Bubble Cardboard Coffee Table 2010

The workers view Dienes's family owners as benevolent patriarchs, says Mr. Lob.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

Dienes, which now has 500 employees, has been making pretty much the same thing since Mr. Supe-Dienes's grandfather founded it in 1913.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

A closer look inside Dienes's unassuming factory just outside the small Rhineland town of Overath offers clues to the secrets of Germany's resilience.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

At Dienes, employees willingly made sacrifices two years ago to steer the company through the financial crisis and global recession.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

A portrait of the brothers' grandfather, company founder Karl Rudolf Dienes , hangs beside the pin-up calendar in the union head's office.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

Inside the low, whitewashed building, employees in overalls operate heavy equipment that crafts the components of Dienes's products: machines bristling with rows of circular blades that can cut newspapers, adhesive tape and copper.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

Many factory workers spend their whole careers at Dienes, gaining such skill that they often suggest improvements to the designs they are given by the company's engineers, says Karl-Willi Lob , head of the plant's union.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

Dienes Werke A Dienes machine cuts paper into programmable widths at its factory in Overath.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011

Business bounced back in 2010, and Dienes's workers began working full hours again, even with an occasional overtime shift.

Germany's Resiliency Buoys Europe Brian Blackstone 2011