A bit of pencil history
There is a brand of pencil called Faber-Castell.
Turns out that this company is managed by Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell. From the
New York Times:
Hands-On Bavarian Count Presides Over a Pencil-Making Empire
Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell has been known to hurl wooden pencils from the tower of his castle to the stone courtyard below.
The Faber-Castell family has been making wooden pencils by the hundreds of millions here in a storybook setting, bisected by the swift Rednitz River, which was once the main source of power here. A torrent of brightly colored pencils flows from clattering machines in a century-old factory with a tile roof and windows framed in pastel hues.
Faber-Castell is the largest maker of wood-encased pencils in the world and also makes a broad range of pens, crayons and art and drawing supplies as well as accessories like erasers and sharpeners. About half the company�s German production is exported, mostly to other countries in the euro zone. That means that Faber-Castell contributes, at least in a small way, to Germany�s large and controversial trade surplus � which now rivals China�s for the world�s largest.
Faber-Castell illustrates how midsize companies � which account for about 60 percent of the country�s jobs � are able to stay competitive in the global marketplace. It has focused on design and engineering, developed a knack for turning everyday products into luxury goods, and stuck to a conviction that it still makes sense to keep some production in Germany.
�Why do we manufacture in Germany?� the count asked during an interview at the family castle near the factory. �Two reasons: One, to really make the best here in Germany and to keep the know-how in Germany. I don�t like to give the know-how for my best pencils away to China, for example.
�Second, �Made in Germany� still is important.�
Great story.
Posted by DaveH at December 5, 2013 11:34 AM