On Monday, September 25th, 2023, we had the pleasure of welcoming seven former students of the Deutschen Schuhfachschule (DSF) to the Pirmasens Testing and Research Institute. The gentlemen had completed their school education in the shoe trade here in Pirmasens in the years 1976 to 1978, at that time still at the location in the Lemberger Straße. At that time, the PFI was still known for its classic "rubber laboratory", which was founded especially for the shoe industry and where tests were done that were very similar to those in our physical department today. This historical connection prompted the gentlemen to visit us in today's Prüf- und Forschungsinstitut Pirmasens e.V.
During an exclusive guided tour with the institute's director, Dr. Schulte, the gentlemen were able to see that the competences and research areas of our institute today go far beyond the activities of that time.
The tour started in the halls of the ISC building, where antique sewing machines and tools from times gone by are still on display. This allowed the gentlemen to reminisce and talk about their own experiences during their school days. But the visitors were also not unfamiliar with the modern machines for shoe production in our production line. The group listened intently to the explanations of Dr. Schulte, who also presented some of our research projects. The gentlemen were particularly interested in our rollover test for safety shoes. The aim of this research was to protect the wearers of safety shoes from sideward pressure and to use the results of this research in the design of safety shoes.
In the main building, the gentlemen were given an insight into our physical department. Although they knew this department as a classic "rubber lab", our department head, Mrs. Vijselaar, took the time to guide the gentlemen through the individual testing procedures in detail. This enabled the gentlemen to clearly see the developments from the test methods of that time to those of today, and they quickly realized that today's tests go far beyond the scope of those days.
In the chemical department, our laboratory manager, Mr. Haubrich, guided the visitors through various chemical tests and explained the individual devices. Lively discussions developed, questions were asked and opinions exchanged. Thus, the group was able to gain detailed insights into the working methods of our chemical analytical department.The last stop was the biotechnology department, which was presented by the head of department, Dr. Dröge. He explained how our biogas plant in the Winzeln Energy Park works, using a miniature version that is used for research purposes in the technical center. The Biotechnology Department impressively illustrated how much the institute has changed over the past 40 years.
This exclusive tour enabled the gentlemen to see that although the PFI has its origins in the footwear industry and still carries out tests in the footwear sector, in recent years it has extended its expertise to many other industries, products and processes.
We sincerely thank the former footwear students for their visit and interest in our work.
It was a pleasure to welcome them to our company!
