The company Frequency Elektro GmbH from Radeberg has been one of the most attractive employers in the region for years and is active around the world with growing success. The focus is above all on good working conditions and extensive training work. An investment in the future of the company, even if it's not always easy.
The sight of control cabinets with tons of relays, cables and small labels may drive the fear sweat on some people's foreheads. The experts at Frequency Elektro GmbH, on the other hand, are clearly enjoying themselves, because they are in their element. In two production halls and a new administration and warehouse building, partially highly complex systems are created for the individual needs of clients worldwide.
An established brand in Radeberg
When it comes to very special questions in the electronics sector, Frequency Elektro GmbH has been the first point of contact for many companies since 1990 - regionally, nationally and even worldwide. Mayk Uhlmann, the company's general manager, sums it up: "Where things get complicated, the best thing is for the customer to call the frequency!". Frequency, which has been based in Radeberg since 1996, has continuously earned its reputation as a problem solver over the past decades. From the 2000s onwards, orders became more and more special, and this is how they developed in this direction - a unique selling proposition that not many companies have. It is therefore not surprising that Mayk Uhlmann can look forward to full order books in recent years.
Wide business activities
As a result of the increased number of orders, the number of employees in the company increased significantly: from 100 in the 1990s to 165 today. The foundation of the subsidiary ESMATIC, which deals with the production and support of control cabinet systems, played a decisive role in this. Despite the many developments, the frequency remains loyal to its regular customers. "For example, we will continue to offer electrical services for mechanical engineering companies of all sizes in the future and will continue to position ourselves accordingly," explains Mayk Uhlmann. It is precisely this broad spectrum of services that distinguishes the company.
The hurdles of the current job market
But frequency also has to struggle with some developments in the current job market. "Our growth would certainly go a little faster, unfortunately we often lack the specialist staff," says the managing director. Especially returnees from the old federal states have often high demands on the employer, especially with regard to salary. "It doesn't always make it easy because the differences sometimes turn out higher,”says Uhlmann. Nevertheless, the frequency has been one of the most attractive employers in the region for years. This means that employees from abroad are also employed and the training positions are very popular.
The future in your hands
In the area of training the company does exemplary work. There are currently 25 young professionals in training, and nine KIA/ BA students also work for the company. This keeps the frequency young and ensures first-class training exactly according to the areas of responsibility within the company. Every year, the most suitable candidates for an apprenticeship are selected in an applicant casting and are given the chance to find a future-oriented job in the region. Here, Mayk Uhlmann also benefits from the cooperation with the Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the BA Bautzen. Also the training conditions are above the standard. For example, interested parties can use their own “trainee villa” with space for six trainees. There is a separate trainer for each training sector. All this should lead the frequency in the right direction. A work that brought the company the entrepreneur award of the district of Bautzen and the award of the Dresden Chamber of Crafts as "exemplary training company 2018" last year.
New ways
The company would like to continue to grow and to realize new orders nationally and internationally. The focus is on both compact solutions and large, complex systems. A new building complex is nearing completion and opens up new opportunities. Cooperation with the “Wachstumsregion Dresden” should also help. “It is particularly difficult to find new staff in the commercial sector. That is why we want to use the growth region's network to address exactly the right people for us,”says Uhlmann, who is already active in other networks with his company. And so more orders should be possible in the future in order to further convey the attractiveness of the company and to further establish the frequency Elektro GmbH brand on the job market. The frequency and the ESMATIC target the path to a successful future. A future that, like a complex control cabinet, can also have its pitfalls. But Mayk Uhlmann knows how to deal with that. "Where it gets complicated, just call the frequency."
A sentence, that stays in ones head.
Interview and Text: Peter Glumbick