FOUNDED IN 1973 AS A PRIVATE COMPANY The early 70's was still an opportune period: there was no oversupply of textile dyes in the market whatsoever when Manfred Dohmen established his company in 1973. At that time, this self-made man was the dyeing and development manager of a spinning mill. This probably helps to explain his shrewd company strategy. There was now one dyestuff supplier among the former dyestuff customers. He was therefore always in the unique position of being able to see things from the customer's standpoint and made sure his sales organization and customer service were orientated in this direction. The limited company M. Dohmen GmbH & Co. KG was formed from this private company in 1975. At the same time, three partners joined the firm and, despite a few changes, three partners are still actively engaged in running the company today.

    DYESTUFFS FOR AUTOMOTIVE TEXTILES With the take-over of Eastman-Kodak's textile dyestuffs agency in Germany the same year, the company took its first major step forward. The year 1981, however, was really decisive for the future direction of the firm: a dye range specifically for automotive textiles was built up jointly with Eastman-Kodak and continually extended. Thus, in 1982, the Dorospers A dyes (high light fastness disperse dyes for automotive textiles), the Dorolan dyes (high light fastness acid dyes for PA/wool) and the Doracid dyes (acid dyes for PA/wool) were released on to the market. Eastman-Kodak pulled out of the dyestuffs business altogether in 1987. The firm then established a co-operation agreement with the Greek dye maker Viochrom. In the meantime Dohmen GmbH took over the agencies of ICI and Bayer AG for the German textile market.

    View of the laboratory ESTABLISHMENT OF FOREIGN AGENCIESThe company was not only actively pursuing the expansion of its dyestuff program with determination - the Dorospers dyes (disperse dyes with the highest wash fastness for PET and blends), for example, were developed in 1990 - but was also intent on opening up additional markets. In 1990 therefore, M. Dohmen S.A., San Vittore/Switzerland (also production) and M. Dohmen Italia S.r.l., Lainate/Italy were established as European sales agencies, as well as M. Dohmen USA Inc., Greenville, USA, and M. Dohmen Canada, Drummondville/Canada as overseas sales agencies. With these developments, a decisive step into the international dye market had been made. Expansion into the leather dyes sector also followed in the same year.

    COOPERATION WITH BASF UNTIL YEAR 2000 The next milestone in the company's history was the entry of BASF AG Ludwigshafen into the firm in 1996. The wool/PA sector was now worked on exclusively for BASF. Textile auxiliaries were increasingly integrated into the product range during the course of this co-operation. The co-operation lasted until September 2000. As a consequence of the new BASF/DyStar combine, BASF pulled out of the Korschenbroich company at this time and the shares were sold back. Dohmen continued to increase its activities in foreign markets and set up further agencies in France, Turkey, England and China.

    NEW PARTNER FOUND In its search for a new partner, the company had a stroke of good luck in Korea. A joint venture with LG Chem Dyestuffs came into being with effect from 1.9.2001. The Dyestuffs Division of LG has been in existence since 1978 with production plants in Korea and China. It is certified to ISO 9002 and ISO 14001. With this move, Dohmen has now progressed from a dye merchant to a dye manufacturer as well which yet again marks a new chapter in the development of the firm. As a result of this joint venture, Dohmen has increased its activities in Asia - the world's most important dye market - to 32% (Europe 46%, America 21%, Africa 1%) and its total market share of the global dye market (volume 4500 million EUR) to 4%. The world market for disperse dyes for the automotive textiles sector alone is estimated at approx. 73 million EUR. Dohmen now has a 40% market share in this sector. The new breakdown of dye classes and other products in the company after the joint venture is summarized in the table

    CLOSE COOPERATION WITH ALL PARTNERS Manfred Dohmen regards the particularly close co-operation with all partners starting with the fibre producers through the textile industry to the auto manufacturers as one of the most important factors contributing to the extremely positive development of his company. His firm is thus able to cater for all requirements and always launch new developments successfully (even from the fibre). It is not mass-produced dyes that have brought success but those specially tailored to the processes meeting the customer's requirements. Manfred Dohmen characterizes his company today as "a service provider with associated dye production".

    CONTROL FROM THE GERMAN LOCATION After the joint venture with LG was secured, the company now employs a total of 400 people worldwide (90 at the Korschenbroich site). The turnover figures are given in Fig. 3 and reflect the extremely positive development of the company. Korschenbroich is, and remains, the centre for applications technology (Figs. 1 and 2). Mark Dohmen, the son of the managing director, co-ordinates the entire research activities (technical applications and chemical R&D). All information for the customers as well as from dye production and research converges here. As a direct consequence of this centralization there is no loss of information and quick reactions are possible even when the research and development on dye synthesis takes place in Korea. The firm is certified to DIN ISO 9000.

    ECONOMIC SITUATION SATISFACTORY When asked about the economic situation of his company, Manfred Dohmen's brief and matter of fact reply is "difficult but satisfactory". He is particularly proud of his young team (average age around 40), the flat company structure, and the fact that the company is able to maintain continued growth in these times of crisis for the dye manufacturers. The management of each agency hold shares in the respective country's company and is therefore motivated. All the sales personnel are technicians at the same time and are thus able to identify the customer's problems on the spot there and then and offer a solution based on their knowledge. That is one of the greatest strengths of this dyestuff supplier.

    FOCUSSED ON FUTURE REQUIREMENTS A small exhibition, in keeping with the actual season, has been mounted on the staircase of the Korschenbroich company. The highly topical theme of the decoration at the time of the visit was the "autumn harvest festival". The company's staff who designed this exhibition with such dedicated to the current season also react to current market requirements in the same way. Dohmen's trademark, a black carton (in which all dyes in powder form are delivered) is not simply a "black box" but a veritable storehouse filled with considerable knowledge of application technology, experience and readiness to serve the customer.