The rediscovery of a natural product
New technologies, new materials, new production processes - the term "innovations" covers a huge range. For the Spring/Summer 2021 issue of LfA Magazine, we met innovative entrepreneurs. Our author Alissa Selge spoke with Antonia Faust about starting a family business, linoleum and digitalization in the skilled trades.
Nestled between picturesque hills and valleys, winding country roads and lush greenery, lies the Faust family's company building. It is located just under ten kilometers north of the Staffelsee lake. Antonia Faust likes to be here. Every morning at nine o'clock, she drinks a strong-smelling espresso with the employees to start the day. The team also sits together for lunch every day and enjoys the freshly cooked dishes from their Italian chef. When it's not a Corona pandemic.
"We are a family business through and through", Antonia Faust notes. She joined the company five years ago, at the age of 25. "I always wanted to join my parents' company, that was clear to me from the beginning." Over time, she works her way into every department, gaining experience in logistics and purchasing and sales, among other things, so that she can one day take over the company. Since her first day, the topic of digitalization has been a particular concern for her.
"We are a family business through and through" – Antonia Faust
Today, the company is characterized by the combination of loving craftsmanship and automated processes. On the website, customers put together their individual table with the specially developed 3D online configurator, select the size, the color of the linoleum, the type of edge and the table frame.
Photos: Gerhardt Kellermann
It all started with her father Franz, who worked as a carpenter in Berlin in the 1980s but had wanted to develop his career for some time. A designer friend finally drew his attention to linoleum: a sustainable natural product - that you could theoretically even eat! - made from linseed oil, limestone flour, wood flour and natural color pigments.
A painting robot has been the newest member of the team for a few weeks now. "It works very precisely because it scans the panels in 3D and then oils the edges automatically," explains the young entrepreneur. The robot was financed with a loan from the LfA - just like the other state-of-the-art machines and the construction of the company building before it, which covers 50 percent of its energy needs with photovoltaic panels on the roof. Antonia Faust already has the next innovative ideas for the future ready.
Read the complete profile of Faust Linoleum in the Spring/Summer 2021 issue of LfA Magazine. The German version of the main contents of the issue are also available online at lfa.de/magazin.
Storyboard has been producing the customer magazine of LfA Förderbank Bayern since 2016. Twice a year, the state development institute of the Free State of Bavaria uses the magazine to provide information about news and financing opportunities. In the spring/summer issue 2021, the focus was on "Innovations".
