Interview with Air-Log International GmbH’s manager Jens Ewertowski

How did you get into the pneumatic tube business?

That is easy: My father, Hermann Ewertowski started working in that area in 1967. One year later he founded his first business dealing with pneumatic tube systems, the Rohrposttechnik GmbH in Westerstede, Germany. So, I basically grew up around that business and have stayed in that line up to now.

When was Air-Log founded?

Let me go back a bit here and tell you something about the history. I left Swisslog Rohrpostsysteme GmbH in Westerstede in 2011. After briefly debating my future and where I should be heading, I naturally ended up wanting to continue with pneumatic tube systems. This is probably like a virus: once you start in a field and have worked there for a while, it’s hard to image working in another industry or product area. And it was this passion that led me to founding the Air-Log International GmbH in Oldenburg, Germany at the end of 2011.

What did the beginnings look like at Air-Log?

Now I have to expand even further, because I already founded my first tube company in 1988, the Aircotronic GmbH in Hannover-Langenhagen, Germany. After successful expansion with several locations in Germany and also in England, I sold these companies to the Swiss Swisslog-group. Following that, I started my nearly 11-year long position as manager for the Swisslog-group with a sole representation in the areas healthcare and tube systems with more than 150 employees worldwide.

After leaving the Swisslog-group and founding Air-Log International GmbH with 2 and later 3 employees I had a completely different situation. But my extensive experience with tube systems and my very good reputation world-wide in the industry were an advantage. Starting something new always entails certain risks and considerable effort.

I still don’t regret starting a new company and sticking to tube systems and thanks to a great team with hard-working and dedicated employees we are now very successful with Air-Log International GmbH.

Which difficulties did you face when founding or would you do anything differently?

Of course we experienced some challenges regarding building trust for a new product and financing larger projects, just like it is the case for many new companies. But we were able to manage all of that successfully.

There is nothing more motivating than success and this success shows in our economic development.

Who is using tube systems and for which applications?

We at Air-Log International GmbH have been concentrating and specialized on the segment sample transportation. Our tube systems are mainly used in hospitals all over the world to transport blood samples, tissue samples and also medication.

But, of course, part of our systems is also utilized in industries. For example, steel plants transporting hot samples or food production companies, which have transport production samples to laboratories with high quality standards.

Why make a decision for pneumatic tube systems?

Tube systems are an economic, trusted and safe product that has been around for ages to transport any type of goods and also samples. Employees do not have to carry samples around and this helps keeping personnel costs down. Tube systems are the most effective/efficient solution for your internal transportation.

How many employees does your company have?

At our location in Oldenburg we currently have 17 employees. And for individual projects we cooperate with a number of contract partners and subcontractors in Germany and abroad.

What makes Air-Log’s tube systems special?

I believe, my long-term experience of more than 30 years, and that also goes for some of my colleagues, enables us to have a solution for almost everything and that makes Air-Log International GmbH special. A lot of tasks presented to us have been there before and we were able to find a solution in the past.

What are your plans for the future?

We have been growing constantly and because 2019 was a very successful business year with considerable turnover and volume growth our production struggled with capacity.

That’s why we are currently optimizing our work processes and production planning to align them with the new demand. If necessary, we could even double our production hall’s space or build a new one on our premises in addition to that; we considered this option 3 years ago when we constructed our new building.

In which areas do you train?

We have been taking on trainees for the administration and communication areas at Air-Log International GmbH since the start. We think this is our part to contribute and offer young people a good and solid training to prepare them for the future.