On the outskirts of Vechta, about 60 km from Bremen, you will find Diekmann Joinery. Situated on a 10,000 m2 plot of land is a large brick building, typical for northern Germany. This building houses the 3,500 m2 of office space, a showroom, the entire production facility, and the warehouse. As I step inside, I find myself directly in the showroom. To the left, windows and doors are on display; to the right, a stunning array of custom kitchens, solid wood tables, benches, and chairs.
This makes perfect sense, as the joinery, with its 26 employees, produces both building elements and everything related to custom interior fit-outs. Both divisions are equally important, each accounting for 50% of the company's workload.
A Second-Generation Family Business
Twenty-five years ago, Jürgen Diekmann, a trained joiner and architect, joined his father's business—stepping directly into the role of co-managing director and all-rounder. "The knowledge from the trade, paired with the know-how of an architect, provided me with the ideal foundation to be fully involved in the joinery from day one," he tells me. And it worked. Since 2014, he has been the sole managing director of the successful and modern "village joinery." "In the past, every village had a joiner who was responsible for all types of finishing work. It's still much the same for us today. We do everything: custom interior fit-outs, windows, doors, stairs, conservatories, and if a customer wants us to take over the entire interior construction, including flooring, drywall, and so on, that's no problem either.
What has changed, however, is our machinery, including the software integration. In this area, we strive to be as modern as is economically viable for us."
The joinery's catchment area has also changed—today, inquiries can come from all over Europe.
A New Foundation for Window Production
In 2016, the joinery made a significant investment in its window production. Jürgen Diekmann explains: "With our rather inflexible window machining line, we could barely meet the technical requirements, the high customer demands, and the growing product variety." Added to this was the shift in manufacturing technology, which opened up entirely new possibilities. The decision in favor of flexible, all-in-one CNC machining and the investment in a Centateq S-800 from Homag, with a capacity of around 20 windows per day, placed the production of building elements on a new, future-proof foundation. The previously used mortise and tenon corner joint, which required heavy tool sets, was thus phased out. Today, production is carried out using the Zuani-Prüller corner joint.
Interior Fit-Outs from A to Z
For professional interior fit-outs, the joinery offers custom-made solutions starting from a batch size of one. They equip every room in the house, whether it's freestanding furniture for the living area or built-in cabinets for bedrooms, utility rooms, etc. A key focus is on kitchens, which is why they use Carat, a separate and widely used planning program. Otherwise, all planning is done consistently with Palette CAD.
At Diekmann Joinery, planning and consultation are free of charge. The initial discussion often takes place directly on the construction site so that reliable measurements can be taken immediately. Once the resulting visualizations are approved by the customer, production drawings and all relevant data, such as cutting plans, are created directly in the production planning department before being sent online to the machine room.
A Clever Combination: The Panel Saw
The latest acquisition for the family business is a saw-storage combination with an offcut return system, which was installed and operational within two weeks. At its center stands the Format 4 kappa automatic 80 horizontal panel dividing and pressure beam saw. With a cutting height of 80 mm, panels can also be processed in stacks—for example, four 19 mm particleboards at once. The machine is designed for half-format panels measuring 2.80 x 2.07 m, allowing them to be loaded directly from the storage system. The cutting optimization is handled in the office with the corresponding Ardis software.
Next to the saw's control panel, which is clearly designed and intuitive to operate, is a label printer. It automatically prints a label for each part that has just been cut. The operator simply has to apply the label and stack the cut and labeled part.
A Clever Combination: The Panel Storage System
Surrounding the saw is the new automatic panel storage system, the CSF Professional from Barbaric. On a footprint of 6 x 12 m, including the saw, over 500 half-format panels can be stored. There are eight storage locations available, two of which are dedicated exclusively to offcuts that can be automatically reintegrated into the production process as needed.
Included in the footprint is the infeed station, located directly next to the entrance gate for deliveries. The process is simple: new panels are brought to the station by forklift or pallet truck. At the terminal, all relevant data can be entered directly into the Barbaric storage software, and the gripper automatically stocks the panels. The 90° rotating unit allows the panels to be stored in any direction. For additional process reliability, the panels are measured and weighed during every stacking operation.
"We used to have to keep our panels in a separate 8 x 20 m warehouse and transport them by forklift from the storage hall to the production hall when needed. Today, the additional warehouse is completely free, and the risk of panels getting wet or scratched during transport is no longer an issue," the boss tells me as we stand in the old panel warehouse. Furthermore, with the new system, Diekmann always knows the exact inventory level and where the panels are located—the tedious task of searching is a thing of the past.
From the Workshop to the Customer
The formatted and labeled panels proceed to the CNC machine, a Weeke Venture 5, and then to the edgebander with a return system. Here, a Homag Edgeteq S300 ensures optimal quality. For solid wood processing, the machine room is equipped with the standard machines typical for a joinery, plus a wide-belt sander. Brand new additions include the T54 jointer and the T45 thickness planer from Martin.
For pre-assembly, the processed parts are moved to the bench room. Here, each employee has their own workstation, complete with a tool cabinet and a lift table for ergonomic work. The joinery has been relying on height-adjustable assembly tables for over 20 years. Jürgen Diekmann explains: "It has always been important to us to provide our employees with good working conditions."
Three two-person installation teams are responsible for the delivery of all furniture, interior fit-outs, and building elements. The final inspection is always conducted with the project manager. Diekmann explains: "It's important to our customers to have a single point of contact who supports them from start to finish."
