No production process comes to a good end without partners working behind the scenes. Our final customers only see the final Redopapers product, but they have never met our partners. And they are an essential link in the process. For us, non-profit organisation KATR!NAHOF is such a partner. They blend our paper, enabling us to make paper products with the variation and tactility that we find important. Time to put them in the spotlights! Linde visited KATR!NAHOF and had some pleasant conversations with the people who work there.
NPO WHO?KATR!NAHOF is a non-profit organisation for people with mental disabilities. For various reasons, it is often hard for them to ground in a made-to-measure company. But like everyone else, they need challenges and tasks on their level. The non-profit association KATR!NAHOF supports them and helps them to develop their qualities.
MIXING BY HAND
Redopapers has been working with KATR!NAHOF for years now. They mix our weekly planners, to-do lists, monthly planners, and daily planners by hand. We value beauty and design, so we select the paper materials for our products carefully. We only use paper that is easy to write on, and we look for paper types with different thicknesses, colours, and nice prints. We want every product to have a good mix so that our customers feel surprised when they start a new monthly, weekly, or daily plan. Although mixing the paper takes time, it cannot be done by machines because of the variety of our paper waste streams.
The non-profit association KATR!NAHOF helps us with this. Their employees blend the paper by hand, which brings a lot of fun. First, we put the stacks of different paper types side by side on a large table, then they stand around the table and take a sheet from each pile. This way, they make a grand tour and create the unique paper mix that characterises our products.
ONE TOO MANYThe employees of the organisation agree that mixing paper is a fun job. Although it is not always easy, they want to continue helping us for a long time. "Sometimes I have one paper too many", says Marc. “I get tired of it.” Lisa agrees with him. “Sometimes I have two or three”, she says. And Celine also finds it difficult to get a grip on the sheets of paper. “Sometimes it is difficult to grab the sheets with my fingers”, she says. When they put together the mix of paper types, they are focused because they want to do it right without making mistakes.
The mixed stacks are brought to our studio by 'the bus'. For Sven and Saad this is the most fun part of the job. Sven enjoys coming to our studio and carrying the paper bins inside.
VIA VIA
Mixing our paper is a defined and specific task that KATR!NAHOF values. There is a lot of variation in the work they do. Some employees prefer mixing, others like the visits to our workshop. It is a repetitive, well-organised task for a real company. The employees value that. They know who they are doing the work for, they do useful work, and there is a deadline. That offers them the necessary challenge.
Assignments like these are scarce. Supervisors at KATR!NAHOF say that it is a constant search for work for their employees. Most jobs come through the grapevine, which sometimes causes stress. “We cannot take on all assignments because the profile of our employees is not always strong enough. We are not a customised company, so the assignments must be feasible”, says one of the supervisors. “We are constantly looking for work, so you may certainly advertise us”, she says laughing.
And we are more than happy to do so! A big high five to the non-profit organisation KATR!NAHOF and their love for paper.
More info:
https://katrinahof.be
