FITZNER GLOBAL – FROM PRODUCER TO BRAND MANUFACTURER

As early as 1948, the first customised work gloves were made in the company's own production facility in Pr. Oldendorf. To respond to economic changes in good time, Peter and Wilhelm Fitzner Jr. began importing standard models from Asia in the early 1980s, such as leather, nappa leather, welding and cotton gloves as well as technical dipped gloves.

Around ten years later, nwTec GmbH (originally short for "Nord-West Technik") was founded to further expand and drive forward the import business for protective work gloves.

In April 2023, nwTec GmbH was renamed Fitzner Global GmbH.

Today, Fitzner Global GmbH is responsible for importing our occupational safety products, monitoring compliance with quality standards and developing new products in cooperation with Fitzner GmbH & Co. KG.

Now as then, one thing comes first for us: providing you with the best possible protection at work!

MAINTAINING LONG-STANDING TRADE RELATIONSHIPS

Our products are the result of years of trusting cooperation between our import company Fitzner Global GmbH and our suppliers.

For more than 25 years, we have maintained these long-term relationships of trust with our trading partners. As a family business, it goes without saying that we fulfil our corporate social responsibility. We expect the same of our manufacturing partners. They meet social standards, and our products are made without child labour.

This open and close cooperation is the basis for stable flows of goods and for compliance with agreed quality standards.

Today, the annual import volume of Fitzner Global GmbH amounts to around 350 containers (20 ft, 40 ft and 40 ft HC).

Our carefully selected suppliers are the fundamental prerequisite for control and transparency within the supply chain. Together, we are continuously working to make production and delivery routes as sustainable as possible, to reduce our global footprint and to use resources more efficiently.

OUR SEDEX MEMBERSHIP – MAINTAINING AND PROMOTING ETHICAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

As a manufacturer and importer of occupational safety products, people's safety and the responsible sourcing of our products always come first for us. Our standard of quality includes not only the flawless safety and reliability of our products, but also compliance with safe and ethical business practices and the achievement of social and environmental sustainability at every stage of our supply chain. With our voluntary Sedex membership, we commit to acting as a responsible and sustainable company and to making our supply chain transparent to our customers and business partners.

What does SEDEX stand for?

Sedex is short for Supplier Ethical Data Exchange. This database is a globally recognised online platform for the transparent exchange of information on companies' social and ethical sustainability. Using Sedex tools and services helps us ensure that our suppliers comply with safe, ethical and sustainable business practices. Sedex also enables our company to improve and protect working conditions for the people in our supply chain.

SEDEX audit according to SMETA

The social and ethical audit according to SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) assesses compliance with general ethical principles in areas such as employee rights, job satisfaction, occupational safety, and health and environmental protection. The SMETA catalogue includes a set of "best practices" that have proven to be meaningful audit techniques for social and ethical corporate responsibility.

You can find more information about the Sedex organisation on its website https://www.sedex.com/ .

TESTED QUALITY FOR YOUR SAFETY

Our PPE range has been carefully selected to ensure your safety in the modern workplace while meeting as many needs as possible. Our focus is not only on the functionality of our products, but also on consistent quality to ensure your protection and that of your employees.

To guarantee this consistent quality, careful monitoring of production at our manufacturing partners is essential. Fitzner Global GmbH has been dedicated to this task for years and is also responsible for the proper testing and certification of our products. Regular tests by independent testing institutes are just as important to us as repeated checks in our suppliers' in-house laboratories. Compliance with international regulations and the underlying standards goes without saying.

CUSTOMISED SOLUTIONS – UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS

Our range comprises more than 1,200 occupational safety products, offering cross-industry solutions (e.g. for the metal, glass, food and chemical industries as well as for skilled trades).

Since every workplace is as individual as the person working there, customised protective solutions are often required. We are happy to develop and produce these in close cooperation with the customers concerned.

We take a very close look: What requirements does the personal protective equipment have to meet? Where exactly will it be used?

Together with you, we not only develop an individual PPE plan that is precisely tailored to your needs. Rather, we rely on a holistic concept that covers the greatest possible safety for employees, cost efficiency and economic viability, wearer acceptance as well as awareness and training for PPE users.

FORWARD-LOOKING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – GETTING A FEEL FOR NEW POSSIBILITIES

The demands placed on workplaces are becoming ever more challenging. That is why Fitzner Global GmbH and its partners are constantly working on developing new and improved occupational safety products. As experts in hand protection, our focus is on the hand: it is the most versatile tool a person has and, at the same time, the part of the body most frequently affected by occupational accidents.

Our goal has always been to develop protective work gloves made from high-performance materials that not only guarantee flawless protection for the respective application, but also offer an ergonomic fit and outstanding wearing comfort and, above all, ensure optimal handling of workpieces and tools.

At Fitzner Global, we want to revolutionise the PPE market and set new standards in occupational safety: industrial development is advancing faster and faster. Our task as a PPE brand manufacturer is to recognise the needs of tomorrow's workplace today.

Who would have thought a few decades ago that cleanliness in production would become a decisive quality factor in the automotive industry? Fitzner Global GmbH recognised this development early on and has long since established the answer in Fitzner's PPE range: PU gloves that prevent fingerprints and ESD gloves that protect against electrostatic discharge have become indispensable.

The same applies to occupational safety in the food sector. Protecting the PPE user is inseparable from protecting the food being produced or processed and from the hygiene regulations that go with it. Here, too, nwTec has developed numerous hand protection solutions, such as disposable gloves and chain mail gloves tested for food contact, which are essential for guaranteeing the best occupational safety in the food industry while complying with hygiene concepts.

SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS – GETTING A GRIP ON THE FUTURE AND FEELING THE DIFFERENCE

For us, sustainability is not an empty phrase that we merely want to fulfil within our supply chain. We go one step further: we use our know-how and start testing and using new materials and new possibilities right from the development of new products in order to redefine our own standards for occupational safety.

We don't just ask ourselves what the PPE product of the future must look like and which performance requirements it must meet. Our standards for our products go far beyond that:

We all bear responsibility for our future and for natural resources. Natural products such as latex have been used to manufacture a wide range of protective gloves for decades, yet there are good reasons to switch to synthetic materials such as nitrile. Not least because up to 10% of workers in medical professions have a latex intolerance.

In recent years, we have taken many measures to always work responsibly on the basis of sustainable trade to protect people and the environment. A particularly important part of this is our product development, which has enabled us to create a biodegradable glove that paves the way for a new, sustainable generation of personal protective equipment.

Innovative strength, know-how built up over decades and the ambition to give our very best every day for your high-quality occupational safety are what set Fitzner Global GmbH apart: we are already developing the personal protective equipment for your workplace of tomorrow today.