With musical pull toys, music mobiles, grab toys and activity play mats, toy manufacturer Fehn impresses with its wide range of colourful baby toys and accessories today. The aim, among other things, is to encourage the development of children’s motor skills along with their vision, hearing and sense of touch. The long-established Upper Franconian company turns 70 this year and, in reference to its success, Arnold Fehn, the managing director of Fehn GmbH & Co. KG and one of its owners, says: “We are proud of the fact that we have always been flexible and therefore able to respond to changes in the market. Our innovative product concepts, demanding quality requirements and high manufacturing standards have enabled us to assert ourselves and maintain our position in the toy industry throughout the years.” Although the company’s premises, management team and, most significantly, its products, have changed, its traditional values have been passed on from generation to generation and ensure the brand will remain successful in the future too. Fehn’s top priorities are always the quality of its products and fair working conditions
Quality toy manufacturer Fehn’s history – from its beginnings to the present day
Fehn GmbH & Co. KG’s history in Rödental stretches back to 1949, when its founder, Arthur Fehn, began making and selling toys in Oeslau, then a Franconian community that would later become part of Rödental. A year after Liebreich Wolf joined Mr Fehn at the company and Fehn, Wolf & Co KG was founded in Coburg in January 1950, the firm’s premises moved to the neighbouring village. Mr Wolf would soon leave at the end of 1954, however, and the company’s name was changed to Fehn & Co. KG. These developments were followed by Arnold Fehn senior joining the company in 1958. In 1972, the firm relocated back to Rödental and has been run under the name Fehn GmbH & Co. KG since 1991. Since 1994, it has been successfully led by a member of the third generation of its founding family, with Arnold Fehn junior at the helm.
Although the toys were still manufactured at Fehn’s Franconian site to start with, production has been moving to Sri Lanka bit by bit since 1984. After becoming managing director of Fehn GmbH & Co. KG, Arnold Fehn junior made a conscious decision to invest in Fehn-owned sites run by German leaders and production that met German standards instead of becoming dependent on foreign suppliers. He founded the company Paradise Toys in Hendala Wattala in 1995 and expanded production in 2010 by opening a second manufacturing company in Madurankuliya, which is also in Sri Lanka. His brother Achim has been in charge of production there for many years now.
In addition to its leadership, name and premises, the most significant aspect of Fehn’s business that has changed over the years is its product range: The enterprise’s first products included china dolls and clothed dolls made from papier mâché, but mechanical and soft toys were gradually added to the product range until, finally, the company started producing baby toys made from velour and other soft fabrics in 1975. And since 1996, it has only manufactured these sorts of products. Among other things, they include musical pull toys, music mobiles, grab toys and activity play mats.
Production in Sri Lanka in accordance with German quality standards
As a manufacturer of baby toys and items for young children, Fehn’s top priorities are quality and safety. Production materials undergo continual strict checks, while all products are also regularly inspected to ensure they are safe. Fehn attaches great value to the expertise of independent institutes such as Stiftung Warentest and Ökotest as well. The latest test results – and the opinions of customers – are continuously being incorporated into optimising product development and the company’s quality management. In addition, to managing director Arnold Fehn, it is absolutely imperative that his Sri Lankan employees are guaranteed fair working conditions without exception. After all, without their dedication, Fehn GmbH & Co. KG would not be what it is today. The firm’s Sri Lankan staff can trust completely that their health and safety are the top priorities at their workplace.
Multicoloured baby toys for shining eyes
Fehn baby toys are not just impressive because of their quality, but also because of their designs, which are created specifically with children in mind. The colourful products made from velour or another extremely soft fabric combine modern, innovative design with well-thought-out functionality. Thanks to their large heads, big round eyes, clumsy paws and soft pot bellies, the imaginative cuddly animals fulfil all the “baby schema” requirements and therefore quickly become children’s favourite thing to hold and hug. Vivid colours and sharp contrasts make the multicoloured toys extremely bold and easy to focus on. They cover the entire colour spectrum and, as a result, help to train children’s vision. Musical pull toys, small embedded mirrors, teething rings, rustly paper, squeaking parts and rattles also encourage development of little adventurers’ hearing, sense of touch and motor skills.
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