Josh Weinberg
In many parts of the world, the name Ortlieb is synonymous with waterproof cycling bags. Hartmut Ortlieb, an avid cyclist and mountain athlete, founded the brand in 1982 when he saw a gap in the outdoor gear market of the time. Looking for a way to keep his camping and climbing gear dry on cyclotours to the rainy UK and into the Bavarian mountains near his home, the German innovator began making bags on his mother’s sewing machine from truck tarpaulins.
Nearly 50 years later, some of the original bags, and even the sewing machine used to make them, are on display at Ortlieb’s sprawling 125,000 ft² (11,500 m²) factory and headquarters campus in Heilsbronn, Germany, about 17 miles (27 km) outside of Nuremberg.
In a common area of the facility, with plenty of foot traffic from employees and visitors, the original “Bike Packer” pannier bag sits adjacent to the current version of the model. The display serves a visual representation of how far the bags have come from a technical manufacturing and materials perspective, while also emphasizing the brand’s role as an originator and its deeply rooted heritage.
This duality of embracing the past while moving forward was a constant thread throughout my visit to Ortlieb. Last October, in advance of Bespoked Dresden, Ortlieb had me out to its factory to learn about its process and products, and to show how it remains differentiated from its competitors nearly five decades after Hartmut began sewing his first pannier bags.
Ortlieb’s sprawling campus consists of multiple buildings, all linked together by corridors and walkways.
Ortlieb houses all of its design, prototyping, testing, and most of its production and repair processes under one sprawling roof. I used the word “most” for the latter two because, while the company has internalized around 95% of its manufacturing – much of which is done with proprietary machinery – my tour guide for the day, sales marketing manager Volker Haug, indicated that there are still a few specialized sewing tasks, like back straps and computer inserts, being outsourced to Asia. Local satellite facilities are used for some pre-production processes, such as assembling the quick-release system for the Seat-Pack QR or packaging spare parts.
The company’s SKUs (unique product offerings) are estimated at around 500, excluding small parts such as screws and spacers. For a typical bag, like the Back-Roller Classic, there are around 12 manufacturing steps to make a finished product from material arrival to shipment, including testing, cutting, pre-production (printing reflectors/logos), welding, two steps of sewing, two steps of screwing, warehousing, picking, and loading on a lorry for shipping.
And while the brand performs approximately 18,000 (!) in-house repairs per year, it also supports a network of retailer repair centers where work can be done locally for customers.
Mid-1980s Bike-Packer pocket details (left), early framebag section (right).
High-frequency seam welding was one of Hartmut’s early innovations that still sets his brand’s bags and packs apart from much of the competition. To avoid water intrusion that often accompanies failed taping or gluing of stitched seams, high-frequency welding, which uses heat to fuse materials together, creates a secure, watertight bond between panels of material. It also preserves the materials’ innate properties, rather than puncturing or adding additional substances.
Along with specially coated fabrics and closure methods like rolltops and TIZIP zippers, Ortlieb has benefited for many years from claims that its marquee pannier bags, backpacks, and duffels are 100% waterproof. Interestingly, TIZIP is a sibling brand, also owned by Hartmut, and produces in an adjacent building to Ortlieb’s factory.
A rare glimpse inside the factory
Setting out on a tour of the facility where thousands upon thousands of bags are welded together, you would likely assume Haug would take me straight to the custom-made machine floor where all the magic happens. Well, you, like me at the time, would be mistaken.
Ortlieb is highly protective of its methods and intellectual property to the extent that I was one of only a handful of journalists ever allowed to walk through the factory. Citing instances of prior IP theft and efforts to protect it going forward, I was given only brief glimpses of the welding machines on the tour and was asked not to take any photos of them. There were also a few processes I was asked not to document. Still, the tour was incredibly lengthy and informative, encompassing nearly an entire day. Let’s take a look at what I saw.
This display demonstrates how the reflective yarn responds to automobile headlights.
Testing
Adjacent to the material holding area is a room filled with various testing and sampling apparatus. Ortlieb conducts rigorous in-house analysis of all materials before they go into production. These range from tear resistance, abrasion tolerance, and waterproofness, and follow ASTM standards or the company’s proprietary protocols.
This machine applies tension until the fabric rips or until a welded seam tears apart. Each fabric has to meet Ortlieb’s standards that are set for different purposes/use cases ( i.e. ultralight bags, floor/bottom of a heavy-duty duffle, etc).
There’s something rather soothing about watching this process in action…
The cutting floor
With such a deep catalog of products, many of which have unique shapes, Ortlieb’s cutting processes require precision machinery and thoughtful workflows. What was once done with scissors and stand cutters is now performed by industrial water jets and die-cutters.
Did we do a good job with this story?