If you manufacture for global brands as an OEM or white-label supplier, you usually can’t show your best products, and that is exactly where your own marketing often falls short. System supplier Deutsche Mechatronics (DTMT), with more than 330 employees and 70,000 square metres of production space, faced this very problem. Together with Pathfinder Studios, the company created a bilingual corporate film as a ‘virtual factory tour’, a photo library and a new website that prove its expertise through people and processes rather than confidential end products.
‘We can do almost anything, but nobody knows it’: this case study shows how an industrial company makes its capabilities visible without revealing customer secrets, and why the visual language introduced in 2019 is still working today.
The project at a glance
| Client | Deutsche Mechatronics GmbH (DTMT) |
| Industry | System supplier for mechatronics, OEM for medical technology and aerospace |
| Challenge | Proving its capabilities without being allowed to show customers’ confidential end products |
| Solution | Corporate film as a virtual factory tour, photo library and website relaunch, with employees and processes at the centre |
| Result | 1 bilingual corporate film (DE/EN), modular photo library, new corporate website |
| Since | 2019, ongoing partnership |
| Director | Tom Wolt |
| Producer | Ivy Thomas |
| Camera | Thomas Adolph |
Who is Deutsche Mechatronics?
Deutsche Mechatronics GmbH is a system supplier and full-service provider of mechatronic systems and assemblies. For high-tech industries such as medical technology and aerospace, it covers the entire value chain, from development and series production to logistics. More than 330 employees work across 70,000 square metres of production space.
What challenge did Deutsche Mechatronics face?
DTMT’s most impressive products are confidential white-label solutions for global brands. As a result, the website and sales materials didn’t reflect what the company is actually capable of. Internally, the saying was: ‘We can do (almost) anything, but nobody knows it.’
So the goal wasn’t to improve an image, but to make it visible for the first time. New B2B customers should be able to build the same trust online as they would on a real tour of the factory floor. There was also a practical condition: series production could not be interrupted by the shoot.
How do you show expertise when you can’t show your products?
By making people and processes the proof: the corporate film works as a virtual factory tour through development, engineering, production and logistics, led by real employees. It all started with on-site workshops. The key insight: people make the difference. That gave rise to the motto ‘Solutions in Series’.
Employees as heroes instead of an anonymous machine park
Real employees from development, engineering and logistics guide viewers through the full-service approach. This reveals what lies behind the confidential products: know-how, care and teamwork.
Making scale and quality tangible
Drone flights inside and above the halls convey the scale of the 70,000-square-metre production site. Dynamic camera movement, colour grading and motion graphics underline the ‘Made in Germany’ quality promise. Learn more about aerial filming for businesses.
Filming without downtime
The shoot was scheduled so that day-to-day business and series production kept running. For a company with full order books, that is a basic requirement.
Film, photography and website as one
Alongside the corporate film, we created corporate photography of employees, machines and processes, as well as a new website. This gives DTMT the same visual language across every channel.
Our task was to make the invisible process of engineering and process planning visible. By portraying the employees as heroes of their discipline, we show not just technology, but the spirit of teamwork and innovation.
– Tom Wolt, Director
We knew we had to film with real employees to get the core message ‘expertise through know-how’ across. Our challenge as a production company was to schedule the shoots so efficiently and precisely that day-to-day business was affected as little as possible.
– Ivy Thomas, Producer
What did Deutsche Mechatronics gain?
Since 2019, DTMT has had a visual language that is still central to its sales and online marketing, and customers specifically mention the film to the company. The longer the assets are used, the better the return on the investment.
- Long-lasting assets: The visual language introduced in 2019 is still the foundation of sales and online marketing today.
- Stronger identification: The film was shown on the big screen at a special screening for more than 330 employees. Employees see the value they deliver every day.
- Ongoing partnership: Pathfinder Studios still advises DTMT on its website, content strategy and digital sales processes.
A fantastic film that our customers bring up with us again and again.
– Jürgen Carl, Managing Director, Deutsche Mechatronics GmbH
Working with Yvonne and Tom was excellent from the start, both professionally and personally. We feel in very good hands in every respect.
– Sonja Faßbender, Executive Assistant to the Management
Which companies is this approach right for?
A corporate film as a virtual factory tour suits any manufacturer whose strength lies in processes and know-how, and whose products are confidential or hard to show. Typical examples:
- OEM manufacturers and white-label producers
- System and component suppliers for medical technology, aerospace or automotive
- Contract manufacturers
- Mid-sized industrial companies looking to win new B2B customers internationally
- Companies that want to renew their film, photography and website at the same time
Our guide to corporate video production explains which types of film exist and what they cost. You can read how we build brands strategically with moving images on our brand communication page.
Our services in this project
Corporate film
- Creative concept, script, shot list, storyboard
- Voice-over script in German and English
- Direction and on-location shoot
- Indoor and outdoor aerial filming
- Post-production: editing, colour grading, sound design
- Motion graphics and visual effects
- Voice-over casting and recording in German and English
- Formats and adaptations
Corporate photography
- Machine, industrial and product photography
- Employee, team and portrait photography
- Visual concept, on-site staging, retouching
- in web and print quality
Website relaunch
- Concept, layout, technical implementation
- Content concept and copywriting
- Hosting, maintenance and support
- Content production and basic SEO
Strategic consulting
- SEO and marketing consulting
Frequently asked questions from OEM manufacturers and suppliers
Let’s talk about your visibility
Your company can do more than your website shows, but you can’t show your products? In a free initial consultation, we’ll work out how to make your expertise visible, with film, photography or a website. No obligation, and as equal partners.
Or contact Yvonne Schwalowski directly: +49 2251 773 99 66, office@pathfinder-studios.de
