Inside IKA Works: Capturing the People and Precision Behind a Century-Old Brand
What does it look like when a company with over 100 years of innovation opens its doors and lets you all the way in? We got to find out when the Hendy Street team headed to IKA Works, Inc., right here in Wilmington, North Carolina.
A Brand Worth Knowing
IKA's story starts on January 1st, 1910, when businessman Curt Janke and pharmacist Max Kunkel founded their company in Cologne, Germany, supplying labs, pharmacies, and hospitals with stirrers, hotplates, and calorimeters. They made it through two World Wars, a bombing that leveled their Cologne facility during the Night of 1,000 Bombers in 1942, and rebuilt from scratch in Staufen, South Baden. The IKA name itself, born at the ACHEMA trade show in 1950, became shorthand for precision, reliability, and design-forward laboratory technology.
Today, IKA runs more than 800 people across eight locations on four continents, and their sharp blue machines turn up in nearly every lab in the world. Their North American headquarters landed right here in Wilmington, which made this shoot feel like a local story with a genuinely global footprint.
Day One: Interviews and the Floor
The first day was all about people and process. I started by setting up the camera and wiring it to two external monitors, one for Tony on the operator side and one so our client could follow the live feed as it happened. During interviews with IKA employees, I slated each take and backed up Tony with whatever he needed between setups.
Once we wrapped interviews, we moved through the facility for b-roll: workers at their stations, machinery in motion, and the full rhythm of how IKA runs day to day. There's something about watching precision equipment get built with precision, and it made for great footage.
Day Two: A Horse, a Farm, and One More Interview
Not every shoot ends up at a farm. This one took us there.
For the second day, we traveled out to IKA's farm location for one final employee interview, this time with the subject on horseback. Different kind of setup, and a good reminder that production keeps you on your toes. I helped unpack and build out the gear, slated the interview, grabbed some behind-the-scenes photos, and jumped in wherever the day called for it. One of those days that proves no two shoots ever look the same.
Telling the Story of What Makes a Brand Special
At Hendy Street, we love projects that ask us to dig past the surface. With IKA, the goal was to capture not just what they make, but why it matters: the people behind the machines, the craft behind the process, and the culture that's kept them innovating for over a century. A company that rebuilt itself from the rubble of a World War and went on to lead a global industry has a story worth telling right.
Stay tuned for the finished product. We think you're going to love it.
If your company has a story worth telling, let's talk.
WRITTEN BY ANNA GRACE MANSFIELD
