side by side is the trade name for the design collection that was developed in 2001 by the Caritas Wendelstein Werkstätten in cooperation with Sabine Meyer (project manager), factor product (graphic design agency) and more than 15 freelance designers. Product development, marketing & sales and the warehouse are located in Raubling in Bavaria's alpine upland. Wendelstein Werkstätten employs 120 disabled workers in different departments, including 80 who work in the well equipped wood workshop.

Design products, made in workshops for people with different abilities. The workshops operate under a government mandate and offer people with intellectual, physical, psychological and multiple disabilities employment, helping them to participate in society. The wages are generated by the products sold by the workshop. The successful marketing of the side by side products secures the wages.