From the outside there is little to distinguish Jože Melanšek from his neighbours.

However the 76-year-old has changed the face of the small Slovenian industrial town of Celje where he lives.

He invested over half a century of his life in what is today Vivapen, a world-class pen-making factory giving work to almost 100 people and providing income for their families.

Vivapen is a family business and its third generation is already actively working there.

The youngest of the Melanšeks,  27-year-old Luka, is proud of his grandfather - Vivapen founder: "My grandfather is always sparkling with new ideas.

"He is 76 years old, but it feels like he's this kid from school right now, and with all different ideas. We are currently working on three new products that are not in existence in our range," says Luka.

Vivapen is famous for its unique patented fountain pens filling systems. They are selling it in millions throughout Europe, and now, they are opening another market - China. After establishing solid relations with the Chinese partner company, exports kicked off soon after.

"We started last year, and we sold 100,000 fountain pens to China, and we plan to sell 200,000 to 300,000 fountain pens in this year," says Luka.

Fountain pens are tools of an almost forgotten way of writing, yet demand for them is still strong in many parts of the world, including China.

Some schools in European countries such as Germany and France require that children start learning writing using fountain pens only.

And millions of children around the world are making those first writing steps with Vivapen fountain pens in their hands.

Melanšek - and his employees - are reaping the rewards.