Overcoming challenges together
We look back on an eventful and exciting second half of the year. Despite the declining significance of the Corona pandemic, the high level of tension in the markets remains tangible. The political events in Ukraine and the tense situation on the procurement markets are also creating a high level of uncertainty. This is compounded by another shortage: that of well-trained workers who are willing to move and take on new tasks. We are doing a lot to ensure that our employees remain our first choice and an attractive employer in the future – as documented by the BestPersAward 2022 we received this year.
We are facing the current challenges and fortunately Kurtz Ersa was able to stand out from the trend in these difficult times and continue to grow. We are working at full speed to ensure the ability to deliver despite the shortage of parts. Inventories have been built up in a targeted manner and the expansion for the central warehouse inaugurated four years ago is already underway; the investment volume here amounts to around 10 million Euro. The all-important factor, however, is the high motivation of the Kurtz Ersa team, thanks to which we will be able to post positive business development in fiscal year 2023 as well, following the record in 2022. You can read more reasons for this in this magazine.
At the leading plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf, Kurtz presented its RF technology, which contributes significantly to saving energy, water and CO2 in the plastics industry and sustainably optimizes processes. For this, we were awarded the IKU Innovation Prize for Climate and Environment in Berlin, which we were very pleased about. Our Alpha 140 3D printer was also very well received at Formnext, and for the first time we were able to present a large-format component of our Flying Ray, the next generation of our 3D printers.
It is also pleasing to see that our innovations and services in the field of Industry 4.0, such as Kurtz Ersa Connect, enable us to offer overarching solutions for our customers in the electronics industry. Recently, Ersa presented an absolute world first: the world´s first hand soldering station with which hand soldering processes in electronics manufacturing can be improved and seamlessly documented. And this in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Rework division – two reasons to celebrate at once. It is also with some pride that we present a new era in reflow soldering: the HOTFLOW THREE.
The cooperation with Schiller Automation GmbH & Co. KG also looks back on a successful year one. The processes of merging are in full swing and we are receiving positive feedback from our customers regarding the larger joint range of services. The next steps are in the direction of international growth with the aim of being able to offer automation solutions in a global context.
Finally, a very important topic: Of course, we continue to vigorously pursue our sustainability offensive “GoGreen250” launched in 2020. The roofs of Kurtz Ersa are successively being equipped with photovoltaic systems and we are working on various measures to consistently save electricity, natural gas and water. The positive effects can be measured in several places and the overall result is impressive: Projections for 2022 show that we will probably reduce C02 emissions (Scope 1 and 2) at our German sites by almost 50% compared with the previous year.
We hope you enjoy reading this magazine. We would like to thank all our customers and business partners for their excellent cooperation, even under difficult conditions, and are confident that we will be just as successful with you next year!
In good old tradition, I would also like
to extend a Glück auf!
Yours Ralph Knecht
