Alfred Marx GmbH/ARTIMAX is an important company in the construction of equipment, apparatus and system accessories for electroplating and surface coating systems.

The company's extensive product range, which is rounded off with advice, development and on-site service, leaves nothing to be desired.

Solution-oriented service

Components - prefabricationThe basis offrame construction at ARTIMAX has always been the quality of the manufactured products. This has enabled Artimax to literally breathe new life into the old slogan "Quality from Solingen". Alfred Marx GmbH develops individual racks for all types of electroplating and surface coating systems. In cooperation with the customer, the surface-dependent current parameters are adjusted depending on the coating process, workpiece numbers are increased and processes are optimized in this way.

ARTIMAX works hand in hand with its customers and can quickly localize sources of error thanks to its many years of experience in rack construction. With its large fleet of vehicles, ARTIMAX supplies its customers independently with new and spare parts. Once on site, the company is therefore able to offer a comprehensive consultation, adjustment and repair service. The results of the on-site consultation are immediately incorporated into the development of the frames, both with adopted 3D data and with 3D data designed in-house. Fixtures can be virtualized on the screen in terms of movement and parts/quantity even before production.

This forward-looking approach is only possible because ARTIMAX has a permanent team of skilled workers, which is one of the main pillars of the company. Decades of experience have accumulated a great deal of know-how that needs to be passed on. The company therefore trains its own junior staff and also organizes in-house training courses for inter-company guild measures.

The racks, which are specially manufactured for use in customer systems, are then coated with various special PVC coatings depending on the requirements. According to Managing Director Alfred Marx, the quality of the racks produced in this way must always exceed the requirements. The name ARTIMAX is a symbolic benchmark for the highest quality in the frame industry.

In addition to rack construction, ARTIMAX offers solutions for storing and transporting workpieces, transport trolleys for racks and energy-efficient systems for the rapid drying of wet workpieces. A rack repair service rounds off the range in the long term and allows customers to save considerable costs by recycling old racks using cryogenic decoating. In 2009, ARTIMAX was the first rack manufacturer in Germany to develop and build the largest cryogenic rack decoating system itself.

ARTIMAX serves customers from all over Europe, from small businesses to global corporations, from the automotive, sanitary and furniture industries, mechanical and plant engineering, medical and aerospace technology - and many more sectors.

In order to offer such a comprehensive service to customers, a corresponding infrastructure was required. Alfred Marx GmbH has made considerable investments and has created 9000 square meters of production space spread over three production halls on the Piepersberg in Solingen in several stages since 2008. The surrounding factory premises provide ample space for the large vehicle fleet with logistics and customer parking. With the completion of the third factory hall in 2019, the internal work processes were also gradually restructured. The old plant on Wuppertaler Straße was no longer needed. Since mid-2019, Piepersberg in Solingen has been the sole company headquarters of Alfred Marx GmbH.

Modern machinery

The additional ARTIMAX coating system with three movable coating tanksAlarge part of the technological innovations for metal and plastic processing are located in the machine hall designated as a component prefabrication area. This is where all the parts required for apparatus and frame construction are produced according to specifications and then smoothly fed into the final assembly process.

A modern CNC machine park with drilling/milling technology, water jet cutting technology and several wire bending centers is located on an area of approx. 3000 m². There is also space for a complete sheet metal processing line with a folding bench, guillotine shears and press brakes. The large material store located at the entrance to the hall gives the impression that self-sufficient production is possible for months on end.

In addition to components for electroplating racks, ARTIMAX has been manufacturing components for rack dryers and tempering furnaces here since 2018.

Knowledge of the customers' electroplating systems also gives the company an advantage here. This enables ARTIMAX to offer its customers individual solutions for the rapid drying of wet workpieces at a reasonable price, as most of the necessary on-site inspections and measurements have already been carried out. Since the beginning of the year, Artimax has been working with the Swedish manufacturer Corroventa in this area. By integrating absorption dryers, the individually manufactured drying systems work many times more effectively and energy-efficiently. The emissions saved in this way therefore have a lasting effect on the customer's_{CO2 balance}.

From development to the quality check

Regular rack construction, the final assembly of the racks, is housed in the company's main hall. Here, the individual components are assembled in parallel at ten well-equipped stations.

Five state-of-the-art TIG/MIG welding booths, which are supplied with gas centrally, support the trained specialists in assembling the frames. Only when the quality criteria of the frames produced in this way have been met 100 percent are they sent to the automatic coating system. The spacious design of the workstations is striking, giving the employees enough room to concentrate on the quality and function of the frames to be built during final assembly. ARTIMAX is proud to have developed a work concept in which processes interlock seamlessly. This is another reason why the company has been accident-free for many months, according to occupational health and safety.

Assembly hall

In a separate part of the hall, there is also a materials warehouse with a complete range of machinery, but everything is much smaller than in the component prefabrication area. What does that mean? Managing Director Alfred Marx: "This is the company's research and development area. This is where changes, new ideas and unconventional approaches can be promptly implemented in prototypes - which then undergo practical testing.

The second floor of the building houses the company's administration with customer reception and a new conference room. All processes from production to delivery and installation at the customer's premises can now be digitally recorded via a recently introduced merchandise management system. The logistics area is located between the production halls, where vans and trucks can be loaded and unloaded with forklift trucks at the same time, regardless of the weather.

Frame coating 3.0

Seminars, training, further education

As already mentioned, it is important for the company to have a permanent staff of skilled workers who can pass on their many years of experience to the young employees. A large room for seminars has therefore been set up on the second floor of the building. Since mid-2020, Marx has been offering seminars for both in-house and inter-company training courses on frame construction. The media-equipped seminar room gives him the opportunity to teach existing customers and their employees, such as trainees or students, about frame and fixture construction in terms of technology and theory.

An interview with Alfred Marx:

Mr. Marx, could you have imagined 30 years ago that your company would take this rapid development?

Alfred Marx: "Back then, I would never have dreamed that ARTIMAX would have grown and established itself as a company like this. I would never have thought this far back then.

What do you attribute this success to?

First of all, our products were very well received by the market. Ultimately, I believe this was mainly due to the quality and expertise. But our flexibility has also earned us a good reputation. Another thing you shouldn't forget is that we have often been passed on through recommendations. In the electroplating industry, people know each other, and that also applies to smaller companies. People talk and do things, which has brought us into many areas. You still have to deliver your performance, and it has to be strong.

Where do you deliver to today?

Our focus is still on customers throughout Germany, even in these times of globalization. But you can also find us in the Benelux countries and a little in Austria. However, we have special ties with Germany.

You have invested heavily in future-oriented technology on the Pieperberg. Have you also thought about the environment?

That's easy: in 2018, we installed solar panels on the roof of the component prefabrication facility, which now provide us with 96 KW of power. We are already planning to equip the free space on the roofs with more solar panels from next year. This would make us self-sufficient in terms of energy requirements on sunny days. What's more, a specially developed filter system has been installed in the new coating plant with heat recovery, which helps us to stay well below the maximum emission values prescribed by the Federal Environment Agency. Heat recovery saves us an enormous amount of energy. We are also no strangers to recycling; after all, we developed and built the largest recycling plant for old racks ourselves back in 2009 and have been constantly modernizing it ever since.

You have also been running seminars for some time now. Who is being trained and why?

One possible example would be: one of our customers with whom we work has taken on a new employee who is certainly already working on the electroplating system, but is also to be involved in new product developments. New developments mean that new components are constantly being added. So he has to think about how to get them through the system. So it's about imparting knowledge and understanding what is important when building a system. Factors such as distances and alignments, area calculations, etc. play a role.

Or what is possible or not possible with which surfaces, because different processes require different approaches. In short, we use our many years of experience to provide practical information on what needs to be considered in fixture construction.

So it's all good. Or is there a fly in the ointment?

Although we were convinced that we were very well positioned for the future, the coronavirus crisis has hit us hard - just like all other companies. We would have liked to celebrate ARTIMAX's 30th anniversary with our customers, but we will make up for it at some point, if possible. Despite a difficult situation for everyone involved and a reduced order situation, we are looking to the future with a positive outlook.

Would you like to end the interview with a few strong words for your customers?

Perhaps this: Thank you all very much. I am aware that it is thanks to you and your loyalty that we have been able to develop in this way. That is not something that can be taken for granted.