Knoblauch Galvanotechnik in Geislingen an der Steige is a typical medium-sized electroplating company. Here, orders for galvanizing in the region are calculated and implemented pragmatically and quickly. But what is the mood in the medium-sized electroplating and surface technology sector and where are the problems? A look into the heart of the industry, where the challenges of the modern business world have to be mastered anew every day with dedicated entrepreneurial spirit and electroplating expertise.
The continuous hum of the energized systems makes the air vibrate. Bulk material tinkles in a rotating drum. Then the jingling stops as the container dips into the zinc-nickel electrolyte of the production line. This is not the first station of the coating drum with its metallic contents, which can contain between 20 and 120 kilograms of bulk material depending on the product. It has already passed through numerous baths, which are arranged in two streets separated by an aisle. First, the drum went through alkaline degreasing with demulsifying processes, pickling processes and electrolytic degreasing, then it was transferred fully automatically by cross transfer from the pre-treatment on one side to the coating line on the other side of the aisle, where the product was first decapitated and then coated with zinc-nickel in ten bath stations. Now, after the last bath and the end of the process chain, the drum stops above the emptying station. A moment later, the components tumble loudly out of the open drum after the caps have been released.
SMEs are the foundation of the country
The scene shows everyday working life at the zinc-nickel plant at Knoblauch Galvanik in Geislingen an der Steige. The electroplating plant, opened in 1949 by Wilhelm Frank, is in a fantastic and strategically favorable location: Geislingen lies between picturesque wooded hills, on which the ruins of old castles are enthroned, close to the regional economic centers of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Aalen and Stuttgart. At the same time, the company breathes the spirit of a typical medium-sized business: it is family-run, has 19 employees and an annual turnover of 3 million euros. As is generally known, SMEs are the guarantors of prosperity in Germany, but the public spotlight is often only on large companies. Here are a few figures: SMEs include companies with no more than 500 employees and a maximum turnover of 50 million euros. In 2020, around 99% of companies in this category accounted for around 55% of employees in Germany. They generate around a third of all sales. SMEs are therefore the foundation of this country: This is where it becomes clear whether the government's framework conditions are suitable for investing and securing employment.
Zinc-nickel drum system at Knoblauch Galvanotechnik. Pre-treatment takes place on the right-hand production line and the actual coating on the left. The drum is positioned above the emptying station
Wide range of customers
The mainstay of Knoblauch-Galvanik's business is electrogalvanizing. Most of the goods pass through the barrel systems. The zinc barrel system runs in three shifts and the zinc-nickel barrel system runs in two shifts. The zinc rack system also runs in two shifts. Galvanizing always includes passivation with chromium(III) compounds as additional corrosion protection. Zinc-iron galvanizing is also carried out on a smaller scale. The customer spectrum is broad and ranges from the automotive industry and mechanical engineering to commercial vehicles, construction machinery, fittings and tools to switch cabinet and apparatus construction as well as the coating of connecting elements. As a sub-supplier to OEMs, some of the parts from Geislingen, such as coated safety clips made of hardened sheet steel, are also installed in the vehicles of major automotive groups such as Mercedes, Volkswagen and BMW. An important feature of the company is its regional focus: its customers are almost exclusively based in southern Germany.
"It used to be easier to earn money"
The company is managed by Petra Knoblauch and her son Manuel. The latter quickly had to take on responsibility after the death of his father in 2018. Now, six years later, the trained electroplating technician has become a pragmatic electroplating manager who, among other things, sits on the examination board of the Schwäbisch Gmünd vocational school and manages the business in a level-headed manner. "We don't have any fixed supply contracts, we live from what is delivered today," says the 27-year-old, describing the business. Attention is paid to short lead times, which customers appreciate. The weakening economic situation is particularly noticeable in terms of turnover, costs and the fluctuating order situation. All in all, however, business is going well and the family duo cannot detect the deindustrialization that parts of the industry are observing. Manuel Knoblauch is certain that the regional business with construction or craft technology cannot be outsourced anyway. At the same time, electroplating as a supplier is dependent on the major OEMs. "What they do counts," he is convinced. And Petra Knoblauch has observed that the bureaucratic effort, for example for certifications, is higher today. "It used to be easier to earn money," says the entrepreneur. In order not to make earning money any more difficult, manual electroplating with copper-nickel-chrome has been scaled back because the associated "adversities" no longer justified the expense. In addition, Cr(VI)-based hard chrome plating was discontinued at the end of last year. However, this was due to the uncertainty caused by REACh and the lack of options for converting the plant to Cr(III).
Further difficulties for electroplating plants were the material shortages that arose in the wake of the war in Ukraine. According to the ifo Institute (see News section at the front of this issue), the availability of materials has now returned to pre-war levels. Petra and Manuel Knoblauch can confirm this easing. The price jumps in the past were terrible. At peak times, prices for a kilo of hydrochloric acid were as high as 3 euros, they look back. The industry has obviously moved away from this now, but process chemicals such as electrolytes and bath additives are becoming more and more expensive. Manufacturers blame their suppliers for this. Although these arguments are met with understanding by the Knoblauchs, they have to compensate for the resulting increase in production costs themselves, as customers from the automotive industry negotiate their prices hard.
Sophisticated automation facilitates production
Gripper locks made of galvanized sheet steel like this one are used in the automotive industry
Meanwhile, Inan Temel is standing at the plant control of the zinc rack system. A Céline Dion crooner is playing on the radio in the background. The systems are all equipped with control systems from Schlötter, whose company headquarters are just a few minutes' walk from Knoblauch-Galvanik. Using the barrel system as an example, Manuel Knoblauch explains the procedure for operating the automated electroplating lines: "Each article is stored in the system control. All the worker has to do is scan the barcode and the system knows what to do. A quick comparison of the drum filling weight with the intended quantity - then it starts." The relatively simple process technology has advantages: it enables Knoblauch-Galvanik to staff the majority of its workforce with unskilled workers and thus not be dependent on a shortage of skilled workers.
Doers are in demand in medium-sized companies
By its very nature, the rack area is not characterized by drums and bulk goods: On the hooks of a rack hang parts from a Unimog restorer, which could be oil pans or other drip pans. Then a man comes into the workshop, his dark blue overalls distinguishing him from the workers wearing black T-shirts with the Knoblauch logo printed on them. It is plant manager Bernd Braun, who has been working here since the Knoblauch family took over the electroplating business in 1992. He attended the technical school with Manuel's late father Siegfried Knoblauch. In between, he moved to a larger electroplating company for two years. However, the work there was not compatible with his understanding of work: "In larger companies, everything takes forever," he recalls. "Here, we calculate an order and when it pays off, it is implemented," he adds. Braun steps up to the prepared frame in front of the plant. In the meantime, the Unimog parts are on their way through production and have given way to a frame with so-called tie rods, which are used to fasten wooden posts when building houses. The camera flashes and immortalizes a portrait of Braun for Galvanotechnik magazine. "I can make a difference here," is Braun's final answer to the question of what makes working at Knoblauch-Galvanik worthwhile. Anyone who wants to get stuck in is obviously in good hands at the medium-sized electroplating company. On the way back to the managing director's office, a crate of automotive components that have just been unloaded from a centrifuge catches the eye. Like hot potatoes, you have to balance the shiny silver parts from hand to hand to avoid burning your fingers on the freshly dried metal.
Photovoltaics is a drop in the ocean
Small and medium-sized companies are no exception when it comes to the energy transition and the carbon footprint. Knoblauch-Galvanik needs around one million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. In order to reduce costs andCO2 emissions, the electroplating company has covered its roofs with photovoltaic modules. However, as Manuel Knoblauch emphasizes, the solar power is just a drop in the ocean: the solar cells contribute around 55,000 kilowatt hours to the electricity requirement, which is just over 5%. When looking at a large display in the administration office, which visualizes all the pools and also shows the electricity usage and the energy provided by the photovoltaic modules, things look a little better: Of the 240 kWh of electricity currently required, 24 kWh comes from solar energy - 10% after all. In addition, a promising solar system has recently been installed for hot water production, which preheats the water for the vacuum evaporation of the zinc-nickel waste water. Temperatures of around 40 degrees are achieved here. The evaporator requires a water temperature of around 90 degrees for operation. The Geislingen-based entrepreneurs are also keeping an eye on the carbon footprint, which is becoming increasingly important in view of strict emission reduction targets up to 2030. "We are recording the first carbon footprints," says Manuel Knoblauch, but points out that with the data collected from 20 electricity measuring points to date, his company has little scope for changing this data - after all, the electricity required for electroplating is fixed.
Electroplating worker Inan Temel at the computer in the rack system. The electroplating shop has a catchy automation system that makes it less dependent on scarce skilled workers
Plant manager Bernd Braun with a tie rod for house construction. He appreciates the short distances at Knoblauch and has achieved a lot in electroplating over the past 30 years
The trauma of electroplating fires
As fire protection expert Wolfram Willand recently wrote in Galvanotechnik, a major fire occurs in an electroplating plant in Germany roughly every three months. This was also the case in 2018 at the Knoblauch electroplating plant in Geislingen. On New Year's Day, the weekly clock of an electric heater switched on when the bath level was low, causing a rubber-coated steel tank to catch fire and destroy the electroplating plant's state-of-the-art equipment on the upper floor of one of the halls. The accident could not be averted by the double protection or the burn-through protection in the heating system. The Knoblauchs took the consequences: Despite extensive piping work, the entire electroplating shop was converted to hot water heating. "In terms of efficiency and cost, hot water heating is much more efficient," says Manuel Knoblauch today, adding, "It's the best thing you can do."
Picturesque surroundings: Geislingen an der Steige is beautifully situated and has good connections to the region
Restrained willingness to invest
The Geislingen electroplaters now feel much better with the new heaters, but the shock is still deep-seated, which is why, among other things, the control cabinets are regularly checked with thermal imaging cameras in order to detect atypical heat developments at an early stage. This provides a secure basis for further successful business development, but the willingness to invest is still restrained in view of the weakening economic development in Germany.
Should the situation improve, however, the Geislingen electroplating entrepreneurs are well prepared: "A lamp manufacturer in the neighborhood has moved away and we have been able to secure space - in the best-case scenario, we could double our production capacity of up to 35 tons per day," says Manuel Knoblauch, looking ahead to a possible future. The situation is likely to be similar in many medium-sized companies in Germany. With the right economic policy impetus, the economic engine can quickly start up again and pick up speed!
