The PCB manufacturer KSG has mastered the past 18 months with entrepreneurial skill and customer service. The business situation is encouraging and the team has risen to the challenges.
"We have learned three things during the coronavirus crisis," says CEO Margret Gleiniger. "Firstly, that we can adapt ad hoc and that changes are possible that were previously unthinkable. Secondly, that we were right to remain loyal to our European base material suppliers. And thirdly, that we are on the right track," says the KSG boss.
KSG concentrates on high-end PCB production in Europe and a balanced industry mix of automotive electronics, industrial electronics and automation technology as well as medical technology. The focus is on PCBs for high-frequency applications and power electronics as well as HDI/SBU PCBs (high density interconnection/sequential built up). KSG is above the European average in this technology for multilayers with high wiring and packing density.
The protection and health of employees has always been a top priority. The employees outside of production immediately accepted digital working and quickly reorganized themselves. At the same time, everything was done to ensure that the two production sites in Germany and Austria were available, safe and productive. This was possible because the Group systematically converted and expanded its two PCB plants and increased production capacity in Gars/Lower Austria. With lean teams, process orientation in the plant organization, flow principles and 5S, the throughput time for series products was reduced by 20% and the material flow improved.
The ability to deliver was also possible because the bottlenecks in base materials were barely noticeable. "We have always remained loyal to our European base material suppliers. This secured our material supply and we were able to deliver," reports the KSG boss.
Printed circuit board buyers are also currently focusing on their Europeans. "In order to process the significantly increased demand, we have expanded our shift systems and are doing everything possible to accept and process orders at short notice," emphasizes the management. However, production and employees are now working at their limits and delivery times have skyrocketed.
The background: Year after year, the share of European production has shrunk to just 2.5% of global PCB production. This dangerous imbalance is now taking its revenge.
Technical support via digital communication channels
No new (customer) order without a customer audit, the personal on-site acceptance of the production processes. Covid19 has forced a digital customer audit, which was previously unthinkable. Transmission via webcam is now almost routine at KSG and "we have found that the digital customer audit works extremely well and saves a huge amount of time," comments Sales Manager Christof Sofsky.
As face-to-face meetings with customers were not possible, customer discussions and technical support were intensified via digital communication channels. Years ago, KSG was one of the first companies in the industry to offer webinars and teach hardware developers, PCB designers, purchasers and QA managers about the technical and economic aspects of PCB production.
"We have added new topics to this customer service during the lockdown. And we now offer the webinars in two languages," says a delighted Christof Sofsky. The PCB blog is a brand new project. From application examples and tips for designers to webinars, technical terms and news from the company and the industry, KSG shares valuable specialist knowledge with the community on this web blog in German and English.
"The crisis has confirmed that we have set the right course in recent years. We have mastered the process security and reliability required by the automotive industry. At the same time, we can produce the technical solutions that future industrial applications will demand - keyword 5G," summarizes Margret Gleiniger. One indicator is KSG's above-average order intake for the industry. Another indicator is that KSG is already involved in many new customer projects at the development stage and contributes its knowledge and manufacturing experience to the projects as a co-engineering partner.
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