Interview with Margret Gleiniger (CEO/CFO) and Swen Klöden (CTO) of KSG GmbH and Kornel Schmidt, Managing Director of KSG Austria GmbH
'Made in Europe' is anything but a matter of course when it comes to the manufacture of printed circuit boards. KSG GmbH manufactures a wide range of printed circuit boards for the international market at its plants in Gornsdorf, Saxony, and Gars am Kamp, Austria. With a great deal of technological expertise and a high degree of flexibility, the company not only meets the high demands placed on its products, but also the extremely diverse requirements of its customers from various industries.
The roots of the Saxon company KSG go back to the textile industry. "The founders were stocking manufacturers. Until the fall of communism in 1990, KSG was a large state-owned company with 3,000 employees," explains CEO and CFO Margret Gleiniger. The engineering graduate has accompanied the company's entire journey since 1984 - including its reprivatization in 1994. "The founders' heirs had applied for the company to be transferred back to them. The PCB factory in Gornsdorf with 120 employees was transferred to them," she reports.
The company was still in the red until 1997, but then things started to look up. Turnover reached EUR 100 million in the peak years of 2017 and 2018. In 2017, KSG acquired the Austrian manufacturer Häusermann in Gars am Kamp, which now operates as KSG Austria. "This gives KSG the opportunity for further growth. Our goal is to increase our annual turnover there from EUR 25 million to EUR 50 million," says Kornel Schmidt, Managing Director of KSG Austria.
Order growth of over 200%
From 2018 to 2020, the upswing experienced a dip, and the current times are also challenging for the PCB manufacturer, according to Margret Gleiniger: "The general conditions are characterized by the shortage of raw materials and the lack of deliveries of parts from Asia. At the same time, we have been experiencing extreme demand from customers in Europe since fall 2020. Order increases of 200% and more are leading to correspondingly long delivery times, and we have to pass on the price increases on the raw materials markets to our customers." 13,000 to 14,000 products are manufactured annually in Gornsdorf alone, with a different order mix every day. "This requires us to be highly flexible," adds the CEO.
Technology and know-how
KSG manufactures a wide range of PCBs, from simple PCBs to multilayer PCBs with a large number of layers and rigid-flex PCBs. "There are always new technological challenges. The miniaturization of components, for example, requires much finer structures on the PCBs," explains CTO Swen Klöden.
The production of a multilayer involves between 35 and 300 work steps in different production areas. The company has a correspondingly high level of vertical integration, he explains: "Many different technologies are integrated into the production process. These include wet-chemical and mechanical processes such as pressing, drilling and electroplating and various painting processes, as well as set-up time-intensive processes such as screen printing and milling. At the end of the process chain is the electrical test and visual inspection."
The approximately 1,000 customers at both locations therefore benefit not only from high quality, speed and reliability, but also from a variety of technologies and combination options from a single source. "We can bring a customer's entire product portfolio in-house. This means they only have one point of contact," emphasizes Margret Gleiniger.
Printed circuit boards for the world
Swen Klöden believes that the company's success is not only based on the product. Despite all the technology, the focus is on people, both externally and internally. "They make the difference. Advising our customers is an important issue for us. We are constantly thinking about what other services we can offer them and create individual solutions for them," he emphasizes.
The majority of customers are based in the DACH region. However, KSG also supplies large international players worldwide. "In this way, we have also gained customers in Singapore, North America, China and Vietnam," says Margret Gleiniger. The company has just strengthened its business in the UK and Northern Europe with an additional employee. Margret Gleiniger believes that the past year, with all its communication challenges, has been mastered well. The sales staff were easy to reach and had intensive discussions on the phone. "Customers actually carry out regular customer audits with us. That wasn't possible last year. We therefore carried out digital audits for customers at both locations," she reports.
Winning automotive customers
The management sees good prospects for the future in several respects. "In Gars, we have qualified for the automotive standard and therefore have the opportunity to acquire more customers from the automotive industry. We also have the prerequisites here to offer customer solutions for thermal management," says Kornel Schmidt.
Margret Gleiniger sees room for improvement in the medical technology sector at both locations. The company is already well positioned in industrial electronics. The company will continue to focus on miniaturization. "We have launched a number of projects with universities and colleges. A lot will happen here in terms of development," says Margret Gleiniger.
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One Response
As the founder of an electronics start-up, I know how important reliable PCB suppliers are. The article about KSG GmbH impressed me, especially their flexibility in production. I have often struggled with delivery delays, and the fact that KSG varies their order mix daily sounds promising. Quality and reliability are critical to my business. I will definitely consider working with KSG. Thank you for this insightful article!