Kolb cleaning technology, known as successful manufacturer of cleaning systems for the electronics producing industry, has recently announced its intention to put the marketing of cleaning detergents more into the focus of its activities. In an interview with Wilfried Clemens (WCL), International Sales Manager of Kolb Cleaning Technology, and Christian Linker (CL), owner and Managing Director of Ing. G. Linker Chemical Industries, EPP EUROPE asked more about the background to this step.
Mr. Clemens, what were the most important reasons for this change of strategy from a pure machinery manufacturer to a machinery manufacturer a n d supplier of chemicals?
WCL: Kolb has really never been a pure machinery manufacturer. Already with our first development of cleaning systems, approximately 15 years ago, we offered our own cleaning detergent, although only to a limited extent, with only 3 products for paste and flux cleaning. Already then we started cooperation with the company Linker GmbH, specialized in cleaning detergents and cleaning liquids, and which since has been our close ally, knowing the market developments and market trends. That is why I do not see this as a change of strategy, but rather as a logical step, largely initiated by the market we are supplying.
Does that mean the market is forcing you into this development?
WCL: Let’s put it this way: If in the future you are not able to supply complete solutions out of one hand in the shortest possible time, you risk your competitiveness. That means we have to try and combine efficient innovation, quality, speed and full service. We can do that best if we control and influence all elements of the complete solution, which are the machine, the detergent and the process design.
Still you compromise your core business and competence as a machinery manufacturer with this focus on the chemical business?
WCL: For many years we have seen our core business and competence not only in machinery manufacturing but rather in developing solutions. We did not build our first cleaning systems because someone asked for them, but rather because local companies were seeking solutions and alternatives to the then prevailing manual cleaning with health-hazardous substances. For such tasks we were looking for solutions, and this was already then a cleaning system with water-based cleaning detergents.
CL: Together with Kolb we developed the first water-based cleaning detergents for machine supported cleaning when the rest of the industry was still cleaning with solvents respectively with volatile organic substances. The positive effect was of course that for Kolb systems it was not necessary to have explosion-proof cleaning rooms. This with a couple of other features established the reputation of Kolb as an innovative machinery manufacturer. A very important factor however was the use of suitable advanced cleaning chemistry.
So it took you 15 years to develop this latest step you took?
CL: Let us say there is a 15 year history. During the time of our daily cooperation we have seen a rapid development for instance with regard to fine cleaning and ultra-fine cleaning of mounted PCBs and DCBs, and we also had to react to the lead-free issue. Because of this and specific customer requirements, we developed over more than a decade an ever improving and increasing product portfolio that, due to its quality, has built a name almost without any serious marketing support.
Does that mean Kolb systems have to run exclusively with Kolb detergents from now on?
WCL: Of course we are not going to limit the cooperation with other companies in our industry right from the beginning. At the end of the day, what counts is the solution we are going to provide to our customers. For example, there has been a fair cooperation with Zestron in Ingolstadt, and such cooperation can also develop solutions for customers that require this. Very often companies have already qualified detergents from other manufacturers and in such cases it is our intention to adapt our machines accordingly. A prerequisite of course is that a combination is possible at all. In these cases it is not our prime objective to change anything.
Will you offer your detergents only for use in Kolb cleaning systems?
WCL: Absolutely not! Our latest developments in cleaning detergents particularly allow the use in virtually all kinds of cleaning systems with all kinds of technologies on the market.
What kind of technology are you referring to?
CL: Ternary Sequence Technology or, in short, TS. TS is a mutually developed technology that, to put it simply, allows the production of cleaning detergents with a high ability of regeneration in process with fairly simple and low energy-consuming filtration techniques. This qualifies such cleaning detergents to be used in virtually all kinds of cleaning systems. Due to the simple filtration requirements they have a long lifespan, and so they help saving cost, water and waste. It is this saving especially in our cost-conscious Far East markets that is the key argument. The example of water alone as a limited resource on earth makes this very clear.
What will be the impact of this innovation and the increased marketing activities for the price structure of your products?
WCL: There will be no negative impacts. The new technology will not bring higher prices for our customers. To the contrary, when comparing with the market we are still less expensive – and it is our objective not to risk this position. We can do that because we fully use all synergies of a solutions provider. At Kolb we have no separate departments or profit centers for machine and detergent and process design. You may only want the department “customer solutions” where machine designers, chemists and process responsible work hand in hand. They do this with one team of distribution people, application specialists and the administration to provide the backing. That means our company structure is still lean, clean and efficient, and that helps our pricing.
EPP Europe 400
Share:
