“Our core competence lies in rotogravure plates,” explains the Managing Director, Christoph Gschoßmann, of Kaspar Walter GmbH & Co. KG in Krailling near Munich. With around 80 employees, the company offers customized solutions for system-integrated plate production and cylinder processing in rotogravure printing. On its factory premises covering around 10,000 m², galvanizing equipment and machinery for engraving cylinders are designed and produced using state of the technology. A milestone in its history was the installation of the first fully automatic galvanic line in illustration printing in 1978. This provided a decisive contribution in reducing the costs in the manufacture of rotogravure plates. A further expansion came with the introduction in 1988 of the adapter-less, fully automatic cylinder production line connected to a cylinder storage facility.

“We depend on reliable component suppliers for our highly complex machinery and equipment,” points out Christoph Gschoßmann. Energy supply systems from igus® have been employed for at least 15 years. They basically come under tremendous strain. Depending on the travel distances, various chain types in open or closed forms are used. Due to the environmental conditions, an ESD version is also used.

The managing director continues: “The price pressure in our industry has now become so great that we have to make the most of further cost saving potential. Pre-assembled energy supply systems play in important role in this respect. We fully exploit their technical and above all economic benefits!”

“Our machines and equipment are mostly used in electroplating,” says graduate engineer, Oliver Fechner, responsible for Design & Development, pointing out the usually very unpleasant environmental conditions. “Even when the energy supply system is not directly exposed to aggressive media, it comes into contact for instance with chemicals through the humidity. That is why our machines must be rust-proof on the one hand, whilst the chains need to be extremely robust. On top of that, the stresses are increasing. Our machines in the print shops are in fully automatic use seven days a week around the clock. Reliability is therefore crucial for us. There must not be any cable or chain breaks, but instead the whole system should run maintenance-free as far as possible,” says Oliver Fechner highlighting the main requirements of K. Walter.

Pre-assembled energy supply systems are supplied by the Cologne company under the name “ReadyChain®”. From simple e-chain systems® with inlaid Chainflex® cables ranging up to complex systems, they are assembled to customer specifications and delivered on time. Any batch size is possible. “We assume complete responsibility for the system so that the customer can concentrate on its core competence,” says the igus® Product Manager, Michael Offner. “Furthermore, every system is tested thoroughly on our test stands before delivery so that the customer is always on the safe side. “

“As a supplier to the printing industry, we are subject to its severe fluctuations,” explains the managing director in closing. “We will only have long-term success with our machinery and equipment if we survive among the competition. ” Assembly and hence delivery times are reducing with the pre-assembled energy supply systems; purchasing expenses and storage costs have gone down considerably. The company is able to react flexibly to order fluctuations. "Ten years ago we still had a much higher degree of vertical manufacturing integration. This is no longer appropriate. Nowadays we look for partners in the market who are specialists in their sector like igus. We just buy the additional parts and assemble them all. I could imagine that sooner or later our whole product range will be equipped with pre-assembled energy supply system,” says Christoph Gschoßmann looking to the future. “Our experiences so far have been very good in any case!”