Environmentally friendly industrial plants – for the sake of the climate!
An interview with Harald Wimmer
Even before the 2021 federal election, sustainability and environmental protection were dominant topics in politics, society and business. The industry faces the major challenge of converting its plants to be environmentally friendly or switching to completely new systems. LK Metall from Schwabach is a specialist for environmentally friendly and climate-friendly systems and a partner in demand throughout Europe in various fields.
“We focus on sound insulation, water treatment, process technology and hall heating,” says Marketing Manager Harald Wimmer, explaining the company’s core competencies. “In this context, hall heating is our most important area,” the marketing manager continues. “Here we are innovative and individually positioned. We are able to tailor our solutions to the needs of the customer.
“We want to be CO2 neutral in a few years.”
Harald Wimmer
Sales Manager, LK Metall
HALL HEATING
Just recently, LK Metall equipped a company with the world’s largest milling center, where, among other things, gear wheels for wind turbines are machined, with two RBW warm air generators with condensing boiler technology. “The challenge here was that the temperature difference from roof to floor could not be higher than a maximum of two degrees,” says Harald Wimmer. “We developed a special distributor head for this purpose, a Thermovent mixed air distributor, which uses fans to take the temperature cushion and incorporate it into the heating flow. Via this solution, we were able to reduce the temperature difference to 1.5 degrees.”
SOUND PROTECTION
In the field of sound insulation, LK Metallwaren focuses mainly on wire drawing machines. The interweaving of metal wires creates a significant volume. LK Metallwaren is able to reduce the noise level to 70 to 80 dBA, allowing employees to converse at the machines at a normal volume.
WATER TREATMENT
With its solutions for water treatment, the company is particularly in demand among automotive suppliers. “The process wastewater generated must be cleaned,” says Harald Wimmer. “Politicians are imposing ever stricter rules here, for example in what degree of purity the water may be discharged. This is where we can help. In addition, we also offer a complete service around the clock for the plants.”
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
In process technology, LK Metallwaren focuses primarily on solutions for painting and drying, and supplies well-known manufacturers of powder coating and painting systems with supply and exhaust air systems. Air filters with three stages complete the portfolio of LK Metallwaren. The filters are available in dust, activated carbon and H14 stages, which filter out 99.995% of viruses and bacteria from the air.
Leading in process technology
“We are at the forefront of the market in process technology, and we are also in the top third of the market in the segments of water treatment, hall heating and sound insulation,” says Harald Wimmer, explaining the company’s market position. “We have customers from a wide range of industrial segments, for example from the automotive sector or machining, but we have also equipped event and trade fair halls. In the process, we work for companies of all different sizes, for small automotive workshops as well as for corporations.”
LK Metall is positioned throughout Europe, particularly strong in the DACH region. In the coming years, the company intends to consistently expand its international market presence. “Customers get exactly the systems they need from us, not off-the-shelf solutions,” says Harald Wimmer, explaining the company’s success. “This is our big advantage over competitors, who in most cases can only offer standard solutions.” LK Metall trains skilled workers itself and has sound know-how.
Security and social benefits
The company invests heavily in the training and further education of its employees and relies on state-of-the-art technologies. For example, since 2019 they have been operating a fully automated swing bending center. “It is important to us that our employees can work under optimal conditions and feel comfortable with us,” says Harald Wimmer. “That’s why we place a high value on safety and offer good benefits.”
In the coming months, LK Metall will combine the RBW warm air generators and the REKU ventilation system with heat pumps. In addition, the further development of the combustion chambers as well as the hall heating systems with EC motors are an important topic in order to be compliant with the ERP and the climate protection laws.
CO2 neutrality
LK Metall’s vision is clear: “We want to be CO2-neutral in a few years and run our plants on hydrogen,” says Harald Wimmer. “We hope that politicians will move more strongly and that the industry will be even more responsive to process heat. Overall, we are confident about the future.”
The interview was conducted by the Economic Forum.
