E&K leiterplatten

In-house exhibition - a thorough success
29.10.2010

For the first time E&K GmbH conducted an in-house fair on their premises. Instead of participating at the Munic Electronica fair as usual, E&K this time invited their customers to their Heinsberg headquarters. 

In a nutshell, the in-house fair was received very well by the visitors.

The General Managers gave a short review of the past business years as well as an outlook of what developments are to be expected at E&K in the future. 

Mr Jürgen Nitsche of Semetec Leiterplattentechnologie was invited as speaker to inform the visitors on innovations that are particularly suited to be used in modern LED technology. He demonstrated, for instance, colourfast solder resist laquers (SD 2496 TSW of Lackwerke Peters) and Isolated Metal Substrates (IMS) and elaborated on problems of flat component production processes which may influence quality and productivity of PCB production.

Then it was Mr Karthaus' (Panasonic Electronic Works) turn to give an overview on developments in the area of basic materials, particularly in relation to their conformity with the RoHS directive. Mr Karthaus demonstrated the processes necessary for the production of basic materials and compared conventional with new materials in terms of their CAF resistence as well as their CTE and TG characteristics. 

During lunch, the visitors had ample opportunities for exchange. Afterwards, they were led through the production halls. 

" The visitors were deeply impressed by the complexity of our processes, our modern machinery and the sheer size of our production facilities. We thank all visitors for showing interest in our company. We are already looking for new topics for the next in-house exhibition.

Upward trend in order receipts
02.03.2010

The Heinsberg based PCB producer E&K assures stable delivery times for boards produced in-house. Due to stable business relationships with suppliers from the Far East, serial deliveries from the Far East can be effected within 3-5 weeks. In 2009 the PCB sector suffered from considerable capacity reductions due to the closure of plants and bankruptcies. This resulted in very long delivery times, from which E&K has been profiting as the company can guarantee stable delivery times. By continuing its strategy of targeted acquisition, E&K Leiterplatten GmbH aims at further increasing the inflow of orders, thereby ensuring an efficient utilisation of production capacities. Considering prospects for 2010 very positive, the E&K team anticipates a turnover increase for the coming year. 

Hans-Peter Kleuter answers our questions
10.12.2009

5 questions, 5 answers: Today's Q&A was answered by Hans-Peter Kleuter, Managing Director of the PCB producer E&K Leiterplatten GmbH. 

How did you cope with the economic downturn in 2009?
During the first five months in 2009, E&K saw a decline in order receipts, while in mid 2009, orders increased again due to new product developments. The release of series production for these products now has impacted in a considerable turnover increase so that we did without any redundancies or short work arrangements this year.  We will close the business year with a decline in order volumes of about 20%.

What initiatives are necessary for the European PCB industry to survive?
The European PCB industry suffers from the fact that we no longer live in a market economy in which prices are governed by real costs. Energy costs for instance are determined by prices that are traded at the stock exchange. Companies that have to bear eco taxes, taxes for renewable energies and supply costs for energy peaks face skyrocketing costs which are not offset by any counter value and which negatively affect their competitiveness.  It is not possible for private companies to charge extra fees to their customers if they are not able to operate at full capacity. Also the gas price is linked to the oil price. Gasoline prices change several times a day, which lacks any rationale. Wastewater charges for instance are used by municipalities to consolidate their budgets. Some official regulations are absurd and rather expensive. Take an Indian businessman who has to bear the same electricity charges but produces 8 times as much... Our politicians should give more thought to these issues. 

In which areas do you see the highest growth prospects of your company?
We expect the highest growth prospects by enlarging the base of our customers who attach high importance to reliable service, technical competence, short response times and good quality. C392

Have you envisaged any investments for 2010?
We have planned investments in the second half of the year. We will first keep an eye on developments. 

Where do you see your competitors in the European PCB business?
Our competitors are not only to be found in Germany or Europe but worldwide. In Germany there are some firms which are subsidised by a strong parent company to enable them to deliver at dumping prices in cases of order decline. In 2008, we only received e-mail cooperation requests from Asian producers about once or twice a week. Today, in 2009, we are contacted up to five times a day from various producers wo want to get a foothold in the European market. 

E&K re-certified according to ISO 9001:2008
02.12.2009

E&K already has implemented a well organised quality management system for years and was first certified according to ISO 9001:2000 in 2006. Now, in November of this year, E&K obtained re-certification taking into account the new requirements of ISO 9001:2008. E&K passed the re-certification audit without any deviations.

Employing a staff of 30 persons, the medium sized company manufactures printed circuit boards for the European Market at its headquarters in Heinsberg near the Dutch frontier. In addition, the company trades in large series manufactured in China and Taiwan. "The auditors particularly commended the facts that all production areas are kept meticulously clean and that new staff is trained in a very focused way."