Text Sabine Spinnarke, Dr. Carola Hilbrand ––– Photography
GIVE RITTAL A CALL
When Martin Ulrich thinks of Rittal, he first and foremost thinks of people. Whenever information about Rittal products, support with customer visits, or an extraordinary solutions is needed at Bürkle, the first suggestion is always: “Give Rittal a call!” Once, a customer of Bürkle expressed a very particular request. A screen printing company had an enclosure stood next to a printing machine. An employee regularly placed a cloth soaked with solvent, which was used to clean the screens, on top of the enclosure. Over time, the paint on the enclosure dissolved. Rittal obtained a sample of the solvent and painted the enclosures with a special paint. “It’s always the people and the solutions that make or break a company,” says Ulrich.
BAILED OUT WITH SHIPPING CONTAINERS
The two companies have grown alongside each other for 40 years. First, Blumenbecker purchased enclosures from Rittal. The next milestone was the introduction of EPLAN software to the engineering department. Last year, the Perforex laser centre and Secarex cutting centre were successfully integrated in the digital production process at Blumenbecker. Rittal is an important supplier for the company. The innovations from Rittal are held in high esteem, as is the quick and sometimes unconventional support provided by Rittal: Once it was a software problem, which was solved immediately on-site during the SPS trade fair in Nuremberg. Another time, it was shipping containers. “Rittal has taken unconventional approaches for us, and on one occasion ordered entire shipping containers of enclosures from the USA for us, due to a supply bottleneck,” recalls Pohlmann.
TALKING ABOUT ENCLOSURES IN THE LIVING ROOM
The company Plenge was founded in 1949 as a small electrical engineering company. In 1962, the company started building switchgears. One day, Rudolf Loh sent a young employee to call electrical companies from a phone box to enquire whether they might need standard enclosures. In a single day, the employee managed to sell 15 AE enclosures, including one to Plenge. This was the start of a close business relationship that would last for decades. “Rudolf Loh paid us a visit in our living room,” recalls Udo Plenge, whose father founded the company. Together, Rudolf and Udo’s father deliberated what the ideal enclosure would consist of. “Rittal has never let Plenge down.” The Rittal sales representative occasionally turned up at the factory with a trailer to collect the finished enclosures directly from the machine and deliver them to Plenge himself.
