“Innovation is our daily bread”

KD Elektroniksysteme GmbH from Zerbst scores with customised individual solutions

More practical solutions for the automatic speed control of switch cabinet ventilators and new service packages for the programming of building technology – KD Elektroniksysteme GmbH will be presenting these and other innovations in September at the “all about automation leipzig” exhibition. The company based in Zerbst will be represented at the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt (IMG) joint stand.

The company established in 2001 has been a talking point from the very beginning because of its products. After three former fellow students, among them Ralf Kleinodt, today’s managing director of KD Elektroniksysteme, had developed extraordinary problem solutions on a part-time basis in the nineties, the demand for their ideas increased to such an extent that a GmbH (limited liability company) was established in order to take care of the clientele. “In the beginning I was the only employee”, remembers Kleinodt. “The first employees were hired a year later. In the meantime we are 54 people – and still looking for skilled workers, engineers and trainees.” The company created room for further growth through a new building on the outskirts of Zerbst in southern Saxony-Anhalt that was inaugurated in 2014.

The company develops, produces and markets electronics systems. It also offers services for the programming of electronic systems in buildings. New paths are being taken in each of these business segments. That is why KD Elektroniksysteme was honoured with the enterprise award “AURA – award for outstanding entrepreneurial actions in Sachsen-Anhalt” last year. Since the enterprise is organised in the Chamber of Crafts as well as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Kleinodt may neither classify it as a craft enterprise nor a pure industrial enterprise. “We originated from the electrical trade, but we have at any rate reached an impressive size. Yet many are still surprised at the extent to which our company spawns innovations – but this is our daily bread! Every customer expects from us that we find an optimal solution for them. That motivates us.” The developmental work in the company is often preceded by research, during which the Zerbst-based GmbH cooperates with the University of Magdeburg and the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Köthen, among other institutions.

Kleinodt explains that “it usually works out that a potential customer, for instance the producer of an engine or a switch cabinet, describes their problem to us. That could be the development of heat within a switch cabinet, among other things. Our task is now to programme the aeration and ventilation so that this does not constantly run at maximum capacity, but automatically adjusts to the climate and environment”. A variety of factors which include emission of pollutants, dimensions and sound barriers are to be observed in the process. Afterwards, immediately usable printed circuit boards leave the company’s workshop. Larger components are also additionally developed and mounted, such as complete cooling technology for switch cabinets exiting via a ventilation system, among other things.

While the developments from the Zerbst-based electronics manufacturer are normally incorporated in products from other companies, the “dimmLIGHT” brand is independent in the market and constitutes an exception. This innovation was awarded by the Federal President in 2009 within the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative. The “dimmLIGHT” technology makes it possible to reduce the energy costs of street lighting by about a third. At the same time, the company developed a new distribution channel for new technology by means of lease-purchase. “The changeover to new electronics is often an extraordinary expenditure for municipalities. So innovations are also called for here: we offer the municipalities that in the course of four to five years they only pay that sum which they have saved compared to previous energy costs. After that the technology belongs to them.” Up to now, over 3,000 dimmers from the “dimmLIGHT” brand have provided customised lighting of streets and squares; lease-purchase agreements have been signed with 36 municipalities, while eight other agreements are in preparation. So KD Elektroniksysteme is currently providing municipalities with technology worth 750,000 euros.

The IMG joint stand is providing KD Elektroniksysteme GmbH the opportunity to present their range of services for the first time at the “all about automation leipzig” exhibition. “Naturally we will bring along some of our printed circuit boards and equipment”, says Kleinodt. “But it is more important to us that we get into a conversation with exhibition visitors about our corporate philosophy, above all about the interlocking of development, production and service right up to commissioning.”