Location advantage Europe: The Schwinn brand close at hand

Furniture handles and decorative fittings „made in Europe“. With this strong statement, KSB GmbH Klügel Schwinn Beschläge will be presenting the latest product developments of the Schwinn brand, which has grown over 90 years, at Interzum in Cologne from 9 to 12 May 2023. At Stand E030 in Hall 7.1, the team led by owners Jens Klügel and Sven Schwinn will be demonstrating the potential that opens up for furniture handles, knobs, feet, hooks, other furniture accessories and even complete product families made of metal or plastic, thanks to the modern production facility in Poland.

At Schwinn, kitchen, bathroom and living room furniture manufacturers get everything from a single source. Product development, technical design and toolmaking, production and surface finishing, assembly and packaging – everything takes place in-house at the factory in Krakow/Poland. From here and via the distribution centre in Heppenheim/Germany, Schwinn can offer short distances and act increasingly independently of Asia. This is an essential step that helps to make processes and hardware solutions more sustainable and to significantly minimise the CO₂ footprint.

Schwinn stocks around 5,000 tools for zamak and plastic fittings in Krakow. Around 150 employees work in three shifts seven days a week to cope with the current high order volume. On the production area of 4,500 square metres, there are ten zinc die-casting and 14 plastic injection moulding machines as well as various automatic machines for material processing. Part of the production process is done by hand. Modern powder coating and wet painting facilities, which were only acquired in 2019, are used for surface finishing. Microorganisms clean the exhaust air in a bioreactor.

At Interzum, Schwinn will be giving its visitors an insight into the production process on site with pictures and hands-on exhibits and will be showing examples of how a handle is made from zamak, how it is finished in an energy-saving and environmentally friendly way and finally how it is packaged. Around 1.4 million ornamental fittings currently leave the factory in Poland every month.