Award-winning: punker GmbH a Success Story by Staufen AG

AWARD-
WINNING

Award-winning.
How a medium-sized company managed to win one of
Germany‘s most prestigious industry awards
COMPANY
PORTRAIT
punker GmbH can now consider itself one of the outstanding
industrial companies in Germany. In 2018, the manufacturer
of fan wheels from Eckernförde was honored as the best
SME with the Manufacturing Excellence (MX) Award – a
benchmark competition under the patronage of the Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
»
It is a very special moment when you are on stage,
holding the prize in your hand and think about
the path that has led you there.
Dr.-Ing. Henning Bähren, Managing Director at punker GmbH«
2 STAUFEN. | PUNKER Photo: Marcus Krüger, Hamburg
STAUFEN. | PUNKER 3

INITIAL
SITUATION
punker GmbH has been producing fan wheels of all sizes in steel
and aluminum in northern Schleswig-Holstein on the Baltic Sea
since 1954. The company generates a turnover of €43 million. Its
approximately 1,000 customers come from a variety of different
sectors – from air conditioning and household appliance to railway
technology industries. The number of variants is correspondingly
high and the batch sizes vary just as much.
»
We
have to grow. Because we are in an
industry where we need size, in order to
succeed in the market.
Dr.-Ing. Henning Bähren, Managing Director at punker GmbH«
5
Over the years, demand and sales have been rising steadily.
„We have to grow. Because we are in an industry where we need
size, in order to succeed in the market,“ says Managing Director
Bähren. But if you want to grow, you also need the right framework
conditions – with enough space for production. This is a
scarce commodity for punker and must therefore be used as
optimally as possible. In 2011, with the support of Staufen AG, the
company launched a Lean project in its production department,
taking the first step towards becoming a Lean enterprise and an
award-winning company.
4 STAUFEN. | PUNKER STAUFEN. | PUNKER 5

APPROACH
AND
SOLUTION
At the start of the project, production in the 22,000 sqm halls
was predominantly workshop-oriented with long set-up times.
The lead time was correspondingly high. The first lean project
began at the assembly line (AL) for backward-curved
fan wheels. Here, individual components are assembled and
pressed by a robot. The AL, previously arranged in a large oval,
was completely disassembled and compressed into a one-pieceflow
structure during the project.
In the past, the responsible employee had to rush back and forth
between several stations to complete individual work steps,
covering a total distance of 8 km per shift. Today employees work
calmly and concentrated at one station in front of the line. Logisticians
bring the employee the goods and the finished component
then goes directly into the shipping box. The same work is now
done using only a quarter of the original space.
6 STAUFEN. | PUNKER STAUFEN. | PUNKER 7

With the help of Staufen, the assembly areas have also been restructured
and now work according to the Pull principle. Whereas
the various work steps used to be spread over the entire factory
floor, all work steps are now linked together and consolidated at
one site of value creation. After the restructuring, the lead time in
the subareas is now only 15 minutes instead of five days.
Following the so-called lighthouse projects, Lean projects will
follow in other areas such as request and quotation processing.
Step by step, the company continues to develop into a Lean
enterprise. This new way of thinking also helps punker automate
and digitize according to Lean principles.
» «
Staufen introduced Lean thinking and
has led us on to a very successful path.
Dr.-Ing. Henning Bähren, Managing Director at punker GmbH
8 STAUFEN. | PUNKER STAUFEN. | PUNKER 9

RESULTS
The success in Eckernförde is
impressive:
In the same area, punker now generates 40 percent more turnover
than it did five years ago. Productivity has increased by 25 percent.
From the left: Martin Brunkert, Head of Quality Management at punker GmbH
Thorsten Bücker, Partner at Staufen AG
10 STAUFEN. | PUNKER Dr.-Ing. Henning Bähren, Managing Director at punker GmbH
STAUFEN. | PUNKER 11

ABOUT STAUFEN
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+49 7024 8056 169
INSIDE EVERY COMPANY
THERE IS AN EVEN BETTER ONE.