Kramski - high tech German Engineering Company celebrates 25 years in SL | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Kramski - high tech German Engineering Company celebrates 25 years in SL

10 June, 2018
Kramski is also involved in machining, including the manufacture of parts that involve various types of carbide and steel.
Kramski is also involved in machining, including the manufacture of parts that involve various types of carbide and steel.

Kramski Sri Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is part of the Kramski Group, a German enterprise which also has branches in Pforzheim, Birkenfeld and Karlsbad in Germany, Largo in Florida, USA and Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India.

The company was set up in Sri Lanka as a BOI project in 1993. It designs and manufactures advanced products used in complex engineering processes. Kramski Sri Lanka is celebrating its silver jubilee this year.

Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama visited the Kramski Lanka manufacturing plant at the BOI’s Katunayake Export Processing Zone recently.

Kramski Lanka Chairman Wiestaw Kramski, Vice President Renate Kramski, Managing Director Andreas Kramski, General Manager in Sri Lanka Andre Rapp, Sabine Torres Kramski and Dr. Jurgen Morhard, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai and Director General, Indo–German Chamber of Commerce (Mumbai), Bernhard Steinbrucken were present to welcome the Minister.

BOI officials Executive Director, Zones, M. K. D. Lawrance, Executive Director, Investor Services, Mahinda Ramanayake, Director, Promotion, Nilupul de Silva and Director, Media and Publicity, Dilip S. Samarasinghe were also present.

The mother company, Kramski GmbHPforzheim was founded in 1978 by Wiestaw Kramski. The Sri Lankan subsidiary Kramski Lanka (Pvt) Ltd was set up on June 9, 1993 with a share capital of Rs. 100 million.

It employs 350 people and has projected sales to the value of Euro 14.3 million. The CEOs of the Sri Lankan Company are Wiestaw Kramski and his son, Andreas Kramski and the General Manager is Andre Rapp.

Kramski produces components for many German and International brands including Blum, Bosch, Delphi, Roche, Sumida to name just a few.

Reflecting on his company’s Silver Jubilee as an investor in Sri Lanka. Wiestaw Kramski said, “Today, after 25 years in Sri Lanka, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the people and organisations that have helped us to follow this prosperous path in Sri Lanka.”

“The location in the Katunayake Free Trade area, Phase III was the right decision, as we have especially good conditions in this area close to the airport.” Kramski’s products include combining connectors, connector tubes, springs, flat connectors and many more. The company is also involved in research and development, product development and product design and process development.

The Kramski Group is engaged in prototyping including laser cutting, tamping and bending, over moulding and laser resistance welding. The technologies involved design and tool making such as stamping dyes and mould design samples.Kramski is also involved in machining, including the manufacture of parts that involve various types of carbide and steel.

The visit by Minister Samarawickrama on the invitation extended by Wiestaw Kramski involved familiarisation with some of the products made by the Company such as Park Distance controls. These are assembled in more or less all our brands. Mid Range Radar is produced in the Kramski Group but its tooling is contributed by the Sri Lankan branch.

Kramski officials also displayed parts that were gold plated. They said that in the Kramski Group approximately 150 kg of gold is used up for plating of low current connectors. This was not done in Sri Lanka yet, where instead highly complex hybrid parts with silver and tin plating were produced.

“Stamping and moulding tooling costs are driven by the complexity of the article and their lifetime. Such tools developed by Kramski cost between Euro 50,000 and Euro 500,000. We warrant about 200 million strokes with high performance tooling,” they said.At present, Kramski Sri Lanka manufactures special tungsten carbide tooling inserts for the Group and a third party. A complex part of this type may cost between Euro 5,000 and Euro 10,000.

A well known product of the company is the Kramski putter, which is made in Germany and used by many leading golfers. One model, the HPP 340TP, made in Germany by Kramski GmbH was gifted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the then US President Barak Obama.

A putter made by the Company was formally tested by Kramski and Minister Samarawickrama at a makeshift putting green at the plant.

Kramski provides training to Sri Lankan workers to achieve the standards sought by the German Company.

Kramski Sri Lanka employs only four Germans and over 100 Sri Lankans have been trained in Germany.

In 2007, Kramski Sri Lanka opened its own training centre. “Up to now 86 young people have passed out. At present, we have 20 apprentices,” said Kramski. The training course lasts two years and includes lodging, pocket money and regular company benefits.Kramski showed the Minister and the visiting BOI delegation the training centre.

Kramski said raw materials worth about Euro 2.5 million is stored in the modern warehouse under the best possible conditions.

To illustrate the importance of precision, Kramski showed the orifice plates made by his company for petrol injection systems. There are only five companies in the world capable of producing this kind of parts.

They consist of a stainless steel sheet of about 0.2 mm in thickness which has 3-4 holes stamped with a diameter of 0.15 mm.

To celebrate its 25 years Kramski Lanka honoured three of its employees who had been with the Company since its inception in Sri Lanka. The German company also donated sums of money to the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute and also to several charities in the country to mark the anniversary.

 

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