Karger puts Bad Wurzach galvanizing plant back into operation

There was great joy when the Karger hot-dip galvanizing plant was able to put its fourth site into operation at the beginning of 2021 with the newly built plant in Bad Wurzach. However, the disillusionment of having to put it back into shutdown mode in October 2022 was just as great. Skyrocketing energy costs, the tense economic situation and a sharp drop in demand in many areas simply put paid to all plans. The takeover of Austrian company Mega Pulverbeschichtungen GmbH on March 1, 2024 gave rise to new hope. The strategic expansion of the business area was not only intended to revitalize the entire company, but also the Bad Wurzach site. And with success. "As a transnational group of companies, we can now cover orders completely and process the goods quickly and efficiently in the plants," explains Managing Director Wolfgang Karger. Many customers are already using the significantly expanded portfolio, from galvanizing to powder coating. "There is also increasing demand for fine plastering and sandblasting as pre-treatment," says Karger, adding that customers benefit from receiving everything from a single source, from inquiries to after sales.

Galvanizing at Kager in Bad Wurzach again from March 2024

"In addition to being able to deliver goods to our plants ourselves, we also pick up and deliver to and from the customer with our in-house logistics," adds Uli Karger, Technical Managing Director of the Karger Group. Since June 2024, the infrastructure in Bad Wurzach has served as a logistics center for receiving and distributing goods, among other things. "But the idea of putting the plant back into operation as a fourth galvanizing site has also been maturing bit by bit since then," reveals Karger. The company is all the more proud to finally be able to dip workpieces into the previously molten zinc bath again on March 3. "The gas burners were first overhauled for this and over 200 tons of zinc were stacked," says Karger, adding that the melting process at over 420 degrees took a good ten days and cost around 40,000 euros in gas costs. Orders and customers from the region, supplemented by orders from major customers at other sites, will hopefully ensure constant capacity utilization for the initial 14 employees working a single shift. "The slight fall in energy prices makes us optimistic that we will be able to ensure cost-covering operations in Bad Wurzach despite the still weak order situation," says Wolfgang Karger. The fact that eight of the 14 employees were already working in Bad Wurzach at the time was also an important factor for a successful restart of the plant - six of them were even employed by Karger at other locations throughout. "The aim is to reach the figure of 40 employees in two-shift operation, which was already reached in 2022, in the next one to two years," the two managing directors said in unison. This will be hard work, as they are not currently expecting any political support.