Under the Hood
|Factory tour of Kreussler Chemical
One of the highlights of our trip to TexCare was visiting the Kreussler Chemical factory in Wiesbaden, Germany. The factory is about 30 minutes from Frankfurt and is located right on the Rhine River. Our tour was hosted by Christoph Richter, who is the Managing Director of Kreussler Textile Care.
Ownership
The company was founded in 1912 and is now run by the fourth generation of the Travers-Kreussler family. The company has two divisions: Kreussler Textile Care and Kreussler Pharma. We toured the Textile Care part of the facility.
The Pharma division manufactures drugs for Sclerotherapy (the treatment of varicose veins) – those drugs are used in over 50 countries. Products from the Textile Care division are used all around the world.
Kreussler was the first to develop wet cleaning, they received the Blue Angel certification in Germany. Kreussler also developed the SystemK4 solvent, which is widely used today.
Sustainability
Kreussler is serious about sustainability. Their products are safe for the customer and the environment. They work hard to avoid hazardous substances and minimize waste.
When the new warehouse was built, it was equipped with enough solar panels to provide all its power requirements. The area is also known for geothermal hot springs – the Romans used to travel there to recuperate. Those hot springs provide geothermal heat for the Kreussler buildings. Kreussler has even taken further steps towards sustainability. The parking lot has grates that connect to a system to harvest and reuse rain water. They use that water in their production processes. They have also improved their systems so they produce very little waste water.
Pumping Systems
Kreussler builds pumping systems in-house to inject their products in single pocket washers and tunnel washers. The systems are custom-built for each location. Once the components are assembled in cabinets, they are tested before shipping to the plant for installation.
Warehouse
Kreussler built a new warehouse recently. It is equipped with robotic forklifts that pick skids of product off the racks automatically. The computer system knows where each product is located and pulls the required skids to ship orders. There are safety systems so anyone walking though the warehouse is kept safe.
We toured the testing laboratory. There are lots of bottles of chemicals and test instruments. The Quality Control department tracks each batch and tests it through each step in production. It was surprising to hear how many times each product is tested. They are also doing research into new products.
Training Plant
There is a small, but complete, plant at Kreussler where they can do dry cleaning, wet cleaning and laundry. Products can be tested in-house with precision.
They also use this facility for training their technical sales representatives. Kreussler focuses on having technically skilled representatives – they understand the cleaning process and can advise customers on what products to use.
Hospitality
After the tour we enjoyed a nice dinner at a local vineyard with the others who were on the tour. The food was great and the conversation was enjoyable.
It is nice to meet with people who are successful and are growing their businesses. Michael, a cleaner we met from Munich, is bringing his son into the business. Their dry cleaning company was established in 1823 and they are planning for the next 100 years. Now, that’s foresight.