More than 30 years of experience and competence in automation
When the company was founded on 01.10.1991, it could not have been imagined that after more than 30 years the company would offer a secure existence to more than 90 employees.
At a time when DDR companies often downsized to 10% of the workforce or disappeared from the market altogether, the company founders Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Frangen and Ludwig Költzsch wanted to secure their existents, "We did what we were convinced we could do best - namely develop and build machines," Mr. Költzsch rcounts. Togehter with the company mkf Maschinen und Systeme Költzsch-Frangen GmbH was founded in Gera.
"The years of the beginning were filled with difficulty and opportunities." remembers Dr. Frangen. From day one, mkf had to compete with established competitors who had many years of experience in the market economy. However, with creativity, dedication and endurance, mkf quickly succeeded in building up a circle of regular customers and in finding new customers again and aigain.
mkf received its first orders from the company Hugo Schnippering GmbH & Co. KG for the design and construction of automatic assembly machines, including the lamp assembly for the Opel Astra. In order to make mkf known, the company was busy making contacts and touring through Thuringia with the "Infomobil", which was loaded with profiles and conveying technology from mk. This allowed mk products to be quickly made known and contacts to mechanical engineering customers to be established.
"Even our old employer Electronicon Gera quickly ercognized that the competences regarding condensor technology is still available among the employeers of mkf," report Dr. Frangen and Mr. Költzsch. mkf received orders for the realization of machines such as automatic measuring machines, automatic forming machines, winding and cleaning machines, automatic lid riveting machines and automatic printing machines. With these references it was possible to win the largest German condenser manufacturer (the company AEG in Berlin) as a customer and to supply a large number of automatic assembly, soldering and testing machines over many years.
Already in 1994 the location in Gera become too small and the "blue hall" in Lederhose was built. Now growth was possible again and new customers could be satisfied quickly. In order to be able to expand construction and adminsistration and to improve working conditions, it was necessary to expand the space at the location in 2003. In 2004 the new administration building was inaugurated.
In 2005, mk Maschinebau Kitz GmbH became the sole shareholder. Now younger colleages took over the responsibility and continued the original goals with he support of Maschinenbau Kitz. Under the solgan "Because possible, is possible" managers and employeers faced new challenges. In addition to the classical special machine construction, the business fields production service as well as technical cleanliness and clean room were established and further developed.
In addition to the goal of moving mkf forward, the focus was always on using new techniques and creating an atmosphere that enabled the entire workforce to work creativly and innovativly and to develop a strong team spirit.
