"Our strengths clearly lie in the simplicity of our system"

At the start of January 2023, the Komax Group took over WUSTEC, the specialist for individual wire assembly in the field of control cabinet construction, and thus expanded its range in the growing industrial segment. WUSTEC has 30 employees and is active in the mechanical and plant engineering, low-voltage systems and charging infrastructure market segments. With a focus on highly automated wire assembly, WUSTEC offers its customers error-free wiring of their systems by delivering prefabricated and printed sequence and round bundles that are ready for installation right away.

With this move, the company from the Black Forest in Germany is responding perfectly to the needs of the market. Because control cabinet manufacturers are facing high labor costs resulting from the traditionally manual, labor-intensive installation process of wiring which thus have a direct impact on the company’s success. This is a problem that can be eliminated thanks to fully automatic wire assembly, resulting in several customer benefits: Quick installation without tedious reading of circuit diagrams, no cable waste thanks to pre-cut strands, time savings of up to 80 percent and ready-to-install assembly make the use of tools completely unnecessary.

WUSTEC is currently working on the further development of a platform that enables control cabinet and machine builders to order prefabricated wire sets digitally, thereby speeding up their production and compensating for any production peaks in their own production. Functions such as the preparation of production data or production control will be expanded in the further development process, as well as the on-demand service, which offers customers solutions and services as required within the SMART FACTORY by KOMAX vision.

Pioneer of strand printing
WUSTEC was founded in January 2000 by the then 24-year-old Swabian inventor and system electronics technician Ralph Schmid. He initially ran the company on a part-time basis in a rented garage and printed strands for control cabinet construction for the first time as one of the pioneers in the industry. This was a real innovation on the market. With this method, the wiring has been simplified considerably, as the start and end points are printed on the individual wires. This made it possible to equip a control cabinet without reading the circuit diagram and in significantly less time. We asked Ralph Schmid, who continues as managing director, how WUSTEC’s service and range has developed over the years and what he hopes for from sale to the Komax Group.

As the founder and owner of WUSTEC, you have had a significant influence on the company since its beginnings. How has the company developed over the years?

Ralph Schmid: We have developed from a proverbial garage company into an internationally active medium-sized company. We now not only offer pure printing and packaging as a service, but also offer our customers cloud-based support for simplified data preparation. This is the heart of data collection and also offers smaller companies the opportunity to use our service and achieve efficient cost optimization in their production.

What are WUSTEC's strengths?

Ralph Schmid: The strengths clearly lie in the simplicity of our system. Data transmission has been a major stumbling block in the past for our potential customers. With our software, the cloud-based “Wiremaster”, we have developed a system that keeps processing, i.e. data transfer and comparison of requirements, to a minimum. This enables us to meet the shortest delivery times, which are playing an increasingly important role in switchgear construction with ever more efficient automation.

What industries and countries do your customers come from?

Ralph Schmid: Our customers come from virtually all industries, wherever a control box is used. Whether it's building technology in low-voltage systems, the construction of the charging infrastructure and, of course, our core area of mechanical and plant engineering. We are currently mainly represented in Germany and in neighboring countries such as Benelux, Switzerland and Austria.

What does the sale to the Komax Group mean for WUSTEC?

Ralph Schmid: For me, first of all, a big piece of personal change after a quarter of a century of self-employment. For WUSTEC itself, expanding our business nationally and internationally is a huge step forward. We now have completely different perspectives on rethinking the digital workflow and development opportunities that we could not have achieved by ourselves. Our customers can look forward to seeing what new products will be available in the future. Together we are even stronger.

What do you want for the future?

Ralph Schmid: I would like WUSTEC and the Komax Group to treat each other with honesty, respect and, above all, care. This is ultimately the foundation that makes a company successful. It’s the people who make the difference. Because great things can happen when the “right” people work together with the same motivation and towards the same goals.