RAUKANTEX Interviews

RAUKANTEX is the best, most reliable and safest solution on the market.

The furniture market is changing. New furniture ideas are now in demand, not just for private households, but also for offices. At the same time, the overlaps between skilled crafts and industry are becoming ever greater. Jürgen Werner explains what this has got to do with RAUKANTEX. As Head of the Furniture Solutions and Industrial Solutions divisions / Group Executive Board, he knows exactly which direction the journey is heading. Werner has been supporting Furniture Solutions at REHAU for 28 years, and as a member of the REHAU Group executive board, he also plots the course for the further global expansion of the company’s core edgeband business.

Mr. Werner, what are your goals for the Furniture Solutions division? Where is it heading?

We're going to hit the ground running in the post-coronavirus period. The agenda includes global growth with very ambitious targets. We will continue to develop from being a component manufacturer to being an integrated system manufacturer for industry and skilled trades. REHAU already offers perfectly coordinated services combining function and design and therefore has a range of products and services that no other manufacturer can provide. We will continue to drive this strategy forward.

Office, living space, kitchen. Where are the biggest changes expected?

We expect the biggest changes to be in the office context. Why? We will see the new normal accelerating the issue of remote working in the long term. Home offices and alternative work situations are on the rise, the familiar office environments will be reduced. Flexibility will be needed in offices, areas and workstations will be used by several different people, communication with connected colleagues will have to be guaranteed. This trend also transfers to the home: When "remote work” is introduced to the way we live, entirely new demands are placed on furniture and design. That is why the combination of function and design is so important. This strategy helps us to optimally address the trends and developments in the “new normal”.

Jürgen Werner, Director REHAU Furniture & Industrial Solutions

What challenges do you see for the furniture market?

On the one hand, there is the increasing mixing of the individual aspects of life. Living, cooking, working and, to a certain extent, also sleeping are merging. To ensure flexible use, furnishings need to be coordinated with each other in a completely different way to how they have been previously. In terms of design, this is a particular challenge for The issue of single unit ordering is also gaining momentum. This is being driven by commercial furniture manufacturing, which can produce one-off pieces at affordable prices, as the equipment in commercial businesses is continuing to improve. These two issues are the major challenges that the furniture market needs to adapt to.

How do you see the relationship between industrial furniture customers and the carpentry business? Is a clear separation still possible here?

As I just mentioned, this is where the overlap is becoming increasingly clear. Carpentry work is now not that different to an industrial company that produces small batches with an emphasis on design. Today, tradespeople also have the opportunity to offer serial production, to a limited extent. The driver for tradespeople here is the machinery, which is becoming more and more similar to that used in industry. On the demand side, it is the customer who is requesting increasingly customised solutions – this is the overlap between industry and commerce. I think it’s a positive development: both segments challenge and inspire each other. The carpenter looks to the industry for innovations, adapts them and scales them down to small quantities. And conversely, the agile carpenter also challenges industry again and again in terms of flexibility. Here at REHAU, on the other hand, we try to provide ideas for both segments. We see ourselves as enablers and inspirers.

RAUKANTEX is often used in the furniture world as a synonym for the edgeband. What made this brand so strong?

For us, it is a real accolade that RAUKANTEX is synonymous with the polymer edgeband, just like the name Tempo stands for tissues. This makes us proud and has been achieved, of course, for good reason: we have earned this reputation through continuity, quality and continuous innovation. The invisible-joint edgeband, the PP edgeband – these are examples of milestones that have shaped RAUKANTEX and made it a strong product for customers and the market. You can't just invent and implement something like this – a product like this is all about the long term. To come back to the question: RAUKANTEX is the best, most reliable and safest solution on the market. That is the reason why the brand is so strong.

Digitalisation has opened a lot of doors.

A career dedicated to edgebands: Stephan May has been working with edgebands for 35 years. Stephan May joined REHAU as an apprentice in 1982. His career path within the company included various roles, and he also studied in parallel for a degree in economics until he eventually became plant manager. For the past four years he has been REHAU Director and Plant Manager at the Visbek plant, the most important hub for edgebands in Europe. In this interview, he talks about how production has changed over the decades.

Mr. May, you have been associated with the 'edgeband' almost continuously since 1986. In your opinion, how has production changed over the years?

Everything has changed. I put this down to five factors: people, machines, materials, methods and environment. The demands on people have changed continuously: The process is changing and people have to keep pace – with training courses, qualifications and so on. This has been a fact of life for us since the edgeband was invented, for a simple reason: the materials strategies have changed over and over. It all started with PVC, then moved via ABS to the environmentally friendly PP and the alternative materials most commonly used today. All upstream and downstream events in the process chain have had to follow this strategy. This includes the machines as well as the people. In production, everything has become more agile. That, in turn, affects the methods and the environment. The internet has increased the demand and the speed. Our work has become much more transparent than before. As a result, customers no longer accept errors. Added to this, everything is interlinked. If one cog in the gear is missing, the entire supply chain breaks down.

Stephan May, Director REHAU Plant Manager Visbek

Does digitalisation play an important role in manufacturing and logistics?

As a matter of course. Digitalisation has opened a lot of doors. Data collection has become faster. In the early days, we still worked with a typewriter and paper. Today, everything is digital. There is an almost endless storage capacity, which is also extremely beneficial for us: you can dig through historical data, find errors and learn from them. Digitalisation has greatly increased the understanding of the process chain. In the past, people just looked at the overall process, but today you can analyse the individual assemblies in much greater detail.

Today, Visbek is the hub for the European edgeband industry. What do you think the key factors have been in that success?

We have grown steadily and in a measured and purposeful way. At every stage, the focus has been on creating the infrastructure for growth and improving the internal organisation. Here again, it is the people who remain the focus: you have to take your employees with you and support them. They need to be prepared for the new circumstances through training and other measures. We’ve always done it that way, and it has allowed us to achieve healthy growth. And to an impressive degree: the plant in Visbek has been in existence for 40 years. We started back then with about 15,000 square metres. Today, the factory area extends to almost 100,000 square metres. Over the years, investments have also been made in the machinery.

Have the requirements of customers from industry and trade changed over the years?

Every customer always wants a perfect product. But perfection looked very different 35 years ago to how it does today. I would say that we have achieved an extremely high standard. Surface brilliance, finishes, decorative variety, bonding to the surface – all of these things are barely comparable with the edgebands of 35 years ago. What is different today is that the customer attaches great importance to individuality. Everyone wants their own surface, their own decorative design. This is a challenge for us – but one that we are only too happy to accept, of course.

Production, 'Made in Germany' quality

Matthias Haasler, Chairman REHAU North-East Asia

China, India, Brazil. How do you manage to position 'Made in Germany' quality in the various different markets?

'Made in Germany' or 'Engineered in Germany' quality is valued in the Chinese market. These seals of quality are deliberately used to differentiate products in the market. With the REHAU brand, we can underline the status of our products and emphasise our innovation – in line with our claim of 'Engineering progress – Enhancing lives'.

We are targeting the Chinese end customer, who is focussing more and more on quality. The age of mass-produced furniture in kitchens and living rooms in this growing customer segment is over. The increase in general wealth has brought with it a growing demand for a higher level of quality and a desire for more individuality – a great stipulation for us.

It goes without saying that we apply the same quality standards at our international production sites as we do in Germany. We achieve this by having a global technology and process standard. That way, we ensure that the customers who buy an edgeband here in China get genuine RAUKANTEX quality. Or, in other words: if you buy an edgeband manufactured by us in China, you will get an edgeband that is just as good as one manufactured in Europe.

Matthias Haasler, Chairman REHAU North-East Asia

The edgeband is our core product and backbone.

Andreas Albig has witnessed the evolution of the edgeband for 25 years and has played a significant role in its advancement. Today, the qualified engineer is the Executive Director of Product Management Furniture Solutions Edgeband, and as such determines the further evolution of the edgeband which, as the "backbone of the Furniture Solutions division”, is of key strategic importance.

Mr. Albig, RAUKANTEX has a long history of success at REHAU. What role does the edgeband play in the Furniture Solutions division?

The edgeband is definitely the main product and the backbone of the Furniture Solutions division. We produce at plants in South and North America, Asia, India and Europe – in each case for the local market. You can see from that alone that the edgeband is very important to us. It is an absolute core product.

How has the role of the edgeband changed?

In the furniture industry, the focus is on carcass production. Every board that is processed needs an edgeband. If something goes wrong here, the factory stops. Every disruption means a big financial loss. Hence, the edgeband is a crucial part of the process, a strategic product in furniture manufacturing. In order to provide optimum support in this area, we strengthened our network concept back in the mid-1990s and brought together machine manufacturers, tool manufacturers, adhesive manufacturers and the furniture industry. At the meeting, now known as the Edgeband Symposium, we inform our customers about current developments and discuss new requirements and tricks.

Andreas Albig, Head of Product Management Furniture Solutions Edgeband

In addition to the production side just described, the edgeband has also steadily improved in terms of material. The role of the edgeband has also changed from a design point of view. For design, this is due to improvements in printing and coating technology. Not just the look but also the feel of the edgebands is barely comparable to the early days. The edgebands now feel the same as the surfaces. They are pleasant to the touch, scratch-resistant and offer gloss levels ranging from matt to high gloss – always perfectly coordinated with the appearance of the component.

What impact do lifestyle trends have on the edgeband? In terms of design, materials and workmanship?

Obviously, lifestyle trends primarily influence the choice of colors and materials for furniture. When new colors and design elements are introduced to furniture manufacturing, this is reflected directly in the surfaces, the printed images and the embossing of the boards. Our claim here is to offer the perfect edgeband for every new surface. This is not just in terms of color and printed image but also feel and gloss level, so that, ultimately, the perfect component is produced.

From the edgeband to the perfect component: what awaits us in terms of laser technology?

The invisible joint can be achieved using various processing methods, which we are constantly developing. For laser technology, there is a new optimised, more moisture-resistant layer which has already been introduced to the market. This makes the component even better and the processing window even more secure. It is important to us to create a durable, seamless component that will last for years at the customer's premises – without any visual or functional deterioration. Another important aspect is the democratisation of the invisible joint: hot air technology has also enabled the invisible joint to become feasible for skilled tradespeople. Today, there is a large number of qualified interior design companies and carpenters who use hot air technology. This is an immense leap in quality for this sector.

Looking to the future: what will RAUKANTEX be able to do – tomorrow or in 50 years?

Everyone is talking about digitalisation and the smart factory. In furniture manufacturing, these issues are about how important processing information gets to the machine. The aim here is to become more efficient and to ensure consistently high quality with optimum machine settings. With #edgeisdigital, we have started to provide all production-relevant data in digital form. Customers can choose between different variants, directly via data on tag or via the cloud, for example. This option enables furniture manufacturing to establish high-quality automated production. This is an important topic, especially today when there is a shortage of skilled workers, and one which will certainly become even more important as time goes on. We are currently working on projects with the engineering industry and individual industrial customers to introduce the topic, test it and evaluate its impact at the end.

Sustainability will be a factor in the purchasing decision.

Markus Kostenbader, Product Management Edge Processing at HOMAG

What was your experience of the evolution of edgeband materials over the past 50 years?

I have been working in product management at EDGE for about 18 years. The key change in edgeband materials during that time, as I see it, is the introduction of the laser edge.

What do you think were the biggest steps in the development of the edging process?

Along with edgeband development, I’m certain the introduction of attaching edgebands with lasers back in 2009 was one of the biggest evolutions. Before that, there were many crucial steps in the development history of the edging process, such as the first high-performance line for lot size 1 in 2001, or the introduction of the stationary processing centre for edgebands in 1989.

A look into the future: what requirements will the edgebands of tomorrow need to meet?

Sustainability will certainly become more and more important in the future and will be a factor in end consumers’ decision process when they buy furniture.

Markus Kostenbader, Product Management Edge Processing at HOMAG

What is unique about the cooperation with REHAU? How would you describe the cooperation?

REHAU is a competent partner in anything to do with edgebands. The cooperation is a fair and mutually respectful partnership.

What does RAUKANTEX mean to you?

I see RAUKANTEX as a comprehensive edgeband line for creative furniture design.

RAUKANTEX stands for variety in edgebands and is an edgeband product line with a wide range of applications.

Michael Arlt, Head of Testing/Technical Centre at IMA Schelling

What was your experience of the evolution of edgeband materials over the past 50 years?

We have seen some changes over the years. Due to the many different materials and variants, IMA Schelling has needed to constantly consider new technical solutions. There have been countless challenges to overcome. However, the solutions for these were born in no small part through the close collaboration between REHAU and IMA Schelling.

What do you think were the biggest steps in the development of the edging process?

The development of laser edgebands.

A look into the future: what requirements will the edgebands of tomorrow need to meet?

As machine manufacturers, we are also constantly faced with new challenges. Edgebands must be adaptable to the relevant areas of use. It is also important to ensure a high degree of reproducibility in manufacturing when it comes to edgeband quality. The automatic transmission and transfer of processing parameters and technology data for the joining process will play a role here.

Michael Arlt, Head of Testing/Technical Centre at IMA Schelling

What is unique about the cooperation with REHAU? How would you describe the cooperation?

Collaboration with REHAU is constructive, goal-oriented and mutually respectful.

Were you able to get a particularly innovative/pioneering project off the ground together with REHAU? Which ones?

This goes back to the question above: we were able to develop and introduce laser edgebands.

Do you have any anecdotes you can tell us about your collaboration with REHAU?

Converting from ABS to PP at a customer’s site. The customer wanted to prevent the conversion and manipulated the machines so that the project failed. We noticed the errors and provided evidence that it worked together with REHAU.

What does RAUKANTEX mean to you?

RAUKANTEX stands for variety in edgebands and is an edgeband product line with a wide range of applications.

Cooperation marked by appreciation and mutually respectful interactions

Philipp Uschold, Foil Sales at Schattdecor AG

Edgeband design is driven by trends. How has this field developed over the past 50 years from your perspective?

We are seeing a return of certain trends from the past more and more often in the furniture industry. We saw a similar development in the flooring, furniture and interior finishing sector in the past few years. The time period was characterised by wood species native to Germany, such as alder, beech and oak, with oak dominating the industry for around 10 years.

What do you think were the biggest steps in this development?

The biggest steps in this development were made in the area of surfaces with matt-gloss finishes synchronised with the decor or tactile effects. Newly developed techniques allow us to imitate nature in even more detail.

A look to the future: what requirements will there be in the future for decors and edgebands?

Fundamentally, the aim is to be able to offer our customers high-quality complete solutions consisting of decorative surfaces and perfectly tailored edgebands. This includes harmonising all of our processes from the development of our decors to edgeband production.

Philipp Uschold, Foil Sales at Schattdecor AG

The coating of wood board and material panel narrow edges for furniture and interior finishing applications will remain a core use for edgeband materials. We will therefore continue to work on perfecting the harmonisation of edgeband and decorative surface as part of our decorative design coordination. To enable us to better imitate nature, creating surfaces with effects and a matt-gloss finish that are synchronised with the surrounding decor will be a key focus in the coming years.

What is unique about the cooperation with REHAU? How would you describe the cooperation?

REHAU has been a very efficient collaborative partner for many years now and our partnership is shaped by mutual respect and appreciation on an equal footing. Flexibility, efficiency, high quality and a constant exchange of ideas as part of a mutual learning process – that’s what collaboration with REHAU is all about.

Were you able to get a particularly innovative/pioneering project off the ground together with REHAU? Which ones?

The quick availability of materials has become a significant selling point in recent times. We believe our Prime collection is the perfect solution for this market requirement. Prime is a stock collection that allows us to offer our customers decorative surfaces and perfectly tailored REHAU edgebands as a complete package.

To us, RAUKANTEX is an indicator of quality at the highest level

Pierluigi Tacchi, Sales Director of Edgebanding at Biesse

How have edgeband materials developed over the past 50 years from your perspective?

Looking back at the last 20 years, the period I can judge, there were several important evolutionary steps. I would mention the replacement of paper edges with polymer edges and the reduction in thickness from 3 millimetres, which you’ll hardly find today. I feel those are the main developments that helped a lot with the use of machines. With today’s materials, the processing of edgebands is much easier and more reliable.

In your view, what were the key development steps in the edgeband process?

There were two essential factors: the development from paper to polymer and the zero-joint edgeband.

A look into the future: what requirements will the edgebands of tomorrow need to meet?

REHAU should keep up the good work. We should continue to develop any technology that works without adhesives.

Pierluigi Tacchi, Sales Director of Edgebanding at Biesse

What is unique about the cooperation with REHAU? How would you describe the cooperation?

The cooperation with REHAU is a perfect example of how machine manufacturers and companies with materials expertise can profitably work together. We would like to continue to invest in our cooperation with REHAU.

Was there a particularly innovative or pioneering project you were able to accomplish working with REHAU?

Yes, laser edgebands with air force technology.

Do you have an anecdote from your cooperation with REHAU that you can share?

The participation in the Global Technical Meeting a few years ago was an important milestone in our cooperation. We hope to take part in the future editions of the event.

What does RAUKANTEX mean to you?

To us, RAUKANTEX is an indicator of quality at the highest level.

Find out more about the past, present and future of RAUKANTEX:

RAUKANTEX tradition

RAUKANTEX moves with the times

RAUKANTEX vision