Family business on the same wavelength
After positive experience with door locking systems, König is also switching its window production to Winkhaus
If you order your windows, entrance doors or sun protection from König, you can live like a king. After all, his job is in the best hands. The family-owned company from the northern Black Forest region takes customer satisfaction extremely seriously. The building component manufacturer has been working with security door locking systems from Winkhaus for some time now. Its window production made the after that.
The company from Renchen, now in its sixth generation, is one of the most traditional in the region. Founded as a glaziery in 1870, it has been in business since 1854 – almost as long as Winkhaus has. Both companies share the same values: Quality, innovation and sustainability are just as much a part of the corporate culture as fair and responsible treatment of people and the environment.
Pleasant work on parquet floors
16 full-time employees work here, including two trainees. They build PVC-U windows and entrance doors on a 2000-square-metre area lined with strip parquet in the production halls. Sun protection elements, lift-and-slide doors and insect screens round off the range. The work areas are designed to be bright and inviting. This promotes a pleasant working atmosphere and yields impressive results. Production is geared towards individual solutions in a wide range of colours, outstanding quality and resource-saving processing. A photovoltaic system on the roof, electric vehicles and recycling plastic waste from production are signs of responsible action.
Aside from one supplier of prefabricated houses from the region, it is primarily private builders who turn to the building element professional with confidence. Most of the time, this involves renovations to existing buildings. Intensive consultation with them in the modern showroom at the company headquarters in Renchen is a must for managing director Ralf König. “We don't get our orders because we’re the cheapest, but because the customer feels that he is getting the best service at our price. We keep our sales promises and, with our highly qualified employees, always follow through on our orders – even if it’s a tricky job,” he explains. And he means it to the letter, since the company not only manufactures, but also assembles its products, and performs maintenance and repair work as well. The employee teams regularly take training courses to do so.
Winkhaus partner since 2016
Reliability, quality, innovation and good processing properties are all major factors to König when selecting suppliers. His experience with Winkhaus security door locking systems since 2016 has been fantastic. Customers are increasingly demanding the convenience offered by automatic and motorised locking systems. The Winkhaus autoLock AV3 and blueMatic EAV3 systems fulfil their requirements perfectly. They combine a high level of security (up to class RC3) with maximum convenience and a long service.
Keyless immediate locking function
They lock the door securely and tightly – just by pulling the door shut, without having to lock up with a key. The Winkhaus autoLock and blueMatic multi-point locking systems offer a unique combination of solid hooks and innovative sealing elements which ensure a gentle yet tight seal. With keyless immediate locking, the hooks grip deep into the keep rail and offer a high level of protection thanks to the claw action. At the same time, the sealing elements hold the door firmly in the seal. This prevents energy losses and increases living comfort – thus combining sustainability with high-quality living.
The doors can still close securely even after years, as the unique locking system also counteracts warping. This prevents the typical causes of complaints.
The locks offer many optional extras, such as an entryguard or a unique daytime latch with one-handed operation. They are available in various security versions up to RC3, including the autoLock AV3OR version. This solution is mainly used in entrance doors to apartment buildings.
Modern technologies for trendy entrance doors
blueMatic EAV3 motorised locking systems are an ideal match for König’s modern range of entrance doors. They can be operated via potential-free contacts with all conventional access control systems. Winkhaus has developed a tappet contact used for power transmission to make the door easy to wire on the construction site. Winkhaus places great importance on being manufacturer friendly. In addition, the partners are supported by a comprehensive range of training courses.
The switch to activPilot fitting system
The response to Winkhaus locking systems has been excellent, and not only from customers, but from window and door professionals in the factory and on the construction site as well. So the boss followed his employees’ suggestion to switch the window production to Winkhaus as the next step. The project started in spring 2020. “The switch to Winkhaus activPilot worked out great,” König technician Bernhard Meier says about the cooperation with Winkhaus, “and that goes for both the data preparation and the organisational support.” For this reason, the integration of the master data provided by Winkhaus for Klaes production software went very smoothly.
König uses activPilot to build PVC-U windows and patio doors that fulfil a wide variety of tasks. Aside from durability, another main focus is innovation. Large, heavy windows, windows with increased burglary resistance or windows for healthy ventilation – all of this can be easily achieved with the activPilot modular system. The storage costs are correspondingly low and processing is also easy.
Winkhaus activPilot Comfort fittings in particular, which offer parallel action as an additional opening function for draught-free room ventilation, give window manufacturers an important edge in their market environment.
Carefree ventilation day and night
Ventilating rooms is more important now than ever before. It prevents exposure to pathogens and helps to prevent structural damage. In view of climate change, this should be done as energy efficiently as possible. Winkhaus activPilot Comfort ventilation fittings offer the option of parallel action. This way, they ensure fresh air day and night without unpleasant side effects such as draughts and too much external noise. Intensive ventilation is possible at any time when required. The system is easy to use and can also provide high burglary resistance up to RC2 during ventilation. It is available in a wide range of variants: with manual operation or motorised drive, as a barrier-free solution and for special formats, etc. König also fits buildings such as schools and nurseries with them. Window manufacturers must create ventilation concepts for such orders. The relevant Winkhaus training courses provide helpful support here.
Accessible comfort
König Fenster also has a growing demand for balcony doors with barrier-free thresholds. Winkhaus offers a versatile range of fittings for this purpose, which even enables burglary resistance up to RC2. This includes modules for barrier-free thresholds with a height of twenty millimetres: Winkhaus locking keeps and support keeps are perfectly integrated into the threshold and also allow the use of the popular Winkhaus FH sash lifter, which functions using the rocker principle. This component even enables large, heavy sashes to be slid easily into place. Manual lifting is no longer necessary and when closing, they fall into position at exactly the right time. This makes operation as simple and easy as that of an average-sized window.
König can even use the Winkhaus range if a zero millimetre threshold is desired: The innovative flap locking system enables a floor-level design – with effective burglary resistance upon request. The fitting is perfect for turn-tilt balcony doors, which can also be executed as double-sash elements. The smooth-running hinged flap lock in the middle of the lower sash ensures easy operation and the high security class (up to RC2). Thanks to the user-friendly double-sash fitting technology, the slave sash can also be opened and relocked in just a few easy steps.
This well-designed system also saves valuable time during production: For instance, no milling is needed on the sash profile, which rationalises assembly work. Stock maintenance too requires minimal effort as components are used in combination with remaining components from the standard activPilot system.
Trusting partnership
The conversion of window production to activPilot has been completed since April 2020. Ralf König sees his decision to go with Winkhaus as having been affirmed: “We need reliable partners who can dependably deliver first-class quality and who have an innovative view of the future without losing their values. And we had this right from the start with Winkhaus. That’s why we maintain honest and trusting cooperation.” The mutual understanding is supported by the fact that two family-owned companies, each with more than 160 years of tradition and experience, have found each other.
