A classic example of this beautiful form and function formula is Forster Küchen, until recently part of the AFG Arbonia-Forster-Holding AG. Taken over earlier this year by German producer Alno Küchen with its entire AFG kitchen business, John Legg visited the company at its headquarters in Arbon on Lake Constance to take a look at its all-Swiss production.
Forster kitchens are in a class of their own when it comes to its basic material – steel. Stability here is ensured by a smartly designed, honeycomb cardboard layer in between the steel sheets. Developed in 1960, this sandwich system has been incorporated in manufacturing ever since – also because it ensures reduced weight and dimensional stability even under the highest of loads. Warpage due to moisture or temperature fluctuations is also ruled out. And the honeycomb technology also prevents any tinny noise being produced when using a Forster kitchen.
All furniture elements are available in swiss standard (SMS), 55 and 90cm width, in addition to the Euro standard (60cm). Flush lines and smooth surfaces are characteristic of the reduced language of form. Alongside the standard colour range, powder-coated surfaces are available in all NCS colours according to customer specifications. Add to this, metal surfaces with a brushed stainless steel look which – with a silver, gold or titanium patina – ensure the modules in the premium segment boast an exquisite, textured look and feel. All edges are welded and polished by hand.
Extra functionality is added by the grease-repellent stainless steel surfaces which make fingerprints invisible. What’s more, steel as a material also guarantees the highest hygienic standards. Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, in particular, use this material for laboratory and consulting room furniture. Moreover, the magnetic properties of steel kitchens make the use of handy kitchen utensils possible: hooks, spice racks, kitchen roll holders or even knife blocks can be simply clipped onto the panels and relocated at any time.
“We are passionate about steel as a material,” comments Rebecca D’Amato, the marketing manager of Forster Küchen. “And turning it into unique, extraordinary kitchens is what we specialise in,” adds Rebecca.
Galvanising ensures corrosion resistance while powder-coating provides high resistance against all influences typical in kitchens and guarantees colour fastness for decades. Anti-static finishing is another stage in the manufacturing process aimed at hygiene and dust repellence.
Even design developments are making quiet inroads into kitchen classics: soft-close drawers are taken for granted as functional features these days. And plinth structures have long been replaced by self-supporting bodies.
The first-ever kitchen elements from steel sheet were manufactured in 1952, 78 years after Franz Josef Forster established his press and stamping plant. Innovations have set the course for this tradition-rich Swiss company over the decades, before and after the turn of the millennium and until this very day.
“We have a sheet metal making background,” stresses Roman Diethelm, head of the all-knowing sheet metal working department. And the yardstick for requirements is high: not least because of the multitude of models handled by the SAP-controlled job processing system – due to a wide range of surface options, 15 standard and four metallic shades plus custom colour options in any conceivable NCS shade.
So quality assurance is of key importance and highest precision for all sheet metal parts is a must. This is why 100% sheet metal parts are measured. And as part of this early defect-detection system the company has already relied on the rapid 2D inspection system Virtek LaserQC since 2005.
This system uses lasers to capture over 500 data points per second and measure them with a precision of 0.05mm (0.002in). The system compares the finished product with the CAD file (DXF format) for each unit and generates a detailed report for each sheet metal part with 40 to 50 perforations – including all the dimensions and deviations from pre-defined tolerances.
Roman Diethelm, who has been in the company for 28 years, says the savings achieved from shorter measuring cycles – 1 minute rather than 10 minutes per sheet metal part – and from avoiding rejects are “substantial”. He also says that product repeatability in general drives investment in up-to-date measuring process in technology.
With a view to also measuring edges fast and reliably, the company recently also opted for a LaserQC AFM system. Thanks to an additional camera this 3D measuring system, from Canadian developer Virtek, can also measure heights and raised properties. The system can measure many materials, even special cardboard materials and moulded foams, from edge to edge, from hole to hole and even beyond metal appliques.
“The 2D and 3D LaserQC now make manual measuring instruments for our moulded parts obsolete,” says Roman – a fact clearly demonstrated by the current throughput of 1200 to 1400 sheet metal parts per day or 25,000 parts per month.
Approximately 190 people are employed at the company headquarters in the Swiss town of Arbon, the production site for this steel kitchen furniture. There are 23 employees in charge of sheet metal working – the centrepiece of Forster’s manufacturing operations. Some 3500 kitchens are manufactured every year. Annual sales amount to around €36.5m.
Apart from Forster, AFG Küchen AG’s brand portfolio also includes Piatti and Warendorf – formerly associated with Miele-Küchen. The three kitchen brands are presented and distributed to specialist retailers and supported with on-site measurement by eight customer service representatives and eight distribution agents as well as showrooms. In Switzerland alone, Forster Küchen presents the brands at over 20 locations, eight of which are wholly owned triple-brand studios of AFG Küchen AG.
Exports are – so far – quite a new area for Forster’s Swiss steel kitchens. But this is now set to change. 2014 will see the targeted export business kick off.
