Malik visits German Engineering Company at Katunayake BOI
Malik Samarawickrama Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade visited the Kramski Lanka (Pvt) Ltd manufacturing plant at the BOI’sKatunayake Export Processing Zone. This German Enterprise was established in Sri Lanka in 1993 and has been engaged as a BOI project in the designing and manufacture of advanced products utilized in complex engineering processes. Kramski Sri Lanka is celebrating its Silver Jubilee in Sri Lanka.
Kramski Sri Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is part of the Kramski Group which is a German enterprise with branches in Pforzheim, Birkenfeld and Karlsbad in Germany, Largo in Florida USA and Vellore in Tamil Nadu India in addition to Sri Lanka.
Representing the company were Kramski Lanka Chairman Mr. WiestawKramski, Vice President Mrs. Renate Kramski, Managing Director Mr. Andreas Kramski, General Manager in Sri Lanka Mr. Andre Rapp, Ms. Sabine Torres Kramski and in addition Dr. JurgenMorhard, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai and Mr. Bernhard Steinbrucken, Director General Indo – German Chamber of Commerce. (Mumbai)
Minister Samarawickrama was assisted by BOI officials Mr. M K D Lawrance – Executive Director (Zones), Mr. MahindaRamanayake – Executive Director (Investor Services), MsNilupul De Silva – Director (Promotion), and Mr. Dilip S Samarasinghe- Director (Media & Publicity).
The mother company, Kramski GmbHPforzheim was foundedin 1978 by Mr. Wiestaw Kramski. The Sri Lankan subsidiary Kramski Lanka (Pvt) Ltd was established on 9th June 1993 with a share capital of LKR100 million. Itcurrently employs 350 staff and has projected salesof Euro14.3 million. The CEOs of the Sri Lankan Company areMr. WiestawKramski and Mr. Andreas Kramski, his son. The General Manager is Mr. Andre Rapp. Kramski produces components for many German and International brands including Blum, Bosch,Delphi, Roche, Sumida to name just a few.
Reflecting on his company’s Silver Jubilee as an investor in Sri Lanka. Mr. Wiestaw Kramski stated “Today after 25 years in Sri Lanka, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the people and organizations that have helped us to follow this prosperous path in Sri Lanka.”
He added “The BOI - Board of Investment was a great help. The location in Katunayake in the Free Trade area, Phase III was the right decision, as we have especially good conditions in this area close to the airport.”
Kramski’s products include combining connectors, connectors Tubes, springs, Flat connectors and many more. The company is also involved in Research and Development, Product development and Product design and process development.
In addition to this the Kramski Group are engaged in prototyping including Laser cutting,stamping and bending,overmoulding and Laser resistancewelding. The technologies involved design and tool making such as stamping dyes and mould design samples.
Kramskiis also involved in machining including the manufacture of parts that involve various types of carbide and steel.
The visit by Minister Malik Samarawickramaon the invitation extended by Mr. Wiestaw Kramski involved familiarization with some of the products made by the Company Mr. Kramski showed the Minister parts like Park Distance controls which are made by Kramski Sri Lanka.” These are assembled in more or less all our brands. Mid Range Radar is produced in the Kramski Group but its tooling is contributed by the Sri Lankan branch.”
Mr. Kramski also displayed parts that were gold plated. He added that in the Kramski Group approximately 150 Kg is used up for gold plating of low current connectors. This was not done in Sri Lanka yet, where instead highly complex hybrid parts with silver and tin plating were produced.
Mr. Kramski also showed the Minister stamping tools stating that “stamping and moulding tooling costs are driven by the complexity of the article and their lifetime. Such tools developed by Kramski cost between Euro 50,000 and Euro 500,000. Normally we warrant about 200 million strokes with high performance tooling.”
Currently Kramski Sri Lanka is manufacturing special tungsten carbide tooling inserts for the group and a third party. A complex part of this type may cost between Euro 5,000 and Euro 10,000.
A well known product of the company is the Kramski putter, which is made in Germany and used by many leading golfers. One model, the HPP 340TP, made in Germany by Kramski GmbH was gifted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the then US President Barak Obama.
A putter made by the Company was formally tested by Mr. Kramski and Hon. Malik Samarawickrama at a makeshift putting green at the Plant.
Another important factor about Kramski is the training that it provides to its Sri Lankan workers to be able to achieve the highest standard sought by this German Company.
At the moment Kramski Sri Lanka hires just 4 German staff. Up to today more than 100 Sri Lankan staff were sent for training at Kramski Germany for a training of up to 1 year.
In 2007 Kramski Sri Lanka opened its own training center. “Up to now 86 young people have passed our training course. At the moment we have 20 apprentices “said Mr. Kramski. The training course lasts 2 years and includes the lodging, pocket money in addition to the regular company benefits.
Mr. Kramski showed the Minister and the visiting BOI delegation the apprentice training center at the Katunayake Plant of the Company.
The visit also included one to the modern store room. Mr. Kramski stated about Euro 2.5 million worth of raw materials are stored under the best possible conditions to be used in the process of manufacture.
Mr. Kramski also showed the importance of precision work to the Minister and delegation. To illustrate the importance of precision, Mr. Kramski showed the orifice plates made by his company for petrol injectionsystems. There are only 5 companies in the world capable of producing this kind of parts. They consistof a stainless steel sheet of about 0.2 mm in thickness which has 3-4 holes stamped with a diameter of 0.15 mm.
To celebrate its 25 years Kramski Lanka honoured 3 of its longstanding employees who had been with the Company since its inception in Sri Lanka. The German company also donated sums of money to the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute and also to several Charities in the country.
The visit to the factory in the Zone was an opportunity to see one of most advanced enterprises currently in Sri Lanka which maintains very high standards of manufacture and is a leader in technology.
(PRESS RELEASE)