E-Archive

Interview

in Vol. 7 - July Issue - Year 2006
Innovative Blasting Equipment from Salzkotten in Germany
Konrad Rump in front of a special blasting plant for crankshafts

Konrad Rump in front of a special blasting plant for crankshafts

Konrad Rump, General Manager (center) with Heribert Baumann, Purchasing Manager (left) and Heinz-Dieter Wischer, Vice General and Sales Manager

Konrad Rump, General Manager (center) with Heribert Baumann, Purchasing Manager (left) and Heinz-Dieter Wischer, Vice General and Sales Manager

The new compact size overhead monorail blasting machines 13E/0-K

The new compact size overhead monorail blasting machines 13E/0-K

Production facilities

Production facilities

Administration building of Konrad Rump Oberfl

Administration building of Konrad Rump Oberfl

MFN met Konrad Rump, owner and General Manager of Konrad Rump Oberflächentechnik GmbH & Co. KG at his manufacturing site in Salzkotten, Germany.

(?) MFN: Since when has your firm existed and what led to its foundation?

(!) K. R.: The roots of my firm go back to Walter Daden KG, a company that had already started producing the so-called "WALDA"-blasting machinery in the town of Neumünster in the late forties. In 1967 Deutsche Gerätebau GmbH & Co. in Salzkotten took over the product line from Daden. At that time I held the position of head of the design department for that type of machinery. It turned out, however, that my interest in these machines was bigger than my employer. Thus I founded on March 1st, 1969 as general manager together with two associates and four employees the firm Konrad Rump KG. We continued manufacturing the product range and established the after-sales service for the existing machines. We installed a sales network and designed as well as constructed new blasting equipment. At first, the blasting machinery was built in the enterprise of one of my associates. My firm enjoyed permanent growth. On several occasions we moved to new and larger buildings and extended the production facilities. At present I employ more than 50 people and we deliver around 40-50 blasting machines every year to our customers. The plant covers an area of 30,000 square meters including a two-floor administration building and three production halls each of 800 square meters. The facility, which has excellent links to the nearby traffic networks, accommodates the spare parts warehouse as well as the switchgear production and provides space for further expansion as well.

(?) MFN: We heard that you are also engaged in politics?

(!) K. R.: Yes, I was mayor in my hometown Salzkotten for 15 years. In 2000 I was awarded the Order of Merit for special merits to the People and State. This honour was conferred on me by the former president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Johannes Rau. After termination of my duty I was made Freeman of the City.

(?) MFN: Which countries and industrial branches do you deliver your machinery to?

(!) K. R.: Since the foundation of our firm we have already shipped more than 1000 blasting machines to 38 countries world-wide, mainly in Germany and Middle Europe, but also to America, Asia and Africa. The branches, which absorb many blasting machines are, for example, producers of springs, forges and foundries, but also the automotive and commercial vehicle industries, rolling stock manufacturers, general steel-working industry and, of course, several other branches, which can make use of the large-scale capabilities of this type of equipment.

(?) MFN: Which machinery does your firm produce?

(!) K. R.: In short, the firm Konrad Rump Oberflächentechnik GmbH & Co. KG in Salzkotten produces blasting equipment of all kinds. We focus on development, design, and manufacture of lot-based or continuous-pass blasting machinery working with the compressed-air or shot-blast wheel technique for work-oriented surface treatment. We concentrate, for a good share of our operations, on special solutions for specific applications. In general and as examples, we manufacture batch-based as well as continuous suspension conveyor-based blasting equipment, drum belt conveyor-based blasting machines, wire belt blasting machinery, tube blasting installations, rubber belt blasting plants and all round blasting machinery as well as the already mentioned special equipment.

(?) MFN: Give us, please, an example of standard equipment?

(!) K. R.: Well, for example, the newly developed small and compact-size overhead monorail blasting machine housed in a manganese steel structure. This machine is suited for surface treatment of parts in a lot-based production organisation. The material to be treated is fixed on a suspension conveyor and passed through the working zone of the turboblasters while being rotated and oscillated. The machine is equipped with two directly driven turboblasters featuring mechanical pre-acceleration to make sure that even with complicated work geometry and short blasting time, optimum overlapping of the blasting pattern is obtained. The suspension conveyor installed in front of the blasting machine is able to handle workloads up to 400 kg. Due to the Y-shape, two transporting carts can be used for alternating feeding. The blasting medium is cleaned by a combined screening and de-dusting installation. From a downstream storage bunker the cleaned blasting medium is fed to the shot-blasting wheels through an infinitely variable dosage unit. The filter unit integrated in the rear section of the machine reduces the dust concentration in the waste air to a very low level and can be used for feeding back the cleaned air into the ambient hall in winter time operation by downstream installation of a secondary safety filter. This complex installation provides for energy savings and essentially reduces environmental pollution. The control is based on a PLC including operator-friendly plain text display for safe and reliable operation. All main parameters can be set through a tailored blasting program. Installation and commissioning of the equipment shipped in two components take half a day only.

(?) MFN: Please give us an example of special equipment?

(!) K. R.: Here an example: A special blasting plant for crankshafts. The crankshafts are laid down on a transporting cart and led through the blasting zone, which consists of six turboblasters to remove the layer of scale and to compact the surface. The installation equipped with a special conveying system in front of the machine allows for alternating operation using two carts in order to cut non-productive time. The cart can carry workpieces up to 16 metric tons of weight. Due to the special shape of the supporting grates the down side of the workpiece is blasted in the same operation by reflection of the blasting medium.

(?) MFN: What about shot-peening-equipment?

(!) K. R.: We have already delivered several blasting machines completed with drum belt, overhead monorail and single-track continuous-pass blasting equipment for the spring-making industry. Here I would like to point out that in all of these installations the parameters for the surface to be treated with rounded-off wire-grain blasting medium according to VDFI- specifications as regards blasting intensity, treatment duration and blasting medium quantity, can be set to meet defined Almen-values. We also produce and make available the required appropriate conveyors as peripheral equipment.

(?) MFN: How is the quality assurance managed in your firm?

(!) K. R.: In 1997/98 we introduced the quality management system according to DIN 9001, which has been upgraded in the course of time. The firm was re-approved to DIN ISO 9001:2000 in 2003. These measures form the basis for supplies to the automotive industries and their contractors, and as general rule, to all certified companies as well.

(?) MFN: Is there any co-operation?

(!) K. R.: After some preliminary negotiations a cooperation contract was concluded in 2003 with Gietart in the Dutch city of Hengelo. This well known firm is family-owned, too. Whilst Gietart produces exclusively roller-conveyor continuous-pass blasting machinery, we manufacture all the other types of equipment and in particular, the special solutions. Concentrating our capabilities in some areas both firms have been gaining benefits from the cooperation, which are transferred both price-wise and technical-wise to the customer. On the other hand, my firm and Gietart maintain their independence.

Recently a new, innovative blasting turbine was developed, in close cooperation between the two partners, which will be introduced to the market this year. Basic targets were both the maintenance friendliness, improvement of efficiency and optimisation of the blasting pattern. By means of redesigning classic executions in the area of feeding the blasting medium and pre-acceleration and at the same time, reduction of ventilation losses the efficiency could be considerably increased. Consequently, even at higher blasting velocity of approximately 87 m/s a bigger quantity of blasting medium is put through. As a result, the attainable surface blasting capacity was increased by about 13% compared to conventional blasting turbines with the same driving power. An additional effect is achieved through the improved overlapping ratio with the same removal rate, but by usage of the next smaller blasting grain size. Due to the special way of supplying the blasting medium to the distributor the so-called Hot Spot widens, which means we almost double the area of most intensive blasting with more uniform distribution of the single grains. This effect provides for a more homogenous surface on the blasted outer surface areas.
The casing of the blasting turbine consists completely of laser-cut and welded, highly wear-resistant manganese sheet-metal. The cover is made from the same material. Inside, in the blasting direction, there are three protective blocks made of high-tensile strength material, which are matched to the arc-shaped shot-blasting wheel in the area of the cover to avoid whirling and consequently, additional wear. Each block can be easily dismantled. In the centre there is the shot-blasting wheel with two lateral discs and eight straight blasting blades produced from highly wear-resistant steel. The outer diameter amounts to 410 mm. These shot-blasting wheels work with the principle of mechanical pre-acceleration and are completed with a central distributing wheel, the so-called impeller. The blades are guided between the two lateral discs. Meeting the demands of many maintenance people the blades are mounted without any additional fasteners. While replacing the blades, the inner components of the wheel are removed by simply slackening three screws and the blades taken out towards the wheel centre. The blasting angle can be very precisely set by means of an adjustable control cage. The blasting medium is accurately targeted to the workpieces. In this way, wear of the shot-blasting wheel casing and inner lining of the machine are enormously reduced. The wheel is driven by a directly flange-mounted three-phase a.c. motor with enforced bearing assembly running at 3000 rpm. The available driving force ranges from 11 kW to 22 kW. Thus the blasting turbines are suitable for a large variety of applications. The blasting velocity of the shot-blasting wheel can be infinitely varied by the optional stepless speed controller in order to adapt the specific work parameters such as for shot peening, for thin-walled parts or for soft materials, for example, aluminium, in appropriate manner.

(?) MFN: What about the organisation of your distribution network?

(!) K. R.: From the very beginning, our firm was at first represented in Germany and then in the neighbouring lands by a network of commercial agents. Since the cooperation started, this network has been enlarged Europe-wide and partially in Asia with both sides benefiting from the synergy effects.

(?) MFN: What do you predict for the future?

(!) K. R.: For the future I see new markets emerging in the eastern European countries as well a booming demand both in the domestic and western European markets due to the boosting industries. We feel well prepared to meet the demands, to serve any customers according to his specific requirements, as customers' requirements rank first.

We at MFN would like to thank Mr. Konrad Rump for the interview.

For Information:
Konrad Rump Oberflächentechnik
P.O.Box 1462, 33146 Salzkotten, Germany
Tel. +49.5258.508 0, Fax +49.5258.508 101
E-mail: info@rump-oft.de
www.rump-oft.de

Persons to contact: 
Konrad Rump, Managing Director
Heinz Dieter Wischer,
Authorised Signatory / Sales Manager