Many companies consider quality assurance and quality management to be a necessary evil which costs a lot of money but does not generate any immediate revenue. The timber industry was no exception here. Klaus Kempf, owner and managing director of easyQ, confidently uses the past tense in this context: “The image of quality assurance within the cross-laminated timber sector and the entire glued timber industry has significantly improved in recent years. Companies have recognized that long-term success is only possible with guaranteed and, above all, continuously documented product quality.”
The company, which is headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, is directly involved in almost every success story. It holds an estimated market share of around 80% in the global CLT industry. “We supply complete laboratory equipment to our customers, from delamination test systems to universal testing machines and modern test bench software,” Kempf tells us.
Quality includes appearance
According to Kempf, there has been a noticeable domino effect within the cross-laminated timber industry in recent years. “When the first companies began to give laboratory tests a much higher priority, many other companies gradually followed suit. End customers in the construction industry also notice the effect of top-quality laboratory equipment because the laboratory, like the rest of the production process, contributes significantly to overall success. A dated test system or bench, which is left under a staircase to collect dust, does not leave a very positive impression on a tour of a production site.” For the managing director, the perception of his systems is important as well: “Our success is mainly the result of our commitment to innovation. When developing new test systems, we not only focus on technical aspects and refinements but also on their appearance. Well-maintained and visually appealing testing equipment in a modern laboratory immediately catches every customer’s eye.”
Continuous further development
Kempf is aware of his company’s leading position in the laboratory equipment market. “We didn’t get this far by chance,” the managing director says confidently. “Our systems are equipped with top-quality technology, which is easy and intuitive to use. We are constantly working on improving the prescribed test methods, and we try to continuously optimize our test systems while increasing their user-friendliness.” In development, the focus is currently on artificial intelligence and, specifically, on expanding and further developing the test bench software. Delamination tests, where the evaluation of the fracture patterns is currently done manually by the operator, are one example. “In the future, we want to use AI to offer support here and provide the employee with a preliminary assessment based on intelligent image recognition. This saves time and increases the efficiency of sample testing, while also further minimizing the risk of errors,” Kempf says, giving an insight into current development agendas.
