COMPANY HERRSCHER
Keeping tight delivery deadlines
Natursteinbetrieb Herrscher
CNC machines from Burkhardt-Löffler form the backbone of production at the Herrscher natural stone company in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
The latest investment is an LDZ 2000 sawing center.
If you like things to be quiet, you’re in the wrong place in shopfitting. Short delivery times and high demands on materials and workmanship require top performance from everyone involved. Ordered today and delivered tomorrow if possible – Herrscher is used to this kind of stress. Founded in 1914, the 16-strong stonemasonry business in the south-east of Rothenburg is run by Joachim and Jürgen Herrscher in the third generation. A family business as it is written in the book: Both brothers each have a son who works in production as an industrial foreman specializing in natural stone, and two daughters are also active in the business.
Countertops of all types and sizes are an important pillar of the business – not only in the hotel industry, but also in bakeries, butchers and pharmacies, for example. The customer base ranges from local carpentry businesses to international hotel outfitters. Compared to industrial processors with planning phases due to the size of the company, Herrscher scores points with the high flexibility of the trade. The recipe for success is the lightning-fast response to customer inquiries. Deadline problems are unheard of, thanks to the experienced team of long-serving employees. The company supplies European and even global shopfitters. Workpieces from Rothenburg have not only been installed in Luxembourg, but even in Kuwait. The Herrschers still swear by natural stone for shopfitting and counter construction, which is usually available in thicknesses of three centimetres. NERO IMPALA and NERO ASSOLUTO are so popular in shopfitting and gastronomy because they are not only visually „neutral“, but above all easy to clean and resistant to discoloration and grease, explains Jürgen Herrscher. These are particularly important criteria in the bar area and for transfer plates at the interface between kitchen and service.
German-speaking service
The Rothenburg-based company invested in state-of-the-art machines at an early stage. When a Löffler TB 600 was installed 19 years ago, this saw already had a camera for panel detection. Today, a total of four Burkhard-Löffler systems are in operation in the 1,000 m2 production hall. An LDZ2000 sawing and routing center is the latest addition and also the second of its kind at Herrscher. As with the previous machines, the decisive factor was the many years of trusting support from Burkhardt-Löffler employees and the robust machine construction of the German manufacturer, explains Jürgen Herrscher. According to Herrscher, the high value stability on the used market also contributed to the decision. Operating times of 3,000 hours per year are normal. Another criterion is the manufacturer’s rapid response in the event of a breakdown. If a spindle is defective, the system is made ready for use again within a few hours without any red tape.
Technically advanced
The LDZ 2000 is equipped with a fixed work table with a 4 x 3 m work surface and an add-on table that provides space for the automatic manipulation of panels between cutting operations. To allow spontaneous manual cuts without programming, the saw has a simple manual control system. There have been several years of development between the first LDZ 2000 and the current machine, explains the master stonemason. This is noticeable in practice because all work steps are faster, from changing tools and positioning the head to separating the sawn pieces; even the sawing process is faster compared to the previous version. The considerable degree of automation of the LDZ 2000 not only ensures a fast throughput and greater reliability, but also has a positive side effect: overtime is almost non-existent, Jürgen Herrscher is pleased to report. The machine even runs long cycles overnight with 98 percent reliability. If there is a malfunction, the system stops at this point. The tight delivery deadlines can only be met if the production process runs smoothly. The tight cycle time even makes it possible to fill in for urgent requests from other companies with contract manufacturing. As a rule, the orders are ready for the start of work the next morning and can be processed immediately without any loss of time.
Images: Jürgen Herrscher, Thomas Straßner
