Living our values
Cable-Organizer
Living our values
Schmersal honey
Eco-friendly
giveaways through upcycling
Taking responsibility for our planet is one of our company values which is actively pursued at Schmersal.
This is also reflected in the production of our “homemade” giveaways. Inspired by the familiar mess of cables in briefcases or bags and by our company value which states that we play an active role in improving our environmental footprint, we came up with the idea of making our own cable organizers using excess material of the plastic component production. They are more than just little gifts; they carry the logo and image of the company.
This allows us to combine two different benefits – small, useful gifts for our customers and business partners and the sustainable use of valuable raw materials.
We are particularly proud of the fact that our cable tidies are genuine Schmersal products, from the idea and the design through tooling to material preparation and production. Employees from various departments worked with great creativity and commitment to ensure that you are now receiving a small gift that is made from as many recycled and upcycled materials as possible.
Design and Patent – Schmersal
An internal competition was held for the design of the giveaways. There were several teams competing: Trainees, installation technicians, production foremen and their assistants from the plastic component manufacturing department participated, but also colleagues from research and development contributed ideas.
The first hand-drawn sketches were transformed in the CAD system by the research and development department and the first prototypes were produced using in-house 3D printers based on the CAD data.
Schmersal applied for the registration of the design for the two winning options – cable organizers for charging cables and headphone cables.
Production
For the production of the cable organizer for charging cables, we selected an elastomer which is used in various Schmersal products, such as buffers in the actuator in the AZM solenoid interlock and in various fibre-optic cables in the RSS36, RSS260 safety switches, etc. An unreinforced thermoplastic was used for the headphone cable tidy. This material is primarily used for the actuator discs in the AZ15 and AZ16 safety switches.
Both materials are recycled: The injection waste from the production of safety switches is collected and sorted and crushed with a beside-the-machine granulator. In future, the aim is to develop an in-house process for the milling of injection waste, so that we can produce more products and components from recycled materials. This reduces waste and improves the environmental footprint of Schmersal products.
The tools to produce the giveaways are manufactured by the company’s own toolmaking department.
Packaging
We pack the giveaways in plastic bags made mostly of recycled plastic. The base material is polyethylene (PE), which can be almost completely recycled.
The grey part of the bag is made to 95 % from recycled material and is produced from production excesses such as cut-outs. This means we use resources more efficiently.
The front of the bag is transparent, but so far there is no foil made of recycled material available. Both parts of the bag are 100 % recyclable. Using recycled foil for our bags helps to reduce waste and to conserve fossil resources.
© 2024 K.A. Schmersal GmbH & Co. KG