Sachsenfenster GmbH & Co. KG in Rammenau (Germany)

For over 25 years Sachsenfenster GmbH & Co. KG in Rammenau near Dresden has been a successful supplier of wood and wood/aluminium windows. The company has relied on Teknos coating solutions for almost as long.

"We made a conscious decision to veer away from growth as a top priority”, says Andreas Langhammer, Owner, Sales and HR Director at Sachsenfenster GmbH & Co. KG in Rammenau near Dresden since 2015. "We do not focus on the greatest possible quantities, but on the continuous development in the field of added value in product, quality and high customer satisfaction." The result of this company philosophy is a healthy, well positioned medium-sized company, which holds a successful position in the market as a window manufacturer.

The company was founded in 1991 by Klaus Wolf. The native Silesian lived in the region after the war, before moving to South Tyrol and becoming a successful window manufacturer with Wolf Fenster AG. After the reunification of Germany he then laid the foundation stone in Saxony for a second success story. Since November 2015 Sachsenfenster has been an independent company under new management. Management and staff still have a friendly relationship with the former parent company.

Only wood and wood/aluminium

Sachsenfenster employs around 70 people and produces up to 15,000 window units every year. The company sells a third of this via dealers, predominantly regional joinery workshops in the Saxony area. Business with private building contractors and their architects account for another third. The contract business is a third pillar also forming a third of sales. Sachsenfenster is a sought-after reliable partner to property developers, their architects and site managers and considered for many construction projects. Two own and several closely associated installation teams are on the move in Germany and the neighbouring countries.

The company exclusively produces wood and wood/aluminium windows as well as folding, sliding and entrance doors. The window portfolio comprises various product lines in timber frame thicknesses of 68 to 88 millimetres for classic, listed and state-of-the-art buildings. Heat, sound and burglary protection are becoming increasingly relevant. For wide-opening accesses the company has folding doors with up to seven elements as well as lifting and sliding doors with and without fixed leaf in the product range. House doors are available in eight different design series with over 50 basic versions. Sachsenfenster also offers numerous optional features and accessories from venetian blinds to insect screens.

Market research on old window containers

"A good indicator of how the market is evolving is on the old window container on our premises", explains Managing Director Falko Siegert. “You will see a lot of plastic windows there at the moment. After reunification, Eastern Germany was quickly modernised as economically as possible. Today customers place significantly greater value on appearance and quality. That’s why we have many properties where older plastic windows are replaced with wood or wood/aluminium."

Wooden windows account for around 40 percent of sales at Sachsenfenster, wood/aluminium windows around 60 percent. The proportions vary, however, depending on the type of property. “For homes and new buildings we mostly rely on wood/aluminium windows, for refurbishments and particularly listed historical buildings we have a high proportion of pure wooden windows”, adds Falko Siegert.

Sachsenfenster is geared to customer preferences in design and feature options. “We basically offer everything that the customer wants”, says Andreas Langhammer. Currently, that particularly means: Floor to ceiling window areas with large opening and floor-level threshold. Elements almost three meters in height and over five metres wide are not uncommon.

Another trend is the higher level of safety features. “Where a door viewer was previously sufficient, cameras and electronic surveillance systems are being used today”, explains Falko Siegert. Sachsenfenster offers RC2-certified windows with corresponding fittings and safety glass and provides the connection of contacts to the building’s safety features and equipment. The company invests in specific training and employs its own electricians to ensure the necessary expertise in this field.

High quality with Teknos

In manufacturing Sachsenfenster relies on a modern, modular designed production facility with semi-automated processes and skilled workmanship by qualified joiners. “The combination of automation and skilled craftsmanship allows us to manufacture quickly and flexibly”, explains Falko Siegert. “We are consequently able to address varying requirements optimally, whether standard windows or a protected element of a listed building in a special design. Modification of the system is only required when switching between wood and wood/aluminium.”

Sachsenfenster has two flow coat systems for coating and an automatic spraying system with recovery. Manual spraying is also carried out on small lot sizes. In all cases the company has relied almost exclusively on Teknos paint systems for more than 20 years. “The Teknos paints are easy to work with and achieve a surface finish which meets the high quality requirements perfectly”, confirms Falko Siegert. Individual colour ranges according to RAL/NCS are tinted by Sachsenfenster in their own Teknos tinting machine on site. In the case of specific customer orders and special colours the company resorts to the support of the Teknos colour lab in Fulda.

Sachsenfenster currently uses TEKNOL AQUA 1410, AQUAPRIMER 2900, various ANTISTAIN AQUA special primers and the topcoat AQUATOP 2600 depending on the wood species and requirement. 70 percent of Sachsenfenster's wooden windows are painted opaque, a high proportion of them in white. In wood/aluminium elements there is an equal balance between opaque and transparent surfaces. In the case of wood/aluminium windows in spruce, a colourless, natural surface coating is particularly popular.

Notable projects

Sachsenfenster windows with Teknos coating are not only installed in many detached and semi-detached houses in the region. They are also found in larger properties such as exclusive housing projects in the centre of Berlin or Leipzig, the SOS Children's Village in Berlin or the recently completed “Insel der Sinne” in Görlitz, a wellness hotel at Lake Berzdorf with large sliding door elements. Unusual elements such as the individual colourful tree house windows at the Einsiedel “island of culture” are also made in Rammenau.

These and many other examples show that Sachsenfenster impresses its customers with customer focus, a good value for money and excellent quality. A good cooperation with partners also helps. “As a medium-sized company we do not have a large R&D department continuously working on new developments”, explains Andreas Langhammer. “That’s why innovative suppliers are important for us, and being able to work together with these suppliers on innovations and then put these into practice. With Teknos we have also had excellent experiences in this respect, for example in the introduction of colourless coating.”

Sachsenfenster is well positioned for the future in all respects and will continue to develop positively - without just relying on growth.

www.sachsenfenster.de