News

Enclosures and operating elements for modern measuring technology

Modern measurement technology helps you and your company to meet all requirements concerning ecological, economical and human aspects. Benefits include more energy savings, productivity, improved product quality, high-quality healthcare and seamless monitoring and documentation, to name but a few.

At OKW, we develop the right enclosures and operating elements for your measuring tasks. Whether measured manually or controlled automatically – thanks to our system diversity, OKW solutions are at home in a wide variety of application scenarios in measuring technology.

Don't compromise on precision. Measure and control your world with OKW enclosure solutions!

Find an overview of the key requirements here >>

New logistics building for OKW

The construction of a new, modern logistics centre on our company premises started with the ground-breaking ceremony on 25.07.2023. In future, enclosures and tuning knobs will be stocked here with optimised access, individually processed for customers and shipped all over the world.

The plans have been in progress since 2020 and are part of a comprehensive investment strategy to bring our headquarters up to the most modern standards. A 3,000 square metre hall construction with a height of 9 metres will be built, in some areas on two levels.

"Our employees will then have access to the latest warehouse technology and an optimum, flexible hall layout for our warehousing and shipping activities," says Logistics Manager Alexander Krylow, who is driving forward the optimisation of the flow of goods in the new areas. The new logistics centre will have a positive impact on energy and process efficiency in storage, order picking and shipping.

MINI-DATA-BOX with flanges now also available in two colours

As of now, the MINI-DATA-BOX enclosures with flanges are also available in the standard range in two colours, in the combination of traffic white (top part) and traffic grey A (bottom part), made of flame-resistant ASA+PC plastic.

The function part with flanges in the muted grey tone contrasts cleverly with the top part and thus creates a special charm for your application and its surroundings. This combination creates a fine harmony, is incredibly versatile and leaves enough room for your corporate design.

Find out for yourself! We would be pleased to send you a sample.

MINI-DATA-BOX

OKW IS ALWAYS AT YOUR SERVICE!

We are available for you throughout the summer season.

Our service center will be closed briefly for maintenance from 7th August to 11th August 2023. We would therefore ask you to plan your requirements in good time.

OKW-Team wishes all our customers and business partners a happy summer!

REMARKABLE ARTICLE - CHAPTER 1

On this day 75 years ago, the foundations of what we know today as OKW were born. Today we want to honor this remarkable piece of history, through which the bases of the turtle family were built. We invite you to read this first chapter of an exciting story. so you can get to know us more closely. Thank you for being part of it.

It looks inconspicuous at first glance. A yellowed piece of paper from a typewriter and the faint stamp of a post-war economic authority in Karlsruhe. The official date typed: June 28, 1948.

If we think about it carefully, what is reflected in the document is something as significant as the birth of our family business!

Our globally active OKW Group would simply not exist today without the "Operating License No. 3394", exactly 75 years ago. The OKW story started two years earlier, in 1946, located in remote rooms at the Franz Fertig furniture factory - as a small press shop business in the Odenwald. In this place, the former high school teacher Dr Herbert Schneider had a team of technically experienced employees around him. They experimented together and improvised, organising two presses and the first orders. It was a "wild" time when there were neither materials nor machines, and everyday life was regulated by the American allied government.

Let's have a closer look at this historical letter written in German, where we can find a mention of "pressed objects made of synthetic resin material" and "wood-look synthetic material for furniture construction". At that time, plastic processing was a very new concept that was beginning to emerge. Over time, natural resins have been replaced by synthetic resins such as thermosets, saving cost and effort. This technology was also used in the newly established Odenwald plastics factory*. At first, small orders were established to develop electrical accessories such as plugs, and even razor cases no matter the quantity, later they made their way into the radio potentiometers and tuning knobs industry.

Therefore, glamour is manifested in this letter!

Back in June 1948, when Herbert Schneider held the mail from Karlsruhe in his hands, he must had sighed with relief. The rest is (our) history...

75 years ago to the present day! We should all be proud to be part of such a successful company history!

*Odenwälder Kunststoffwerk (OKW) was founded in 1948 by Dr. Herbert Schneider in the town of Buchen, Odenwald, Germany. Then in 1984 we decided to market the standard enclosures and tuning knobs through the legally independent company Odenwälder Kunststoffwerke Gehäusesysteme GmbH.

REMARKABLE ARTICLE - CHAPTER 1 (PDF) >>

SOLID-BOX

Robust, watertight and stylish at the same time! The new SOLID-BOX enclosure range offers all the requirements that modern electrical/electronic packaging have to meet in industrial environments as well as in protected outdoor areas.

Safety in harsh environments is ensured by the high IP66/IP67 protection class, IK08 impact protection and the flame-retardant V0 material from 1.5 mm and thicker, with increased heat distortion temperature (Vicat/B 120 = 110 °C). Furthermore, the flame resistance is chlorine and bromine-free. Thanks to their highly polished enclosure finish and contour-flush design trims for concealed screw areas outside the sealed area, the industrial enclosures are also absolutely convincing in terms of design.

Depending on the application, the enclosures can be individually fitted with accessories, e.g. an internal hinge set as a "cover retention device" for service and maintenance work, enclosure feet for reliable positioning when using the enclosures for desktop applications, cable glands for the vibration-free and non-twist insertion of cables – available with/without pressure compensation to protect sensitive electronics, and much more.

SOLID-BOX

Brilliant lettering and graphics

From now on, we can also print your lettering and graphics in fluorescent inks. These convert invisible UV light into visible light. In this way, colours with the same light intensity are perceived to be brighter, which corresponds to an increase in contrast. These fluorescent inks have a warning effect (hi-vis colour) and attract greater attention (signal colour). These are ideal conditions for use in diffuse light conditions and in hazardous areas. Typical fluorescent colours are yellow, orange, red, pink and green - commonly known as neon colours.

Simply ask our experts! We shall be pleased to advise you on the printing of your enclosures and tuning knobs for your applications.

Printing >>

Colors that glow in the dark

If required, we can now also print using phosphorescent inks in the screen printing process, which glow in the dark. These are special lacquers that are mixed with phosphorus particles. They store light energy and emit it again at night or in dark environments using the luminescence (=cold glowing) principle. Generally speaking, photoluminescent inks are not intended for dark backgrounds.
Possible fields of application: warning signals, safety and orientation signs, highlighting of important equipment functions (e.g. for medical equipment) and much more.

Simply ask our experts! We shall be pleased to advise you.

Printing >>

NEW: CONNECT S with a width of only 42 mm

CONNECT S stands out from conventional enclosure designs thanks to its slim, elongated shape which provides a comfortable, convincing feel. The handy size is particularly easy to grip. Different lengths are available to match individual design requirements.

The possible applications include: remote controls, measuring instruments, detectors with measuring sensors, test systems, analytical instruments, medical and therapeutic applications, data loggers, wired interface enclosures and much more.

CONNECT >>