LINAK moves the kitchen
By Dirk Biermann
She is 1.60 m tall and he is 1.85 m tall – and they both like to cook. In such cases,
even an ergonomically oriented kitchen plan reaches its limits if it relies on rigid
heights. Height-adjustable worktops could be a solution here. In addition, thisflexibility is much easier and more cost-effective to achieve than you might think.
Including sales margins.
The Danish company LINAK
is one of the world’s leading providers of actuator systems forheight-adjustable worktops. Thekitchen industry has only knownthe company intensively for about
two years. However, in health care,
agriculture and industry, LINAK
is considered to be one of the predominant providers when it comes to exact positioning of working heights. And, of course in theoffice. Electronically controlled
technology for the height-adjustable office desk – known amongst
specialists as a “sit-stand workplace” – is one of the company’s
core competencies. About one
third of its EUR 400 million turnover goes to the furniture account.
In Germany, this share of turnoveris even 37 %.

Electronically controlled lifting
systems for furniture are part ofthe DESKLINE division. The emphasis is on the first part of word:
Desk. Therefore, it is by no meansa term from the depths of the Danish vocabulary, but regular English spelling, indicating its international orientation.
Joyful experience
The kitchen industry is relatively new to the Danish company,
but market-oriented solutions arealready in the product range. “Atthe launch four years ago, we examined whether our proven products are suitable for kitchen appli­ essing,cations,” says Christoph M
DESKLINE sales manager in Germany and Austria. As one of thepioneers, the kitchen furniture

manufacturer team7 applied a lifting system, and a further pilot
partner, Sachsenküchen, followed
shortly thereafter. The use of thetechnology went smoothly andthe gain in comfort in the application was a joyful experience forall those who previously had trouble with not quite optimal working
heights. Besides team7 and Sachsenküchen, the list of LINAK customers now includes more renowned names such as Tielsa, Zeyko,kuhlmann, eggersmann, Störmer
and the Swedish company NobiaGroup. Another one is rKüchentechnik. The accessory specialistfrom Halver was one of the first to
focus on height adjustability with
Danish-made technology and created their own trademark with“rGonomic.”		
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Fotos: Biermann

Christoph Messing, DESKLINE Sales Manager at LINAK GmbH in Nidda, presents the company’s first specialised kitchen product: Baselift. The heightadjustment has been on the market for about one year.

New development
at interzum 2015:
The extension table with battery
operation should
simplify use inheight-adjustable
kitchens.

Johnny Petersen, CEO of the Danish kitchen furniture
manufacturer Sonderborg Kitchens, is a trendsetter
who provides inspiring ideas for the development ofheight-adjustable kitchen furniture. LINAK and Sonderborg Kitchens work closely together.

9/2015

However, integrating these basic components poses a challenge
to customers, because every manufacturer of kitchen furnituremust construct its own furniture
solution. One manufacturer integrated the lifting technology on
the sides of furniture, the same
way as with an office desk; anotherhad produced a firmly welded frame which the kitchen furniture of
the island or kitchenette was attached to.
First special kitchen product
Designing and implementing
customised solutions is daily business for kitchen furniture manufacturers, and thus feasible– especially for medium-sized manufacturers. However, it represents a certain obstacle for standardised use in cycle-dependent
volume production. “Together with
our development partners from trade and industry, we quickly realised that we are best off putting thetechnology in the base,” explains
Christoph Messing. This is because, kitchen furniture manufacturers in Germany usually mountbase feet under the base units, sothat the space needed for the lifting technology is available anyway. The specialists’ discussion
also revealed another aspect, adds
Christian Renner, who is responsible for public relations at LINAK
GmbH: “An adjustment of 10 cm issufficient to ease most height problems in the kitchen and significantly increase comfort.” The result of these considerations is theBaselift, the first LINAK product,“which was specially designed foruse in the kitchen,” says Christoph
Messing. Baselift was presented atthe ZOW 2014, and the product has
been on the market since summerof last year.
Simply screw it under thefurniture
Each Baselift has a load capacity of 150 kilos and is mounted under the cabinets in the kitchen instead of the base feet. Up to four ofthese mechanical components canbe connected to an electronic control unit and four of these control
units can be connected in series.
This gives a maximum lifting capacity of more than two tons. “Generous safety reserves are included,”
the manufacturer says. After all,when guests at a party sit on thework surface after a few drinks andrun the worktop up and down electrically, the technology should still
be able to handle it. A helpful feature during installation: the electronics are initialised at the touchof a button via “plug and play” injust five seconds. The height adjustment is operated with control device or in the work surface – or byremote control.
But the Baselift can be mounted
on more than just the base. Further
positioning is possible dependingon what is to be moved electrically. For instance, it can also be positioned under the working surface if a rack module is to be moved
down from the tabletop or all cabinets should be adjusted at different
heights. Manufacturer eggersmannpresented ideas at LivingKitchen
2015.
küchenplaner

A motor-driven spindle rotates tomove a tube with a nut forward
and backward on the spindle. This
generates a linear movement.

Relief for the best friend
LINAK is headquartered in Nordborg, southern Denmark, approximately 50 kilometres by car from theGerman-Danish border. The roots ofthe company date back to 1907, when
the grandfather of the present owner
founded the Christian Jensen Maskinfabrik. Nordborg was still German
territory at that time, by the way. However, the company did not undergo dynamic development until 1976,
when current CEO and owner Bent
Jensen took over the company. Until
the mid-1970s, the family dealt withthe production of pulleys and grinding plants for agriculture, providing
a living for seven employees. But graduate mechanical engineer Bent Jensen was not that eager to take overthe family business – he wanted towork abroad and make his own career.
However, a very special situation made him rethink. A car accident left one of his best friends fromschool wheelchair-bound: Hans ­PeterClausen, from the family of the neighbouring heating company Danfoss.
Bent Jensen developed an electric risefunction for his wheelchair to makehis friend’s life a little easier. This
electric linear actuator was later refined to form the basis of the present
business and has enabled the company to develop on a global level. The
first linear actuator was introduced tothe market in 1979.

Precise adjustment
Six years later, the company wasrenamed “LINAK,” which is composedof the initials of the product, “­linearactuator.” LINAK only manufactures
certain components itself. The focus ison development and a cutting-edge
assembly line.
However, two core competencies remain in own hands and include
its own manufacturing. These are theelectronic controls as well as the steelspindles, which convert the electric
impulses in a precisely defined relationship between power and speed.
The production of electronic controls
is not given to a supplier until thetechnology functions perfectly, i.e.
absolutely free of malfunctions on thelong term.

Countless tests
To ensure this process reliability, LINAK has integrated several test stations
into the entire production and assembly process. The goal is to keep the tolerances as tight as possible. For example, the thread of the piston rod is not
cut from raw material, but pressed inward into the material to ensure maximum stability and rigidity. Thanks to
its own mechanical engineering, LINAK
is able to comply with individual customer requests as to height adjustment. Where it always is about adjusting speed and force - depending on
the application.

LINAK maintains it is the only manufacturer of electric linear actuator systems which has such a tightknit integration of development, maincomponent production and assembly
processes and offers mechanics andelectronics from a single source. 40 experts work in the development department of the DESKLINE furniture division alone. They design the mechanicalcomponents as well as the electronics
and software.
Another important aspect is the design. Here, LINAK sees itself as the interface between designers and manufacturers. More and more OEM
customers value and use this pool ofideas for new products,” says Nina
Ramberg of LINAK Marketing. “We wantto create products that fit into any design,” she adds.

Rapid growth
Today, the company employs 1,900
people at four production sites inDenmark, the USA, China and Slovakia, and has 30 subsidiaries worldwide. The German subsidiary, withits 65 employees, is located in Nidda (near Frankfurt) and the managing
director is Sören Rasmussen. Within
10 years, the LINAK Group’s turnover
has nearly doubled, and rose from
327 million euros to nearly 400 million euros in the last business year
alone. (dib)		
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The DESKLINE
business is likea factory inside a factory.
Here, the departments fromdevelopment toassembly andmanagement
work together.
Glass walls divide the areas;
the atmosphereis surprisinglyquiet.

View through the Plexiglas basecover: This is how the Baselift modules are assembled. Each of thesemechanical components carries up
to 150 kilos.

For accessories wholesalers, too
Baselift technology can beused in the kitchen furniture
manufacturer’s in-house production. However, specialty dealers
in charge of planning can use it,
too: in addition to rKüchentechnik,­Naber will also be including Baselift in its sales programme, starting at area30 in September 2015.
LINAK is open for further sales
channels in industry and wholesale. After all, it is a standardisedindustrial product for which there
can be no claim to exclusivity, explains ­Christoph Messing.
The conventional lifting technology will continue to be offered at
the same time. This technology displays its strengths whenever theadjustment range must be morethan 10 cm, if customised solutions
are needed and when even greater
weights must be moved.
“Gateway drug” for theindustry
New in the product range is thebattery-operated height-adjustableside table, which was introduced
at Interzum 2015. Height-adjustable tables have actually been usedin the kitchen for decades, but they
never really gained widespread
acceptance. There may be different reasons for this, a very practical one being that the cables forthe power supply cannot always becompletely hidden. “Battery operation has solved this problem entirely,” says Christian Renner, emphasising the advantage of thisnew development and winkingly
calling it a “gateway drug for theindustry.” This means the simple
side table is used to whet the appetite for height adjustability, resulting in a next stage of development
for kitchenettes and islands movedby Baselift.
Comfort with added value
Height adjustability in the kitchen probably won’t become “mainstream” on the short term but it always has potential for growth indefined market segments. LINAK
has made it clear that it does notwant this subject to remain confined to the premium segment, butrather the “high-end standard kitchen from about 8000 euros.” FourBaselift modules will cost about
1,500 euros for the end customer.
Three modules will do for a separate functional areas or small kitchen blocks, further reducing thecost, which C­hristoph Messing
maintains can be brought down
to under the 1,000 euro threshold.
“With the Baselift, we have cut theprice in half, while retaining thefull storage space” is his well-formulated sales pitch that should beused in many sales conversations.
The aspect of the additional revenue generation should also pleaseretailers. After all, mentioning thesubject of height adjustability not
only polishes one’s image as anadvisor, it also leads to concretesales.		
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