Better by design RZB Leuchten

BETTER BY DESIGN

Renowned lighting expert RZB Leuchten has been sharing its unique mix of design and efficiency with designers and architects for nearly 75 years. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to international sales director Pascal Rinckenberger.

Established in Bamberg, Germany in 1939, RZB Leuchten is still owned by the founding family, with its name coming from the founder, Rudolf Zimmermann of Bamberg. Initially started as a manufacturer of electrical consumer goods, RZB Leuchten has steadily developed its ‘qualitative lighting’ business to become one of the most influential enterprises in the European lighting industry.

RZB Leuchten’s international sales director Pascal Rinckenberger told Industry Europe about the company’s long-standing role as a pioneer. He said, “We have more than 500 employees and they are all dedicated to the challenge of constant innovation in order to continue to produce luminaires of the highest quality. We manufacture more than 20,000 high-end lighting units every day, so we know that this is only possible when the whole company is devoted to one crucial aim, and that is the desire to get as close as humanly possible to perfection.”

Consistent quality

This quest for perfection is a common theme throughout Industry Europe’s interview with Mr Rinckenberger. He explains that RZB Leuchten’s market-leading position in European lighting comes from the surety that the company’s role is to set standards rather than meet them. He continued, “Our success has always been driven by our willingness to improve the quality of our

products and by ensuring the efficiency of our manufacturing processes. We have proven that our unique balance of design and efficiency can consistently create what we call qualitative functional lighting.”

By defining its offer as qualitative lighting, RZB Leuchten highlights its understanding of the purpose of good lighting, both in terms of the beauty of the product and the application. Mr Rinckenberger explained how this works in practice. He said, “We start by taking a light source and then we build a luminaire to support the efficiency of that light source. We know that poor lighting can see up to 40 per cent of output lost, so we make sure that our products are both beautiful and brilliant!”

Quality is the watchword at RZB Leuchten – quality when it comes to product performance, design and also customer service. The company is active across Europe’s lighting industry, with a broad range of designers and architects specifying RZB Leuchten. Offering lighting for applications including indoor, outdoor, emergency, office and signage, RZB Leuchten works with designers and architects to guarantee that its products are ideally integrated into their schemes, whether that is a large-scale corporate project or a retail project.

Environmental sustainability is also important to RZB Leuchten. The company knows that good lighting can effectively contribute to reducing the environmental impact of a building, particularly when it comes to major corporate or retail projects, so by committing to delivering responsible lighting solutions it is making an important contribution. Mr Rinckenberger continued, “Thinking green is one thing, but making sure it is put into action is quite another. We know that many businesses are reflecting on their own contribution to a more sustainable world but here at RZB Leuchten we feel that just reflecting is not enough. We put our money where our mouth is when it comes to the environment, both with our own facilities and our products.”

In 2010, RZB Leuchten fitted its Bamberg plant with a high-tech solar energy system that has over 30,000m2 of solar collector

surface, generating over 1.1 megawatts of output – almost as much as the whole manufacturing plant requires. This has also reduced the site’s carbon emissions by 930,000 kilograms per year.

Form and function

It’s not just the manufacturing site itself that is forward-thinking. The R&D department is also at the top of its game. Under the statement, ‘It’s good when form follows function. It’s even better when the two harmonise’ RZB Leuchten is leading the way in lighting design. Mr Rinckenberger continued, “We work with a number of creative designers, both internally and externally, to guarantee that we continue to create and produce beautiful, functional lighting. We believe that it is only once you have mastered the essentials that you can deliver innovation and invention, and with nearly 75 years of lighting knowledge under our belts, we know that we are in the best position to do this.”

RZB Leuchten’s passion for beauty and functionality in lighting has been noted by a number of respected design bodies. Having recently been awarded a Red Dot award for its integrated LED lighting solutions, the company is proud to have industry recognition. Mr Rinckenberger added, “This smart new solution blends technology and excellent design – exactly what we are best known for – and we have been gaining a number of awards for it – nearly 40 in fact. This ‘smart lighting’ marks an important step in our next chapter as we can really implement everything that we have learned over the past seven decades and marry it with our exceptional understanding of innovative lighting solutions.” n