SWISS COMBI - A Swiss SME with a flair for market developments

SWISS COMBI has been developing clean and efficient drying solutions for biomass for years. Our company is synonymous with innovation, progress and the recognition of market potential as well as high Swiss quality. In doing so, we create an individual solution for each of our customers. Since its foundation in 1959, our company has repeatedly proven its future viability and launched product innovations that have been able to solve many problems existing in the market.

How it all began

In the years following the company’s founding, further solutions were added. The SWISS COMBI drying system, for example, made it possible to dry sugar beet residues from sugar production - the first such system was installed in a sugar factory in Denmark back in 1965. The next innovation came just two years later: a cube press that could be used to press cut grass into fodder pellets.

Continuous development

In the years following the company’s founding, further solutions were added. The SWISS COMBI drying system, for example, made it possible to dry sugar beet residues from sugar production - the first such system was installed in a sugar factory in Denmark back in 1965. The next innovation came just two years later: a cube press that could be used to press cut grass into fodder pellets.

Handing over to the next generation

In 1967, sales increased steadily, and space became scarce. Therefore, a warehouse was added to the factory premises in Dintikon, which had been constructed 6 years earlier. In the same year, Werner Kunz Sr. handed over the management of the company to his son, Werner Kunz Jr, who focused even more on product quality and innovation. For him, it was clear that the company could only survive if the products remained relevant and underwent constant development.

Environmental protection and energy efficiency as innovation drivers

From the beginning of the 1980s, the topics of environmental protection and energy efficiency became increasingly relevant. The grass dryers in particular produced a lot of dust and therefore had to be further improved. The solution was the “KUVO” developed by Werner Kunz Jr.: a dust filter that captured the dust in the product and enabled pre-drying. As a result, it was not only cleaner, but was also more energy-efficient. A further development from the KUVO was the low-temperature belt dryer. The first two units of this type were put into operation simultaneously in two sugar factories in 1983. The trick: they used the waste heat from the sugar production process to dry the beet pulp.

Innovation thanks to a smelly problem

In 1989, W. Kunz Jr. had a major success with the ecoDry drum dryer. It was started by a problem for which the customers needed an urgent solution: Stinky sewage sludge was to be dried. However, the sewage treatment plant was located in the middle of the city of Biel, so unpleasant odors had to be neutralized during the drying process. , W. Kunz Jr. succeeded in developing a drying system that neutralized the odor of the exhaust steam during drying. Just one year after the invention of the ecoDry system, eight such sewage sludge drying plants were in operation in France, Germany and Switzerland. In the years that followed, the system was continuously developed further and was also used for odor-free drying of other products such as grass, alfalfa, corn and wood chips.

Restructuring

In 1995, the company went through a crisis and had to be restructured. The sewage sludge division was sold to the newly founded company SC Technology AG (SCT). The production division became an independent company, now called S Combi AG. The engineering company continued as W. Kunz dryTec AG, but the key components of the dryers continued to be manufactured at S Combi AG. The company recovered quickly and was soon able to celebrate great successes in the ethanol and starch industries with the ecoDry system.

Never say never

Initially, Markus Kunz never envisaged joining the company of his father W. Kunz jun.
After graduating, he went into management consulting and worked in this sector for a good 10 years. In 2006, however, he decided to join the family business as COO and contribute his knowledge from management consulting in order to prepare the company for the future.

Instead of taking on a new challenge after three years, as originally planned, Markus Kunz took over the majority of the shares in 2011 and has been managing the fortunes of the Swiss SME as CEO ever since. Today, W. Kunz dryTec AG is one of the world’s leading suppliers of drying systems with the brand name SWISS COMBI.

Third generation visionary

Like his father and his grandfather before him, Markus Kunz also has a feeling for which problems offer the potential for great innovations. He knows from his time in management consulting: Innovations are essential for companies to survive. But they must not be too far ahead of their time. If the market is not ready, even the best ideas will not be successful. The latest coup for the traditional Swiss company is a further development of the ecoDry system, which helps to solve several problems at once. After intensive tinkering, the engineering team has found a way to process liquid fermentation residues (product of biogas production) or liquid manure into a fertilizer granulate or fertilizer pellets.

No innovation without committed employees

As an SME, SWISS COMBI does not operate its own research and development department. Product innovations must therefore be conceived, built, tested and further developed in parallel with ongoing operations. The remarkable innovation performance of this small company is only possible because of the commitment of its employees. They contribute their knowledge and experience and thus ensure the continued existence of “their” company.

SWISS COMBI - Gas-Gas High Temperature Heat Exchanger

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