MADE IN EUROPE

The majority of LEKI products are manufactured in our factory in the Czech Republic. This way, we can control the production stages and ensure the unique quality of LEKI’s products. Our best-selling products are manufactured here in our own factory. During the entire production process, LEKI consistently pursues the path of optimizing workflows and enhancing the entire value chain. We rely on our many years of experience and the passion and dedication of our employees. In recent years, LEKI has made massive technical investments in the future of all its production processes and relies on the most modern, state-of-the-art production facilities. This means achieving the highest standards in occupational safety, energy efficiency and environmental compatibility.

 

Wherever economically possible, LEKI uses the heat generated during the production process to heat our production areas, saving energy. In this way, the warm exhaust air from our compressed air systems is also sustainably used to control the temperature of the production rooms in the adjacent locations. The filter systems in our plants are also equipped with intelligent control technology, which uses the thermal energy in the extracted air and feeds it back into the newly extracted air. This enables us to achieve energy savings of up to 50 percent in the colder seasons. Wherever, due to technological requirements, it is still necessary to use solvents in the production process, these solvents are captured, collected and then purified and treated in a special plant, so that they can be used again for cleaning purposes.

HARDENING PROCESS

LEKI has the only pole production facility in Europe that can harden aluminum using specially developed heat treatment processes. LEKI handles the complete production process, from the raw aluminum tube to the finished pole.

GRINDING THE TUBES

For LEKI, the chemical-free pre-treatment of the pole tubes is extremely important, therefore, LEKI has been using an environmentally friendly process for solvent-free pre-treatment of tubes since 1993. Grinding the surface causes it to become extremely enlarged and provides an optimal basis for subsequent surface treatment processes, such as anodizing, powder coating and painting. Unlike other manufacturing processes, this method produces no contaminated wastewater.

SURFACE FINISHING

When selecting anodizing partners, LEKI pays attention to compliance with REACH/RoHS standards. LEKI does most of the anodizing in house. This means that the components do not have to be shipped back to our anodizing partners for the various stages of the anodizing process, thereby avoiding extra freight transport and additional emissions. During the anodizing process, the aluminum pole is immersed in a special liquid that “opens” the aluminum. Afterwards, the color is applied to the aluminum pole before the surface is closed again. Thanks to this process, the paint cannot be scratched, as would be the case with a normal paint finish.

POWDER PAINTING AND WET PAINTING

Powder painting: powder painting is an especially environmentally friendly process for coating surfaces. Powder painting uses an electrostatic process to apply the decorative and protective layer to the product. Excess overspray is collected and almost all of it is returned to the powder cycle via a special filter system and is re-used. Wet painting: LEKI has been using an electrostatic painting process since the 1980s, in which the paint is efficiently applied to the product in very small particles by means of a high-rotation bell at 40,000 rpm in an electrically charged atomized spray and with the support of an air shroud. LEKI has been involved in the field of wet painting since 1999 with the application of environmentally friendly, water-based paint systems. As a result, we have significantly reduced the use of organic solvents (by 55%, i.e. from approx. 65% to 10%).

INJECTION MOLDING TECHNOLOGY

LEKI always uses recyclable materials. In specific terms, this also means that surplus material remaining from the various production stages – for example in the form of sprues in injection molding, as material cuttings in tube production or in the form of chips in tube processing – is separated according to type in order to feed it back into the production of new products. For example, sprues from the injection molding process are granulated directly at the machine and fed back into the production cycle.