Schalksmühle, 18.03.2024. South Westphalia is the fourth strongest industrial region in Germany and the clear number one in North Rhine-Westphalia. Small and medium-sized family businesses ensure the economic strength of the region with their inventions and patents, especially in the commercial sector. Every other employee works in the industry here. The often largely unknown companies gladly occupy market niches where they are world leaders – the so-called “Hidden Champions”. South Westphalia has over 160 world market leaders.

Yesterday afternoon, Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economy, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, together with the SIHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) in Hagen and their campaign “World Leaders from South Westphalia,” awarded 15 more companies. One of the winners is the internationally active Lumberg Group, which received the award as world market leader for RAST connectors.

The acronym stands for “Raster-Anschluss-Steck-Technik” (Raster Connection Plug Technology). In close coordination between the most important German household appliance manufacturers Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances (BSH), Miele, AEG (now Electrolux), Bauknecht (now Whirlpool), and the connector manufacturers, a standard that is still in use today was established in the early 1980s. The aim was to standardize the components, ensure the interchangeability of connectors from different manufacturers, and eliminate errors in the production process due to incorrectly connected connectors, or to simplify assembly in the assembly of end devices and minimize wiring errors. The RAST technology allows the grouping of connections, thereby avoiding the use of individual wires – and unlike other systems, harnessing with cables can be fully automated. From the multitude of consumer goods – starting with washing machines and dryers, refrigerators and freezers, dishwashers, stoves, or microwaves, as well as household small appliances, including coffee machines, toasters, mixers, vacuum cleaners, and shavers – the RAST connector has spread to other business fields due to its economical processing. Today, it can be found, for example, in the heating and building industry as well as in medical technology or in many well-known vehicles – and continues to spread there steadily.

“We are pleased with today’s visibility as world leaders – as our products are always invisible to the end consumer,” emphasized Meike Schmidt, Managing Partner of the Lumberg Group. “I also congratulate the other world leaders from South Westphalia. None of them are at the top by chance; they have all earned this position with innovations, determination, and their strong team,” she emphasized.

Total no. of characters incl. blanks: 2.706