Green kitchens in any color

The Bruynzeel kitchen: impossible to imagine many Dutch households without since the 1930s. DKG, the parent company of Bruynzeel Keukens and Keller Keukens, among others, is therefore the largest kitchen manufacturer in the Netherlands. About 100,000 kitchens are produced each year at the Bergen op Zoom factory: from elegant design models to functional built-in kitchens. What they have in common is their extremely sustainable production - using, among other things, water-based uv lacquers from the Austrian paint and lacquer manufacturer ADLER.

Under the DKG umbrella are two traditional kitchen brands: Bruynzeel Kitchens, founded in 1897, and the Keller Kitchens brand, which has been around for some 90 years. The modern factory in Bergen op Zoom is the heart of both brands. Here, only a small museum, in which kitchens from days gone by are on display, is a reminder of the long tradition. In fact, the factory itself and the 2021 office building house modern, efficient and sustainable kitchen production, with circularity at its core.

Efficient production

DKG is particularly successful in the project sector. This industry brings interesting challenges. In apartment complexes, for example, it is important to furnish the available space functionally and efficiently, while at the same time the kitchens must be able to withstand rough handling. On top of this, production times are often short, especially when a kitchen must be replaced when a new tenant moves in. DKG can produce and install the appropriate kitchen within ten days, because the company not only produces the kitchen, but also provides it with a worktop and appliances - as well as being able to install the kitchen. Thanks to a sophisticated production and logistics concept, this is possible without much storage space: each kitchen is produced only after the order is received. Customers can choose from around 2,000 different standard and special color tones. 

Optimal protection

How is so much flexibility and versatility possible? Thanks to a modern paint shop, an excellently trained team and close cooperation with ADLER, on whose products DKG has relied for years. About 5,000 parts are painted every week, most of them in the fully automated uv-painting plant. For colored surfaces, DKG uses ADLER's water-based uv-coating Pigmolux HQ. This offers exceptionally high mechanical and chemical resistance, so that even surfaces that have to endure quite a lot are optimally protected. The coating also scores points for its especially fast setting and excellent adhesion - even on aluminum handles, which can be lacquered in the same color tone as the kitchen. For the transparent finishing of oak, DKG uses ADLER's colorless Multilux system.

Quality guaranteed

Under the leadership of team leader Jaap Hellemons and in cooperation with ADLER, DKG's lacquering department has optimized the lacquering process to ensure high surface quality and efficient production. All color tones can be made directly at ADLER Benelux in Heeze and delivered within one day. The paint plant and coatings are perfectly matched, so lead times are short - and because color tones can be changed within three minutes, small batch sizes are not a problem. For consistent surface quality, temperature and humidity in the paint room are automatically regulated. Finally, DKG's quality management subjects each part to a thorough inspection before further processing.  

Circular future

DKG's success is based on several pillars, two of which are top quality and efficient production. The third and perhaps most important is a consistent focus on sustainability: from the materials used and the production process to the delivery of the kitchens, partly by electric trucks. In the long term, the company wants to produce the kitchens completely circular. A new, biobased kitchen model gives a foretaste of this: this kitchen furniture is made of MDF boards made of 100% recycled wood, the binders and coating materials are biobased and the handles are made of recycled marine plastic. But circularity is also sought in all other kitchen models. For example, old kitchens are taken back, disassembled and recycled so that new wood fiberboards can be made from them. 

"At DKG, we set the bar very high when it comes to sustainability, and we demand the same from all our suppliers," emphasizes Jos Wennekes, Purchasing Manager at DKG. ADLER's UV coatings contain no harmful ingredients, have an extremely low VOC content and are produced in a climate- and resource-friendly way. This makes ADLER's coatings the perfect finish for DKG's kitchens - in any color, but always completely green.  

ADLER: Hall 2 - booth 2431