What makes a company like Bernd Kußmaul GmbH so interesting for companies like Rolls-Royce? It should be said that for engineers of this world, the demand for quality lies in the details. This goes back to the primeval times of the Greeks, who once used the term ‘atomos’ to refer to the smallest, conceivable particle. Today, we know about quarks and electrons, the smallest building blocks of matter, but Bernd Kußmaul in the Swabian town of Weinstadt is even more detailed. This is referred to as the Muggaseggele. For all non-Swabians, it should be mentioned: “Ein Muggaseggele isch fascht nex!” – translated into High German, it is about the size of a mosquito’s head. One notices that there have always been attempts to describe an “aesthetics of the technically feasible”, of the even smaller, even better. The “presence experience” that can be made when looking at a miniature model or a prototype, that magical moment in which the viewer is surprised and can hardly believe his eyes, has already undergone in-depth scientific investigation. Bernd Kußmaul, owner and namesake of Bernd Kußmaul GmbH, is considered a reserved and quiet person. He loves to get to the bottom of things quietly and persistently – curiosity is one of his strongest driving forces. Fortunately, he is not inclined to theorize or to elevate things to the metaphysical. He first approaches a problem as a tinkerer and explains how he came to be a problem solver, how he actually began to “love” materials. His appreciation is for simple, clear lines, a product language that omits rather than adds.
Fascination that consists of perfection
They call themselves “the architects of technical processes” – and thus describe their own work very well. This is because Bernd Kußmaul GmbH specialises in individual manufacturing solutions for niche products and small series with a high level of technical complexity. Customers are accompanied from the design to the realization of their product ideas, with the greatest innovative strength in the optimization and reinterpretation of standard solutions. This often creates new innovative paths. So it’s a good thing that Kußmaul likes to refer to his employees as “weirdos in a positive sense”. “Every new idea doesn’t come by itself, it’s challenged.” That’s how Albert Einstein put it. And the customers of Bernd Kußmaul GmbH are challenging for new ideas. “I want my company to continue to be a place of ideas in the future.
When things get complicated, our hour strikes
And here’s the thing: Rolls-Royce is offering something unique. The “Gallery”. It is intended to be, in the truest sense of the word, a gallery, in the upper part of the dashboard as a stage for custom-made works of art. As part of a Bespoke project, customers can choose an artist or designer to work with Rolls-Royce to create a custom work of art. In addition, the in-house craftsmen and designers have created a selection of objects made of silk, wood, metal and leather. As a series supplier for the Phantom 8, Kußmaul manufactures the trim part for the dashboard “The Gallery”, consisting of a highly polished aluminium carrier as well as filigree lasered and finely brushed stainless steel. The scope of delivery also includes the cover for the watch; in the premium version guilloché and silver-plated. And if you then get to enjoy one of the rare product presentations in the rooms at Bernd Kussmaul, you will get to see one of the exclusive humidors for Rolls-Royce. “Based on our history, customers always expect a little bit more from us and our solutions. For us, this means that we are considered one of the most innovative companies in Germany and we will remain the most innovative! That’s why, more than ever, the company’s claim to innovation is at the heart of everything we do, and at the same time it’s the maxim of our actions,” Bernd Kußmaul concludes. His company is in a class of its own – this claim is evidenced and supplemented by the values of perfection, fascination and responsibility. Messrs. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce would certainly have liked that.
