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David Klemz
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The Paper Industry Gold Medal for 2006 has been awarded to David Klemz for his strong contribution to the paper industry and its allied trades. He stands out as an exemplar to present and future generations of industrial entrepreneurs. Through his innovation, enterprise, hard work and a passion for industry, David Klemz provides the perfect demonstration of how British paper industry engineering can succeed in very challenging circumstances.
He is an outstanding representative of the micro-business community that is a vital part of a dynamic economy. In 1986 he founded Compact Engineering to pioneer the use of short wave infra-red drying as an energy efficient process for the paper industry. Subsequent development has led to the Corona Dryer and further improvements to energy efficiency. A recent retro fit of Compact technology to an off-machine blade coater in Sweden enabled machine speeds to be increased by 30%. In another example, water removal per kilowatt input in a Spanish paper machine has more than doubled.
This advance in drying technology has been recognised through two innovation awards - in 1997, the Papex World Award for companies with less than 50 employees and the 2004 Jasper Mardon Memorial Prize for a significant contribution to the science and technology of papermaking.
The production base for Compact Engineering remains firmly rooted in Thirsk, North Yorkshire where staff numbers are 11. His response to a declining number of UK paper machines and mills has been to seek and expand export business, now typically 75% of annual sales. David has shown great ambassadorial commitment in export markets in representing, through his association work, British machinery suppliers to Government agencies, particularly at overseas exhibitions.
In and amongst meeting the demanding challenges of starting a new business, developing a new technology and succeeding in a declining UK market, David Klemz made the time and effort to support his own industry sector at the highest level. He joined the British Paper Machinery Makers Association in 1965, became a committee member in 1973 and chairman from 1977 to 1979. In 1996 he was elected to the Picon Council and remains an active and influential Council member. During 2002 he was instrumental in forming the British Paper Machinery Suppliers Association. His trade association activities involved regular 450 mile round trip journeys to attend routine meetings.
It is this continuous, dedicated and enthusiastic voluntary contribution to help the whole industry, at a high indirect cost to a small business owner/manager, which singled out David Klemz in a very strong list of nominations for the 2006 Paper Industry Gold Medal.
David Klemz is a great ambassador for the industry, leading from the front and enthusing all who come in contact with him. It is wholly appropriate that the paper industry recognises his achievements and turns the spotlight on the contribution of an exceptional man.
After a fairly unspectacular early education, David left school at sixteen with no more than a pocket full of O levels. In part this was due to being educated by classics scholars while David's real interests resided in making things that were useful. David had engineering in his blood, or more probably under his fingernails, as his father ran an engineering workshop making everything from motorised bicycles to radio sets all of which were made to order for people living in and around Horsham. On leaving school David started his career in manufacturing with a company in Horsham called Walter A Wood who made, repaired and supplied various implements to agricultural customers. While at Walter A Wood, David was enrolled at night school to study both City and Guilds and for a Higher National Certificate in technical drawing and mechanical engineering.
In 1960 he moved to Vickery's working initially on the shop floor as a fitter and then as a commissioning engineer and then as a sales engineer and finally ending up as the Managing Director. During his time at Vickery's he invested in new presses to broaden the range of doctor blades that the company were able to offer and explored relatively new technologies such as sludge thickening devices, cleaners and dewatering elements for the wet end of the paper machine.
In 1980 David left Vickery's and moved north to work for Spooner Industries in Ilkley where he became fascinated in the technology of drying. Due to the untimely death of Charles Levison-Gower, David became managing Director. David gleaned a vast amount of knowledge from some of the brightest minds in the field of drying and became interested in other methods of drying that were available to paper makers.
In 1984 David left Spooner's and joined Impact Systems to set up their European presence. Impact manufactured short wave infrared dryers for the paper industry but it didn't take long before David realised there was possibly a better way of applying the infrared that would result in better efficiency. David took his ideas to head office and surprisingly they did not share his enthusiasm for redesigning their product and told him in no uncertain terms that if he could do better, he should. This he did in 1986, and Compact Engineering was born.
The ideas that David had were incorporated into the first dryers and showed great results. Compact Engineering was the first manufacturer of short wave infrared to combine the benefits of heat transfer with infrared with the mass transfer capabilities of hot air.
Over the years various developments have improved the dryers from Compact. The development and in-house manufacture of lamps designed specifically to dry board, rather than waste energy, was one. The development of the curved Corona dryer and the BlaCbox sheet ventilation system are just the latest in a long line of innovative solutions for papermakers.
Since 1996 he has additionally been a Council member of Picon, the trade association representing suppliers of machinery to the print and paper industries.
ŠPaper Industry Gold Medal Association 2006