“Perfect curves and dimensions, flawless material with an impeccable surface” that is what makes the perfect ball if you ask Stefan Pankow. The 61-year-old trained mechanic has developed an eye for the perfect ball in the course of his working life. In 1975 he started as a sorter at KGM; today he works as head of department in the final test. Here he is responsible for selecting and sorting and other 100-percent tests on the finished product.

For it is not enough for KGM balls just to be of the highest quality, they must also head to the customer on time. The family father is used to taking responsibility, since he is also mayor in his home town of Neuhof.

Stefan Pankow cannot name a specific favourite ball. He is more interested in the multi-stage quality control process, which guarantees an excellent end product. In the first stage, the balls are sorted using automatic sorting machines. Then the KGM employees do a visual surface inspection to remove sub-standard balls. Alternatively, the balls can be automatically checked for surface defects. Finally, a check is carried out for batch purity, material mixtures and hardness by eddy current; a complex process that guarantees a high degree of functionality in KGM products.

Because in an emergency, neither the steering of a car can fail, nor can a medical spray jam.

This is why KGM balls are also used in the medical sector, for example, in insulin or asthma sprays, and also in the perfume industry. The range of uses in everyday life is extremely broad: for example, the rollers of trolleys are mounted on balls, and even colour spray cans, grinders, refrigerators, light switches and even scoops for drinks contain KGM balls.

“An insistence in terms of quality is guaranteed in all our products,” says Stefan Pankow. He is celebrating 40 years at KGM in the coming year.”