Start your career at SKZ

SKZ – The Only Name You Need to Remember for Manmade Materials

We are the largest manmade materials research facility in the world and we work on practical solutions to our customers’ varied problems. We see ourselves as partners to many industries and we offer a wide range of expertise in many areas. We provide services related to manmade technologies to privately owned corporations as well as public institutions.

Currently, we are monitoring more than 900 manmade materials products from over 400 companies. We are a leading provider of continuing education and knowledge transfer in manmade materials. Our research focuses on practical applications for the development and improvement of manufacturing technologies. We are always working on tomorrow’s processes, such as in quality control, production automation, or research into intelligent materials. Our management certification also helps our credibility and economic success.

„I started working for SKZ in 2005, in the testing lab. I never looked back or elsewhere. Our lab is always working on new things and, every day, there are new challenges. When we are able to provide a quick solution, our customers are happy, and that is what my team and I thrive on.“
Dr. Marcus Heindl
Engineer and Testing Laboratory Supervisor

Portrait of smiling SKZ Kunststoff-Zentrum employee in black suit

Manmade Materials at their Best

It is our goal to help create the best manmade materials (e.g. for the construction, automotive, and electronics industries) as well as to connect experts from around the globe with each other. We are always looking for engineers, physicists and chemists, technicians, and physics laboratory assistants with manmade materials experience. We are especially interested in college graduates with course work in manmade materials. They can work with us as trainers, docents, testers, certifiers, or researchers, as well as participate in projects.

We Provide Solutions

Manmade materials are around us every day and throughout life. We want them to be safe, practical and lasting; but also as little a strain on the environment as possible. We are producing more manmade materials than ever and many of them are controversial. There is also an incredible innovative energy behind the development of more materials, a development that we helped create.

Manmade materials provide solutions for many different issues and problems. We provide those solutions as intelligent and innovative answers. We are always focused on the future. Our research and development facilities work on new materials, optimization of production processes, and better characteristics of components. But we also focus on grading processes and products based on their economic and ecological properties. In short: We define the proper use of synthetics and how to best recycle them.

„At our pilot plant, we develop new processes and materials. Our work is interdisciplinary, independent, and self-motivated. This makes my work very interesting and never dull. We have a high success rate and I simply love my work.“
Kersten Kurda
Engineer and Pilot Plant Supervisor

Portrait of smiling employee in blue work clothes from SKZ Kunststoff-Zentrum in Würzburg, Germany

We Fulfill the Highest Standards

All products bearing the SKZ Quality Control Stamp are guaranteed to have passed our certification and quality control processes, in short: they fulfill the highest standards. Industries rely on us and our expertise. That trust is the result of our cooperation with entities across many areas of expertise. We share our knowhow and support customers in the areas of automotive and medical technology, mechanical engineering, electronics, communication, the construction industry, sports and leisure, as well as household and cleaning supplies. Our institution is governed by a development foundation that was founded in 1961. Members include more than 400 highly successful corporate entities who use our institution as a vehicle for the exchange of expertise and information, as well as a service provider.

Picture from the production halls with a white machine from SKZ Kunststoffzentrum in Würzburg, Germany

A Leader in Innovation

In the past few years, we were the recipient of six new patents. In 2018, we were recognized as one of the 100 most innovative organizations in private industry. We take pride in this recognition and see it as proof that we are doing the right things, especially when it comes to future developments. We share our knowledge because education is a hallmark of success. A major emphasis of ours is the training and continuing education of subject matter experts and leaders. We have decades of experience doing just that and every year we serve about 10,000 students, and we work closely with other research facilities, colleges and universities.

Portrait of a female employee in blue shirt of SKZ Kunststoff-Zentrum in Würzburg

„I started my training as a physics lab technician at SKZ in 1985. Today, I work in quality control at the mechanical testing lab and I now train physics lab technicians. Why do I love my job? Because the team work is great and we work in interdisciplinary teams on all sorts of different projects. It is never boring.“
Susanne Weiss
Industrial Lead, Manmade Materials and Rubber

We Provide Continuing Education

Our main office is located in Würzburg. We are a sought after employer in a sought after location. We offer an excellent environment for work, teaching and research, as well as work-life balance. Also outstanding are our benefits, bonuses, and the variety of professional development and continuing education opportunities that is unrivaled in this industry. Not surprisingly, we don’t have much staff turnover. All of this shows that, when it comes to manmade materials, we are the best partner to our employees, our customers, and the research community, who all rely on our expertise.

FAVOURITE MOMENT

WE ARE INNOVATIVE

Our success is not only measured in the number of patents we receive, but also in the number of future-oriented projects that we are involved in. We are especially proud to have been recognized in 2018 as one of the most innovative organizations with a very high percentage of pioneering success stories. The award was given out by the compamedia GmbH. This puts us in the top 100 of the most innovative private corporations.

FAVOURITE MOMENT

WE TRAIN THE BEST

We started offering certification programs in manmade materials and rubber in 1967 and continue to work closely with the Würzburg Industrial and Economic Development Council on that. More than 3,200 students have gone through our unique training program. The Industrial and Economic Development Council supports our educational efforts and serves as a testing entity. This guarantees a great success rate of our students.

FAVOURITE MOMENT

WE FIND SOLUTIONS

Our head orthotic is a specially designed helmet used in the treatment of head deformities in children. We manufacture them using 3D printing technology, the hardware and software for which we developed ourselves. Compared to traditional production processes, this new technology offers more adaptability and cost effectiveness. We are able to provide a better product at a much reduced price.