A pleasant introduction On 1 July 2010, Wiebe van den Elshout (42) was appointed Director of Andus Group. Together with Tom van Rijn, he is one of the two directors of the group and is responsible for future policy. This concerns a future in which continuity will be further ensured and growth ambitions will be realised.

Teambuilding in true Dutch weather

Wiebe van den Elshout:

I will be more concerned with

lot of people's hands. Everyone

“Andus Group has grown

financial management and

impresses me as being very

substantially over the past

personnel policy. Still, I would

committed. That is extremely

decade. It's a healthy organisation

like to emphasise that I am not a

important for an organisation,

with a turnover of some

numbers fanatic bent on imposing

that’s where its strength often

200 million euros and 900

bureaucracy on the procedures

lies. Finally, I think we make

employees. It’s pretty amazing

here or someone who just looks

beautiful finished products. It’s

how that growth has been

at the costs. This feeling can

great to work for a company that

achieved in such a short time.

rapidly occur when you’re coming

creates tangible, often impressive

On 15 September, some 75

But we have now reached a point

from the world of banking. That’s

projects and products. In

Andus employees got together

where the organisation is so large

why it is good to know that in

short, Andus Group suits me

for an exciting team-building

that you cannot let it depend on

my previous employment, I was

perfectly.”

day. In the Frisian town of

only one person at the top. If

responsible for the ‘business

Hindeloopen, in the morning,

you add to that the fact that we,

banking’ section. That puts you

the group was treated to an

as Andus Group, want to grow

constantly in touch with business

inspirational address by Gerard

further, then it's understandable

and with ‘enterprise’, with

Kemkers, the famous ex-skater

that broadening is sought.”

discovering opportunities and the

and successful coach. Then the

effort to exploit these, rather than

Frisian waters were conquered

Enterprising banker

in rough weather conditions.

“I have known Tom van Rijn

A great day in which it was

now for about seven years from

Strength of the company

once again demonstrated how

my previous job, so we are not

“What I’ve seen so far of

strong the team is that we have!

strangers to each other. I come

Andus Group, I really like. It

from the banking industry,

is a professional, horizontal

but consider myself more of

organisation where decisions

an entrepreneur. So far, we

can be made quickly. Let’s say

have not yet made any official

you have the joys of a small

division of responsibilities,

company but not the burdens

that will come later. It is in

of a large one. I have also

line with the expectations that

already been able to shake a

just the finances.”

W V L S TA A L B O U W E R S •

RIJNDIJK TECHNICAL SERVICES •

RIJNDIJK STEEL CONTR AC TING •

RIJNDIJK ENGINEERING •

P&K R AIL •

M E B R A M E TA A L B E W E R K I N G •

L E N G K E E K S TA A L B O U W •

I N T E R S T E E L S L O VA K I A •

INTERSTEEL NIGERIA •

HSM STEEL STRUCTURES •

HSM OFFSHORE •

G O U D A V U U R VA S T S E R V I C E S •

G O U D A V U U R VA S T B E L G I U M •

GOUDA REFR AC TORIES •

GOUDA FEUERFEST •

GFD SERVICES •

FIB INDUSTRIES •

ANDUS GROUP SERVING THE INDUSTRY

volume 2 | no. 5 | November 2010

about you AND US A S S E L B E R G S V E N T I L AT O R E N •

HotLine

Plug in and gas out In February 2009, Total E&P Nederland awarded to HSM Offshore the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract for the K5CU North Sea satellite platform. Iv Oil & Gas is a partner for the engineering. Around a year and a half later, the ‘topside’ could be positioned in the open sea onto ‘the jacket’ that had meanwhile been anchored onto the seabed. A simplified ‘sketch’ of an

height of some 66 metres. The

of water and transported to the

offshore platform: a steel frame-

construction of the topside is a

parent platform elsewhere in

work consisting of four legs is

very complex puzzle, precisely

positioned on the seabed. In this

because of its compactness and

the North Sea. Without anyone being present on K5CU. It is, in

case a construction weighing

its layering. Timing is crucial.

fact, controlled from the parent

800 metric tons and 49 metres

One deck must, in fact, be

platform or from the control

high. This jacket is secured to

completely finished, including

room in The Hague. In order for

the seabed with pipes penetrat-

processing equipment, before it

all of this to happen, there have

ing 52 metres into the seabed

is ‘closed’ by the next deck.

been months of prior testing on

which are filled with ‘grout’.

land. Every cable, switch, pipe,

Then the topside is put onto it:

Delivered complete

meter, etc. is tested. The gas

an ingenious construction, every

Such a platform is already

and diesel generators, lighting

square centimetre of which is

impressive because of its sheer

of the helipad, the fire extin-

used for the efficient extraction

size. But when you consider that

guishing system: everything

and processing of the extracted

it is delivered ‘plug and play’,

must work f lawlessly. Including

gas. In the case of this plat-

that is simply amazing. Once

the kettle in the pantry for the

form, the topside weighs 800

a period of installation and

maintenance crew. Because even

metric tons and is three decks

connection has taken place, the

that is included.

high (17 metres). Ultimately

platform is ready to produce.

the construction reaches a

The gas is extracted, purified

Latest news! HSM Offshore and ABB AB

C-Powerfarshore wind farm on the

lations. The ‘load out’ weight

Offshore Wind Connections

Thornton Bank in the North Sea,

will be some 2,000 metric tons.

have recently reached agree-

about 30 kilometres off the

In February 2011, manufacture

ment for the design and supply

Belgian coast. HSM designs,

commences and delivery will

of a transformer platform. This

builds and delivers the platform

take place in March 2012.

platform will be part of the

including all internal instal-

Course in-house It will not be long before it

already graces many a product.

managers and quality control

which we will yet again place

becomes mandatory under the

And that’s good. It is a recognition

people, struggled through

our procedures critically under

Building Decree to manufacture

of our quality and moreover, every

the four inch thick course

the spotlight. One thing is

steel and aluminium construc-

country in Europe will then be

folder. They are now carrying

certain: once the standard

tions in accordance with the

obliged to approve and accept our

this knowledge further to the

becomes mandatory, we’ll be

NEN-EN 1090-1 and 1090-2

products without being able to

various business units, after

ready for it!

standards. That has a number of

impose additional requirements.

implications for our manufacturing and assembly process. Not

Because we already want to

only are very strict requirements

meet these requirements now,

placed on the materials we use,

a course was held in September

but also on all our work in the

at the head office in Eindhoven

factories and on construction sites.

given by three experts in this

But if we meet all the require-

area. In five sessions - from

ments, then we can proudly

3 p.m. to 8 p.m. - twenty of

say that we deliver CE-certified

our employees, ranging from

constructions: the well-known

production and assembly man-

European mark of quality which

agers to engineers, project

Quick switch at Shell Suddenly, somebody at Shell Pernis raised the alarm: the Cat Cracker-2 had to be taken out of service unexpectedly. Repair it quickly? No, it was decided to bring forward the regular maintenance originally scheduled to take place in six months' time. In no time, the site was provided with accommodation for the hundreds of people who would then have to get to work. Gouda Vuurvast Services also got off to a flying start: the company had been granted the order to install the new fire and wear-resistant coating of the cracker. A Cat Cracker is a system

about twelve metres.

stone. Concrete is nothing by

one's thumb and tapped with a

for the catalytic cracking of

And inside: Gouda Vuurvast

comparison. Finally the ‘donkey

hammer. 300,000 times and up

petroleum products. The large

employees in ‘space suits’

work’ begins, unparalleled

to a great height… Impressive.

molecules of ‘heavy oil’ are

manually demolishing the old

craftsmanship. Each honeycomb

broken into smaller fragments

coating. Inside the cracker, the

must be carefully filled using

by heat, high speed and a

highest possible safety regime

catalyst. In this way, the oil is

is in effect. Next, a process of

converted into different types of

blast cleaning and grinding

gas, high octane petrol or diesel.

of the walls follows. Then the

This is quite an aggressive

inside of the reactor is covered

process taking place in large

with a steel honeycomb profile.

steel towers. The reactor tower

Over 450 honeycombs per

is lined on the inside, because

square metre. When all profiles

otherwise the ‘powdery’ catalyst

are welded to the walls, you’re

would grind away the steel in

looking at about 300,000 ‘holes’.

literally no time.

Then ‘the filling’ is produced at the Shell site in the specially

Filling holes

equipped Gouda workshop.

From the ground f loor, the steel

It is a chemically bonded

reactor cylinder rises to a height

greasy mass that looks like

of some 40 metres. Diameter:

putty. But it hardens tough as

120,000 people on site RijnDijk Steel Contracting has again scooped up a nice order. Commissioned by Strukton Bouw, in 2011 manufacture and assembly will begin for the main steel structure of the public transport terminal roof, the Openbaar Vervoer Terminal (OVT-2) in The Hague. In the words of the trade journal Bouwen met Staal (Building with Steel) June issue: the jewel of the terminal. Some more details from

Open during renovations

to access the site and dimen-

Bouwen met Staal: "For the

Challenging you can certainly

sions are tight. So everything

facelift of the existing terminal

call it. Not only the production

must be planned to the small-

'a box' measuring 120x96x22m

of the main oval columns out of

est detail. The position of the

(lxwxh) with glass roofs and

rolled steel plates and cast steel.

three cranes has already been

façades will be placed on only

And not only the production of

carefully measured up. And

eight principal columns (slim

the 900 metric ton roof struc-

‘very simply’: those cranes don’t

oval and tapered columns with

ture or a total of 780 metric

work in the daytime, because

branchings). Diagonal roof-

tons of working platforms at 15

that would be dangerous for

lines lead travellers to the four

and 19 metres height. Also the

the thousands of people on the

new passageways, resulting in

demolition of the old roof and

ground. So work goes on through-

deformation sensitive parallelo-

the installation Is a gigantic

out the night so as not to be left

grams." Almost enough to make

project. The construction must

empty-handed the next day.

your hair turn grey, but not for

not actually disturb any traffic.

the men of Steel Engineering

The 120,000(!) passengers per

It will be a while yet before

and Contracting: “It is complex,

day must be able to go about

OVT-2 is ready, but then it will

but great fun and challenging.”

undisturbed. That means the

be something really splendid.

bus, tram and train traffic conti-

We can be justifiably proud of

nues as normal during the reno-

such a prestigious project!

vation. In addition, it is difficult Source: Bouwen met Staal 06 2010

Gouda goes deep into the desert Gouda Refractories has very specialised knowledge to hand. It is therefore not so very strange that ‘the big petrochemical giants of the earth’ every so often come knocking on our door in picturesque Gouda. This is always a nice compliment. This time, it’s for an order from GASCO, a joint venture between ADNOC, Shell, Total and Partex based in Abu Dhabi. Tecnimont KT is our principal client for this. They are providing the entire processing line for the removal of sulphur from natural gas. Gouda Refractories is supplying the fireproof lining. Deep in the desert in Abu Dhabi,

Pure customisation

rises to about 1200°C, the inside

engineering are involved before

there are gas fields of unprece-

Because the gas in Abu Dhabi

of the combustion chambers are

production can begin, it is pure

dented production potential.

is relatively high in sulphur,

clad to a thickness of 0.5 metres

custom work, brick by brick.

Whereas previously the extracted

the sulphur is first removed

with high quality fireproof bricks

The first delivery is planned

‘raw’ gas was exported straight-

in so-called ‘Sulphur Recovery

(2,100 metric tons of material).

for August 2011 and twelve

away, the policy has changed

Units’ (SRUs). These consist of

In addition, various types of

months later the project will be

over the last ten years. The gas is

vats up to a diameter of about

fireproof concrete (3,000 metric

completed and can be added to

now further processed into semi-

6 metres and 20 metres long.

tons of material) ensure the

our list of completed projects,

finished and finished products.

At least for this order. That

correct temperature reduction

along with the SRUs already

That means that massive

makes this the largest SRU

for the vats and the chimney.

shipped worldwide to, amongst

chemical and petrochemical

project in the world, consisting

And naturally, this is where

other places, Saudi Arabia, China,

complexes have emerged as well

of four identical ‘SRU-trains’

Gouda comes onto the scene.

Europe, the USA and Canada!

and are continuing to be built.

from the main burner up to

An exceptionally complicated

One of those is Habshan 5,

and including the top of the

task, because it is not simply a

an extension of the existing

chimney. Because in the course

matter of just baking bricks.

Habshan plant.

of processing the temperature

First hundreds of hours of

Magnet conquers Europe A few years ago P&K Rail brought a product onto the market that had been invented in cooperation with VolkerRail: the so-called permanent particle magnet (PPM). The PPM has been patented in the meantime, and has already prevented many a train delay. When train wheels are running

Force of attraction

unnoticed in Europe. In France,

over iron rails, iron filings are

After the PPM had been

Sweden and Denmark, mean-

produced. These filings remain

installed on a number of track

while, PPMs have been installed.

on and around the rails and

sections in the Netherlands,

And to top it all off, the British

points. Sometimes that is not a

there followed years of research

Network Rail approved the

problem, but in track sections

and fine-tuning. With success!

magnet in ‘no time’ for the

with insulated block joints

In some sections of track, the

English railways although they

(electrically insulated joints) it

number of signal failures has

have the strictest admission

can cause a short circuit. When

been reduced by as much as

criteria there. The result: an

that happens, the safety system

90%. And as with all ingenious

impressive order for P&K Rail

thinks that the track section is

solutions, the operation of the

of 1,000 PPMs in the canary

occupied and the well-known

PPM is simple: the magnet is

yellow version!

message comes over the tannoy

mounted next to the insulated

that a delay has been caused

block joint and ‘catches’ the

owing to a signal failure.

f lying metal dust so that the

With the PPM, that need no

joints stay clean. The success

longer happen.

in the Netherlands did not go

HOTLINE IS A P U B L IC AT I O N O F T HE A NDUS G RO U P H o t L i n e a p p e a r s s e v e r a l t i m e s a y e a r. The publication aims at keeping employees, clients and suppliers informed of developments within the Andus Group.

EDITORIAL COMMIT TEE K ris R ooi j akkers N iels W ibier

L A Y - O U T and P roduction BUREAU HOW

EDITORIAL ADDRESS beukenlaan 117 5 61 6 V C E I N D H O V E N

ANDUS GROUP BV EINDHOVEN / TEL . 040 - 211 58 0 0

A SSELBERGS VENTIL ATOREN BV Nieuwegein / TEL . 030 - 246 95 01

FIB INDUSTRIES BV LEEUWARDEN / TEL . 058 - 294 59 45

GFD SERVICES PARSAU (WOLFSBURG) / TEL. +49(0)5368 97 06 60

GOUDA FEUERFEST WILLICH / TEL . + 49(0)2154 88 87 0 0

GOUDA REFR AC TORIES BV GOUDA / TEL . 0182 - 59 14 0 0

GOUDA VUURVA ST BELGIUM SCHOTEN / TEL . +32(0)3 - 326 57 0 0

GOUDA VUURVA ST SERVICES BV GOUDA / TEL . 0182 - 59 14 0 0

HSM OFFSHORE BV SCHIEDAM / TEL . 010 - 427 92 0 0

HSM STEEL STRUC TURES BV SCHIEDAM / TEL . 010 - 427 92 0 0

INTER STEEL NIGERIA LTD L AGOS

INTER STEEL SLOVAKIA SRO KOŠICE / TEL . + 42 155 729 92 27

LENGKEEK STA ALBOUW BV HOOGVLIE T RT / TEL . 010 - 416 16 4 4

MEBR A ME TA ALBE WERKING BV BUDEL / TEL . 0495 - 49 93 53

P& K R AIL BV Nieuwegein / TEL . 030 - 246 95 92

RIJNDIJK ENGINEERING BV EINDHOVEN / TEL . 040 - 246 72 28

RIJNDIJK STEEL CONTR AC TING BV BUDEL / TEL . 0495 - 49 18 02

RIJNDIJK TECHNIC AL SERVICES BV BUDEL / TEL . 0495 - 49 92 22

W VL STA ALBOUWER S BV SCHAGEN / TEL . 0224 - 27 31 0 0