Industry Europe – Issue 21.7 by IndustryEurope

VOLUME 21/7 – 2011 • €6

The world of European manufacturing

ENERGY MARKET DRIVES GROWTH AT ACCIAIERIA DI RUBIERA PEUGEOT’S NEW MISSION TA HYDRONICS THREE BRANDS, ONE IDENTITY

BIG LIFT FOR AIRBUS

OPINION

PETERMERCER |

A politician speaks The British Chancellor urges fiscal union on the eurozone – what can it mean?

here are times when sound advice from a friend is the last thing you want to hear. For the leaders of the eurozone, the helpful suggestions of Britain’s Chancellor George Osborne on the sovereign debt crisis must have been one of those times. Since Britain still had its own currency it was, said Mr Osborne, a relatively “safe haven” from the storms lashing the European bond markets, but that did not mean that he and the government were indifferent to continental woes. They were “very worried” that the crisis could spiral out of control – “We see the potential for a set of economic events that could be as damaging as 2008.” The only way to resolve the problem, he suggested, was for eurozone countries to accept that greater economic integration of the single currency area was essential. The idea of eurozone bonds, for example, was “worthy of serious consideration.” Mr Osborne was not at all shy of facing up to the implications of such instruments – or, rather, of making clear what his friends in Berlin and Paris would have to face up to. Core eurozone countries, he said, would have to stand behind southern European sovereign debt as guarantors, while the peripheral countries would have to accept German-designed economic policy. There was no point in trying to fudge this, he suggested; it had to be accepted that “the remorseless logic” of monetary union was greater fiscal union. He even offered a simple analogy to make sure everyone got the point: “Britain’s taxpayers stand behind the pound, Europe’s taxpayers are going to have to stand behind the euro.” And Britain, he insisted, would do nothing to impede its European friends as they continued in the historic task of forging their ever-closer union. “I think we have to accept that greater eurozone integration is necessary to make the single currency work and

that is very much in our national interest. We should be prepared to let that happen.” How obliging can you get? On the face of it this is an astonishing reversal of the British position on European union. For five centuries England has done everything in its power to prevent western Europe falling under the domination of a single power. Even after it joined the EU, it largely continued to resist moves towards the realisation of the unified Europe dreamed of by the Community’s founding fathers. And even though all three of Britain’s major parties were at one time or another eager to join the euro – the Tories even to the point of dispensing with their most successful leader of the century because she kept saying ‘No’ – the public hostility to the loss of sovereignty involved proved to be insuperable. Now, of course, nearly all of those euro-loving Tory big beasts have long ago been put out to grass and George Osborne, like most of today’s leading Tories, is a fully paid-up eurosceptic. So what is he doing urging fiscal union on the euro members, when he knows very well that that will – inexorably – lead to closer political union? It may be that the British government is now so alarmed at the possibility of a global financial meltdown if the sovereign debt crisis spirals completely out of control that it is prepared to ditch its historic objections and accept a federal Europe as the least worse of a set of bad options – as long, of course, as Britain is not part of it. Indeed, the treaty revisions required to move towards fiscal union might well present the British government with the opportunity to renegotiate the UK’s own position in the new EU – not only not of it but now not even really in it. Free trade would be safeguarded but the British could keep their pints and bent bananas and stop throwing dead fish back into the sea.

English irony

But even if that is true, you can’t help wondering if Mr Osborne’s tongue is not slightly in his cheek. Eurosceptics like him have always opposed European political union, not just because of historical anxieties or because they were concerned about Britain’s loss of influence if it were to find itself excluded from such a union, but because they were convinced that it would never happen, that it was a pipedream of Europe’s political elite. With its 23 official languages, diverse cultures and increasingly divergent economies, the EU was more a Tower of Babel than a Greek polis. It was a collection of nation states – some, like Belgium and Italy, barely that – whose peoples could never accept the legitimacy of a European government. So when he urges the eurozone to accept the ‘remorseless logic’ of monetary union, what he really means is ‘You’ve made your bed, now you’ll have to lie in it and it won’t be long before the bed collapses’. Mr Osborne is far too bien eleve (unlike, according to Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair) ever to say ‘I told you so’ but there can be little doubt that he believes that the fiscal union he recommends is both a necessity and an impossibility. With borrowing costs for Italy now at 6.18 per cent and for Spain at 6.36 per cent (never mind Greece at 14.85 per cent ) while German yields hit a new low of 2.39 per cent, it is obvious that some form of centrally guaranteed eurobond is the only solution. But that means Germany taking responsibility for the debts of the periphery and the periphery accepting German-led economic government. Can German taxpayers be persuaded to take on that burden and will Greek and Italian citizens tolerate such foreign rule? Mr Osborne probably thinks they won’t and that a break-up of the eurozone is more likely. But, of course, he n wouldn’t dream of saying so. Industry Europe 3

Editor Peter Mercer

Production Manager Kamila Kajtoch

Deputy Editor Victoria Hattersley

Administration Anna Chamberlain Amber Dawson Kayleigh Harvey

Profile Writers Abigail Saltmarsh Felicity Landon Piotr Sadowski Emma-Jane Ba tey Barbara Rossi Philip Yorke Joseph Altham

CONTENTS Aerospace industry p6

Art Administration Tania Balderson Advertising Manager Andrew Briggs Sector Managers Matthew Howe Eniko Kovacs Milada Preslova Massimo Ragazzo Jesse Roberts Helen Mills Mac McCarthy Anthony McClintock Ben Snowing Kevin Gambrill Stephen Moore Richard Thomas Lisa Ackroyd John Cliff

Art Director Gareth Harrey Art Editor Rob Czerwinski Designers Leon Esterhuizen Paul Abbott Claire Bidle Web Development Neil Robertson IT Support Jack Everson

Comment 1

Opinion A politician speaks

4 5

Bill Jamieson Good for some James Srodes In God – and technology – we trust

Aerospace Industry 6

Reaching new heights Busy times for European aerospace

9 12

Aerospace news The latest from the industry Hypersonic green machine EADS’ Mach 4 airliner

News Industry Europe Alkmaar House, Alkmaar Way, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 6BF, United Kingdom Tel: Fax: Email: Web:

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4 Industry Europe

14 16 18 19 20

Winning business New orders and contracts Linking up Combining strengths Moving on Relocations and expansions Industry people Appointments Technology spotlight Advances in technology

Reports 21 22

Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris Focus on Germany Allan Hall reports from Berlin

Automation & Tooling 24 27 32

Centre of attention SW Machines Hybrid success BMB Flexible converting solutions Comexi

Automotive 38 42 46 56 57

Driving brake technology forward Haldex Graphic example Stoneridge Motion & emotion Peugeot Fruitful relationships Agrati Heavy duty reliability Finnradiator

VOL 21/7 Chemicals Above: Nissan Forklift p140

60 64

Adding more than colour Holland Colours Lighter, warmer, stronger Huntsman

Energy & Utilities

Above: BMB p27 Below: Peugeot p46

70 76 78 81 84

Strength in power Efore Global engineering expertise Tractebel Baltic bioenergy is booming Vapo Group Smart power Vattenfall Maximising energy potential OMV Group

89 94

Power in action Hellenic Cables Taking the pressure Nema Makine

Food & Drink 96 100 104 107

The Polar method Polarbrod The finest Italian oils and fats Unigrà Fruitful relationships Agrana Playing it safe Linco Food Systems

Above: Efore p70 Below: Polarbrod p96

HVAC 111 Hot favourites Elba 114 The new name for HVAC expertise TA Hydronics

122 Cool quality Norpe

Paper & Printing Below: Holland Colours p60

127 Fit for the future Sappi 132 Success grows on trees Holmen Paper

Also in this issue... 136 140 144 148 152 159 162 168

Supply chain excellence Incas Group Lifting power Nissan Forklift Technology under control Seitz Touching people’s lives Unilever The future of steel Acciaieria di Rubiera New look electronics solution Melecs A new sense of speed Bombardier Innovation in shipbuilding

Above: Norpe p122 Below: Holmen Paper p132

Construcciones Navales del Norte

173 Optimising fire protection Iveco Magirus 178 Tiles fit for a king Koninklijke Mosa Industry Europe 5

COMMENT

BILLJAMIESON |

Executive Editor of The Scotsman

Good for some Why Germany has boomed amid the euro crisis.

any questions have come to the fore in the aftermath of the Greek debt crisis and eurozone summit agreement earlier this summer. Will the deal last? Does it accelerate the movement towards a common fiscal policy? And what chance do the stricken economies of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain have of generating economic growth strong enough to avoid a further bail-out and yet more agony for taxpayers in the northern euro bloc? Good questions all. But the one that is particularly haunting for the UK business sector and in particular those in manufacturing is how Germany’s industrial base is continuing to hold up. How has it achieved this? And what lessons might we learn? Amid arguably the most de-stabilising conditions for business confidence since the European single currency came into being, Germany continues to enjoy a remarkable boom. Its economy grew by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter – and a stunning 4.9 over one of the most difficult and traumatic 12 months for the eurozone as a whole. Recent figures show that the German labour market continued to show resilience into the summer with the number of unemployed falling for the 25th month in a row. The total fell by 11,000 in July to 2.95 million or seven per cent of the workforce – remarkably low by eurozone standards. Total domestic employment rose by 36,000 to reach almost 41 million, while vacancies rose yet again, this time by 3000 to 464,000. Employment subject to full social security payments (a proxy for full-time as opposed to part-time employment) continued to rise at a healthy pace, showing an 86,000 gain while short-shift jobs – which rose rapidly during the onset of the financial crisis – fell below 100,000 for the first time since 2008. In total, around 550,000 jobs have been created in the German economy since June 2009. Consequently, German consumer confi6 Industry Europe

dence is around record highs. However, a note of caution is needed here: while the overall dynamics remain strong, the recent pace of new hiring has slowed in recent months. Because of this firm employment growth, German purchasing and manufacturing indices (PMIs) for both the manufacturing and services sector continue to suggest that the expansion of the German economy continued in the second quarter of this year. It may not be the stunning growth pace notched up in the first quarter, but a growth rate of around 0.5 per cent in the April-June quarter

Amid arguably the most de-stabilising conditions for business confidence since the European single currency came into being, Germany continues to enjoy a remarkable boom. can fairly be viewed as an achievement given the turmoil over Greek sovereign debt and the knock-on effects on business confidence. Despite the worries, the Ifo business climate and expectations index both suggest that the German corporate sector has remained relatively upbeat. German firms are reported to be planning on spending record amounts on capital expenditure and investment in the coming 12 months. So it would not be unreasonable to expect the German labour market will continue to improve in coming months.

Domestic demand

How has this happened? In contrast to the accusations from neighbours that German consumers are a stingy bunch, saving far too much and not doing their bit to promote

recovery, this growth has been underpinned by strong domestic demand. German retail sales in June surged 6.3 per cent month on month, well above consensus expectations. Private consumption is now forecast by Barclays Capital to expand by 1.5 per cent year-on-year this year and by 1.5 per cent in 2012. Certainly the fall in the euro due to concerns over sovereign debt in peripheral countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal provided the conditions for a boost in German exports. But the growth base has broadened, with domestic investment and consumption becoming increasingly supportive. Germany has prospered while much of the rest of the eurozone has been in turmoil. Recent data released by the European Commission showed eurozone consumer confidence falling in July as weak fundamentals in countries involved in the sovereign debt crisis hit confidence. Consumer confidence fell from minus 9.7 in June to minus11.6 in July – the lowest level for three months. Business sentiment in the eurozone also declined for the fifth consecutive month, with slowing growth in order books dampening output expectations in the immediate months ahead. The business sentiment indicator fell to the lowest level since June 2010. General economic conditions are described as challenging in the eurozone as a whole for business and consumers, with unemployment in May stubbornly high at 9.9 per cent whilst retail sales volumes were down 1.9 per cent year-on-year. Might the euro crisis have helped Germany? Most certainly yes – and here’s the secret: according to Anthony Doyle, specialist at UK investment house M&G, without the euro the German Deutschmark would now be the strongest currency in the world, German bonds would be sporting negative yields, and the German economy would probably n be in recession!

USA

JAMESSRODES |

Veteran commentator on Washington & Wall Street

In God – and technology – we trust In a free economy you never know what transformative innovation is just around the corner

erhaps it is time during this summer of discontent to pause and take stock of what the United States economy has going for it in a positive sense. This is by no means a gloss on the ugly shakeout rattling Wall Street or the moribund housing and distressing employment situation. The disgraceful Washington charade over the artificial debt ceiling (Denmark is the only other nation to have one) should not mask the disquieting fact that President Obama has added more than $2 trillion to a government debt that now totals more than $14 trillion – or one hundred percent of American gross domestic product. Despite the White House’s efforts to jump start the economy the hard fact is that the economy remains flat-lined with just a flutter of forward movement to indicate it still is alive. But look at it another way. Ever since the end of World War II the role of the U.S. federal government has expanded exponentially and the remedy of choice whenever there was a hiccough was to press harder on the accelerator. That is no longer true. As unseemly as the deficit wrangle was to onlookers it is noteworthy that no one involved---not even Mr. Obama, or any leading Democrat in the Congress---argued for even more stimulus. Everyone agreed that government spending must be cut and even if one is dubious about whether those reductions will stimulate,

the fact is Washington’s role in shaping America’s economy recovery is at an end. Indeed the President, as he had a year ago during the battle over health care reform, disappeared into the Oval Office and had no real role in the debate except to act as referee between the Congressional factions. The global marketplace has recognized that rather remarkable truth. While the European Central Bank still goes through its mummery of trying to prop up the tottering economies of Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain and thereby threatening the strength of France and Germany, the American economy is now free to sort itself out. Looking elsewhere, Japan is still staggering and the mirage that is China’s boom could come unstuck at any moment. The result is that despite a truly troubling explosion of government debt and a flat economic prospect, investors both official and private continue to flood the U.S. Treasury with liquidity. The 10-year Treasury benchmark note has had yields below 2.5 percent and the long 30-year bond stays resolutely below 4.0 percent. As a result the Treasury continues to borrow between $15 billion and $30 billion a week heedless of the warnings by Standard and Poors and Moodys of a loss of its AAA rating. By contrast yields on debt sold by Italy and Spain are rising faster than the 30 percent yield of Greek paper.

The summer of 79

Cold comfort, to be sure. But I have been covering American economic crises for forty years now and I have to report that as bad as things are, the mood of the country is not nearly as negative and hopeless as it was in 1979 when the OPEC oil shock brought the entire economy to a standstill and touched off a stagflation of epic proportions. Recall that the historic oil price of around three dollars a barrel during the 1950s had gradually risen over the years to more than eleven by 1979 when the OPEC cartel jacked prices up to ultimately the unheard of price of more than thirty-five dollars. The motor car industry, aerospace, energy producers, agriculture - all were frozen in place. Long lines for petrol sent citizens into a frenzy and a wave of inflation began to spike even as jobless numbers tanked and Wall Street panicked. The magazine I worked for then sent me around the country to gauge the despair. An ineffectual Jimmy Carter sat powerless in the White House and warned that America’s glory days were over. In Seattle I interviewed at Boeing and Weyerhaeuser, the forest products giant, and found chaos. In San Francisco, the Federal Bank economists there warned that Asia could collapse. Bank of America predicted California would go bankrupt. In Dallas, I interviewed former Treasury Secretary John Connally, who was going to be the Republican nominee in 1980 and he reported

that Texas too was in straits because its oil refiners could not get product at those prices. So it went across America. Gloom and despair in Chicago where food prices were skyrocketing but farm income had tanked. New York was already bankrupt and Wall Street was a dank cave of fear. But note that while I was in Seattle I did not visit a little startup company called Microsoft that was just getting underway. Nor did I go to Palo Alto where just a year later a firm called Apple would put Silicone Valley on the map with a one billion dollar IPO that would launch the dot.com revolution. And to my later embarrassment I also spent some time travelling about California with an out of work actor and former governor who thought he too might run for President as a Republican. And we all know what happened to Ronald Reagan. So America recovered, spurred by technologies and diversifications that were not imaginable just before the darkness lifted. My point is that what happened next is not an anomaly in American history. In a recent article in the American Economic Review it was noted that the period between 1929 and 1941 – the other Great Depression – were “the most technologically progressive of any comparable period in U.S. economic history.” With Washington out of the way, those changes can start happening in earnest. And none too soon. n Industry Europe 7

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS Despite painful defence cuts and a stuttering economic recovery, most of Europe’s aerospace factories are busier than ever. Murdo Morrison, editor of Flight International, reports.

fact, aerospace companies are set to get even busier by the middle of the decade. This is because more and more of the world’s population can afford to fly, particularly in parts of the world – Brazil, China, India and parts of the former Soviet Union – untroubled by the financial crisis. Anticipating rising demand, airlines from these regions have been investing heavily in equipment: many of them upstart carriers led by colourful

8 Industry Europe

entrepreneurs. And the biggest beneficiaries in an industry still overwhelmingly dominated by producers in Europe and North America have been Airbus and its suppliers. Aerospace is a sector in which big investment gambles reap huge long-term rewards, but can also cost a manufacturer billions of dollars if it gets it wrong. Airbus and Boeing have for almost two decades enjoyed a duopoly in airliners of more than 100 seats and, by and large, shared the spoils with one or other in the ascendancy every three years or so. Until barely a year ago, Boeing was on top. Its 250-seat 787 Dreamliner was the best-selling airliner of all time, for a type yet to enter service, and its two breadwinners, the large widebody 777 and 737 narrowbody, were still in high demand. Only the latest, larger-than-ever, version of its jumbo jet, the 747-8, had yet to gain much momentum.

Airbus, by contrast, was enjoying mixed fortunes. The European airframer’s A320 narrowbody was keeping up with its 737 rival, but its larger jets were struggling. While deliveries of the twin-engine A330 were steady, production of the thirstier four-engine A340 was virtually at a standstill. And the 500-seat A380 superjumbo – while over its mid-decade production debacle – was still a long way off the 300 or so sales considered breakeven for the hugely ambitious programme. On the military side, Toulouse’s flagship project, the A400M airlifter, was close to collapse amid a funding crisis, and Airbus appeared to be losing a potentially lucrative and highly symbolic contest with Boeing to supply the US Air Force’s next generation airborne refuelling tanker. With the price of fuel showing no inclination to fall for the foreseeable future, it became clear that whichever one of Airbus or Boeing came up with a step-change in

efficiency in the high-utilisation narrowbody segment would reap rewards. There were two problems. Firstly, with nothing else on the market, the A320 and 737 families were continuing to sell well. Designing an all-new narrowbody airframe would take many years and divert investment billions from other programmes. The other option was to re-engine, but with two players – the General Electric and Safran of France CFM International joint venture and the Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney-backed International Aero Engines consortium – enjoying their own narrowbody duopoly, there was little incentive for them to develop all-new powerplants. However, behind the scenes, engineers at all the engine makers had been toying with new technologies and the breakthroughs came from Pratt & Whitney – acting separately from its IAE partners – with what it calls a ‘geared turbofan’, and CFM, using a different approach to develop its LEAP-X. Both engines promise around a 10–15 per cent increase in fuel efficiency. After a lot of speculation, Airbus late last year launched what it called its A320 New Engine Option or Neo, available with either the P&W or CFM engine. Together with a redesigned wing, incorporating ‘sharklet’ wingtips, Airbus claims the variant – which will enter service in 2016 – will shed around 15 per cent from fuel costs.

The move appeared to catch Boeing dithering – even by June’s Paris air show the Seattle-based manufacturer had not confirmed whether it would respond with its own re-engined 737 or develop a new narrowbody. It may also have given Airbus the edge over a newer rival. Canada’s Bombardier – previously a maker of business jets and sub-100seat regional jets – had two years earlier officially launched its first true narrowbody, the CSeries, the first airliner to be powered by the new P&W engine and due to enter service in 2013. Although Bombardier has unsurprisingly laughed off Airbus’s claim that the A320neo kills the business case for the CSeries, the Canadian company faces a tough three-way battle against the Neo – and now a new competitor in the shape of Boeing. The impetus for Boeing’s move in July to launch a re-engined 737 (powered for now exclusively by the LEAP-X) came not from a dynamic new carrier in an emerging region but from one of the oldest names in a market where there have scarcely been any airliner orders since the 1990s. Although an order had been expected, American Airlines’ purchase of 460 Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies (a mix of current and new-generation) was significant for four reasons. It was the biggest order in airline history: pundits had been expecting a commitment for half that number. It also marked

Airbus’s break into a traditionally all-Boeing fleet (it won 260 of the 460 orders). Thirdly, Boeing’s hand was forced: had it not offered a re-engined 737 it might have lost the entire deal. And, fourthly, the purchase is likely to set off a long-awaited avalanche of orders by American’s rivals whose long-suffering passengers will be reluctant to travel in ageing jets.

Production challenges

Although both Airbus and Boeing are certain to have discounted sharply to win the business, it will be shareholders in the European airframer’s parent EADS who are the happier. One of Airbus’s hurdles in the next few years will be coping with capacity. Already geared up to producing 42 of its current A320 family airliners a month from next year, this may have to rise to 44 and eventually to 50 or even 60 by the second half of the decade. For hundreds of suppliers who contribute systems and components to an Airbus jet – in Europe and around the world – this is welcome news, and for them too, investing in production equipment and finding engineers will be the biggest challenges. As Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said after the American announcement: “If somebody had suggested two years ago that we seriously think about rate 50 a month, I would have said ‘go away, you’re out of your mind’.” Industry Europe 9

Not that Airbus has it all its own way. Although the A400M is in production, delays forced EADS into a major financial write-off, and selling the turboprop-powered airlifter beyond the seven European nations that funded its development will be hard. Losing the US Air Force tanker deal – after an earlier decision that went its way was overturned – was also a blow to its hopes to develop a bridgehead for its defence business in the USA. On the civil side, its A350 XWB widebody could too prove a headache. Already more than two years behind its rival thanks to an aborted attempt to launch an earlier, smaller version, the A350 has benefited from being in the background as attention focused on Boeing’s problems with its 787. But with the Dreamliner set to be delivered to launch customer ANA in Japan, the industry will now be watching for any slip in the A350 schedule as it reaches its most crucial point: run-up to first flight next year. Away from the big two, another duopoly is facing up to competition for the first time in a decade. Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer have built all regional jets since BAE Systems, Fokker and Saab exited the market around the turn of the century (French-based ATR competes with Bombardier in propeller-powered smaller aircraft). However, a new breed of regional jet makers has joined the fray, with Sukhoi first to market with its 70-seat Superjet 100, the first Russian airliner to be seriously 10 Industry Europe

marketed in the West. Japan’s Mitsubishi and China’s state-run Comac are also in the final stages of building their own regional jets. Although only the Mitsubishi Regional Jet is likely to be taken seriously by Western airlines, Comac’s ARJ-21 will feed a burgeoning demand for short-haul services in that country.

Military options

In the military sector, prospects are gloomier for Europe’s manufacturers. Crippling cuts in defence budgets have made even more likely a fresh wave of consolidation, 10 years after the creation of EADS and European missile house MBDA. With no countries – even the UK and France – able to afford the luxury of maintaining a self-contained defence industry, cooperation on the few military aviation procurements that are likely over the next decade is inevitable. It seems close to ludicrous, for example, that both the German-led EADS Cassidian division and a joint venture between BAE Systems and France’s Dassault Aviation are independently designing next-generation, long-endurance unmanned aircraft. The biggest prizes remain the USA – where budgets are shrinking but still the biggest market by far – and emerging customers in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia that want to cement security alliances with NATO by purchasing Western defence equipment. Dassault with its Rafale and the BAE/EADS/

Finmeccanica Eurofighter consortium with the Typhoon are fighting to supply India’s next combat aircraft, for instance, after edging US rivals from the shortlist. Major acquisitions in the past few years have also seen BAE and Italy’s Finmeccanica establish major defence industrial footprints in the USA, so much so that both are considered by the Pentagon as domestic prime contractors. Finmeccanica believes that status will do it no harm if its Italian-built Alenia Aermacchi M346 advanced jet trainer is considered for a huge likely upcoming contract to replace the US military’s fighter pilot trainer fleet. Europe’s aerospace industry remains strong in 2011 not because of government machinations but because – almost despite lack of state support – it makes world-beating products. Constrained by modest domestic markets, both for civil and military equipment, Europe’s manufacturers have for almost two decades had to build aircraft and systems that will appeal to an international customer. Ironically, it is the free-market USA where industry has been much more inward-looking, relying much more on domestic demand, both from airlines and the Pentagon. Although Boeing and its competitors began seriously re-orientating themselves as global players in the 2000s, it is Europe’s industry that appears the more outwardly-focused. And that is no bad thing as the centre of gravity in terms of purchasing n power moves steadily eastwards.

NEWS

AEROSPACENEWS

New developments in the Aerospace industry

Paris Air Show record for ATR

uring the Paris Air Show in June, ATR announced 60 new orders and 37 options. These join the 28 orders and 5 options previously revealed this year. The total value of these orders, including the options, is estimated at US$ 2.8 billion. Filippo Bagnato, chief executive officer of ATR, declared: “Our list of customers, both airlines and leasing companies, is dramatically increasing,

and ATR aircraft are today in service in almost 100 countries. This clearly underlines the ATR product as the optimal solution for regional transportation. We are pleased to welcome our new operators and customers, and we are honoured at the confidence that existing operators have placed in ATR for years.” Founded in 1981, ATR has become the world leader on the market for 50 to 74 seat turboprop

aircraft and has sold 1100 planes, which are used by 175 operators in over 90 countries. www.atraircraft.com

Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Paris Show IN

June the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ZA001, joined the historic line-up of Boeing airplanes on display at the Paris Air Show. “We are making great progress toward finishing certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce Package A engines,” said Scott Fancher, vice-president and general manager of the 787 program. “It’s an honour to bring the 787 to the Paris Air Show on behalf of all of the hard working men and women around the world who have designed and built this amazing airplane.”

The 787-8, the first member of the 787 family of jetliners, is a twin-aisle airplane that accommodates 210–250 passengers on routes between 7650 and 8200 miles (14,200 and 15,200km) – making it the only mid-size airplane capable of long-range routes. As a result of innovative technologies, the airplane offers unparalleled operating economics, fuel efficiency and passenger comfort. More than 800 787s are on order by more than 50 airlines. www.boeing.com

BAE Systems continues to ramp up on F-35 programme

AE Systems has recently delivered the 50th F-35 rear fuselage and empennage (vertical and horizontal tails) to its partner Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. Tim Boness, production director F-35 explains: “50 down but over 3000 to go. It sounds like a drop in the ocean but we’ve come a long way since we started manufacturing back in 2004. You only need to look at the development of the Samlesbury (UK) site over the past few years and

it’s very clear that we’re making a real investment in the future. We are ready to manufacture thousands more sets at our state-of-the-art machining and assembly centre. “With production orders now moving through at a rate of three per month and the US Air Force flying the aircraft for themselves there is a real buzz in the air. The goal for the 1200 employees on the F-35 programme at Samlesbury is to be ready to meet the peak rate production of one aircraft set a day in

Cobham awarded USAF KC-46 tanker engineering subcontracts

(EMD) phase of the program, including development hardware. Earlier this year, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected Boeing to provide the next generation strategic tanker, the KC-46. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Boeing had selected Cobham to provide the hose and drogue refuelling systems. These systems will be manufactured by Cobham

obham has been awarded two subcontracts by Boeing related to the hose and drogue aerial refuelling system that will be used by the US Air Force’s new KC-46 tanker aircraft. The contracts, valued in excess of $73 million, relate to the Engineering and Manufacturing Development

2016. It’s a production challenge on a size and scale normally associated with commercial aircraft but we have a much more complex and advanced product.” www.baesystems.com Mission Equipment at its air to air refuelling centre of excellence in Davenport, Iowa. The USAF plans to acquire 179 KC-46 tankers from Boeing. Cobham expects to equip each aircraft with a centreline drogue system. Approximately 30 tankers will also be provided with a pair of wing-mounted aerial refuelling pods. www.cobham.com

Industry Europe 11

NEWS

New developments in the Aerospace industry

MTU Aero Engines scores big at Le Bourget

or Germany’s leading engine manufacturer, the Paris air show at Le Bourget was a huge success: MTU CEO Egon Behle reported that the company had bagged orders in the total amount of more than 600 million euros. “That’s a figure that is twice as high as at the last Paris Air Show two years ago,” explained Behle. Deals have been concluded for the PurePower PW1000G geared-turbofan family, the GEnx engine powering the Boeing 747-8, and the popular V2500 for standard A320 jets. Said Behle: “We are pleased to note that after a first, very big wave of orders for the geared turbofan, we now see additional major contracts coming in for this propulsion system here at Le Bourget, and, importantly, not just for the A320neo, but also for the CSeries and the MRJ.” For Behle, one of the highlights this year was the international air show debut of the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. “I’m very confident that our program share in the GEnx, which has been selected as the exclusive powerplant for this aircraft, will also pay dividends over the next few years,” said MTU’s chief executive. www.mtu.de

Premium AEROTEC opens plant in Romania

ith completion of the second construction phase, Premium AEROTEC has opened its new plant in Ghimbav, in Romania’s Brasov County. The production facility for aircraft components, erected in just 14 months, was officially commissioned in the presence of Romanian prime minister Emil Boc and EADS CEO Louis Gallois. The new plant will now specialise in the production and assembly of metal components for all Airbus series programmes (A320 family, A330, A380). Production started in December 2010 on completion of the first construction phase. Premium AEROTEC is Europe’s most important manufacturer of large

aircraft structures, and produces primarily for Airbus. Premium AEROTEC was established in 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the aerospace and defence group EADS. “We are pleased to support Romania in further developing its aeronautical sector by locating Premium AEROTEC and other EADS subsidiaries such as Eurocopter here in Brasov. EADS is thus further increasing its industrial footprint in Romania which is already significant through projects such as the border security project,” said Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS. www.premium-aerotech.com

Digital platform for Europe’s aerospace industry F ive leading European aerospace and defence companies, EADS/Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales, have decided to create a European digital hub for the management of collaborative programmes and their supply chains. The platform, BoostAeroSpace, provides standardised and secured collaborative services. BoostAeroSpace will provide the following services: AirCollab (collaborative workspace,

Eurocopter acquires 98.32 per cent of Vector Aerospace

he acquisition of Vector Aerospace will help to increase the growth of Support & Services activities for Eurocopter and EADS in both the civil and governmental markets. Vector Aerospace will also strengthen EADS’ presence in North America and the UK.

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e-meetings), AirDesign (product lifecycle management collaboration, digital mock-up sharing), AirSupply (supply chain management collaboration, logistics exchanges). AirCollab service has been available since April 2011 whilst the AirDesign and AirSupply services will be fully operational before year end. The platform will then progressively be used by its Founders and their international partners and suppliers. Marwan Lahoud, chief strategy & marketing Officer of EADS, said: “We are pleased that Vector Aerospace will now become part of the EADS Group having received all the necessary regulatory approvals and achieved the required shareholder acceptance level. The inclusion of Vector will help EADS achieve its long-term strategic goals of increasing its services activities

and exposure to the very important North American aerospace market.” Declan O’Shea, CEO of Vector Aerospace, added: “Becoming part of Eurocopter and EADS Group is perhaps the single most important event in our company’s history as it elevates us into a different echelon of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul providers.” www.eurocopter.com

AEROSPACENEWS Rolls-Royce wins American Airlines acquires 260 $1bn order from Airbus A320 Family aircraft and American Airlines, a wholly-owned national. Together, the Sharklets and new engine Singapore Airlines Airbus subsidiary of AMR Corporation, have signed a choices result in a 15% fuel burn reduction,

olls-Royce has won a $1bn order from Singapore Airlines to supply Trent 700 engines to power 15 Airbus A330 aircraft, along with TotalCare® services support. The Trent 700 is the most fuel efficient, cleanest and quietest engine on the A330. Since it entered service in 1995, Rolls-Royce has continued to improve its performance by incorporating advanced technology from the Trent 900 and Trent 1000. These enhancements have delivered a one per cent reduction in fuel consumption, which saves 800 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft, per year. Singapore Airlines already operates 19 Trent 700-powered A330s, the first of which was delivered in 2009. Nick Devall, Rolls-Royce chief commercial officer, Civil Aerospace, said: “The Trent 700 has proven itself to be the most efficient engine for the Airbus A330. Our continuous investment in the improvement of our products has ensured that the Trent 700 is the clear leader in the market.” www.rolls-royce.com

firm contract for American to acquire 260 modern, fuel-efficient Airbus A320 Family aircraft. The contract calls for flexibility for the airline to take delivery of A319s, A320s and A321s, with 130 featuring Airbus’ New Engine Option (neo). All 260 aircraft will feature large, fuel-saving wingtip devices known as Sharklets. “We are extremely proud and gratified once again to count American Airlines among Airbus’ global customers,” said Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders. “The order by American represents a strong endorsement of our constantly improving single-aisle product line.” The A320neo, launched in late 2010, is the latest product innovation at Airbus. These new A319, A320 and A321 models feature a choice of two new engines – the PurePower PW1100G from Pratt & Whitney or the LEAP-X from CFM Inter-

CFM logs $11 billion in LEAP engine orders

FM International has booked firm orders for 910 LEAP-X1A engines to power 455 Airbus A320neo aircraft. The engine orders are valued at more than US$11 billion at list price. • AirAsia placed the single largest order in aviation history, selecting the advanced LEAP engine to power 200 Airbus A320neo aircraft; • CIT Aerospace placed an order for LEAP engines to power 15 A320neos; • GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) ordered engines to power 60 A320neos; • ILFC selected the LEAP engine to power 40 A320s;

Aeroflot selects Thales in-flight entertainment system

hales, a leader in in-flight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) systems, has announced that Aeroflot has confirmed the selection of the Thales TopSeries system for its fleet of 16 B777-300 aircraft. The system will be configured for 402 passengers and will be line-fit into the new aircraft with first

corresponding to an annual carbon dioxide reduction of 3600 metric tons per aircraft. Compared to prior-generation narrowbody aircraft, the fuel savings could easily amount to up to 30%. Since launching the innovative product in December of last year, Airbus has received orders and commitments for almost 1200 A320neo Family aircraft. Visit: www.airbus.com

delivery scheduled for January 2013. The new B777 aircraft will have audio and video on-demand entertainment at every seat. In business class, in-seat screen sizes are an attractive 15.4 inches. Other features include in-seat power, USB and iPort, which enable passengers to interface their portable devices (and also iPhone™, iPod™, iPad™) to the system

• Republic Airways Holdings, the parent company of US-based Frontier Airlines, selected the LEAP-X1A to power 40 A319neo and 40 A320neo aircraft; • SAS chose the LEAP engine to power 30 A320neos; • Virgin America officially launched the LEAP engine on 15 June with an order for engines to power 30 A320neo aircraft. LEAP engines are a product of CFM International (CFM), a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran group) and GE. The engine is on track for entry into service in 2016. www.cfm56.com allowing them to enjoy their own content through the in-seat screen. To complement the in-seat display, passengers will have the new, award winning Thales Touch Passenger Media Unit, a revolutionary handheld media device that brings to the passenger endless Android™ applications common to the consumer world. www.thales-ifs.com

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HYPERSONIC GREEN MACHINE EADS’ revolutionary proposal for a Mach 4 airliner uses spaceplane technology to achieve minimum emissions and noise.

this year’s Paris Air Show EADS presented a concept study for a highspeed transport system. This Mach 4 aircraft is intended to fly long-haul routes – for example Tokyo-Paris or Tokyo-Los Angeles – in less than 2 hrs 30 min, while having a very limited impact on the environment and being operated as a standard aircraft. EADS Innovation Works and Astrium – in partnership with the French national aerospace research laboratory ONERA – have launched a feasibility and systems study sponsored by France’s Directorate General for Aviation (Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile – DGAC). Called ZEHST (Zero Emission High Supersonic Transport). This high-speed transport concept definition draws on know-how from Astrium’s suborbital spaceplane project and is one of the projects incorporated in EADS Innovation Works’ eCO2avia activities, which also include such efforts as demonstrating the feasibility of using biofuels and electric power for aviation. Reducing travel times for passengers is a key driver in the development of the world’s air transportation system. Not only will longhaul airliners of the future have to be fast, they will need to meet the air transport industry’s ambitious environmental protection goals, 14 Industry Europe

including those spelled out in the European Commission’s roadmap ‘Flightpath 2050’. This European Commission report sets the targets of reducing aircraft CO2 emissions by 75 per cent, along with reductions of NOx by 90 per cent and noise levels by 65 per cent, compared to levels of the year 2000. ZEHST demonstrators are planned for the end of the decade, to be followed by development towards an operational vehicle. Numerous technological challenges need to be mastered so that future high-speed commercial transport systems can achieve the required performance while also meeting tomorrow’s environmental constraints. Studies have to identify how requirements and objectives can be aligned with technical aspects.

Three steps

An initial ZEHST propulsion system concept based on liquid hydrogen as the main fuel has been conceived as the first step towards a basic reference solution. The next steps in this long-term project will then be to validate the environmental signature of this concept and specifically its propulsion system architecture. The type of fuel to be used will eventually be selected in the light of its environmental performance but also

its production and distribution, while also addressing energy management and the concept’s acceptance by future passengers, crew and the public. Tests and demonstrators will be critical milestones towards the completion of this second phase of the roadmap. The third step of the project will then deal with product requirements of a high-speed aircraft capable of flying a hypersonic intercontinental mission while still being ‘green’, quiet and operated as a year 2050-standard aircraft. “The initial concept represents a propulsion system architecture which is driven by flight safety considerations and by the requirements to minimise exhaust gas and noise emissions, in particular to mitigate the sonic boom,” said Jean Botti, chief technical officer of EADS. “We are on a very early stage with this research programme. First series planes flying with technology resulting from this concept will not fly before 2040.”

Three engine types

Three types of engines are operated in sequence for the various flight phases of a long-range flight at hypersonic cruise speed. Mastering the ascent and descent phases of the flight profile will be eased by All images © AIRBUS S.A.S. 2010 - All rights reserved - EIAI

the know-how derived from research carried out on the Astrium spaceplane over the past five years. The thrust required for the ZEHST’s initial flight phase – beginning with the normal takeoff from a standard runway through to the initial cruise, the climb to 5km altitude and acceleration to Mach 0.8 – will be provided by two high-power, low-bypass turbojet engines without afterburners (reheat), that operate on biofuel. Ignition and operation of two small liquid hydrogen / liquid oxygen-powered booster rocket engines followed by the ignition of a larger one (derived from the types used in the Ariane commercial launch vehicle) enable the aircraft’s continued steep climb towards the cruising altitude and the acceleration through the transonic speed regime up to a speed of Mach 2.5. Once sufficient speed has been reached and an altitude of 23km attained, two air-breathing hydrogen-fuelled ramjets are employed for the aircraft’s cruise flight at beyond Mach 4, the optimum Mach number in terms of fuel consumption, and at an altitude of up to about 32km. Ramjets have no rotating parts – air is rammed into the combustion chamber using the forward speed of the aircraft and slowed to subsonic speeds by an inlet cone before combustion. Ramjets can produce sufficient thrust only when an aircraft is already moving faster than Mach 2. When approaching the destination, a gliding descent and deceleration to subsonic speed will be performed, followed by the re-ignition of the aircraft’s turbojets at an altitude of 10km for the approach to a normal landing – with sufficient thrust output to allow for the possibility of a runway go-around or diversion to another airport should it be necessary. An overarching design criterion of the ZEHST concept is that passengers should have a ‘normal’, comfortable in-flight experience without requiring any special equipment or training. For a short period of time during the steep rocket engine-powered climb and acceleration, ZEHST passengers would feel mild acceleration forces not exceeding 1.2g. The ZEHST programme is in part a product of a French-Japanese cooperation, as the Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales (GIFAS) and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) signed a Supersonic Technologies Cooperation Agreement during the 2005 Paris n Air Show.

Visit: www.eads.com

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NEWS

New contracts and orders in industry

DavyMarkham secures golden £10m contract

eavy engineering specialist DavyMarkham has secured a contract worth more than £10m to supply drum hoists to a Canadian gold producer. The Sheffield based company, which fabricates and supplies complex engineered components, has a strong track record in delivering drum hoists to mines across the globe and the contract will see the hoists operating at the Goldcorp Éléonore Project in northern Quebec. DavyMarkham will supply two double-drum hoists between 2012 and 2014, one production

Major contract announcement for French company in Pakistan

erlinde France, a division of leading French manufacturer Verlinde, has announced a major contract in Pakistan – a massive new order with Indus Toyota. As part of the deal, Verlinde has supplied Indus Toyota’s car plant in Karachi with one of its latest 80-tonne cranes. “Working with Indus Toyota at this time is a positive step forward and is a good start to our presence in Pakistan and our expanding global operation,” said Thomas Descamps, managing director of Verlinde. “The Pakistan team has done a great job and we look forward to promoting not just the cranes we can supply, but the wide range of services we can offer this expanding marketplace.” These wide-ranging services include Chain Hoist, which is new from Pakistan and is a product in which Verlinde has direct expertise. The company is also able to supply the same equipment (including the ATEX explosion proof range) that customers in Pakistan are familiar with, and the liaison office continues to have rapid access to genuine Morris brand name spares for cranes, ensuring continuity of service for those customers. Visit: www.verlinde.com

CGGVeritas signs a fixed five-year marine charter agreement with BOURBON

OURBON has announced the signing of a five-year marine charter agreement with CGGVeritas for six new seismic support and assistance vessels that will be delivered at the end of 2012. Following a tender procedure, BOURBON

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hoist used to sink the shaft and a second service hoist which will service the mine’s main operations to extract Éléonore’s significant gold resources. Gordon Scott, sales and marketing director at DavyMarkham, said: “The contract for Goldcorp Éléonore Project builds on our experience within the mining market, which is opening up more export opportunities within the Americas and other continents as explorations yield undiscovered mineral resources. Visit: www.davymarkham.com

Wärtsilä receives propulsion package orders for four new dredger vessels W

ärtsilä has been awarded a series of orders to supply propulsion solutions for dredger vessels to be built in China and the Netherlands. Since dredging applications are typically very demanding, the high reliability of the Wärtsilä solutions was a key element in the award of all three project orders. Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading systems integrator, will provide the engines and fixed pitch propellers (FPP) to Van Oord, the Netherlandbased dredging and marine contractor with global operations. The equipment installation is for the ‘Artemis’, the second of two large self propelled cutter suction dredgers being built for the company at the IHC Dredgers shipyard in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. Two further orders have been received from Chinese companies. The Nantong Gangzha Shipping Manufacturing Co. Ltd shipyard has placed an order for two Wärtsilä 16V32 engines, propulsion equipment and systems for a hopper

dredger currently under construction. The Tianjin Dredging Company (TDC), part of the state-owned CCCC Group, has placed a propulsion package order with Wärtsilä for two dredgers being built at yards in China. Visit: www.wartsila.com

has decided to build these vessels at Grandweld Shipyards in Dubai. These vessels will be used to support the fleet of CGGVeritas seismic survey vessels operating all over the world, providing them with the requisite ancillary services including crew change, fuel delivery, storage, assistance and support during in-sea maintenance operations.

“We are delighted to have been chosen by CGGVeritas, which comes as further confirmation of BOURBON’s capacity to adapt to meet the needs of its clients,” announced Christian Lefèvre, CEO of BOURBON. “At the same time, this agreement emphasises BOURBON’s recognised expertise in the design and management of oil and gas marine services vessels.”

WINNINGBUSINESS

Balfour Beatty Engineering Services awarded BSF contracts valued at £10.5m

alfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES), one of the UK’s largest mechanical and electrical building services businesses, has been awarded two schools contracts within the Oldham Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, valued at £10.5m. BBES will design, supply and install mechanical and electrical services to the new-build Oldham

Roman Catholic School and the partial rebuild and remodelling of North Chadderton School. Services comprise CHP systems, natural and mechanical ventilation systems, domestic hot and cold water systems, above ground drainage systems, a fully interactive BMS system, modular wiring systems, fire alarm, security and access control systems.

Sustainable aspects to the project include rainwater harvesting systems and an interactive BMS system capable of lighting system zonal control. The schools are also fully energy metered via the BMS, which has the capability to convert consumption to cost and provide out of profile alarms for all systems metered. Visit: www.balfourbeatty.com

Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn buys five new Stadler vehicles MAN Diesel & Turbo lands

he tender from Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn AG (FW) for five new low-floored multiple-unit trains – with a value of around CHF 31 million – has gone to Stadler Rail. After analysing the future need for vehicles on the Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn line, in summer 2009 the railway’s management decided to purchase five new latest-generation multipleunit trains. Following various preparations, the official tender went out in autumn 2010. The FW board of directors awarded Stadler the tender in January 2011. The new trains will have a first class compartment. With much of the carriage being low-floored, disabled access is good and makes getting on and off easier. The vehicles have air conditioning and three generous entry and multi-purpose areas, as well as modern passenger information systems. Reflecting BOURBON’s constant quest for innovation, these 53-metre-long vessels will have hybrid propulsion consisting of two classic diesel engines to move at speed for transit work and two electric engines that are very precise and economical in terms of energy, for escort and support work for the seismic survey vessels. Visit: www.bourbon-online.com

The vehicle meets the particular requirements of the FW line: it is able to negotiate tight curves and has an electromagnetic rail brake as well as a special crash front. The FW multipleunit train is part of the tailor-made segment of vehicles (custom and small-scale production) which is part of Stadler Rail’s core expertise. In the last few years, this segment has on average accounted for around 20% of orders. Visit: www.stadlerrail.com

Ruukki signs supplier contract with Caterpillar

uukki has signed a supplier contract with Caterpillar for delivery of Raex 400 wear-resistant special steel. Raex is used in the ADT truck’s main body structure. The contract with Caterpillar covers the delivery of Raex to their major European facilities for 2011.

Korean order for naval application

AN Diesel & Turbo has signed a contract with STX, the South Korean engine manufacturer, for the construction of 4 × 12V28/33D STC diesel engines. The four-stroke units are bound for a Republic of Korea Navy vessel currently under construction in Korea at Hanjin Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. Under the project name LST-II, Hanjin is constructing the landing ship tank (LST) vessel, which has an approximate length of 127m. The naval vessel features a CODAD (Combined Diesel and Diesel) propulsion configuration with the 4 × 12V28/33D STC diesel engines integrated with two twin-input/single-output gearboxes and two CP propellers. Visit: www.mandieselturbo.com

The approval testing was performed at the CAT Peterlee production facility in the UK where the group’s Articulated Dump Truck (ADT) product for global supply is manufactured. The ADT truck’s main body structure is one of the most demanding applications for wear-resistant steel due to the continual impact and wear experienced. Visit: www.ruukki.com

Industry Europe 17

NEWS

Combining strengths

Outokumpu establishes joint venture to launch a turnaround for its tubular unit

utokumpu and Andrea Gatti have signed a letter of intent on a joint venture arrangement for Outokumpu’s tubular unit (OSTP). Subject to the signing of the final agreement a company controlled by Mr Gatti will become a minority owner in OSTP and will have an option to become a majority owner of the business in the coming years. CEO Mika Seitovirta says: “We welcome Andrea Gatti as our partner in OSTP’s turnaround. I am convinced that jointly we can reform OSTP to a profitable entity. Staying as an owner in the business enables Outokumpu to maintain the relationship as a supplier to the OSTP units and retain a big part of the value increase that we expect the turnaround plan to deliver.” OSTP will be separated from Outokumpu and it will be managed through the OSTP Board, with a chairman appointed by Outokumpu. The turnaround plan for OSTP will be further detailed by the partners in the joint venture and it will include significant streamlining of the production structure, optimisation of the product portfolio and general cost reduction. Visit: www.outokumpu.com

Brenntag achieves strategic market entry in China

renntag, the global market leader in chemical distribution, has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Zhong Yung (International) Chemical Ltd. Brenntag will hold a majority stake of 51% and will acquire the remaining stake in 2016. Entering into a joint venture for five years gives Brenntag the opportunity to use the experience and know-how of Zhong Yung and its management team to establish a solid business platform for Brenntag in China. “This acquisition is a strategic investment for Brenntag in China and also a first step through which Brenntag demonstrates full commitment

to build a solid distribution network in China. We are continuing to look for further opportunities to support our growth in Asia Pacific.” says Brenntag’s COO and designated CEO Steve Holland. Henri Néjade, President of Brenntag Asia Pacific, highlights: “We are delighted to team up with Zhong Yung because it opens the opportunity for further growth in China. Zhong Yung is a major chemical distributor with about 2000 customers, more than 100 suppliers and has an excellent infrastructure including laboratories, blending and storage capabilities.” Visit: www.brenntag.com

ABB acquires the Trasfor Group and expands its transformer business

BB, the leading power and automation technology group, has agreed to acquire the Trasfor Group to expand its offering of speciality transformers and address fast growing markets and applications. Trasfor is a leading manufacturer of dry-type transformers and inductors for low-voltage and mediumvoltage applications. It provides speciality products for drives, railway rolling stock, offshore wind power and other types of power generation based on renewable energy, and in addition supplies a range of industries such as marine, oil and gas. “This bolt-on acquisition is in line with ABB’s strategy. It will strengthen our transformers business, broaden our customer offering and extend our market presence,” said Bernhard Jucker, head of ABB’s Power Products division. “Trasfor’s energy-efficient product range complements our transformer portfolio and offers scope for synergies and growth.” The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. ABB expects the closing to be completed during the second half of this year. Visit: www.abb.com

Sika acquires contract manufacturer in Switzerland

ika AG, headquartered in Baar, is acquiring Romanshorn-based plastic products manufacturer Biro Edwin Bischof AG. Biro produces injection-moulded parts for the European automotive industry on behalf of customers including Sika. The company generated sales of CHF 35 million in 2010 and

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employs approximately 150 people. Biro Edwin Bischof AG was founded by Edwin Bischof in 1962. Today 55% of the company’s output is destined for the automotive industry. The vast majority of these parts are produced for Sika. Biro Edwin Bischof AG has come under increasing pressure in recent years as a result of the financial and business crisis. The acquisition will put it on a new

financial footing and avoid a situation that would threaten its continued existence. Biro Edwin Bischof AG has been producing parts for the automotive industry on Sika’s behalf for over ten years. By acquiring the company, Sika is therefore ensuring that production will continue and its various supply commitments to its partners will be upheld. Visit: www.sika.com

LINKINGUP Philips acquires Spanish LED lighting business

oyal Philips Electronics has agreed to acquire Spain-based lighting company Indal as part of its plans to strengthen its market position in Europe. Under the terms of the deal Indal will become part of the Professional Luminaries business of Netherlands-based Philips Lighting. Financial details of the purchase were not disclosed. Valladolid-headquartered Indal manufactures primarily outdoor lighting products. According to a statement the buy will lead the transition to energyefficient LED-based lighting applications.

Marc de Jong, general manager of Professional Luminaries at Philips Lighting, comments: “Indal’s capabilities in delivering lighting [products] make it a natural fit with Philips, further strengthening our ability to offer our customers integrated and highvalue options for professional lighting.” Chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Indal, Sebastian Arias, says that the deal will enable the two businesses to pool technologies, teams and practices to lead the ‘LED revolution’. Visit: www.philips.com

MAUSER NCG acquires majority shares of Maider IBC ONET Technologies takes

AUSER’s reconditioning subsidiary National Container Group (NCG) has acquired the majority shares of the Italian company Maider IBC, a leading reconditioner of IBCs. For MAUSER, Italy is an important key market in the packaging industry. With this transaction, it not only further strengthens its overall footprint but furthermore completes its Europe-wide presence. Maider IBC mainly offers new and reconditioned composite IBCs as well as cleaning of asset tanks. The company enjoys a very good reputation and is the market leader in IBC reconditioning in Italy. By acquiring a majority of the shares of Maider IBC,

MAUSER accelerates its overall carbon footprint reduction strategy and is able to better serve customers with sustainable packaging solutions in this region. With the expansion of the NCG network in Europe, MAUSER significantly strengthens its market position and customers in Italy benefit from the possibility of combining economy with ecology. “Being part of a global player who puts life cycle management at its core business offers attractive synergies and new potentials for Maider and for our customers,” summarises Marca Carrara, the founder and managing director of Maider IBC. Visit: www.mausergroup.com

EDF Energies Nouvelles and DONG Energy team up to respond to French call for tenders

world, with to date over 1000 MW and 12 wind farms in operation as well as 1300 MW under construction. “We are very happy to be working together with a well-known European partner on the forthcoming call for tenders in France and to combine its longstanding experience in offshore wind energy with our own,” said Yvon André, COO of EDF Energies Nouvelles.

ith over 20 years’ experience in the northern European offshore wind energy market, Denmark’s DONG Energy will bring its expertise as a specialist and pioneer in this sector. DONG Energy is the utility that has built most offshore wind farms in the

over Bradtec Decon

NET Technologies has strengthened its presence in the UK further to the takeover of Bradtec Decon Technologies Ltd, a company specialising in decontamination procedures. ONET is France’s leader in decontamination and wanted to boost its operations in Britain, where the French-based company already has a subsidiary. The acquisition will enable ONET Technologies to further enlarge its portfolio of technological solutions for decontamination while underpinning its strategy for international expansion and simultaneously benefiting Bradtec. “Working with ONET Technologies will bring real added value and will underline our respective areas of technical expertise,” says David Bradbury, former director general of Bradtec Decon Technologies and newly appointed technical director of ONET Technologies. Through its integration into ONET Technologies, Badtec will find new openings for its processes among the numerous dismantling contracts managed by ONET Technologies. Visit: www.onettechnologies.com

With this exclusive partnership, both groups will combine their skills and their investment capacities within a common structure, to be majority-owned by EDF EN, with the objective to guarantee the technical and financial strengths for the offshore wind energy projects in connection with the invitation for tender of the French government. Visit: www.edf.com

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NEWS

MOVINGON

Relocations and expansions across Europe

Daimler expands activities in China

aimler AG and its Chinese partner Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) have signed a strategic framework agreement to further expand their cooperation in China. The signing ceremony was held in the presence of German chancellor Dr Angela Merkel and the Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao. About 2 billion euros will be invested in the joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Co, Ltd. (BBAC). The agreement includes four major

projects: Local passenger car production for the Chinese market will be expanded to include the GLK compact SUV as of 2011; current production capacities of about 80,000 units for the C-Class and the E-Class long version will be further expanded; as of 2013 a new engine plant will produce 4-cylinder gasoline engines, for locally produced Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and vans; lastly, a new R&D centre will be established. Visit: www.daimler.com

Fortum invests in new biofuel-fired CHP plants in Finland and Latvia

Carrier opens new addition to its Montluel Lead Design Research & Development Centre

ortum has invested in two new biofuel-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Järvenpää, Finland and Jelgava, Latvia. The combined investments total around €160 million and the plants are estimated to start commercial operation in 2013. The new biofuel-fired plant in Järvenpää will replace current natural gas and heavy fuel oil heat production. The annual production of the plant will be about 280 GWh of heat and about 130 GWh of electricity. The new plant will be connected to the existing Tuusula and Järvenpää district heat network. A similar biofuel-fired CHP plant will be built in Jelgava to provide heat to the district heat network. The Jelgava plant will replace heat provided by gas, and its annual production is approximately 230 GWh of heat and 110 GWh of electricity. Visit: www.fortum.com

arrier, the world’s leader in high technology heating, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions and business unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), has opened an addition to its Lead Design Research & Development Centre in Montluel, France. The addition increases the size of the research laboratory by 400m2 and will bring together more than 90 Carrier scientists, engineers and technicians to develop innovative products for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning market. Carrier president Geraud Darnis officially opened the expanded facility. “This expansion reaffirms Carrier’s commitment to research and development and to Montluel. The new energy efficient and environmental technologies and products developed here will benefit customers worldwide,” he said. Visit: www.carrier.com

The Renault-Nissan Alliance opens Silicon Valley research office

he Renault-Nissan Alliance is set to open a research office in the heart of Silicon Valley. The offices in Mountain View will allow one of the world’s largest automotive groups to capitalise on the region’s worldclass engineering talent and stay ahead of trends that are reshaping the way people interact with their cars. The office will build staff organically to focus on specific projects and business developments as

Bolzoni Auramo and MEYER open new subsidiary in Russia

olzoni Auramo and MEYER have assumed a leading position on the CIS market in recent years. In April 2011 they took a further important step in strengthening their position on the Russian market with the opening of a subsidiary company in Moscow, ‘Hans H. Meyer OOO’ LLC.

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they emerge. Small, highly efficient teams will initially work on vehicle IT development, advanced engineering research and technology recruitment. Renault’s Silicon Valley work will focus on research and advanced engineering, in particular electric vehicles and their supplier and infrastructure ecosystem, on-board services and business development. Visit: www.alliance-renault-nissan.com

‘Hans H. Meyer OOO’ LLC offers the full range of high quality forklift truck attachments, lift tables and forks from both the Bolzoni Auramo and MEYER ranges, and a customer oriented product consultation service based on their many years of expertise in the materials handling industry. “This new organisational structure is aiming to increase the level of service to our

Russian customers at a new quality level in this market,” says Denis Babushkin, managing director of the newly founded company. “It is planned to actively develop, alongside our continuous sales activities, a broad variety of after-sales and service elements, offering more than just product advice to our customers for the entire life of our products.” Visit: www.bolzoni-auramo.com

NEWS

INDUSTRYPEOPLE Appointment strengthens ENER-G’s manufacturing credentials

ast-growing sustainable energy business ENER-G has appointed Craig Allen as group manufacturing director. As part of the newly created position, Craig will be responsible for the development of manufacturing and supply chain functions across the business, including responsibility for cogeneration systems from 4kW to 10MW and a range of engines in sizes from 165kW to 2MW available for biogas applications. He will report to ENER-G group managing director, Derek Duffill. Craig, aged 38, joins ENER-G from Magna Decoma, the worldwide automotive supplier where in his two years as operations manager, he was instrumental in driving process improvements, operational performance and profitability. Commenting on Craig’s appointment, Derek Duffill said: “With almost 15 years’ experience and a proven track record of delivering tangible and sustainable improvements in a variety of complex fabrication, assembly and continuous flow environments, we are delighted to welcome Craig to the group.

Nissan announces new head of sales and marketing in Europe N issan has appointed Paul Willcox as senior vice-president, sales and marketing for Nissan in Europe, effective 1 July 2011. Willcox is currently managing director at Nissan Motor GB Ltd (NMGB) – Nissan’s UK national sales company based in Maple Cross. He joined Nissan in 1992 and has since held a number of senior positions within the

company at both the national and regional level. Commenting on his appointment, Colin Dodge, EVP and chairman of Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India and European region (AMIE), said: “Paul’s appointment in Europe comes as we are making strong progress with our ambition to be the number one Japanese brand in the region.”

Rolls-Royce appoints new communications manager for Germany

olls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that Ruth Hucklenbroich has joined the company as corporate communications manager for Germany. Ruth will report directly to Richard Carter, director of global communications. Ruth is an experienced PR professional with a track record for automotive communications. She joins Rolls-Royce from Maserati where she spent five years as spokesperson and corporate

communications manager. Previous to this Ruth was PR manager at DaimlerChrysler and she started her career in a similar role at Chrysler Germany. “Ruth joins Rolls-Royce at an exciting time for the company, in the centenary year of the Spirit of Ecstasy and following the recent launch of the Phantom Experimental Electric, 102EX,” said Richard Carter.

EuroChem appoints new executive director of Kovdorskiy GOK

experienced manager to succeed him, had been executive director of Kovdorskiy GOK since 2003. Prior to his appointment, Igor V. MelikGaykazov served as Kovdorskiy GOK technical director. A qualified mining engineer, he primarily focused on increasing production and introducing leading-edge technologies, machinery and equipment.

uroChem has announced that its board of directors has appointed Igor V. Melik-Gaykazov to succeed Nikolay Alekseyevich Ganza as executive director of Kovdorskiy GOK, EuroChem’s mining subsidiary in the Kola Peninsula. Nikolay Alekseyevich Ganza, who prepared the

He oversaw the increase of the raw material base of the Zhelezny Mine and the industrial processing of new deposits, as well as the development of cyclic-flow technology for the transportation of rock overburden, a unique project in the Kola Peninsula, with economic and environmental benefits estimated in the tens of millions of roubles annually.

Industry Europe 21

NEWS

TECHNOLOGYSPOTLIGHT

Advances in technology across industry

USA joining the Wendelstein 7-X fusion project T

he USA is investing over 7.5 million dollars in the construction of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald. In the three-year project, starting in 2011, scientists from the fusion institutes at Princeton, Oak Ridge and Los Alamos are contributing auxiliary magnetic coils, measuring instruments and planning of special sections of the wall cladding for equipping the German fusion device – one of a total of nine projects in the Innovative Approaches to Fusion programme of the USA Department of Energy who will accordingly become a partner in the Wendelstein 7-X research programme. The objective of fusion research is to develop a power plant that, like the sun, derives energy from fusion of atomic nuclei. This requires that the fuel – an ionised low-density gas, a plasma – be confined in a magnetic field cage having virtually no contract with the vessel wall and then be heated to an ignition temperature of over 100 million degrees. The Wendelstein 7-X fusion device, now being built at Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Greifswald, will, when finished, be the world’s largest and most modern device of the stellarator type. Its magnetic field makes continuous operation possible by simple means. In the German-American cooperation programme Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is making five auxiliary coils for Wendelstein 7-X. The window-size coils, to be installed on the outer casing of the device, are to help precise setting of the magnetic fields at the plasma edge. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is taking on design of the scraper elements for the plasma edge of Wendelstein 7-X. This will make it possible to protect wall sections across which the hot plasma will move to its final position in the first 30 seconds of the 30-minute plasma discharges. Finally, Los Alamos National Laboratory will provide the Wendelstein programme with measuring instruments for observing the plasma, including refined infrared diagnostics. www.ipp.mpg.de/ippcms/eng/index.html 22 Industry Europe

Storing heat from renewable energy sources

project that is unique in Europe has been launched in Hamburg by E.ON to feed heat from renewable energy sources into the public district heating grid. Home owners who produce heat with the aid of solar-thermal systems can feed it into the grid of E.ON Hanse Wärme. A customer feeding in heat continues to own it, meaning that he can feed in heat in the summer and then withdraw it again in colder months. This enables home owners to dispense with the need for buying their own storage units for their solar-thermal systems as well as the complex control devices required. “The combination of point-of-use production and central storage will be an essential

element of tomorrow’s energy supply. With this project E.ON is showing that it is already possible not only to feed renewable power into the grid but also heat,” said Dr Dierk Paskert, member of the E.ON Energie Board of Management and Chairman of the E.ON Hanse Supervisory Board. The existing heat storage system of a housing estate in the Hamburg district of Bramfeld has a capacity of 4000m2. For the purposes of this pilot project it has been converted into a multi-function storage system and integrated into the E.ON district heating grid. www.eon.com

Recyling rare earth elements U

micore and Rhodia have jointly developed a unique process for the recycling of rare earth elements (REE) from Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries. This recycling process combines the capabilities of Umicore’s proprietary Ultra High Temperature (UHT) battery recycling process with Rhodia’s rare earth refining competences. The process can service the whole range of NiMH batteries from portable applications to the batteries for hybrid electric vehicles. The process will enable the recovery of rare earths from NiMH batteries that will be treated at Umicore’s new battery recycling plant in Hoboken. After the separation of the nickel and iron from the rare earths, Umicore will process the rare earths into a high grade concentrate that will be refined and formulated

into rare earth materials at Rhodia’s plant in La Rochelle (France). Sybolt Brouwer, general manager Battery Recycling and Recycling Development at Umicore, commented: “This is the first industrial process that closes the loop of the rare earths contained in NiMH batteries.” www.rhodia.com www.umicore.com

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON...

France Ian Sparks reports from Paris on a PR disaster.

he multi-millionaire head of French media empire Lagardere is facing a mutiny from shareholders after posing for ‘suggestive’ photographs with his 20-year-old supermodel girlfriend. The French business community and staff at the multinational conglomerate – whose assets include Britain’s biggest publisher Hachette UK – have reacted with fury to the saucy shots of celebrity boss Arnaud Lagardere, 50, and Belgian model Jade Foret. Business analysts in Paris say the reaction to the photos is so hostile it could provoke a revolt by shareholders who want to buy out the company. The photographs were taken by Belgian magazine Le Soir, and show a casuallydressed Mr Lagardere draped over his scantily clad girlfriend lying on a sofa at his home outside Paris. Le Soir has also put a video of the shoot on its website. An excerpt from the interview published in Le Soir quotes Mr Lagardere as saying: “We fell in love quite quickly, but I did not believe Jade felt the same way at the time. Jade is very attractive physically, but what I liked very much about her was her character. Physically she reminds me of my mother.” The episode has fuelled long-standing claims that he is unfit to run the company founded by his father Jean-Luc Lagardere, who died in 2003. A Paris public relations consultant told French news agency AFP after the photos were made public in June: “People can’t believe that his communications advisers let this come out. It looks like he has completely lost the plot.” One commentater on French newspaper Le Monde’s website wrote: “It’s Pitiful. Bling bling society has really sunk to a new low.” With the film showing Lagardere is shorter than his brunette girlfriend, Le Monde also compared the couple to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his taller wife Carla BruniSarkozy, who have also attracted criticism for their lavish, media-friendly lifestyle.

Paris-based Lagardere – which publishes Elle and Paris Match magazines – also owns a 7.5 per cent stake in European aerospace and defence firm EADS, where Mr Lagardere is due to become chairman later this year. One employee at EADS who asked to remain anonymous also told AFP: “What’s sad is that he looks in the photos like a little boy with a new toy. It says a lot about him, as though he’s not finished growing up.”

“Investors such as the American corporate raider Guy WyserPratte would seize upon the video as evidence of Mr Lagardere’s incompetence and he could possibly launch an attempt to seize the group.” The French radio broadcaster RMC said the photoshoot could now threaten Mr Lagardere’s position as the General and Managing Partner of the Lagardere Group. It said: “Investors such as the American corporate raider Guy Wyser-Pratte would seize upon the video as evidence of Mr Lagardere’s incompetence and he could possibly launch an attempt to seize the group.”

Smile please

In Paris, the French government has launched a campaign to attract more tourists to France by urging their service industry employees to become ‘more welcoming and less arrogant’. Part of the drive is to lure more tourists from the USA, from where French tourism minister Frederic Lefebvre launched the new campaign ‘Rendez-vous en France’, in partnership with the country’s destination marketing agency A

tout France. A new website to accompany the campaign shows pictures of lush vineyards in the Loire Valley, iconic Paris landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe and glossy images of grinning waiters serving plates of food and glasses of wine. Mr Lefebvre said he understood visitors from the US expected a much higher level of customer service than is common in France. He added: “We are number one in the world in terms of the number of tourists that come to France every year. We are 20 million tourists ahead of the United States, but the problem is that in terms of sales we are very far behind the US, and that figure is declining, and it’s declining because we need to increase the length of stay. “Of France’s 76.8 million tourists, about three million are US tourists, and that number has been relatively flat year-over-year. In addition to France’s image issue, other reasons US tourists hesitate about traveling to France are the dollar-euro exchange rate and rising airfares.” France brings in about 44.5 billion euros in annual tourism revenue, compared to Spain which brings in about 51.5 billion euros annually, and the US which brings in about 101 billion euros, Mr Lefebvre said. A new logo has also been launched for the campaign featuring France’s national symbol Marianne – which would be used as a badge worn by tourist industry employees to signify they had signed up to the new effort to be ‘nicer’ to foreigners. Mr Lefebvre added: “People often talk about the French as an arrogant nation, and we would like to make a strong effort to improve the sense of welcome in France.” America’s Time magazine quipped after Mr Lefebvre’s comments in New York: “The French are rude. They don’t shave. They get mad if you butcher their language. But worst of all, the French aren’t pleased that the rest of the world has these impressions of them.” n Industry Europe 23

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON...

Germany Allan Hall reports on Berlin’s new hi-tech image.

wo cities – east and west – shoehorned into one after the fall of the wall. A swift move from Bonn, an influx of politicians and a tourist boom – all have helped to erase the lingering feel of provincialism that hovers over the city on the Spree. ‘Poor but Sexy’ was the slogan coined by the city’s left wing mayor Klaus Wowereit but while the tourists came, big business didn’t. The money stayed in wealthy Hamburg, Duesseldorf and Munich. Showbiz stars did not migrate along with the political classes in any significant numbers; nor did the money men from Frankfurt. Now, finally, all that may be changing. Berlin, just 50 miles from Poland, is now experiencing a new phase in its long, colourful and often tortured history. It is becoming a home to an ever increasing number of innovative new technology start-up companies. The key word here is innovate rather than copy. Computer programmers from around the world have been making the city their home in a mass influx since the end of last year to find work in the rapidly increasing number of high-tech start-ups that now call the German capital home. “Berlin is a great place for start-ups,” said Matt Cohler, co-founder of professional networking site LinkedIn and a former Facebook executive. He is a partner at the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital. “The city is one of the best in Europe when it comes to the environment necessary to nurture a thriving start-up scene. People from all over Europe, from the east and the west, converge on the city, and many of them have strong technical backgrounds. Plus, the city has a nice atmosphere and it’s cheap.” Ijad Madisch, 30, is the founder of ResearchGate, a new social networking site designed specifically to help others performing similar functions. He says foreigners, including those who work already “in 24 Industry Europe

Mecca” – Mecca being Silicon Valley in the USA – now call Berlin ‘silicon Allee’ or alley. “The question is, always, will you get the people you are looking for,” says Madisch. “And Berlin has people coming to it from all over the world. For young people, it is simply a cool place to live – and we have people contacting us all the time.” Ondango, Wooga, Twago, Neonga, Veodu – these are just some of the names of the new start-ups in the capital. Juergen Wehmeyer, owner of a firm specialising in writing mathematical computer programmes, said the buzz is “worldwide” that Berlin is a cool place to be on the cutting edge. He said, “In the past companies tended to focus just on the German market. Now it is global players that are coming here. This is a good thing. It breaks down those walls of German provincialism which I believe have held back too many companies for too long. “There is an air of confidence that matches the current upswing in the German export economy. And with the confidence comes the change in Berlin from being ‘poor but sexy’ into being ‘rich and sexy.’ That, I think, will be the city’s slogan in two decades from now.”

Muso city

With world-class movie studios at Babelsberg just outside the city, the music scene has long been courted to move from Hamburg and Munich. While some companies have relocated it is mostly foreigners in the industry who have come to Berlin to take advantage of the lowcost base and friendly vibe. One is called SoundCloud from Sweden which has been in Berlin since 2007. It is a site which allows musicians to share ideas, tracks and sound snippets instantly. It also includes a publishing tool for distribution and is regarded as a major player in the industry. Success is taking its toll in an unexpected

way, however; there is now a dearth of developers to fill vacant posts. “The scene in Berlin has been booming for three years,” says Alexander Hüsing, founder and editor-in-chief of the online publication deutsche-startups.de. “But since last autumn especially, more and more companies are coming to the city. Everyone is looking for people. There is a real shortage of developers at the moment.”

“There is an air of confidence that matches the current upswing in the German export economy. And with the confidence comes the change in Berlin from being ‘poor but sexy’ into being ‘rich and sexy.’...” None of Germany’s top 30 listed companies are based in Berlin. But the city’s ability to attract young entrepreneurs has forged its latest reputation as Europe’s new technology hub. Mike Butcher, editor of TechCrunch Europe, says: “A very international scene, a lot of people speak English, it has a big arts scene which attracts a lot of internationals. Economically pretty affordable, so if you’re developing a new technology start-up and you don’t have any pre-existing revenues, then that’s a great advantage. “What’s going to happen is that the startups which are getting visibility tend to have more of an international footprint and therefore attract the interest of the Silicon Valley venture capital community.” Rich But Sexy – it has a ring to it that the new business pioneers hope will replace the n old slogan for Berlin.

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CENTRE OF ATTENTION SW-Machines of Germany are market leaders in the manufacture of multi-spindle machining centres for a wide range of OEM industries. Philip Yorke talked to Reiner Fries, SW’s managing director about the company’s latest innovative technology and the company’s plans for further global expansion.

-Machines was independent until 2004 when it became a 100 per cent part of the EMAG Group. Then in 2008 EMAG got the German SDB investment group on board, which today holds 70 per cent of the company with the remaining 30 per cent held by EMAG. As a result, the company has significantly increased its global reach as well its range of high performance machine centre products. After the downturn in 2009 SW is now back on track, reaching sales of €120 million in 2011 (significantly above its previous best year in 2008) and employs almost 300 people.

Cost-effective solutions

There are many companies specialising in the design and manufacture of machining centres (MC’s) and they vary greatly in terms of their size and product offering. However, the success of SW-Machines is based upon MCs with two or four spindles

and their intensive technological development and end-user-specific solutions. The highest priority is given to delivering the most cost-effective and strategic solution for any given manufacturing task. Known in the industry as “The Technology people” the company lives up to its name and its well-founded reputation for German engineering’s quality heritage. Mr Fries added, “We offer one of the most diverse product portfolios and are able to adapt our machines to suit an infinite variety of applications. In fact every one of our machines, whether it is designed for non-ferrous or ferrous metal machining, is dedicated to providing the optimum solution for the task for which it was designed. All of our machines are ‘bespoke’ and would not be purchased by the customer without a specific project in mind. However, we do have a range of standardized basic modules, which are then adapted and customised on the hardware side. Sometimes a repeat client will prefer

to buy a ‘naked’ machine and then customise it in-house. “We know that we offer higher standards of reliability and efficiency than our competitors due to our cutting-edge automation technology. We are technology driven and we look at all possible opportunities to improve our machines’ efficiency and output, e.g. by permanent conditon monitoring features installed in our machines. We have developed several types with linear motors in recent years and currently update our portfolio with ball screw driven machines for heavy machining. When we look at developing a new machine we ask ourselves, is this satisfying a market ‘pull’ or can we set a technology ‘push’ again, enabling customers to reduce their cost-per-part. Today the multispindle MC market is growing, as manufacturers can do more with these multifunctional machines. This is because these articulated high-speed machines with two or four spindles use fewer operators, less floor space and less energy per part produced.” Industry Europe 25

Increasing global reach

With Europe coming out of the recent manufacturing recession, the company has seen its sales grow by more than 200 per cent during the past 12 months. Pioneering new technology that provides customers with greater potential for cost savings and increased productivity has added to the company’s fortunes. The biggest market for SW-Machines remains Germany and western Europe, with the EU ‘expansion’ states also seeing strong growth, especially countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic. Mr Fries added, “We are making good progress with sales in the developing regions and getting more customers in China where we are present in nine cities and serving customers such as BOSCH, TRW and Continental Teves. We are also expanding our reach in India and for the last one and a half years have seen positive growth in sales. We expect to be able to build on this success with our attendance at IMTEX 2011 in Bangalore. The interesting thing is that in India there is a move towards high-speed machining centres, which offer higher automated production output and are therefore far less labour intensive. Our main competition in India comes from small producers of single spindle and special purpose machines. We have also launched our latest BA 422 machine there for cutting medium size cast iron and steel parts, which are ideal for first and second tier suppliers and ideal for energy and turbine applications. “We are also participating in the EMO trade fair in Hanover in September this year, as well as the CIMT in April in Beijing, China.” 26 Industry Europe

Enhancing product diversity

With an ever-increasing product range and built-in cutting-edge technology, SW-Machines is winning sales in all its key markets. The latest BA W04 and BA W06 are horizontal machining centres for non-ferrous metal machining and are both based on the monoblock design principle with a three-axis box-in-box unit. This combination offers high dynamics in an energy-saving format. Both machines are driven by linear motors with special attention to low masses. The company’s extremely rigid and patented monoblock, the CUBE, carries a horizontal swivel table with two fixtures and fifth axis units as an option. The vertical axis always has two drives, and two or four

horizontal spindles. Glass scales and highresolution rotary scales are located outside the work zone. A fifth axis with two or four satellites can be added on both tables for complex workpieces such as impellers or turbine blades. SW-Machines’ portfolio also includes the BA 322, a horizontal machining centre for ferrous and non-ferrous metals with two spindles, and its four-spindle sister the BA 342. During the EMO Show in Hannover (19–24 September 2011) the company will be launching its new model, the BA 722, for bigger workpieces on lightduty or heavyduty trucks. There is more product information and technical data available on the company website which can be reached at n www.sw-machines.de.com

HYBRID SUCCESS

BMB is a leader in the production of injection moulding machines. Abigail Saltmarsh looks at its exciting new eKW Hybrid series.

fter more than 40 years in the injection moulding machine business, BMB, the major Italian manufacturer, still refuses to compromise on anything less than “360 deg total quality.” As a result the past months have seen the success of its new series, the eKW Hybrid, which has been developed to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for real energy savings but without forfeiting the performance capabilities of fast cycling hydraulic machines. “Since its introduction at the PLAST’09 fair in Milan, everybody has realised that something has changed in the injection moulding field,” said a company spokesman. “In presenting the brand-new eKW Hybrid series, BMB has totally redefined the concept of hybrid machines. “Until now, these were basically hydraulic machines with electric screw drives. But the eKW Hybrid machines are fully electric with only the actual injection movement being hydraulically driven via accumulators.”

Customer based

BMB was stablished in 1967 by Egidio Bugatti, and the idea behind it was always

to offer machines and solutions to solve any need in moulding. It is still headed by Egidio but now with his son, Marco, who states that “Technology and innovation are obviously prerequisites to succeed in this hard task, but it is equally important to have a strong and compact group where management and employees have the same values, with a shared responsibility towards the customer, to quality, transparency, reliability and credibility.” BMB’s facilities are in the industrial district of Brescia. Here they are organised into three production units, located side-by-side with modern and functional offices. Sales and aftersales offices are placed in important commercial locations to create an efficient infrastructure dedicated to the end users. “The customers are always at the hub of all our activities and we take pride in our achievements in finding the best solutions for all of them,” he went on. “The key to our success is in a customer-based service — a business based on a ‘one to one’ dimension that makes us considered to be one of the most approachable companies to answer specific questions of ‘customisation’.”

High quality

BMB invests constantly in research, innovation and development to ensure it continually finds solutions with high performance levels and quality. The competence of its technicians and designers guarantees a service that goes further than the realisation of the product and that covers any requirement. “Our technical office, organised into mechanical, electrical and software divisions, makes use of the most modern technologies for the planning and simulation of the various production processes, to constantly guarantee the perfection of BMB machines from every aspect,” said the spokesman.

Perfect combination

BMB was pushed into the direction of the eKW Hybrid series due to the limits of the current technology available for all-electric machines. Previously injection rates and pressures had limited design to relatively small injection units. “But the eKW Hybrid series machines perfectly combine advantages of the eKW fully electric series machines, in terms of energy consumption, sound emissions, accuracy and cleanliness, with the speed

and the injection rates of the renowned KW series hydraulic machines,” he explained. “This insight is inspired, combining the technology of the eKW fully electric machines and the celebrated KW series to overcome any previous limitations.”

Innovative processes

The innovations of the eKW Hybrid incorporate the worldwide patented KW clamping unit which uses a five-point double toggle with the toggle links that move outwards during the opening phase, thus allowing longer opening strokes than a traditional toggle system, he explained. This particular geometry has enabled the application point of the clamping force at the centre of the moving platen, thereby eliminating possible deflection during the injection phase. “The toggle is activated by two servo motors, directly connected to re-circulating roller screws. The decision to use direct drive motors, without any kind of intermediate transmission, such as gears or belts, guaran-

tees high speed and high maximum torque and leads to long life and reliability due to the complete absence of wear items,” he said. “Also, choosing to use SKF roller bearings, instead of the recirculating ball type, reveals BMB’s highly focused attention to detail with the choice of components, in order to guarantee the long-lasting lifetime of all the parts of the machine.” In fact, the recirculating roller bearings distribute the pressure over a far larger bearing surface than the recirculating ball type. This difference means less wear and tear and a far lower possibility of breakage.

No compromises

The injection unit is characterised by a direct drive electric torque motor for screw rotation (the plasticising phase). Due to the direct drive, there are no gear reduction trains or intermediate belt drives. The injection phase (filling) is hydraulic, using one hydraulically accumulated piston and controlled by a servo-valve that works in closed

circuit for speed and pressure, guaranteeing maximum precision in this crucial phase of the cycle, even at the highest speeds. The CNC tool numeric controller ensures the machine an absolute precision with centesimal adjustment; this also increases the facility for setting all the parameters of the machine, decreasing the possibility of mistakes by the operators. “From this exciting new series we have already delivered machines in the 200 to 1500 tonnes clamp force range, and the 1700tonne machine is in an advanced stage of manufacture,” he said. “Several comparisons and the many machines already installed with well-known end users prove that this machine achieves the same results in terms of cycle time and repeatability of process as the KW pi series machines (dedicated to packaging and thin-wall moulding) but with energy savings up to 40 per cent.” Finally he added: “There are now enough applications to appreciate that it is possible to dramatically reduce energy costs without making compromises on productivity.” n

FLEXIBLE CONVERTING SOLUTIONS As a leading global supplier of converting solutions to the flexible packaging industry, the family-owned Spanish company Comexi is on a constant quest for excellence. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Business managing director Albert Negre to find out more.

32 Industry Europe

ocated in Girona in northern Spain, flexible packaging machinery supplier Comexi is a 100 per cent family-owned business with a successful history that reaches back more than 50 years. This status gives Comexi, and its holding company Comexi Group, the unique position it enjoys in the market. Business managing director Albert Negre is clear about how this translates on a dayto-day basis: “We have long been focused on providing solutions for our customers and our company history gives us a solid foundation from which we continue to grow. As a family company we can be nimble, flexible and totally reliable in providing answers to our customers’ requests.”

With its broad range of machine manufacturing capabilities for the flexible packaging industry, Comexi’s core business is flexographic presses, with laminators and slitters also available for its predominately flexographic converter customers. Mr Negre continued, “Our business is to sell confidence to our customers, so we are not simply a supplier, but rather a flexible packaging partner as we help them to earn money by using our equipment. Consequently, it is imperative that we provide excellent advice on what Comexi machinery to use, how to use it and how to maximise the machinery’s potential. By meeting these demands, we will continue to grow and achieve in line with our core values.”

Focus on family

The core values of Comexi certainly reflect its family-owned status, with a clear focus on maintaining mutually-beneficial customer relationships. With reliability, simplicity, high technology, fidelity and leadership in converting all playing an important role in Comexi’s daily activities, it seems as though that ‘selling confidence’ promise is justified. Furthermore, these values have allowed Comexi to grow with its most valued customers as it follows them to new markets in order to maintain their flexographic machinery requirements as they expand. As a machinery supplier, Comexi has built up its reputation as a trusted partner and continues to develop its strategy as a Industry Europe 33

36 Industry Europe

global supplier, so this strategy of following the customer has long proved successful. Mr Negre said, “The global recession did see our market freeze for a while as most customers decided not to invest in new equipment. We noticed that customers reduced stocks and filled their production capacities with their existing equipment. However, since the second half of 2009, confidence has returned and access to funding is more available, therefore we are finding that movement across the flexible packaging industry is increasing too. We see this translating to greater requirements across our client base, both in new and existing markets, and as always we are ready to provide solutions to our converting clients worldwide.”

New and improved

In order to maintain this answer-driven position, Comexi invests a great deal in product innovation, around three per cent of its annual revenue, and employs a strong team of engineers and developers. Being at the technical forefront of the flexible packaging machinery industry is also part of the company’s strategy, so investment in new technology is a must. One recent product development that is already making waves in the industry is Comexi’s flexo printing with electron beam. Offering an environmentally friendly way to print without solvents, the

FlexoEB innovation, developed along with its partners, will continue to be promoted in the market over the coming years. The latest product presented from the Comexi R&D team is an upgraded flexo press that is perfectly suited to short runs, making it a cost-effective solution that perfectly complements customers’ existing set-ups. Mr Negre explained, “We launched this flexo press in the summer of 2010 and it is already proving to add value by reducing production costs for our customers. It’s still an eight colour flexo press mainly driven by the concepts of mid-web, short run, quick changeover, small repeat, operator friendly and completely tool-less.” Comexi’s core business is in flexographic printing machines, but it also offers the manufacture of some gravure machines, laminators and slitters, and these areas have been steadily growing in recent months. In particular, Comexi’s partnership with Indian manufacturer Pelican, who have gained the licence to produce Comexi’s smallest laminator model, the Nexus One, purely for the increasingly-successful Indian market.

interesting market for its flexographic printing machinery, with Russia and the former Soviet countries seeing strong growth over the past two years. Even though India and China are predominantly gravure markets, Comexi is able to provide gravure solutions but is also well-positioned to take advantage of the expected trend for flexographic printing presses. Mr Negre concluded, “We are already the leader in the Brazilian market, where we have our own plant with 70 people to complement our 400-strong workforce in Girona. We have also recently purchased ACOM, an Italian company that specialises in gravure manufacturing which will further enhance our offer in this area. Our dedication to responsible, customer-focused growth is clearly evident, and our product diversification is an illustration of our long-term goal to offer the right product for each segment in every global market where n we see potential value.”

Ready for anything

As Comexi continues to build its business in its European heartland and enjoys the Pelican partnership, the company also expects to see continued growth in the rest of the world. Asia and the Middle East is an Industry Europe 37

DRIVING BRAKE

TECHNOLOGY FORWARD Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems is a global leader in the manufacture of advanced brake and suspension systems for commercial vehicles. Philip Yorke looks at how the company evolved to become the best in its class through continuous investment in R&D and the creation of added value across the board.

38 Industry Europe

aldex CVS produces a diverse range of products used in airbrake and suspension systems for commercial vehicles such as trucks, trailers and buses. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Haldex is a leading provider of proprietary and innovative solutions to the global vehicle industry with a focus on products that enhance safety, vehicle dynamics and the environment. Haldex is listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm stock exchange and in 2009 had over 4000 employees and net sales of more than SEK 5.5 billion. Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems con-

tributes more than 60 per cent to the group’s global turnover of SEK 8 billion. Haldex’s other divisions specialise in the design and manufacture of hydraulic systems, springs and traction systems. The company has manufacturing facilities in Sweden, the UK, Hungary, Germany, Brazil, India, China and the USA. Haldex is also the number one globally when it comes to automatic brake adjusters and has the world’s leading OEMs as its customers, including Volvo, MAN, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, Audi, Skoda and Renault.

Increasing market share

Haldex continues to gain market share and to secure big orders from the world’s leading OEMs. Recently the company won a major commission for an advanced, All-Wheel Drive system for the Volvo Car Corporation. This was awarded as a result of successful continuation of its ongoing business with Volvo cars. Volvo chose Haldex as the supplier of choice for its latest AWD technique, which is designed to replace the current ‘generation four’ product for its current and future platform. The new Haldex AWD system is the fifth generation product of the well-established Haldex AWD coupling. This latest AWD product has been developed to meet future market requirements based on weight, cost and fuel consumption. The new order commences in 2012 and is strategically important to Haldex as it strengthens its position as market leader in the long term and enhances its solid and valuable relationship with the Volvo Car Corporation. The Haldex AWD coupling will be manufactured and supplied from the Haldex production facility located in Landskrona in Sweden. The company currently supplies both proprietary and advanced systems for ‘All-Wheel’ drive solutions to a large number of major OEM’s including Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Volvo, Ford Motor Company, Land Rover and General Motors. Another major contract awarded to the company recently was an order from SAF Holland worth SEK 100 million for a new design of disc air brakes. The contract spans a five-year period and commenced in the second quarter of 2011. These advanced air brake systems will also be manufactured in the Haldex plant in Landskrona, Sweden. The new ModulT air disc brake design from Haldex is significantly lighter than a conventional disc brake and provides the end user

with an even more reliable and robust design. At the same time, weight savings are up by 15 per cent compared to current designs, which results in a higher payload being achieved and therefore the new product also makes a contribution to the environment through enhanced efficiency.

Building on success in emerging markets Haldex continues to build on its success in some of the world’s fastest-growing markets including China, India and Brazil.

40 Industry Europe

Already these markets are demanding and achieving the same high standards in terms of products and production expertise as those in western Europe and the USA. The company opened its first office in China over 15 years ago and has been assembling products there for more than 10 years. In 2005 it opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility near Shanghai in association with other Haldex Group companies, including the spring steel division, Garphyttan Wire.

Haldex has also increased its capacity for the manufacture of compressors since it won a major contract in association with ASIMCO of China to supply one of the world’s largest diesel engine manufacturers. ASIMCO is China’s largest manufacturer of compressors with an estimated 60 per cent share of the Chinese OEM market. Similar gains have been achieved in Brazil and India as technology levels and safety standards are raised to meet the increasing government investments in highway infrastructure.

Creating greater value

According to the company’s new CEO, Jay Longbottom, the goal is to create greater value for customers by concentrating on providing extra benefits and accelerating operational excellence initiatives. Mr Longbottom said, “We are concentrating on creating extra benefits for the customer. We don’t offer individual components − we offer real, added value. Product development will be accelerated and service will be expanded. Customer proximity is very important. Development will focus on strategic and system-orientated technology that improves vehicle performance and facilitates the ease of operation and thereby creates value for the customer.” He added, “The new Haldex will build on our long-established strengths. There is a new world for the new Haldex and we will build our success based upon emerging markets and, best-in-class products and with focus on loyal OEM and aftermarket customers. Our formula for success begins with focus and is supported by operational excellence and value added products and strong growth in the emerging markets. In summary, the new Haldex puts emphasis on being the trusted partner for our customers and prospects, in existing and n entirely new markets.”

GRAPHIC EXAMPLE Stoneridge is a leading European manufacturer of driver information systems, tachographs and instrument clusters for the automotive industry. Philip Yorke reports on how the company is continuing to gain market share through innovation and product excellence.

toneridge Electronics is a major supplier to the automotive, truck and offroad vehicle manufacturers. Stoneridge’s diverse range of products includes telematic systems, driver information systems, tachographs, multiplex systems and cockpit switch modules. The company also offers a variety of aftermarket products and works in close collaboration with most of Europe’s premier automotive and truck vehicle manufacturers. 42 Industry Europe

Since 1988 Stoneridge Electronics AB, formerly Berifors, has been committed to the transportation market and quickly earned a reputation for excellence in both product design and project management. In addition the company is recognised for its innovative research and for offering close cooperation in the development of new products with its customers. Stoneridge Electronics is an integral part of the giant US Stoneridge Group, which is

based in Warren, Ohio, and has 17 manufacturing and design centres worldwide. The Group employs over 6000 people, of whom, around 600 are located at Stoneridge Electronics in Sweden. In 2010 the group achieved a turnover of more than $700 million.

Focus on heavy and off-road vehicles

The company’s focus on the heavy and off-road vehicle markets has provided it with the ability to satisfy the most demanding

requirements of its customers and to meet ever shorter lead times. Stoneridge develops and produces vital and unique high-tech equipment that is used in trucks, buses and off-road vehicles, as well as in industrial and agricultural machinery. Stoneridge has two key business sectors: Vehicle Management and Power Distribution and Control Devices. The Vehicle Management and Power Distribution segment offers solutions that include electronic instrument

clusters, electronic control units, driver information systems and electrical distribution systems. The company’s Control Devices sector focuses on products that monitor, measure or activate a specific function within the vehicle. They include electronic and electromechanical switches, control actuation devices and sensors. Stoneridge provides world-class technology across a broad spectrum of automotive applications and strives to provide

flawless, reliable electronics at the lowest possible global prices. Stoneridge is at the forefront of the trend towards multiplex vehicles with integrated power and data circuits. These highly sophisticated systems must be monitored and kept in perfect synchronisation at all times. In the process, this produces a lower cost ratio and more reliable vehicles, whilst at the same time providing a higher level of diagnostics and user information. Industry Europe 43

Leading the field

Stoneridge Electronics is the global leader when it comes to ‘tier-one’ suppliers of instrument clusters for commercial vehicles. Since 1988 the company has developed a large number of electronic systems for the world’s best-known commercial vehicle manufacturers, including Volvo, Daimler-Chrysler, Renault and Daewoo among many others. Stoneridge R&D has developed the most advanced TFT technology with high-speed data systems and user-friendly human machine interfaces. In addition, the company has also pioneered the development of tachographs that have advanced from a traditional mechanical device to one which is digital and fully integrated with the on-board vehicle electronics and communication systems.

Staying ahead of the competition

Stonebridge is also at the cutting-edge of ECU design and manufacture, having developed ECUs for a large number of different applications, ranging from less 44 Industry Europe

complex units to high-end, vehicle control electronics specifically designed to operate in an automotive environment.

New generation technology

For many years Stoneridge has worked in partnership with the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers to push the boundaries of technology in order to achieve higher standards of quality and reliability. A recent technological breakthrough has been the result of the company’s work with Scania to develop the next generation of instrument clusters that allows greater concentration for truck and bus drivers. This advanced instrument cluster is easier for the driver to use thanks to a newly developed ‘graphical interface’. At the same time the appearance of the instrument unit has

been significantly upgraded using new material options and a 3D design format. This latest instrument cluster is available in three different versions, with a wide range of advanced functionality to choose from. The most advanced variant is called ‘Colour Plus’ by Scania and has a 6.5 inch TFT screen. It is currently the largest screen on the market in an instrument cluster for commercial vehicles. In developing the new instrument cluster, Stoneridge has used the latest technology on the market. Two of the three versions have TFT type high-resolution colour screens, where the content can be adapted to suit the driver’s own specific needs. The new graphical interface supports both the advanced TFT screens as well as more simple types of matrix displays. The mechanical structure of the instrument cluster is also new, which

means significant improvements in ergonomics and overall appearance. The gauge faces for the speedometer and tachometer have been lowered slightly and equipped with silver rings to give a more exclusive appearance, and work has also been carried out on developing an even more pleasant background lighting option for the instrument unit. “We are very pleased with the cooperation with Stoneridge. The project has gone according to plan and the result is an easily manageable and attractive instrument unit that makes it easier for drivers to concentrate on driving. This gives us an edge on the market” said Anders Wilkman, Head of Information Systems at Scania. Today all Scania vehicles incorporate the new generation instrument n clusters developed by Stoneridge. Industry Europe 45

Vincent Rambaud, Director General of Automobiles Peugeot

MOTION & L

ast year marked 200 years since JeanPierre Peugeot’s sons, Jean-Pierre II and Jean-Frederic, joined forces with Jacques Maillard-Salins to found the Peugeot Brothers and Maillard-Salins company, a specialist manufacturer of laminated steels and tools. Of course the brand has been through monumental changes since then – includ-

46 Industry Europe

ing the production of the first car in the late 19th century – but even today, members of the Peugeot family are at the controls of the group, with Thierry Peugeot being chairman of the supervisory board of PSA Peugeot Citroën. That continuity was particularly valuable as Peugeot celebrated two centuries. Celebrations apart, 2010 was very important for Peugeot for several reasons, says Vincent Rambaud, Director General of Automobiles Peugeot. The year opened with a complete rebranding of Peugeot – including a new version of the famous Lion logo and a new international slogan, ‘Motion & Emotion’. “At the rebranding launch, Peugeot announced and explained its new ambitions,” says Mr Rambaud. The company communicated its revised mission, a key part of which was to gain three places in the brand’s global ranking by 2015. That means a move up from number ten to number seven. “And we have already

gained one position in 2010, rising to number nine,” he says. Second, Peugeot announced that it would launch 14 new models of passenger cars and vans in 2010–2012. “We are well on the way to doing that”, says Mr Rambaud. Third, Peugeot unveiled its new stylistic codes representing a ‘restyling’ of the brand’s range, embodied in the emblematic SR1 concept car. Then the HR1, and more recently the SXC concept car revealed at the 2011 Shangai Motor Show, incarnate these stylistic codes expressing Peugeot’s vision of the future. “In terms of products, we are putting into place our new up maket trend strategy while sticking to the mass selling segments in which Peugeot has always been very strong. At the same time, we are moving into upmarket territories such as the recently launched 508,” he explains. “This upmarket trend can also be seen across our range in our ‘distinctive’ vehi-

EMOTION cles such as the new RCZ sports coupé, the 3008 ‘crossover’ and our successful coupécabriolet models. These vehicles have very strong visibility and bring a lot to the Peugeot brand image. We plan to do the same for other segments, as shown in the recently revealed 508 RXH, demonstrating our desire to remain the ‘choice’ brand and at the same time propose an exclusive image in each area of the market.”

Record year

The success of this new strategy was reflected in the all-time record sales achieved in 2010; Peugeot’s global sales were up 16.3 per cent to 2,142,000 units. “It was a record year with a very impressive increase,” says Mr Rambaud. “In addition, Peugeot was confirmed to be the number one French car brand in the world, and as well as moving up one position in the global rankings, we gained one place in Europe,

2010 was a landmark year for Peugeot – and not only because it was the brand’s 200th year anniversary. Felicity Landon reports.

moving up from number five to number four amongst the European car brands. The European market was not a particularly strong market for car sales last year but against this background Peugeot still did well, increasing sales by 3.5 per cent to 1,172,000 vehicles. The really big sales increases were achieved in China, South America and Russia, markets where Peugeot will be intensifying its focus in the coming years. In Asia, sales were up 40 per cent to 166,000; within this, sales in China increased by 35 per cent to 151,000. Sales were up 24 per cent in South America, 34 per cent in Russia, 42 per cent in Turkey. Consequently, in 2010, sales outside Europe reached 45 per cent of the total sales for the brand, compared with 38 per cent in 2009. “We intend to increase our position in Europe which is a very mature and saturated market with highly competitive European, Japanese and Korean brands,”

Industry Europe 47

says Mr Rambaud. “But this is an extremely difficult market. So it isn’t here in Europe where we will mainly increase our sales.” Peugeot has done well in China through the PSA Peugeot Citroen joint venture with the Chinese manufacturing group Dong Feng. A second joint venture has just been finalised with the Chinese automobile group Changan. In South America, PSA has plants in Brazil and Argentina, producing models specifically adapted to meet the expectations of local customers. In Russia, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will bring production of Peugeot, Citroen and Mitsubishi cars. Early this year, the group also announced that it

would set up production and distribution of Peugeot cars in India in the medium term, but there have been no further announcements on this.

Technology advances

Meanwhile, there is a lot to do in terms of technology and continuing to drive improvements in environmental performance, he says. In 2000, Peugeot was the first brand to progressively introduce the particulate filter on diesel engines. Ten years ago, Peugeot’s average CO2 emissions were 156 gm/km; today, that figure is down to 129 gm/km. “Peugeot is among the best in that field,” he says. “Peugeot was the first brand to launch a new generation electric vehicle,

the iOn, at the end of 2010, and we intend to sell 3500 iOn vehicles in 2011.” Later this year Peugeot will be the first to offer a hybrid diesel traction chain, as a world premiere, on the 3008 Hybrid4, followed by the 508 RXH in 2012, with an associated breakthrough in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. Peugeot has also introduced the e-HDi ‘Stop-and-Start’ function on its mid-range diesel engines. This new technology (reversible alternator) makes each start of the engine quicker and quieter. Furthermore, in 2012, the group will introduce a new family of small 3-cylinder petrol engines, offering exceptional results in terms of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Sanden PSA Peugeot Citroen and Sanden have a long relationship dating

always been characterized by mutual respect and the ambition

back to the 70s when the European air conditioning market

to continuously innovate in an ever changing market. Also for

started developing. Since the beginning, Sanden has taken on

the future, Sanden is eager to take on the challenges and

the challenge to develop and grow at the pace of its customers

opportunities offered by the need for more environmental

and has been accompanying PSA in its global expansion. Very

friendly technologies. Sanden will soon supply the first electric

recently, PSA has recognized our engagement by nominating

compressor for a PSA vehicle.

Sanden as one of their core suppliers. The cooperation has

Environmental Technology SANDEN is the worldwide leading independent manufacturer of automotive air conditioning compressors. We work closely with the automotive vehicle manufacturers on a global basis to meet the imperatives of consumer demand as well as the regulations for CO2 emissions. We design and manufacture air conditioning components which are smarter, more efficient and in tune with the needs of the 21st century. Sanden is present in over 20 countries and constantly expanding its footprint in order to adapt to the expansion and growth of its customers. For more information about Sanden products and services, please visit our website: www.sanden.co.jp

Our continuous pursuit for excellence, value creation and environmental initiatives has resulted in several awards from many customers and international associations.

Worldwide production

PSA Peugeot Citroën’s network of production plants is a combination of PSA Peugeot Citroen sites and joint ventures. There are five PSA assembly plants in France, three in the Iberian peninsula, and two plants in a joint venture with Fiat in France and in Italy. In central Europe there is the joint venture site between PSA Peugeot Citroën and Toyota in the Czech Republic, producing the Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107, all using the same platform, and also a PSA plant in Slovakia.

50 Industry Europe

In Russia, the Mitsubishi joint venture plant is moving ahead, and in China there are the two joint ventures in place. PSA has production plants in Brazil and Argentina. Growth for Peugeot will come marginally in Europe but mostly in new markets like China. “Allied to this will be a diverse product policy to develop more market-specific models. For example, in China last year and in South America this year, Peugeot introduced a 408 car not commercialised in Europe – based on the 308 platform but specifically a

three-box vehicle, not a hatchback. At the Shanghai Motor Show, Peugeot introduced a 508 model very similar to the European 508 but with some spec changes adapted to the needs of the Chinese market. “This is key to the brand’s global ambitions. Today, the Chinese customer or the Brazilian customer are very well informed and they want to have the best. If we really want to be on these growing markets, we have to ‘think Chinese’, ‘think Brazilian’, and do everything n possible to satisfy their expectations.”

Peugeot and Saint-Gobain Sekurit Partnership for automotive living spaces

www.saint-gobain-sekurit.com

Photo: Peugeot

Excellence and emotions in automotive glazing

Agrati Group is an important producer of fastening systems for the automotive industry. Founded during the second world war in Veduggio (Milan), today the Italian company is a leader in its sector with 1700 employees and five subsidiaries. Recently the Group has acquired four new locations in France and has set up Agrati Fastening in China. Domenico Ippolito reports.

52 Industry Europe

ADVANCED FASTENINGS A

grati Group was established in 1939 in Veduggio con Colzano, in the Italian region of Lombardy. Initially Agrati was a small company with 20 employees. During the hard times of the second world war, the production of the company was limited to wood screws and products for furniture makers. Now Agrati Group is one of the biggest Italian producers of fastening systems for the automotive industry. Its range of products covers more than 3000 items, including standard bolts and nuts, but also specifically designed products and complex shaped parts for the automotive sector. The screws and nuts of the company are used also in several other industrial applications such as industrial vehicles, agricultural machinery, earth moving machines and others. The company also supplies the electrical mechanical home appliances sector.

the turnover was €146.5 million. This year the estimate is €280 million including Agrati France. Beside the headquarters in Veduggio, located about 30km north of Milan, the Group has many locations in the north of Italy, and has recently acquired four new branches in France, beside the commercial location in Créteil. In Germany Agrati has four facilities. The company also has a manufacturing unit based in China: Yantai Agrati Fasteners (YAF), located in Yantai, in the region of Shandong. YAF was founded in 2007 and today is one the most important fastening system producers in the country, with a surface area of 87,000 square metres and a capacity of 8500 tonnes per annum. All the phases of YAF’s manufacturing process are performed locally. The company has two other offices in China, in Shanghai and Changchun. It is also planning to increase its commercial position in the United States.

Worldwide presence

Before 2001, the Group had many independent subsidiaries with different brands. Then a big reorganisation process started which put together all the company under the brand Agrati. The Group now has only

Today Agrati has five subsidiaries and 1700 employees in ten manufacturing units, over 200,000 square metres of surface area, and a capacity of 150,000 tonnes per year. In 2009

One brand, one distribution network

Industry Europe 53

Surface Treatment and Pre-Applied Threadlocking Technology from Henkel

Henkel Italia S.p.A. Sede Legale e Amministrativa: Via Amoretti, 78 20157 Milano Telefono: +39-02357921 Telefax: +39-023552550 www.henkel.it

54 Industry Europe

Industry Europe 55

one sales organisation and one distribution network. It has changed its focus from product-oriented to customer-oriented. Agrati Group has distribution units in Italy, Germany, France, the USA and China. In fact, 70 per cent of production is destined for export of which about 36 per cent is to Germany. This is a country where the four local branches of Agrati, in Braunschweig, Munich, Duisburg and Stuttgart, are able to closely support services for customers, thanks to their nearness to their plants. During the financial crisis in the USA and Europe, the company sold a lot in emerging countries, where sales in the automotive sector continued to grow.

High quality systems

Agrati’s research and development department works with special software for modelling and simulation in order to control feasibility and to decide the most appropriate cold forging cycle of the machine elements. Over the years Agrati’s quality system has received recognition from the most important customers in the world (such as Renault, PSA, Volkswagen, Fiat,

General Motors, Daimler and Ford) and it has been certified to ISO 9002 and ISO 9001. Moreover, the company has received the ISO TS 16949 certificate, becoming the first Italian producer to do so.

Innovative products

The range of fastening system is directed at specific sectors such as automotive, industrial vehicles and the building and electrical industries. So high technology and constant development are fundamental; for example, the company is working to produce lightweight nuts and bolts for eco-friendly cars. Agrati’s new products are made from light alloys. The company’s research and development department has introduced innovative products made of aluminium and magnesium-based alloys to help to reduce the weight of vehicles. This is a strong point for production for the Chinese market, since the government of China has recently announced its intention to invest in electric drive vehicles. The lightweight fasteners will help to achieve a low environmental impact and will make the n cars more efficient too.

HEAVY DUTY RELIABILITY Finnradiator is a market leader in the design and manufacture of radiators for vehicles in the heavy-duty automotive sector. Philip Yorke talked to Juha Partanen, the company’s marketing director about the latest technical advances in radiator technology and the new markets opening up for the company.

Industry Europe 57

innradiator was founded in 1926 in Finland to manufacture radiators for the automobile industry. Over the following years, the company’s focus has been centred on the design and production of various types of radiators for heavy-duty trucks and off-road vehicles. Finnradiator is the world’s leading expert in the design and production of both copper and aluminium radiators for vehicles devoted to heavy duty environments, such as construction, agriculture and mining, as well as for other off-road heavy-duty applications. The company designs and manufactures customised radiator solutions according to an individual manufacturer’s needs. The radiator assembly can be either of the ‘sandwich’ or ‘combi cooler’ type. Finnradiator is investing heavily in innovative technologies in order to meet the new, challenging EU emission directives. Today the company remains a privately owned family company employing over 300 people.

Setting new standards

Finnradiator has been one of the pioneers in using a new radiator technology known as CuproBraze, which is an amalgamation

58 Industry Europe

of copper and brass in the manufacture of radiators designed for heavy duty use. Cores made from copper and brass can remove more heat per unit volumethan any other material system. CuproBraze technology offers exceedingly efficient cooling capacity in a small package. The overall thermal efficiency of a heat exchanger core depends on many factors, such as the thermal conductivity of fins and tubs, the size, shape and thickness of fins and the velocity of air passing through the core. In addition to other major advantages, less fan power is required and so less fan noise is created. Mr Partanen said, “Our new CuproBraze production lines are the most advanced in the world and whilst most others are using aluminium, we are using copper and brass, which is three times the cost. However, we are involved in the heavy-duty off-road market sectors where price is less of an issue, but where reliability and cooling efficiency are paramount. These are highly specialised areas in which our competitors can’t match our capability or technology. Our in-house R&D department has developed a new copper process technology, which means that

instead of separating the brazing process, we can combine it in one step, which means just one operation, thereby saving time, money and further reducing the environmental deficit. “Our products are at work in some of the world’s largest and most costly vehicles, such as those used in mining, agriculture, construction and military transport. These vehicles must be totally reliable because the cost of down-time is so expensive, and the heat exchanger is a vital component that directly affects many other vital components. Also, when you think of mining vehicles, they are often working in an inaccessible area where repair services may not be available within 1000 kilometres or more.”

Exploiting new markets

Finnradiator’s main markets remain the agricultural sector, with vehicles such as tractors and combine harvesters being the most important. The company’s clients include renowned global brands such as Valtra and Claas. In the mining sector, the company provides products for underground and overground OEM vehicle manufacturers, and in the military sector too, Finnradiator

is a major equipment supplier. However, all these sectors, including off-road vehicles, are going to be affected by the very stringent new legislation on emissions from the EU and the USA which come into force in 2014. This enormous EU and US challenge to OEMs is seen as an opportunity by Finnradiator to expand its sales, as Partenan explains, “The world’s big OEMs are working tirelessly to overcome the severe restrictions on emissions that come into force in a couple of years time. These constraints mean that the gases from the engine must be cleaner when they are emitted than when they entered the engine before combustion. This is an especially difficult challenge for diesel engines which emit more particulate matter than petrol engines. The introduction of new technology into the manufacturing process is all-important and our contribution to this is our highly efficient heat exchanger technology which is superior across the board to traditional heat exchangers and especially at elevated temperature levels.” Another consideration is that copper and brass are virtually 100 per cent recyclable. Aluminium production on the other hand uses more than twice as much electrical energy compared to copper production (i.e. 54 MWh per tonne of aluminium versus 25 MWh per tonne of copper). Carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere each year could be reduced

by as much as one million tonnes by making heat exchangers from copper and brass instead of aluminium. Recently Finnradiator became a member of Cleantech’ Finland, the country’s premier network for the protection of the environment. Yet another new opportunity for Finnradiator exists in the aftermarket sector

where the company has already met with success in Australia, where it has partnered with a local radiator manufacturer involved in the aftermarket sector. In addition, the company has established a sales office in St Petersburg, Russia once more with a local partner to manufacture products for n the Russian market.

Industry Europe 59

ADDING MORE

THAN COLOUR

Long-established colourant and additives company Holland Colours is enjoying an increasingly global presence thanks to its commitment to innovative products that meet its clients’ changing needs. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to European sales manager Mark Edwards about the many ways in which the company is expanding.

stablished in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands in 1979, colourant and additives company Holland Colours was founded by a group of entrepreneurial plastics industry specialists keen to develop better-performing colourant products and challenge the existing market. That fresh-thinking spirit has continued to be the common denominator across all departments in the company ever since, with Holland Colours regularly noted for its innovative products and customer-focused approach. European sales manager Mark Edwards told Industry Europe how the company philosophy plays a key role in its positive performance. He said, “The innovative spirit that runs through our day-to-day activities, and has done for the past 32 years, is well supported by the fact that 50 per cent of the company is in employees – our 400 employees are all

shareholders in Holland Colours, which gives a unique sense of ownership and self-reliance. We have all manner of programmes to boost our employees’ shares too, such as bonuses including extra shares.

Almost unlimited applications

With such a solid foundation, it is clear that Holland Colours is keen to utilise its positivity and continue to develop innovative products that meet the changing demands of its customers. The Holland Colours product portfolio includes a broad range of colourants and additives in both solid and liquid forms. The products are used in four main markets, all of which ‘play an integral role in daily life worldwide’. The building and construction market uses Holland Colours’ products for applications such as PVC extrusion for profile windows, the

plastic packaging industry has colourant and additive applications primarily in PET drinks bottles, and the silicone and elastomers market uses the company’s materials in products including silicone sealants in bathrooms and flexible keyboards. The fourth market in which Holland Colours is active is called ‘specialities’, and this refers to all product sales outside of the three core business sectors. The types of applications seen in the ‘specialities’ market are mainly geographically-specific, with Holland Colours active in three broad geographical territories; EMEA, America and Asia. In Europe, for example, the company produces colourant for the famous red wax on Edam cheese produced in the Netherlands, and in Asia its products are used to create the paste used on the soles of famous-brand trainers manufactured in Indonesia.

Europe represents Holland Colours’ largest market, providing 60 per cent of its annual turnover, which in 2010 was posted as €60.5 million. The USA delivers around 30 per cent of the turnover, with the plastic packaging and building sectors most prominent. In Asia the company has almost no building construction activity but its 10 per cent of turnover is gained through plastic packaging and specialties. Mr Edwards added, “The vast majority of our global activities are managed by Holland Colours personnel, with many strategically located

local teams. We have production sites in the UK, USA, the Netherlands, Hungary, China, Indonesia and Japan as well as sales offices in Mexico and Canada. This excellent worldwide coverage of employees that all have a stake in the company means that our customerfocused, innovative approach is accessible to global customers wherever they are.”

‘Innovation is our middle name’

The global reach of Holland Colours is also supported by the fact that its colourants

and additives have a number of performance advantages over its competitors. Even though the company has long been associated with colourants, and indeed its early years were resolutely colourant-only, its speed to market of innovative products is a clear market advantage. Mr Edwards explained, “The impressive performance advantages of our products include excellent batch-to-batch consistency, which is vital for the types of global clients we work with as they simply have to

know that all colourants and additives will look the same and perform the same. Our products also have outstanding dispersion function and industry-leading dust minimisation to reduce contamination. We are also particularly proud of the excellent value we deliver through the concentrated microbead technology we’ve developed.” Developing new and enhanced products is the core function of the research and technology team at Holland Colours, with the company using the term ‘innovation path’

to illustrate the importance of seeing an idea through from concept to completion. With a push on tailor-made products, greater flexibility and quick market trend reaction over the past few years, more than 90 per cent of the company’s sales are now custom-created products. This push is set to continue in the coming years, with Holland Colours introducing a number of new products to market in both the colours and additives arena. The predicted growth of the company is expected to be between 8 and12 per cent

in terms of turnover year on year, and with 2010–11 delivering a 19 per cent growth over the previous year this ambitious plan is certainly achievable. Holland Colours notes that it will achieve this, with growth at existing customers & geographical expansion as well n as looking to grow in new markets.

Industry Europe 63

LIGHTER, WARMER, STRONGER 64 Industry Europe

As one of the world’s leading players in the industrial supply of polyurethanes, global giant Huntsman is well-placed for continued growth thanks to its diverse applications and sophisticated understanding of megatrends. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Nick Webster, European vice president of the corporation’s polyurethanes division, to see how the company is meeting this challenge.

lobal manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals Huntsman has been active for more than 40 years. In that time, the company has grown close to the wide variety of sectors it serves through its understanding of the issues that affect different parts of the value chain at its heart. Nick Webster, European vice president of Huntsman Polyurethanes told Industry Europe, “We always listen to our customers and offer them specific solutions that meet their needs, whether their drivers are sustainability, energy efficiency, comfort or whatever. Huntsman is a true partner to industrial clients worldwide.” With production facilities, customer support and technical development capabilities in all regions of the world, Huntsman

is widely recognised as one of the global leaders in providing MDI-based [methylene diphenyl diisocyanate] polyurethane for use across an extensive range of applications and market sectors. The company produces polyurethane solutions that deliver high performance in insulation, comfort, adhesion and protection, with its core markets including automotive, building and construction, footwear, bedding and furniture, composite wood products, adhesives, coatings, elastomers and thermoplastic polyurethane.

Understanding core drivers

Huntsman appreciates that the main applications for polyurethanes are driven by the need for lightweight, energy-efficient

and comfortable materials. Mr Webster explained, “In terms of energy efficiency, polyurethane solutions offer extremely high insulation performance, which is increasingly popular in a world of rising fuel costs that show no sign of slowing down. In the automotive sector our light weight cushioning polyurethanes for car seats help keep the weight of vehicles low and thus meet the demands for fuel efficiency.” He continued, “And for clients where comfort is the primary driver, our creative solutions for using polyurethanes extend to shoe design, bedding and domestic and commercial furniture. These are areas where we are investing considerably, and are seeing around 7 per cent growth per year.”

STEPANPOL aromatic polyester are specifically designed to meet the diverse and demanding requirements of the C.A.S.E. industry. Stepan has developed a line of high quality polyester polyols based on ortho-ester linkages. By using phthalic anhydride as the building block, Stepan polyols deliver enhanced hydrolytic stability and adhesion to diverse substrates while improving abrasion resistance and overall hardness. Common end uses include liquid and hot melt urethane adhesives, flexible packaging, insulating sealants, polyurethane dispersions, thermalbreak, cast elastomers, and energy-cure and conventional-cure coatings. For more information contact polyols-sales@stepaneurope.com or visit our stand at Utech 2012.

Rising to meet the global growth in demand for Capa™ Perstorp, the world’s largest supplier of caprolactone monomer and polycaprolactones, is doubling production capacity of Capa™ monomer to meet the growing global demand for caprolactones. Whether you are looking for enhanced performance Perstorp can fine-tune the Capa™ polymer properties to optimize your product’s performance where it matters most. www.perstorp.com

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Huntsman experienced some challenging market conditions during the global economic downturn, particularly in the construction and automotive sectors, but Mr Webster added that the company has already bounced back to pre-recession levels. He believes this is largely thanks to its careful focus on fundamental market drivers, as well as a solid cross-sector client base and diversified product portfolio within the polyurethanes sector. Understanding and staying ahead of megatrends seems to also play an important role in Huntsman’s continued

success. With the ever-increasing scarcity of natural resources as the most global of megatrends, Huntsman’s development of polyurethane solutions such as water management products, thermal insulation for homes and offices, and advanced automotive acoustic products, further strengthens its position. Mr Webster continued, “Our exceptional understanding and awareness of materials and their capabilities means that we can always find the ideal polyurethane product to meet the needs of our customers. We work with our customers and have plenty

of information at our fingertips to answer their questions and maximise performance at every level.”

Able to influence

Through Huntsman’s long-term relationships with legislators, associations, architects and influencers, its ability to play a role in reducing dependence on natural resources across its market sectors is also an exciting area of development. The company predicts that its ability to offer multiple ways to support customers’ sustainable choices with energy efficient

Tereos Syral and Sorbitol Tereos Syral is a major producer of sorbitol for the production of polyurethane rigid foam. Meritol® liquid sorbitol is a bio-based raw material produced from cereal starch, and is used in a variety of chemical applications: polyurethane, enzyme stabilisation, metal complexing, adhesives and glues, paper surface treatment– besides its use in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

polyurethane solutions will be an important aspect of its future success. Mr Webster commented, “Playing a future-focused role in delivering responsible solutions is a privilege that we’ve earned over 40 years. Working with OEMs and brand owners to create better thermal efficiency, improved comfort or lighter weight solutions using the most advanced polyurethane solutions, is what

Tereos Syral is the starch activity of the international sugar group Tereos. It transforms more than 3 million tons of cereals in its 6 European factories into starch and glucose based derivatives The company’s agricultural shareholders, industrial capacity and technical competency mean Tereos Syral is able to give its customers a guarantee of product availability, quality and innovative product development.

makes us tick. We’ve been very patient in waiting for the role of polyurethanes to reach tipping point and for more sectors to appreciate the value they offer in terms of performance and sustainability; this is now starting to happen around the world, so we are particularly well-positioned to see considerable growth.” The growth of Huntsman over the coming years is expected to be most visible in its

ability to offer specific polyurethane solutions in direct response to individual customers’ demands. With the drivers of light weight, comfort and energy efficiency being the common denominators across the industry sectors in which it operates, Huntsman’s complete tailor-made solutions are seeing increasingly varied applications that guarantee the company will live up to its vision of n ‘enriching lives through innovation’. Industry Europe 69

STRENGTH IN POWER Finnish power supply specialist Efore Oy has been delivering reliable power solutions for more than 30 years. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to executive vice-president for operations Panu Kaila to find out how this is being achieved.

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ased in state-of-the-art headquarters in Espoo, Finland’s second largest city just to the west of Helsinki, power supply specialist Efore Oy has built up a considerable reputation for reliability in vital power applications. Listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Efore posted consolidated net sales figures of €69.7 million in 2010, and with a continuous programme of investment and development these results look set to continue. EVP Operations Panu Kaila spoke to Industry Europe about the strengths of the company. He said, “As a publicly listed company, we are totally transparent in all our operations, including our continued commitment to investment and progression.

We excel in creating and delivering powersupply products that are perfectly suited to the needs of our OEM customers, and we are fast and flexible in all our activities.” This fast flexibility is a key characteristic in Efore’s continued success, with many of the world’s leading companies relying on its power supplies and related products to deliver a constant service in some of the most demanding sectors. Efore’s products are mostly utilised in the telecoms and industrial sectors and as a new area in electric vehicles, all of which demand total reliability from their power supplies. Known for its highly advanced customdesigned power supply solutions for large volume electronics users such as ICT

teams and industrial electronics companies and departments, the Efore portfolio also includes power systems and related services and maintenance. The after-sales service from the maintenance division also supports Efore’s strong reputation across market sectors, as Mr Kaila explained that it provides a long-term back-up to the already-reliable products. He said, “New and existing customers know that working with Efore is a no-risk decision, as our power supply products are fast, flexible and reliable and our maintenance gives them the peace of mind that the high quality service of the products will continue throughout the life cycle. Choosing Efore means that customers do not have to think

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about any issues with the power supply and they can focus on what they do best. Efore looks after the power supply 100 per cent.”

A worldwide family

With more than 900 people employed worldwide, Efore has manufacturing facilities and service offices in Europe and Asia, with its operational heartland in Finland. Espoo is famous for its technical university and Efore is able to benefit from a highly skilled workforce which is perfectly trained to deliver fresh innovations. Mr Kaila added, “Innovation is very important to Efore, particularly as the demands on power supplies continues to grow, with more and more need for low-maintenance, high reliability products. We relish the challenge and employ a workforce that loves to come up with new ideas that are forward-thinking and totally suited to the power supply applications of our customers. We are well aware that making customer-specific power supplies

is our bread and butter, so we are dedicated to doing this the best way we possibly can, while keeping our eyes open for new ideas in order to make those products as performance-led as possible.”

Only customised solutions

It is this customer-led product portfolio which defines the operating strategy at Efore. The company does not offer standardised products, but rather uses its considerable power supply expertise to create a solution that perfectly matches each customer’s exact demands. It aims to utilise the knowledge gained with each technical development and progression in order to add value to each product, with the Efore trademarks of reliability and performance in every unit. Mr Kaila explained how its approach ensures repeat business and positive referrals. He said, “You can’t buy Efore products in the shops and we are not offering a cheap standard power supply. Our prod-

ucts are custom-built units that are created following an in-depth discussion with the client so that we understand exactly what they need the power supply to do, whether that is about low maintenance, high temperature handling or whatever. Each customer knows that with Efore they are truly buying a power supply solution.”

Future performance

As Efore looks toward its next 30 years in the power supply business, Mr Kaila is clear that the continued investment in its manufacturing sites will allow the company to reach its aim to be the first-choice power supply solution company across its active territories. The company plans to add further design services to its Espoo headquarters in order to step up its creative services within the technical development division, and expects to go beyond its 2010 financial results thanks to its increased design-led n product offer.

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GLOBAL ENGINEERING EXPERTISE

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Tractebel Engineering is one of Europe’s leading engineering consultancies with a global reach. It offers a wide range of engineering services for the energy sector, industry and the tertiary sector, as well as for communities and national and international organisations.

ractebel Engineering, based in the Belgian capital, Brussels, is a part of GDF Suez, the world-renowned industrial and energy group. The relationship with the parent group gives Tractebel’s customers the benefit of a wide spectrum of complementary services throughout the world and access to a strong and reliable local network. The Suez group is renowned for delivering large energy projects throughout the world. Tractebel Engineering has a long-standing tradition and reputation of its own in the fields of power generation and transmission,

but also in the delivery of major infrastructure and industrial production installations. Extending its global network even further, this year Tractebel acquired a majority (51 per cent) shareholding in the newly formed consultancy CCS TLM, which is aiming to accelerate the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage. This move will allow Tractebel to extend its activities and become the leading provider of integrated expert consultancy and engineering services to the emerging CCS sector. The immediate plan for the newly formed company is to provide CO2 solutions

in the UK, Europe, Middle East, North America and Australia, and the new joint-venture will start working on the world-leading ROAD project in Rotterdam in the near future – so far one of the largest full-chain CCS demonstration plants under development.

Major markets

In addition to the growing market for CCS, Tractebel Engineering’s multidisciplinary teams have a strong background in LNG processes, geotechnics, seismology, cryogenics, and marine and harbour infrastructure.

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Franki Foundations Group Franki Foundations Group Belgium is active in the Belgian and Luxemburg market for deep foundations of buildings and civil engineering constructions. The Dutch market is addressed through our sister company Franki Grondtechnieken. The French market is serviced through our sister company Atlas Fondations. Franki Foundations Group Belgium is the undisputed leader in the Belgian market, offering a wide range of foundation techniques. Our more than 200 staff will do its utmost to find and effect the most economical solution to your foundation problem, big or small. Any project involving deep foundation starts with an extensive soil analysis. At your request, Franki Geotechnics B will assist you in defining which

type of soil analysis will be the most suitable for your specific project. Based on the available geotechnical information, our design and research team, in conjunction with the site supervisor, will work out a concept which is right for this particular project. The partnership between the research bureau and the construction site allows us to offer tailor-made solutions taking into account the specific difficulties which are typical for a particular project (period of execution, available space, environmental problems and costs). Our engineers are there to assist you with their know-how and expertise for the entire duration of your project, from the design stage to completion.

They have installed 60,000km of pipelines since the 1960s and gathered extensive expertise in gas distribution networks, with storage both above and underground. Around a third of Tractebel Engineering’s turnover is generated in what it calls the global market – projects in the Middle East, South America and the Far East, with resources drawn from the offices in India and Europe, and managed with local subcontractors. A further third comes from the domestic market and what it calls the proximity markets in Europe. The remaining third, come from the six international offices and their proximity markets.

structed so far in Belgium, and is a clearly recognised player in this field, where it builds its offer on the experience feedback of Belgian nuclear power plants and radwaste facilities operations.

Alternative energy

As the growing pressure for sustainability forces companies to find ever-more environmentally friendly solutions, alternative energy has become an integral part of Tractebel Engineering’s business. It is no longer just a sideline. For example, it is very active in

wind energy throughout Europe and is also continuing to aid its clients in exploring the possibilities of biomass energy. This area of business is not limited to renewable energy, as the company is involved in such projects as advanced CHP and clean coal power plants. It works on coal-fired plants of the most advanced type, using clean coal technology which has much greater efficiency that traditional coal fired plants. These plants have been designed in such a way that they can be easily retrofitted n with CO2 capture technology.

Nuclear power

Tractebel is also poised to reap the benefits of the increased interest in operation support activities for nuclear power plants. A number of countries have shown new or renewed interest in this form of energy – for example, France and Finland are building new nuclear plants. Nuclear lifecycle management involves what is known in the trade as radwaste, and it is a political, PR and technological hot potato. Tractebel Engineering acted as Architect Engineer of most of the conditioning, treatment and storage facilities con-

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Peat production (milled peat)

BALTIC BIOENERGY IS BOOMING

Vapo Group is the Baltic Sea region’s foremost bioenergy expert. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Reijo Vatanen, communications director of this future-focused company to find out more.

Pellet factory in Forssa

he Finnish-based Vapo Group is a powerful force in the ever-increasing biofuels market worldwide, with the market leading place across its native Baltic region and a growing presence throughout Europe. The Group comprises Vapo Biofuels, Vapo Bioheat, Vapo Timber Oy, Vapo Environment and Kekkilä Oy, all of which come together to offer a range of responsible energy services. The biofuels, heat services, electricity, peat products, waste treatment, compost products, sawn goods and peat machines delivered by the Vapo Group are all environmentally focused, enabling the company to become the Baltic Sea region’s leading bioenergy expert. The Group’s main focus is producing and delivering biofuels in a responsible manner

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across the Baltic region, with considerable investment allowing it to become the largest producer of peat pellets in Europe. Communications director Reijo Vatanen told Industry Europe, “Pellets are a great source of environmentally friendly heat, and so it makes perfect sense that they are increasingly popular across Europe, especially in the Baltic where we are well-known for taking ecologically sustainable solutions very seriously.”

Strong financial performance

Partly owned by the Finnish government, the Vapo Group posted a 2010 turnover of €719.5 million, with an operating profit of €39.1 million, which was an increase on 2009 largely thanks to a favourable market for

Heat plant in Forssa

Peat can be used also for bedding for animals

Vapo pellets are exported to Sweden, Denmark and central Europe

sales of local fuels and heat. The unseasonably cold weather across the Baltic also helped the demand for fuels such as peat and wood stay at a strong level throughout 2010, with peat production of 24.4 million m3, mostly from the Group’s Finnish operation. With 2010 proving to be a successful year for Vapo Group – a welcome development following the challenges of overproduction of pellets in the European market in 2009, when stocks grew and sale prices remained

low – the continued strong performance of the Swedish market is consistently positive. Mr Vatanen explained, “Taxation favours bioheat in the Swedish market, so we have been able to maintain our market-leading position in the domestic segment despite tightening competition. In Finland, we have seen that the growth of demand in the consumer segment has been restricted by the comparatively low taxation of competing fuels such as light fuel oil and electricity, which is frustrating as it does not favour

choosing the environmentally friendly option, which is good for us all in the long term. We have also found that our position in the Polish market has strengthened.”

Excellent market understanding

In order to maintain its market leading position and ensure it is well positioned to profit from the opportunities in each of its segments, Vapo takes continuous investment very seriously. In 2010 the Group’s gross investments totalled

Hankasalmi saw mill Industry Europe 79

Loading peat to be transported to power plant

€80.9 million, with its most significant investments seen in new peat production, construction of a new horticultural peat plant and specialised heating plants for pellets. Investment plays an important role in Vapo’s short term prospects too, with the Group dedicated to staying at the forefront of the changing market situation, particularly as demands fluctuate in relation to changing weather conditions and financial incentives. Mr Vatanen continued, “Each of our business areas in each of our geographical markets is subject to changes, so it is imperative that we stay one step ahead of the trends and have the right amount of pellets and biofuels available at the right time. We have a team of industry experts who are constantly monitoring the relevant situations and it is this that perfectly matches our environmentallyfriendly products to create a perfect storm of commercial success in the long term.”

Vapo predicts that the demand for its biofuel products will continue to increase in the coming years, with the proposed taxes on peat in some markets pre-emptively included. The Group will continue to export its pellets to Europe, which can be made from both cutter shavings and sawdust or peat, with a new drying facility currently being built to increase its capacity to produce wood pellets from wet sawdust.

The energy of a positive attitude

With more than 1300 employees, of whom over 800 are based in Finland, Vapo Group understands that the positive attitude and technical excellence of its staff make the difference. The company operates a carefully established training programme whereby the workforce is supported in learning about the ever-developing biofuel industry, and the Group’s investment policy extends to ensure the state-of-the-art equipment is utilised in the best way possible. Pellets can be made also out of milled peat 􀀀 80 Industry Europe

Mr Vatanen concluded, “We certainly see the future of the Group as bright; the sawmill industry is seeing a strong pickup after the global construction downturn and the various activities of the biofuels industry is one of the most exciting future-proof markets around. We are well-positioned to bring our unique brand of environmentally friendly fuels to a wider European market, as well as maintaining our n strong position in the Baltic region.”

SMART POWER AS

one of Europe’s leading energy companies, Vattenfall Oy has consistently worked with a long-term focus on innovation, reliability of service and environmentally responsible energy solutions. With a history reaching back to the early days of Finland’s Royal Waterboard in 1910, Vattenfall today operates electricity cables that could go round the world 4.5 times. Vattenfall is the leading unit in the Nordic Group, providing energy and heat generation, distribution, sales and maintenance. It has over 40,000 employees, with operations in eight countries and it is number five

Nordic energy company Vattenfall Oy is playing a leading role in producing and delivering green energy solutions in Europe, with a focus on providing an efficient and flexible system through its innovative Smart Grid. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to managing director Tapani Liuhala to find out how this goal is being achieved.

in terms of European energy generation and number one for heat production. With over €20bn net sales in 2009, Vattenfall has performed consistently well throughout the global downturn, and has ambitious plans for continuous growth across Europe, particularly in its Nordic home area.

Diversified energy player

Vattenfall enjoys a 20 per cent market share in Europe based on its nuclear and hydroelectric generation, particularly in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and is one of the industry leaders in reducing harmful emissions within European power

generation. Managing director Tapani Liuhala commented, “We are very much a diversified energy player in Europe and our investment capital is substantial and stable. In fact, our capital investment has increased five-fold over the last ten years and, with our current investment, we are destined to reduce our customers’ emissions profile by more than 60 per cent over the coming 20 years.” Vattenfall has an annual electricity generation of around 158.7 TWh, with heat generation at around 37.9 TWh. In order to increase the flexibility and efficiency of its services, the company has created an

innovative network called the Smart Grid. Prior to Smart Grid, distributing energy to customers, particularly in rural areas, was an often-frustrating and relatively inefficient process. The Vattenfall development has unleashed a highly efficient, totally transparent system of green energy distribution that gives the company’s 400,000 customers the ability to see their energy consumption on an hourly basis.

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Mr Liuhala explained, “Smart Grid is a very intelligent system that works in harmony both with the sustainable energy generation we offer and the changing demands of our customers. We have found that many customers want to produce some of their own energy and, however little that may be, want to be able to use it within their own homes. This means that our distribution system has to be flexible and able to incorporate small-

scale energy production, with the capability of accepting more as customer take up of solar panels and wind turbines increases.”

Increased intelligence

Smart Grid offers far greater automation in the collection and distribution of energy to Vattenfall customers, which encourages two-way conversation and provides a great deal of information that can be realised to

monitor its networks in real time. Mr Liuhala continued, “Even a family with a microproduction of a few hundred watts is a good contribution, but of course this is not enough for their reliable energy provision, so they can key into our system to maintain a steady service. A great advantage of the Smart Grid is that we are able to bill our customers for their exact usage – there are no estimated bills – so they are able to monitor their usage very accurately.” The extensive technology required to make the Smart System work has been developed by Vattenfall’s dedicated R&D department working closely with a number of trusted partners. The excellent functionality of the service is supported by the very latest technical provision, such as a weather proof system that employs underground cables across the network and the ability for Vattenfall to communicate any repair issues with customers in real time via email, SMS or the company’s website, which increases cost efficiency related to operating a large number telephone customer service lines. It also utilises a 3DVisimind system where a helicopter identifies issues quickly and effectively. As Vattenfall continues to maintain its industry-leading position, its plans for the next 12 months and beyond focus on offering customers the green energy

service they want, exactly as they want it. Mr Liuhala concluded, “All our efforts are centred on meeting the demands and expectations of our customers, and to do so in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. We’re always looking to future solutions that maximise the poten-

tial of solar energy and other sustainable technologies. We are taking the lead in providing charging stations for electric cars across our territories, as well as working in collaboration with car makers and other development networks. It’s an exciting time n to be part of Vattenfall.”

MAXIMISING ENERGY POTENTIAL

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The OMV Group is based in Austria and is the foremost energy producer in central and south-eastern Europe. Philip Yorke looks at the strategy behind the group’s dramatic growth and the latest additions to its production portfolio. The report also covers the launch of the company’s latest ‘HVO Biocomponent’ premium diesel fuel.

ith Group sales of more than €23 billion and a workforce of around 32,000 employees, OMV Aktiegesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. As the leading energy group in the European growth belt, OMV is active in refining and marketing its products in 12 countries. In exploration and production the Group is operational in 17 countries and on four continents. In the gas and power sector, OMV sells approximately 13 bcm (billion cubic metres) of gas per year. The company’s Central European Gas Hub generates over 23 bcm in annual trading volume, making it one of the most important gas hubs in central Europe. The Austrian OMV Group has oil and gas reserves of around 2bn boe (barrels of oil equivalent), with daily production of over 316.000 boe achieved in the third quarter

of 2010 and an annual refining capacity of approximately 26mn tonnes. In addition OMV now operates 2310 filling stations. Under the company’s dedicated ‘3plus’ business strategy, OMV combines the strengths of its E&P (Exploration & Production), G&P (Gas & Power) and R&M (Research & Marketing) business units to ensure that it provides the optimum supply service to its three core markets of central and eastern europe, south-east Europe and Turkey.

Success in Australia

On 13 April 2011, OMV announced the discovery of significant gas reserves in Australia, after its successful exploration of the Zola-1 well, located 100 km from the western Australian coast. The discovery well Zola-1 and the subsequently drilled ‘sidetrack’ appraisal

well, Zola-1S/T, confirmed the existence of sandstone layers with 130m of net gas pay in an area south of the giant Australian Gorgon gas field. Jaap Huijskes, member of the OMV Executive Board responsible for exploration and production said, “Zola-1 is one of OMV’s biggest gas discoveries and is the result of a successful and safely carried-out exploration and appraisal drilling campaign. We are very proud of OMV’s exploration activities in Australia, which have culminated in this significant discovery on the Northwest Shelf. The next step will be to further appraise the discovery, including the acquisition of a new, 3D seismic survey.” OMV’s future growth is expected to come via new field developments, exploration and further international acquisitions. The comIndustry Europe 85

Afton Chemical Afton Chemical is focussed on the development of world leading automotive performance additive solutions for diesel, gasoline or alternative fuels. Our aim is to help you meet your business goals, whether it be market share growth or premium product placement. Our years of experience have not only enabled us to develop the best additive solutions, but also our own methodology to work with you in a unique way. We start by listening to your needs to understand your business and your markets. Then we tailor-make the kind of supply chain that suits your exact requirements, and recommend and help you implement the business model that allows you to achieve your goals. This is a continuous methodology, where we work in collaboration with you, as a genuine partner to your business. To find out more visit us at:

www.aftonchemical.com

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pany intends to grow its existing portfolio on a country-by-country basis and is looking to find new growth areas within the Caspian, Middle East and North Africa regions, where OMV can leverage its existing E&P exposure. Furthermore, the Group has enhanced its investments in North Africa in Tunisia, where it has acquired 100 per cent of the issued share capital of Pioneer Natural Resources Tunisia Ltd and Pioneer Natural Resources Anaguid Ltd. This transaction adds immediate production potential and significant exploration and development prospects ‘upside’, in addition to substantial operational synergies alongside OMV’s existing Tunisian assets.

The dawn of a new fuel era

Since 26 April 2011 motorists in eight European countries have been able to benefit from OMV’s significant breakthrough in high-performance, low-emission diesel fuels, branded as OMV MaxxMotion. This all-new, premium fuel guarantees improved performance and lower fuel consumption. The fuel’s unique, high88 Industry Europe

performance additives and advanced HVO Biocomponent, sets new standards in fuel efficiency and sustainability. In addition, engines will be given longterm protection against corrosion and the build-up of sediment and will therefore be guaranteed a longer service life. OVM’s much improved HVO Biocomponent has outstanding technical characteristics compared to the conventional FAME Biocomponent in use and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 42 per cent. This new brand will give OMV fuel dispensers a brand new look in time for summer motoring. The latest MaxxMotion fuel dispensers lead the way towards a new fuel era where improved engine performance and environmental sustainability work together for the benefit of everyone. Harald Joichl,the head of OMV’s filling station business in Austria and Germany said, “We are particularly proud of the environmental friendliness of our new brand. Since the 1990s, OMV has played a pioneering role in the area of environmental standards.

At that time we were the market leaders in the conversion to unleaded fuel. Now we are again marking the start of a new era”.

Tapping potential in key markets

OMV’s core markets include central and eastern Europe, south east Europe and Turkey, which together represent regions with a large energy requirement and a population exceeding 200 million people. This growth belt offers an attractive market in which demand for natural gas, electricity and petroleum products is growing rapidly. OMV continues to develop the huge potential of these three key markets from its regional centres in Vienna, Bucharest and Istanbul, all of which offer an ideal base for tapping into existing wells and new ones, such as those in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. In Romania the company produces large quantities of oil and natural gas together with Petrom, Romania’s leading oil and natural gas producer. The OMV Group acquired a n 51 per cent stake in Petrom in 2004.

POWER IN ACTION Hellenic Cables SA is one of the largest cable producers in Greece. Its cable products, which carry the trademark CABLEL®, include power cables up to 500kV, telecommunication and data transmission cables, enamelled wires and plastic and elastomer compounds. Joseph Altham reports on a company whose high voltage power cables are helping to meet the needs of Europe’s electricity networks.

ellenic Cables is part of Viohalco SA, Greece’s largest metals processing group. Hellenic Cables traces its origins back to 1950, the year when Viohalco first started making cables. Later, in 1973, Hellenic Cables was created as a separate entity within the Viohalco group. Along with decades of experience, Hellenic Cables has a modern production plant employing stateof-the art technology. The company successfully relocated its main factory from Inofyta to Thiva in 2003. The move gave the company more space, increased capacity and the opportunity to upgrade its equipment and develop high value added products. The focus of the Thiva factory is the manufacture of power cables,

but the company has retained a smaller factory in Inofyta for the production of plastic compounds. In 1999, Hellenic Cables was able to buy out a major company and move into Romania. Its Romanian subsidiary, ICME ECAB SA, produces power and telecommunication cables and overhead conductors and employs over 500 people. Hellenic Cables has invested heavily in the Bucharest plant to equip it with modern machinery, and now has a 40 per cent share of the Romanian market.

Compounds

Power cables are the company’s most important product. However, plastic compounds are an integral part of the business, and the company’s ability to manufacture plastic and rubber

compounds in-house helps it to stand out from the competition. With electricity, as with all forms of energy, safety is a vital consideration. For this reason, as the marketing manager at Hellenic Cables explained, the cable industry is tightly regulated to ensure quality and reliability. “Strict national and international standards apply to electricity cables. The standards lay down strict requirements for the type of conductor (aluminium or copper) to be used, and what sort of insulation and protection the cable will need, whether rubber or plastic. Industrial power cables need to have a second layer of protection in the form of a robust jacket or sheath. Protecting the cable demands a very specific type of compound, which has to meet the test requirements of the cable standards.”

The company developed its Pivinel range of PVC compounds for the insulation of power cables. In 2006, Hellenic Cables began to manufacture a special compound, used to make LSF (low smoke and fume) cable sheaths. The Retardel compound is halogen-free, meaning that the material will not give off toxic gases or dense smoke in the event of a fire. “Because we produce our own compounds, we can control all the properties that need to be customised,” says the marketing manager. “This allows us to deliver within short order times, and to satisfy the special demands of our customers.”

High voltage cables

Hellenic Cables has been able to draw on the know-how of major players in the industry. The company started making fibre optic cables in cooperation with Siemens in 1991, buying out Siemens’s share nine years later. In 2001, Hellenic Cables concluded a technical assistance agreement with the leading Japanese firm Furukawa Electric for the design and manufacture of high and extra high voltage cables. “Furukawa Electric provided us with valuable technical know-how,” says the marketing manager, “and with their help we were able to smoothly develop this technology without suffering setbacks.” In 2003, Hellenic Cables began making high voltage (HV) cables (up to 150kV), using an insulation type known as XPLE (cross-linked polyethylene). The company started production of extra high voltage XPLE insulated cables in 2008. Besides the XPLE insulation, the company’s extra high voltage (EHV) 400kV cables also have a lead sheath or welded aluminium sheath to protect the conductor and screen, as well as an outer sheath made of high density polyethylene - HDPE. XPLE provides the insulation for modern HV and EHV underground electric cables. “The crosslinking of the polyethylene provides mechanical strength and can operate at high temperatures,” explained the Marketing Manager. “We have successfully completed a year long prequalification test for our 400kV cables. The cables have to meet the requirements of the PQ test before they can be made commercially available. These tests were carried out at our own testing facilities in Thiva.”

Markets and prospects

According to the marketing manager at Hellenic Cables, there is a growing trend for utility companies to use HV and EHV underground

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cables in preference to overhead power lines, especially in populated areas. Overall, the long-term prospects for Hellenic Cables appear secure, as few people expect Europe’s electricity consumption to decline in the future. High voltage cables are also needed to enable European countries to upgrade their ageing power networks. As Europe strives to generate a greater proportion of its electricity from wind farms and solar power plants, renewable energy has presented the company with an exciting new source of demand. As the marketing manager points out, the electricity that is generated from renewable sources has to be transported before it can finally reach the consumer. In particular electric energy generated from windfarms that are offshore or on islands require submarine cables for transmission and this is an area for product development that interests Hellenic Cables. Another consideration favouring Hellenic Cables is the growth of the European electricity market. Electricity is now heavily traded between different European countries, and high voltage cables facilitate the transport of n electricity across Europe’s borders.

TAKING THE PRESSURE Turkish expansion tank manufacturer Nema Makine enjoys both the infrastructure of being part of a larger European Group and the dedicated loyalty and expertise of its skilled local workforce. Industry Europe spoke to export area manager Murat Erol to find out how these two strengths are used to their best advantage. Emma-Jane Batey reports.

stablished in 1998 in Gebze, Turkey, just 30 miles east of Istanbul, Nema Makine is focused on the manufacture of high quality pressure vessels, also called expansion tanks, for a wide variety of watercentred applications. As a key part of the German family-owned Winkelmann Group, Nema Makine is able to draw on the considerable resources of the Group in order to maintain its excellent market position. The Winkelmann Group is now managed by the fourth generation of the founding family, and consists of 18 independent business units, including six production and distribution companies, eight sales operations and one steel trading company. The Group is more than 100 years old, and employs more than 2500 people worldwide.

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Family support

Export area manager Murat Erol told Industry Europe how the company’s position in the Group supports its day-to-day activities. He said, “The Winkelmann Group is a solid family company which focuses on mechanical engineering, the automotive industry and the heating and hot water sectors, so there is a clear synergy in our activities. We are able to draw on the many years of experience within the Group to ensure that we are developing, manufacturing and supplying the best possible pressure vessels for our customers, as well as enjoying the wider purchasing and international support benefits of being part of a long-established Group.” Nema Makine moved its production facilities to Duzce in 2009, a further 100 miles

east of Istanbul, increasing its production area from 7000m2 to 20,000m2, with a further 30,000m2 for sales, IT and commercial support functions. The new company building is well-stocked with state-of-the-art equipment including the latest fully automated and highly efficient machine park to create its products. Mr Erol added, “We take continuous investment in our manufacturing and support facilities very seriously, and our modern production site is a great testament to that dedication. We are able to produce high quality pressure vessels which are then used by a range of sectors worldwide.” The company’s pressure vessels, or expansion tanks, are equipped with replaceable membranes and are used in closed water heating and cooling systems to absorb excess

water pressure. Combined with booster sets or pumps, the pressure vessels are primarily used in the construction sector for water installations. The tanks absorb the unnecessary pressure that comes from the installation pipes, and can be applied to maintain the pressure level in any building that has a water installation system. Nema Makine tanks are regularly used in all kinds of buildings, including homes, schools, business centres, factories, shopping centres and military compounds.

Market leader

The company supplies its products worldwide, and is the market leader in its domestic Turkish market as well as being a prominent name everywhere from the Netherlands to Australia, with central Europe a particularly strong market. Mr Erol explained how the company is well-positioned to continue to expand into new markets, and grow its presence where it is

already active. He said, “We have a very steady client base in Europe and the Middle East, so we are currently concentrating our business development efforts on building our export activities in Central and East Asia. Countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, South Korea and India are all our targets. Thanks to our excellent reputation for high quality products worldwide, the Nema brand is already well-known in many of these areas and, as we offer excellent Germanquality tanks at appealing prices, we know that there is a great deal of potential for us to grow in these markets.” Nema Makine is clear that organic expansion is the key to its predicted success in the coming years, with both its domestic and foreign market share expected to increase. The company’s quality performance and production certificates attest to the fact that it is well-placed to deliver its pressure vessels

worldwide, with the list of globally recognised accreditations including CE, ISO 9001 GOST-R and TSE. The pressure vessels are available in 8 to 10,000 litres, and can be made in various colours in addition to its well-known bright red. Mr Erol is certainly looking forward to continued success at Nema Makine. The company has a clear vision going forward, with the hope that its expansion will continue as its pressure vessels will be used in new geographical markets. He concluded, “Our vision is to be the best solution provider wherever water is needed, providing the most effective pressurised systems that help to save energy, cost and ecological impact. Therefore our mission is to control water usage in the most efficient way possible by utilising our proven quality systems, production methods and applications. We believe that we will continue to enjoy steady growth as we comply with our vision n and our mission.”

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Now run by the fifth generation of Nilsson family bakers, Swedish bakery Polarbröd is bringing its innovative fresh bread to a wider European audience. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales and marketing director Anders Johansson to find out how this is being achieved.

THE POLAR METHOD 96 Industry Europe

ounded in 1972 by the Nilsson family, Polarbröd has grown to become Sweden’s third largest bread company. Based in Älvsbyn in northern Sweden, Polarbröd is the respected maker of traditional arctic flatbread as well as rye bread, soft thin bread, rolls and crackers, all made from carefully selected primary products. With three well-equipped bakeries in Sweden that can provide Polarbröd products to clients across Europe, the company’s name comes from its location near the Polar circle in northern Sweden, with its Älvsbyn head office providing a great position from which to utilise the local and European transport links. Sales and marketing director Anders Johansson explained, “We like to say that we are from the north of Sweden with pride. Polarbröd takes the local bread-baking tradition and makes unique breads that are enjoyed across Europe – all because the founders decided to make the world’s first deep frozen sandwich with smoked reindeer meat, which is still one of our best sellers today.”

Fresh yet frozen

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Polarbröd story is its innovative ‘fresh frozen bread’ technique, called ‘The Polar Method’®. It is this technique which allowed the company to create the ‘deep frozen sandwich’ and it is key to the success of the company’s unique flat breads and rolls. Using the Polar Method®, the freshly-baked bread, which is completely free from preservatives, is frozen directly after leaving the oven and is then distributed in an unbroken frozen chain. Mr Johansson is certain that ‘The Polar Method’® is what keeps Polarbröd head and shoulders above the competition. He said, “By freezing the bread as soon as it is freshly baked, literally within a few minutes, aging of the bread stops straightaway so the taste and nutritional value doesn’t change at all. The bread is thawed just before it is put on the shelf in the grocery store, so it is bakeryfresh for the consumer. The Polar Method’® is truly a revolutionary way to enjoy delicious fresh bread without preservatives.

The role of the distribution chain is also key to the Polarbröd success story. The company has direct access to a wide network of specially adapted transportation, with the three Swedish production plants easily accessible to Europe’s major trunk roads. The whole Nordic region is Polarbröd’s home market, with its rye, flatbread and thin white bread all much loved across the region, particularly in Sweden and Norway.

Growing across Europe

Polarbröd’s presence is also steadily growing in France, the UK, Spain, Germany and the Baltic States. With strong performance in both the consumer and horeca (hotels, restaurants and catering) markets, Mr Johansson pointed out that growth is expected in both markets across both geographical areas. He said, “We are currently strongest in the domestic consumer market where we have exceptionally high brand awareness. Horeca and industry are more business-tobusiness markets, for example selling to

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www.valskvarn.se

A company in constant development

trängnäs Valskvarn is a traditionally private family business currently run by fifth- generation miller. Throughout history we have been associated with solid knowledge of flour milling, while we are known for always being able to deliver high quality products. Today’s modern mill was built in 1984 and our sales have since more than doubled. During the same period has also our facility been rebuilt on a number of times always to be able to meet increased demand. Today our facility has a capacity of 180 tons of wheat and 40 tons of rye per day. We are BRC certified since May 2005 and the management is actively working with the quality system so that will lead us to continuous improvement. In the current situation we are KRAV approved and certified under ISO 14001.

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commercial sandwich producers in the UK and France. We are keen to develop and strengthen our position on those markets. We get inquiries from distributors across Europe every week, but we are very careful when selecting channels. The right partner and the right people are essential in our ambition to grow incrementally.” That is not to say that the Polarbröd portfolio is not already well-known in Europe – it’s just that the brand itself is not yet as recognised as it is in the Nordic region. Recent visitors to the Louvre in Paris may have enjoyed bread from Polarbröd, which is used to make the popular Swedish flat bread sandwiches called Pain Polarie. Starbucks cafés in Spain use Polarbröd products in their sandwich

range. The customer base also includes the Swedish giant IKEA. Mr Johansson added, “Our export business is already strong, but we want it to be better. We’ve already proven that our unique Polar Method® works brilliantly, delivering fresh bread to consumers and customers across Europe, and we’re ready to step it up. We aim to be a more important player in the export market, with France and the UK as clear targets outside the Nordic Region.”

Meeting market demands

Polarbröd is certain that The Polar Method® is perfectly in tune with the challenging demands of the catering and consumer sectors in its target markets, with a proven ability to supply major caterers, as evi-

denced by its long-standing contracts with some of Europe’s leading airlines. The company closely monitors the changing trends of the European sandwich market, particularly the UK, where the consumer’s taste for fresh and varied sandwiches is well suited to the Polarbröd approach. Mr Johansson concluded, “With people travelling more and more, there’s great curiosity about new varieties of sandwiches and artisan breads, so there are clear opportunities for niche players like Polarbröd both in the domestic and wider European markets. Our breads are ideal for taking on the favourite flavours and textures of the different cultures, and as our history has been characterised by steady, profitable growth we are certain that this will continue.” n

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THE FINEST ITALIAN

OILS AND FATS With nearly 40 years of experience in processing oils and fats for the food and confectionery industry, Italian company Unigrà continues its race to success. Sales director, Mr Stefano Cavallari reveals more to Filomena Nardi.

IT’S

not news that the recent economic slowdown is having a major impact on the Italian manufacturing industry but despite the economic uncertainty, this was another positive year for Unigrà, the Italian leader in the production and sales of vegetable fats and oils, margarines, UHT non-dairy toppings, UHT ice-cream liquid 100 Industry Europe

bases, chocolate and compound chocolate, drinking chocolate, powder mixes and improvers for the bakery and confectionery industry and artisans. “Nowadays all you hear about is bad economic news coming from the Italian market,” comments Mr Stefano Cavallari. “I think it’s very important to highlight that in our country,

there aren’t only companies in trouble, but there are also companies like ours which are still growing and continue to consolidate their leadership in Italy and abroad.” The depth and breadth of expansion at Unigrà is strikingly illustrated by the ultra-modern oil refining plant launched last year in Conselice, a town near Ravenna. Currently this represents

one of the three largest refineries in Europe and has helped the Italian company to triple its production capacity.

Yesterday and today

Founded in1972 by its current CEO, Luciano Martini, Unigrà started its activity as a company processing animal fats for industrial use. Through the hard work and dedication of its founder along with the endeavours of its willing staff, the company’s small-scale roots have been replaced by a state-of-the-art facility with six different production units aimed at six dif-

ferent production areas such as: raw material refining and treatment; fractionation of fats; production of margarines and packaged fats; UHT treatment for the production of vegetable creams and ice cream; production of chocolate, chocolate substitutes and spreadable creams and finally the production of mixes and improvers for bakery and confectionery. “When our company was established, companies like Unilever and Kraft were the main producers of fats for the food industry,” states Mr Cavallari. “Over the years many large companies have shut down their fats

departments and we are now the undisputable Italian leader in the processing of food oils and fats, margarines and semi-finished products for food production ranging from the big food industry to artisanal clients in the bakery, catering and ice creams markets.” Initially set up to supply food companies on an industrial scale nearly 20 years ago, Unigrà went on to seize new opportunities for growth within the artisanal food production. This is the reason why today the company is organised in two independent divisions: the Industrial and the Artisanal which respectively Industry Europe 101

Süd-Chemie AG

iparbelli & C. Casa di Spedizioni S.r.l., based in Ravenna, at Via Darsena 17, was established in 1970 and has always been engaged in issues concerning import and export by sea, on land, by rail or by plane, supplying a comprehensive service for door-to-door transport, from any originating point to the factory and vice versa, of any product. Such a service is also inclusive of insurance and custom duties, including particular care of necessary documentation, especially with regard to import and export, such as ministerial procedures for licences, reimbursements, returns etc. Specifically with regard to both import and export, if necessary and required, our company goes to the place of arrival or departure to ensure that all loading and unloading operations are carried out with maximum efficiency, diligence and care. In fact, the Riparbelli & C. Casa di Spedizioni Srl structure has been conceived in such a way that part of the staff is in the office sorting the paperwork side of the activity while at the same time also organises the material work to be carried out by external specialised staff (harbour, dock, warehouse, custom, rail, etc.), so that a good operation outcome can be achieved.

Süd-Chemie AG (www.sud-chemie.com) is a publicly quoted, independent specialty chemical company headquartered in Munich/ Germany and operating on a worldwide scale. In the edible oil industry, Süd-Chemie is since 100 years the leading producer of high quality bleaching earths. With manufacturing sites and sales offices all over the world and a large team of R&D and technical experts, Süd-Chemie offers the complete range of high performing bleaching earths for all type of oils. The major players in the edible oil industry benefit from Süd-Chemie’s network and experience in this market. The reason why Süd-Chemie bleaching earth products are so successful is because they are made from the best raw clay. Tailored by a team to meet the exact needs of each individual customer, they are always delivered on time. This claim ensures the constant high level of quality.

Phone: +39/0544/452859 | Fax: +39/0544/453361 Company with Quality System ISO 9001:2000 certified by IIC

serve different types of customers through different brands: Unigrà and Master Martini. “The Unigrà brand represents the industrial division and operates in three different product sectors, oils and fats, packaged products and Special fats,” explained Stefano Cavallari. “Master Martini is the brand of the Artisanal Division which has developed a range of specialised products for professionals in the confectionery, bakery and catering industries.” Thanks to its product differentiation and a wide range of tailor-made products, today Unigrà can guarantee its clients whatever they need wherever they are.

division,” continues Mr Cavallari. “However, we have a structure that is expanding and in a few years we hope to become a leading supplier of chocolate and chocolate compounds. At the moment the Master Martini brand is having a great response especially abroad and in the Eastern European countries where the quality of chocolate is very low.” While investing in the chocolate business Unigrà is also setting a new challenge for the future which is to become a leading company abroad using the same strategies that have brought success in Italy.

Conquering new markets

So what are the reasons that led this Italian company to the top? “If today we have an edge over the competition, it is primarily due to the great insight for business of our CEO Luciano Martini. He has always worked in the front line and he has always been able to sense when it was time to push and when it was necessary to curb,” explains Stefano Cavallari. “Moreover our company is very strong on customer service. As a matter of fact our clients really appreciate our flexibility and our ability to always deliver on time.” He adds that Unigrà’s success is also the result of meticulous attention to the

Currently present in over 40 countries worldwide with a well organised distribution network, Unigrà began its geographic expansion targeting European countries and then progressively moving towards the Far East. “We are still continuing our expansion strategy and we are now looking with great interest at the South American and eastern European markets.” Already a leading supplier of oils and fats for multinational companies like Nestlé and Unilever, Unigrà is now trying to establish a primary position within the chocolate industry. “The core business of our company is the industrial

Ingredients for success

quality of its raw materials. “We only use the best possible ingredients to guarantee our customers high quality products. All our products are made in Italy, even the ones designed for the market abroad. It is true that sometimes we have to adapt our production according to customers’ needs in different countries but we never compromise on quality.” In the name of quality and sustainability Unigrà has been an RSPO member (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) since March 2007. “It is very important for us to maintain the high standards that we have already set for our name and we will carry on offering the same excellence in n Italy and around the world.”

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104 Industry Europe

FRUITFUL RELATIONSHIPS AGRANA is one of the leading sugar companies in central and eastern Europe, and the world market leader in fruit preparations for the dairy industry. Joseph Altham spoke to Gabriele Findenig, AGRANA’s sales director for eastern Europe, to find out what makes fruit preparations such a growth area for the company.

GRANA’s activities are divided into three main segments – sugar, starch and fruit. The company has a global business, with 52 production sites worldwide, around 8000 employees and an annual turnover of almost €2 billion. AGRANA’s roots are in the sugar business. It owns the well-known Austrian brand of sugar, Wiener Zucker, and has seven sugar plants and two raw sugar refineries in Europe. AGRANA’s four starch mills are located in Austria, Hungary and Romania. It has a potato starch mill in Gmünd which is Austria’s only potato starch mill. The company’s factory in Romania makes glucose syrups and modified starch from corn starch for the food sector. AGRANA uses the by-products from the production of starch to make animal feed, and the company’s corn gluten feed, Maisprot, is manufactured at its corn starch mill at Aschach in Upper Austria. The starch division is also responsible for the production of bioethanol. AGRANA’s bioethanol plant at Pischelsdorf, the first of its kind in Austria, uses wheat and corn as the basis for an environmentally friendly fuel, Super

Ethanol E85. The Pischelsdorf plant is capable of producing around 190,000 tonnes of bioethanol per year.

Fruit preparations

Fruit has become the single most important business segment for AGRANA, accounting for some 40 per cent of the company’s turnover. AGRANA produces fruit juice concentrate from apples and berries, while in fruit preparations it is the world market leader. AGRANA makes these fruit preparations, which are either pieces of fruit or liquids, for use in biscuits, yoghurts and ice cream. Despite its scale, fruit is actually the newest of the company’s three business segments. “Originally, AGRANA was a sugar business in Austria,” Mrs Findenig explained. “In 2003, due to the restructuring of Europe’s sugar market regime, AGRANA initiated the biggest strategic reorientation in its history and expanded its core business by setting up the new fruit segment. This approach resulted in the increasing globalisation of AGRANA’s business operations. Fruit preparation was a good opportunity and the best fit for the business.”

The fruit preparation segment was created through the acquisitions of the French Atys Group, the German DSF and the Austrian Steirerobst AG. In the course of merging and integrating these companies into the AGRANA Group, the company created a global business division capable of delivering innovation and developments close to the market. Fruit preparations are a complex product, as Mrs Findenig explained. “The production technology is quite challenging. It’s easier for a yoghurt manufacturer to buy fruit preparations from us than to make them for themselves. The fruit preparations must be pasteurised and microbiologically safe, and they have to confirm to the yoghurt’s shelf-life claims. Our fruit preparations are tailor-made, and we supply the major dairy producers all over the world.”

Expansion in emerging markets

In fruit preparations, Agrana has been expanding its global footprint. Agrana has had a factory in China since 1999, and Agrana Fruit Brazil, with a factory near São Paulo, was established in 2006. Russia, says Mrs Findenig, is another growth country. Agrana’s Russia subsidiary in Industry Europe 105

Serpukhov, 100km south of Moscow, began operations in 2005 and employs around 200 people. Russian consumption of fruit yoghurts is still lower than in western Europe, but is set to rise as Russians become better off and more health-conscious. For this reason, Agrana plans to increase production capacity at the Serpukhov site from its present level of 38,000 tonnes per year to 62,000 tonnes. “We will invest over €20 million over the next five years,” said Mrs Findenig. “The focus is not only on production capacity, but also on innovation and designing lines for the future. Per capita consumption of yoghurt in Russia is growing and we sell a healthy product. So we have a positive outlook and expect organic growth.”

Local knowledge

Agrana understands that consumer preferences vary across different national markets. “Agrana’s strategy is to be close to customers,” said Mrs Findenig. “We have local

106 Industry Europe

product development centres to ensure that we can really capture people’s tastes. This is a major consideration. For example, when it comes to fruit for yoghurt, the Scandinavian market has very different expectations from the Russian market.” Agrana is careful to obtain fruit of the best quality for its fruit preparations. “Agrana is still a fruit farmer,” said Mrs Findenig. “Poland is the fruit-garden of Europe, and we have farms in Poland and Ukraine. We grow 30 per cent of the fruit we need on our own farms, as well as sourcing our fruit through contracts with local farmers. We have full traceability and strict quality control.” Agrana aims both to satisfy the tastes of local markets and to set new trends. “Our global organisation for innovation and marketing is developing the tastes of the future. We want to add value for the end-consumer market, and we are working in close collaboration with our customers to help them stay ahead of n the competition.”

PLAYING IT SAFE Under its welfare-focused vision of ‘Safe Food Safely’, integrated poultry process solutions company Linco Food Systems A/S has built a reputation for quality. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to managing director Peter From to find out more.

ith more than 60 years as a leading name in poultry processing equipment and operations worldwide, LINCO is today the third largest company in the world market offering this total solution provision. Denmark-based Linco Food Systems A/S is privately owned by one single shareholder, who also owns a number of other poultryrelated companies, giving it unrivalled access to related expertise and technical support. In 2008/9 Linco underwent a complete change of management following its acquisition by the shareholder as well as a complete overhaul of its structure and IT systems that was implemented by 2010. Managing director Peter From told Industry Europe, “As with many companies, 2009 was a hard year for us. We closed one production facility and reduced our workforce by 25 per cent in order to stay active and competitive in a very

challenging market. Thankfully, 2010 was very busy, with a great increase in production and sales bringing an increase of around 40 per cent to our 2010 turnover. After a tough period during the recession we put higher focus on our strongly developing markets in the Far East, Middle East and south Central America, and this strategy paid off well.”

Playing to its strengths

A key element to this successful strategy saw Linco play to its two core strengths. First, the company is dedicated to the niche markets where it already performs well, delivering total solutions to customers that demand special requirements rather than chasing standardised projects. Mr From added, “It’s all about being flexible. We listen closely to our customers and can adjust and modify everything we do to fit in with their specific

poultry processing requirements. Competitors offer an A-Z system whereby the processing has to follow a particular journey, but with Linco, clients can even interface different solutions – including integrating products from different suppliers – to create a perfectly designed system for their special needs.” The second aspect of Linco’s strength is the huge growth potential in certain global markets for poultry production. With poultry the cheapest meat in the world, its efficient processing is set to boom in emerging markets. In the USA, the per person, per year poultry consumption currently stands at 65 kilos, with 35—40 kilos the European average. Across the Far East, that figure is just 12 kilos, so as eating habits change in the region because of what Mr From describes as ‘people becoming middle class’, the 1.3 billion Chinese population alone represents a massive opportunity.

Mr From said, “Linco is a very significant external supplier of poultry processing equipment to China — we have been active in the region for more than 20 years. This means we have a terrific base line for growth in the region. Linco is a trusted brand wtorldwide and as China increases in automation, we are well-positioned to make the most of this trend. Much of the poultry processing in China is still done manually, but as it gets harder to find labour, we’re seeing a high-speed take-up of automated solutions such as those offered by Linco. It’s a very exciting time for us.”

Local experts

Linco strongly believes in developing and maintaining mutually-beneficial relationships with local representatives across its global network to ensure a smooth service that is ideally suited to local clients. The company has representatives in countries including France, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Chile, Brazil, 110 Industry Europe

Malaysia and China, with subsidiary companies and distributors in Italy, Holland, Israel, South Africa and Australia. Linco’s head office is in Trige, Denmark, with sister companies in Kansas, USA, and Holland. As a recognised global partner for integrated poultry processing solutions that deliver everything the modern processing plant needs, Linco’s company promise to promote ‘Safe Food Safely’ is clearly illustrated by its commitment to animal welfare. Mr From said, “Animal welfare is especially important when handling live birds; we promise quality in all phases – from live bird reception to the final consumer product, including production control – and our clients rely on us to deliver poultry processing solutions that can provide the most humane way of treating the animals.”

Stress-free solutions

With all of Linco’s activities meeting the most stringent of British, European and

global standards as appropriate, the company’s innovative ‘Maxi Load’ development means that the birds are never dropped, as they often are with other machinery providers, and are kept comfortable in the crates at all times. Furthermore, the Linco gas stunner is also proving a popular method of preventing the birds from being stressed, as they are put to sleep before being killed. With exciting growth potential in developing markets and increasing demand for responsible poultry processing solutions, there is a strong future ahead for Linco. Mr From concluded, “We’re getting more involved in promoting responsible poultry processing to consumers, particularly as new EU legislation is due to come into force in 2013. The demand for chicken is not going to go away, so by offering a total processing solution that respects the live animals, we can play a key role in this n growth market.”

HOT FAVOURITES Turkish company Elba has been producing heating radiators for nearly 40 years. Today its modern panel radiators are supplied around the world.

lba Basincli Dokum Sanayi was founded in 1969 in Istanbul to manufacture spare parts for the automotive sector, using the high pressure die casting production process. The company moved to Izmir in 1971 to continue producing the same products. In 1973, it started manufacturing aluminium radiators with steel pipes inside them. In 1974, it moved to Manisa, a city in the Aegean region of Anatolia, and began to manufacture panel radiators in 1991. Today the company supplies contemporary panel radiators for both new builds, including public housing, and for the replacement of old-style cast radiators. Elba is a member of the Elginkan Group, which was founded and is still owned by the Elginkan family, one of the oldest-established and best-known trading families in Manisa. Elba’s first radiator production line had a capacity of 150,000 metres per year. In

1993, a second 150,000 metres per year was launched, increasing the total production capacity to 300,000 metres per year. Between 2000 and 2005, the company decided to renew its technology and invested $50 million in its production facilities. The 300,000 metre/year production line was removed and replaced with three separate lines with a total production capacity of 2.2 million metre/year. Today Elba is one of the leading manufacturers of panel radiators in Turkey and, indeed, in Europe. Its products meet all domestic and international quality standards and are certified to ISO 9001:2000, DIN GEPRUFT (Germany), BS (UK), NF (France) and GOST-R (Russia).

International sales

Sales of Elba radiators are handled in the Turkish market by EMAS Inc and internationally by ELEKS Inc; both EMAS and ELEKS

are members of the Elginkan Group. In fact, ELEKS is in charge of the international sales of all the group companies and is the exclusive exporter of their products. These include not only Elba panel radiators but also taps and mixers, ceramic sanitary ware, cast iron baths, shower trays, combi boilers, towel radiators, valves, natural gas meters, brass rods and ingots as well as raw materials for the ceramic industry. ELEKS has grown to become one of Turkey’s leading international trading companies, exporting goods to around 100 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In order to provide even more responsive service to more than 700 customers worldwide, the company has established many distributorships in its principal export markets. In particular, its subsidiary ECA Germany provides local service throughout Central Europe. Industry Europe 111

Responsible production

Situated in the Manisa Organised Industrial Region, Elba’s production plant is spread over 82,000m2 of land with a total closed area of 45,000m2. The company is aware of its responsibilities regarding the environment and fulfils all its obligations in accordance with the international standards. Its chemical waste is controlled and its flue gas is analysed in accordance with the international rules. Regarding environmental issues, Elba boasts all kinds of documents, including internationally recognised ISO 14001 certificate. In addition, it has acquired all the other pan-European certificates such as OHSAS (Occupational Health and Safety Management System) and ISO 9000 Quality System. Elba manufactures steel panel radiators ranging from 300 to 900mm in height and from 400 to 3000mm in length. As for width, there are three different types: single, double and triple.

Bringing new products to the market is important for Elba. Recent new launches have included hygienic radiators for places such as hospitals, schools and chemists. They are easy to clean and manufactured as bespoke products when required by clients. The current range includes ECA standard panel radiators and Eco panel radiators, which offer an even more economical performance. “At the moment, our production plant is the only one of its kind in Turkey that is completely equipped with new technology,” says Ömer Özgen, general manager of Elba “ Since 2001, we have been installing German and Italian made manufacturing machines. Other companies have also added new machines to the old ones but Elba’s machines are completely new. The advantage this gives us is that our products come off the production line completely identical with each other, therby maximising quality control.”

Global reach

Elba buys the steel it uses from all over the world but the most of it is provided in Turkey. It uses approximately 6500 tons of steel every month. The company complies with the international norms throughout its production process including all the quality checks of the raw materials it uses. It offers its clients a 10 year warranty against all manufacturing faults. Elba’s principal foreign markets include UK, Romania, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Malta, France, Greece, Chilli, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Syria, Jordan, China, Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Croatia, Hungary and many more. “We are continually in search of new markets and at the same time trying to increase our share in the existing markets. We have already restructured our marketing operations in Russia and the Turkic republics,” n says Mr Ozgen.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

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Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

THE NEW NAME FOR HVAC EXPERTISE Hydronics pioneer TA Hydronics is currently rolling out a customer-focused global rebranding project that’s set to cement its position as the world’s leading expert in hydronic distribution systems. EmmaJane Batey spoke to global marketing director Caroline Bright to find out more.

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Welcome to the Superior Way Of Life! Superior is an internationally recognised manufacturer of high-precision elastomeric O-rings and seals that are critical to the safe and reliable functioning of highintegrity products. This family owned business has offices and manufacturing facilities in the UK. Since 1972, Superior has built a reputation on quality, durability, reliability and most importantly trust with its OEM customers. We proud ourselves that every single product is 100% manufactured in-house, giving full material traceability, consistency and high quality. Material Experts at your fingertips – it’s like having a specialist extension to your own technical capability – and Seal Engineering ensure the best possible service for our customers and guarantee excellent sealing capabilities, long-term performance and durability. Superior has a clear vision for the future and strong fundamental values. We are continuously re-investing into latest technology and are working towards sustainable development in a broad sense – environmentally and socially. Our goal is to become the preferred supplier of precision seals and special mouldings to the world’s finest manufacturing companies.

www.superiorltd.com Industry Europe 117

New state government office complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil

arch 2011 is an important date in the history of TA Hydronics, with the launch of its strategic rebranding at the leading house and building technology trade fair ISH in Frankfurt. Following many months of internal work, customer research and careful planning, the company has introduced its new concept of complete hydronic expertise from one family of famous brands. Global marketing director Caroline Bright has been integral to the on going engagement of employees and customers alike, and she told Industry Europe how the new single corporate brand will make it even easier for the company to deliver hydronic solutions. Ms Bright explained, “As a leading global provider and renowned expert in hydronics, we have completed more than 100,000 projects worldwide. We have a solid portfolio of three major multi national brands but we found that our activities could be aligned more closely. This in-depth rebranding exercise has been a massive undertaking to ensure that our customers continue

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to get the same first-class service from us worldwide in an easier, more transparent way. It’s certainly been a challenge but one which will definitely benefit our customers, our employees and our shareholders.”

Family strength

TA Hydronics is part of the British-based international engineering group IMI plc, which has more than 13,000 employees worldwide, an annual turnover of £1.79 billion and is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 100 company. Under its previous Indoor Climate company name, one of five divisions of IMI plc, the three core brands operated as separate brands with different geographical territories; following the rebranding, the three brands are now aligned under the umbrella of TA Hydronics. The well-known trio of hydronic brands are TA, Pneumatex and Heimeier, all of which are respected in their respective fields of balancing valves, pressurisation, expansion vessels, air and dirt separators and individual room temperature controllers for the hydronic

solutions sector. Ms Bright clarified why bringing the brands together has been an important decision. She said, “We wanted to create a cohesive single corporate brand of IMI plc in our own HVAC industry, so we could more clearly showcase our expertise and technical know-how. Essentially we were hiding some of our strength, concealing our excellent knowledge and experience by operating three different brands without a single point of contact. Knowing our hydronic competences are mutually supportive and demonstrably synergetic we knew we had the opportunity to align who we are in the eyes of our customers. The strategic rebranding was hence set in motion.” The important choice of what name to use for the strategic alliance of Pneumatex, TA and Heimeier was focused on bringing together the synergies across the three brands whilst still leveraging the strong history of the company within the HVAC industry. Ms Bright explained, “We wanted to find the best name to depict the strategy and value we offer in our area of focus – hydronic distri-

Tinby is a leading Danish provider of integrated polyurethane. We provide solutions from design and værktøjsfremtagning to produce components and systems in polyurethane. We have more than 35 years of experience in polyurethane, and our core competencies are casting, surface treatment and processing of polyurethane. Tinby develops, manufactures and sells polyurethane also in energy saving solutions and ventilation systems which are sold in own brands. Our clients are a wide range of leading companies such as consumer polyurethane. The export share is over 70%. Tinby is part of SP Group, which is an international Danish listed group. Tinby develops and manufactures solutions in polyurethane. We have more than 30 years of experience in polyurethane, and our core competencies are casting, surface treatment and processing of polyurethane products. We are the largest supplier of polyurethane with factories in Denmark and Poland. Our expertise covers a large part of the value chain - from design and development to production and distribution of components and complete systems. Tinby A/S - Snavevej 6-10 DK-5471 Søndersø Denmark Tel.: (+45) 6489-1440 Fax: (+45) 6489-3225 E-mail: tinby@tinby.dk

We are Talent Plastics and we work with plastics. We can offer you everything in plastics production, from a first idea, through the design phase to final production based on injection moulding and extrusion of thermoplastics. If you need specialist production or finishing, we have the experience, enthusiasm and professional pride you need to get the best results. We combine expertise and high capacity with the flexibility and quick decision-making of the small business.

Termoflon Coating Ltd is well established in the industry, started operations in 1962 in Kungsör, and has since performed coatings with Teflon® and other fluorine resins to customers in numberous industries such as pluming, food, plastics, automotive, process and engineering industry is mainly in Swedish and Nordic industry.

Termoflon Produktion AB Saltängsvägen 41 721 32 VÄSTERÅS Tel: +46 (0) 21 - 183855 Fax: +46 (0) 21 - 187394 Mobile: +46 (0) 70 - 7489456 www.termoflon.se

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Get in touch and tell us about the problems and challenges you face working with plastics. We’ll turn them into opportunities. Talent Plastics AB Box 26 524 21 Herrljunga SWEDEN Tel.: +46 513 - 179 00 | Telefax: +46 513 - 179 13 | Email: info@talentplastics.se

Sales and manufacturing of valves for plumbing, industrial, shipbuilding industry, and subcontracting. Producer / Supplier of Copper Alloy Valves for the Shipbuilding Industry.

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bution – drawing in the integrated approach that characterises our success in each brand. TA Hydronics is actually a name that we used ten years ago, but specifically for our balancing valves business rather than as a corporate company name. TA Hydronics is now much larger than before as it comprises all three core brands. We didn’t want to use a totally new name as, following intense customer and internal discussions, we realised it would mean we would lose market recognition – and a unifying force for our passionate and loyal workforce.”

Ms Bright concluded, “TA Hydronics represents our integrated hydronic competencies in the fields of pressurisation and water quality, balancing and control and thermostatic control from each of our global product brands. We are now positioned more effectively to continue our role as the leading partner to support our customers in meeting their increasingly complex challenges in designing, installing, commissioning and maintaining optimally performing HVAC systems.”

It’s all about energy efficiency and indoor comfort

Forty per cent of the world’s energy is consumed by HVAC systems in buildings, and optimising HVAC systems is a complex challenge requiring in-depth understanding of the total system and its dynamic nature. TA Hydronics’ unrivalled system knowledge and experience affords it a unique ability to deliver indoor climate comfort and energy efficiency across the world.It’s the new name n for energy efficient HVAC expertise.

The hydronics pioneer

A key factor in this decision-making process was that the company was actually the first in the industry to use the term ‘hydronics’, so the strength of the brand has long been in the fabric of the company. The company is now focused on communicating the strength of the TA Hydronics brand to the market and to ensure that the launch of the new superbrand is perfectly coordinated to highlight the fact that combined competence of three brands together now delivers an integrated approach to help customers deal with the complexity of hydronic systems as easily as possible.

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COOL QUALITY Even though leading commercial refrigeration manufacturer Norpe has been at the forefront of the food and beverage industry for nearly 60 years, its passion for innovation shows no sign of slowing down. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to CEO Matti Virtanen to find out more.

Matti Virtanen, CEO

stablished in 1953 in Porvoo, Finland, where its headquarters and primary production facilities are located, Norpe is one of the most experienced manufacturers of commercial refrigeration units in Europe. The company has subsidiaries across Europe and a comprehensive partner network worldwide, meaning that it can successfully service clients where ever they are in the world. As a new intention to Europe Norpe has announced the official opening of its 100 per cent owned German subsidiary. “Within the last 10 months Norpe Group has worked extensively in improving its fundamentals. Key aspect of this work has been to be much closer to our customers. Opening a new subsidiary in one of the largest markets in Europe is a concrete statement of this work. We are very pleased and committed to serve our local German customers even better with our high-quality, energy efficient and environmentally friendly refrigeration solutions,” says Mr Matti Virtanen, CEO of the Norpe Group. The German office will focus on growing Norpe business by serving our existing and new customers, as well as extending our partner network. Our target is to get the best partners in Germany to display leading Norpe technology, and provide professional technical support all around the country in a consistent and customer friendly manner. “The German market is a very important market for Norpe. It is necessary to operate locally next to our customers and be available 24 hours a day in order to maximise customer satisfaction and provide the lowest lifecycle cost in the industry,” says Mr Mika Aaltonen, Director of International Business, Norpe Group. Known for being an innovative manufacturer within the food and beverage refrigeration sector, Norpe certainly lives up to its promise as ‘The Sign of Cool Quality’. CEO Matti Virtanen told Industry Europe more about how this is being achieved on a daily basis. He said, “We have a long history of developing the food and beverage refrigeraIndustry Europe 123

Dealer in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

SEST SpA is the European market leader in the production of heat exchangers and condensers for refrigerated cabinets for supermarkets, and one of the major manufacturers of finned heat exchange coils for the commercial refrigeration and air conditioning businesses. Sest Group is a dynamic and competent group, seriously committed to its clients in finding the best and more competitive solutions; this allows to offer a unique service of technical assistance and co-design from the Italian plant which continues to be the “core and thinking mind” of the Group. To be part of the Lu-Ve Group allows to further satisfy the clients’ requests at 360° in all the different business units of the refrigeration and conditioning fields in total synergy. Founded in 1974 as a supplier to a leading refrigerated cabinet manufacturer, more than 30 years of experience gained in this business sector, the continuous technological research, SEST is today one of the major Companies in the International panorama for this application area.

www.refair.fi Atomitie 1, 00370 Helsinki, Finland Tel: +358 9 565 7780 | Fax: 00358 9 565 77880

Plascore PC Honeycomb Core improves air flow in refrigeration cabinets worldwide. Out of our facilities in the United States and Germany we supply PC Honeycomb Core made to your specification. Send us your inquiry today –

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MISSION SEST’s winning factors are: the mission “the customer is the core of the company”; the sales policy “selling a service and not only a product”; a lean and flexible structure able to respond quickly to the customer needs; the specialisation in a product niche; the quality; the particular attention to human resources; the passion and the enthusiasm to build a great Enterprise. SEST Group: our numbers • 3 production sites • 40,000 square meters of covered surface • 30 production lines • 500 employees • More than 800,000 coils per annum Tel.: +39 0437 966311 | E-mail: sestspa@sest.it | www.sest.it

tion segment and of being active in the overall industry. This means that we’ve been known by customers for high quality products for many years, which puts us in a strong position to influence and support the industry.”

Selling better

As a supplier that is driving the industry forward, Norpe is committed to continual product development, including new products and further commercial utilisation of existing products. The company’s primary driver is enabling its customers to sell their products better by enhancing their offer through effective refrigeration, and with many of its customers in the supermarket and retail sectors, it needs to have a sophisticated understanding of the demands of the end user. Mr Virtanen explained, “Our focus is to consistently enhance the food and beverage value chain by providing refrigeration cabinets and products that assist in our customers selling their products. Perfectly chilled or frozen products sell better than room temperature products in many F&B segments, so we take that to the next level by incorporating environmentally friendly aspects and design features that our customers really appreciate.” As a proud Nordic company, Norpe is passionate about energy efficiency. It has a heavy drive on environmental topics that impact its business and the industries in which it operates, with its delivery of ecologically-responsible refrigeration solutions an important Norpe value. The company has worked hard to create an energy efficient cabinet in partnership with leading tran-

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scritical CO2 power pack supplier Advansor which uses an innovative refrigeration process that’s very effective.

Market leader

Norpe’s activities fall into two core categories, with supermarket refrigeration solutions and plug-in cabinets its main areas. The company is the market leader across the Nordic and Baltic region in both categories. Norpe designs, manufactures and distributes complete refrigeration solutions for supermarkets across Europe, including the cabinets, power packs and all related services including maintenance. A recent addition to the Norpe product portfolio is Aida the new display family for pastry and sandwiches among other things. It fits perfectly into supermarket and convenience concepts and as stand-alone solutions for smaller stores. It can be delivered either as remote or integral. The Aida line is billed as ‘where design meets functionality and the latest technology meets ecology’. Mr Virtanen added, “The new line of Aida products offer 20 per cent more product display space for the same floor space than any of our competitors’ offer, so it’s no surprise that it’s already gaining great feedback.” Norpe also has a number of design and presentation techniques that add value to supermarket refrigeration. Mr Virtanen continued, “Our commercial advantage is that we understand how to make refrigeration products that are better for our customers. We can make their products in the cabinets look more attractive to consumers by using LED coloured lighting, for example, or making the products easy to grab. There are all manner

of dynamics present in supermarkets, like shelves always looking full, so any details that we can help with make our customers happy. We listen to their feedback too so that we’re always delivering exactly what they want.” In the plug-in category of products, Norpe typically offers cabinets that include cooling systems for food and drinks, particularly ice cream. It often works closely with customers that are launching new products in order to develop a plug-in refrigeration solution that enhances their product and supports the marketing campaign, with the flexibility to create fresh designs for the inside and outside of its cabinets.

Ready for anything

Following what Mr Virtanen calls ‘eleven months of renewing’, with Norpe increasing its competitiveness and being in the process of upgrading its production capabilities in order to increase capacity, the company is ready to embrace the next chapter in its history. With more than 40 new products introduced in EuroShop 2011 already in its refrigeration portfolio, including Aida, the complete Promoter cooling family of products and large Euromax display cabinet, Norpe is committed to continuing its history of innovation. Mr Virtanen concluded, “We have new products coming to market in the next six months and see the next three years as being a particularly exciting time. Many supermarkets are renewing their stores as the general economy picks up after the recession, and we are keen to utilise our strong market position to help them add value for the consumer n wherever possible.”

FIT FOR THE FUTURE With rationalisation in Europe and expansion in South Africa as well as continuing product innovation, Sappi is boosting its performance despite rising input costs

lobal paper and pulp group Sappi employs 15,600 people worldwide, and their manufacturing operations on four continents have an annual capacity of 6.6 million tons of paper, 3.3 million tons of paper pulp and 800,000 tons of chemical cellulose. Sappi works in over 100 countries to provide customers with sustainable paper, paper-pulp and chemical cellulose products and related services and innovations. The market-leading range of paper-products includes coated fine papers used by printers, publishers and corporate end-users and casting release papers used by suppliers to the fashion, textiles, automobile and household industries. In the South-

ern African region the portfolio includes newsprint, uncoated graphic and business papers, premium quality packaging papers, paper grade pulp and chemical cellulose. The chemical cellulose products are used worldwide by converters to create viscose fibre, acetate tow, pharmaceutical products and other consumer products. In March 2011 Sappi released a positive statement with the publication of their second quarter results: “Operating profit for the quarter more than doubled compared to a year earlier (US$54 million) and on a per week basis was at the same level as our first financial quarter ended December 2010. The operating performance of each of our

regional businesses improved when compared to a year earlier, and in particular the fine paper business continued its improving trend, with operating profit increasing 65 per cent compared to the equivalent quarter last year and 25 per cent compared to the quarter ended December 2010. Sales for the quarter increased to US$1.8 billion, up 16 per cent compared to the equivalent quarter last year.”

Cost savings across Europe

Raw material increases affected Sappi’s performance in Europe, which represents 55 per cent of group sales, and where more than half of the pulp is being bought in. The

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high prices for pulp, wood, latex and energy contributed to the decision to cease production of coated graphic paper at the Biberist paper mill in Switzerland, where production will have ceased by the end of July. Sappi is investigating possibilities for the sale of the site, and promising leads are being pursued – with a clear emphasis on those which generate the maximum employment opportunities. Volumes produced at the mill will be transferred to other Sappi sites and there will be no supply interruption of coated paper to customers during the transfer of production. Sappi estimates that the benefits of the closure will exceed US$50 million per annum. In addition, the group has identified further

actions across their European business which will eventually result in fixed and variable cost savings of over US$50 million per annum.

businesses everywhere to produce high speed, full-colour, printed communications with a real offset look and feel.

The next generation of coated inkjet papers

Expansion for South African mill

In February, Sappi Fine Paper Europe announced that it has joined forces with HP to develop coated papers for the high-speed inkjet market. JazTM silk is a coated paper for high-quality graphic applications such as direct mail or commercial print. This new paper grade has drawn on the experience of HP to combine the flexibility of inkjet with the high quality associated with Sappi paper. This combination of the best in paper combined with the best in inkjet technology is enabling

The Sappi board has recently approved the expansion and modernisation of the Ngodwana mill in South Africa. The mill will produce kraft linerboard, newsprint and an additional 210,000 tons of chemical cellulose production, scheduled to commence in early 2013. With this decision Sappi’s output of chemical cellulose will increase to over a million tons per year, entrenching its position as the global leader in chemical cellulose production. The project is expected to bring a major

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boost for the local Lowveld economy, and improve the mill’s environmental footprint: efficiencies from new equipment will mean burning 61,000 tons less coal per year which equates to 120,000 tons fewer CO2 emissions. In addition, total mill effluent will significantly reduce and the revised project will require 200,000 tons less timber per year and 18,400 fewer trucks on the road.

Leading on sustainable grocery packaging

Through a partnership with South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay, Sappi has launched an eco-friendly alternative to plas-

tic shopping bags. The new paper-based packaging, which has been custom-developed to meet Pick n Pay’s stringent quality standards, was developed by the R&D team at the Sappi Technology Centre, situated at the Innovation Hub in Tshwane. The new bags offer shoppers a fully recyclable and fully-biodegradable option. In addition, they hold up to 10 kg in weight, and have reinforced handles and a square bottom to ensure excellent carrying capacity and convenience. The paper for the new shopping bags is manufactured at the Sappi Tugela Mill in KwaZulu Natal. In addition to using timber from local tree plantations the

bags themselves are fully recyclable, and the fibre can be reused up to six times before decomposing without releasing any toxic materials into the soil or water.

The year ahead

Sappi is forecasting that major markets will remain favourable; however, input costs are expected to increase in line with the global economic recovery. Helped by the effect of the European profit improvement measures in the coming months the improved trend in the group’s underlying operating performance is set to continue through the n remainder of the financial year.

SUCCESS GROWS

ON TREES

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Long-established European printing paper manufacturer Holmen Paper has used its passion for paper to ensure it stays at the very top of its game. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to a senior representative to find out how this is being achieved.

olmen Paper was first established in Sweden more than 400 years ago, and the company remains a leading name in the printing paper industry across Europe. Part of the major Holmen Group, Holmen Paper operates three paper mills as well as Holmen Paper Madrid, which is one of the most modern paper mills in Europe. With a total capacity to manufacture about 2.3 million tonnes of printing paper and paperboard each year, the Holmen Group is Europe’s fifth largest manufacturer of printing paper, producing around 1,750,000 tonnes annually. The production activities of the group include the paper produced by Holmen Paper, alongside sawn timber, solid bleached board, folding boxboard and hydro-power.

Group support

Holmen Paper’s senior representative told Industry Europe how its position in the group gives it valuable support. “Being

part of a well-recognised group is a great addition to having more than 400 years’ experience in paper manufacture, so we have strength coming from many directions which adds value to our offer. Even though much has changed since we started all those years ago, with what was once a manual craft now being high-tech, we have consistently retained our passion for paper, and it is this that continues to drive us to constantly develop and adapt our products. We are fully committed to meeting the rapid changes of the modern world by listening to our customers and creating printing paper that meets their needs.” Holmen Paper’s product portfolio is focused on white and coloured newsprint as well as paper for directories, manuals, books and magazines. Its main customer base includes daily newspapers, retailers, book and magazine publishers, and publishers and printers of catalogues and directories across Europe, with Holmen

Paper manufacturing a number of wellknown brands. These include Holmen VIEW, Holmen XLNT, Holmen PLUS, Holmen PREMIUM, Holmen BOOK and Holmen NEWS. Holmen Paper’s mills are well positioned to give good coverage of the European market, with its Hallsta Paper Mill in Roslagen in Sweden, the Braviken Paper Mill near Norrkoping in Sweden and Holmen Paper Madrid in Spain. There are three paper machines at the Hallsta facilities, where around 730 people are employed, and it is here that the company produces magazine paper and a range of special printing paper containing wood, particularly spruce wood, which is locally available in abundance. The Braviken Mill produces both paper for newspapers and the pink paper which is commonly used for financial newspapers, as well as being best-known for white and coloured paper for telephone directories. This mill employs around 600 people.

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Dealing with challenges

The Spanish paper mill has recently been affected by a stop in production due to a strike which has forced the shut-down of Holmen Paper Madrid, as mentioned on the company’s website at the end of April 2011. The strike was a result of the closure of paper machine 61, or PM61, which reduced the production capacity of the mill, affecting around 170 of the mill’s 370 employees. Although the strike continued for three days, the mill expects the issue to be resolved as

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production capacity returns with increased demand. The Madrid mill is one of Europe’s most modern paper mills using only recycled paper as its raw material, and it is here at Holmen NEWS and Holmen PLUS is produced. Holmen Paper is clear that staying ahead of the changing demands of the paper-consuming industries is key to its continued success. The company’s senior representative explained how it is this attitude which defines the company: “The product development

trend in the field of wood-containing printing paper is certainly moving away from standardisation and towards specialisation and customisation. We work with our customers to understand exactly what they are trying to achieve with their printed matter in order to make sure that we are delivering the most suitable, cost-effective and quality-appropriate paper for their application. Once our customers have decided on their goal, we work to deliver the paper which will help them to

create the best end product that does its job, conveys the right feeling and gets noticed.”

Ecological appreciation

As proof that Holmen Paper totally understands the markets in which it operates, the company also produces its own tri-annual free magazine for customers to inform them of new products, business development trends which may affect their operations and reports on related environmental issues. The long-term ecological sustainability of Holmen Paper is an important subject across the company, and indeed the group, with many of its products based on the renew-

able resource of wood. As a proudly Swedish company, Holmen Paper only uses wood harvested from its own forests or purchases it from other forest owners that share its dedication to sustainability. More than a third of its energy requirements are met by its own generation plants. The group has published sustainability reports since 2004 and there is a great emphasis throughout on taking a holistic approach to protect the environment, be energy efficient and respect strict ethical n and social standards. www.holmen.com

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SUPPLY CHAIN

EXCELLENCE

The winds of change are currently blowing fresh and strong at Incas Group, one of Italy’s most respected companies in the field of automation systems for the supply chain. Marketing director Ramona Pronesti talks to Filomena Nardi about the company’s latest achievements.

hether it is improving the warehouse logistic activities of a famous food company, developing a new picking system for a big multinational or delivering the most up-to-date shipping software to a prestigious company in the manufacturing industry, offering tailor-made and bespoke solutions for the management of the entire supply chain is the cornerstone of Incas Group. Established in 1981 by current CEO Ermanno Rondi, the company’s headquarters are located in Biella, one of the most important industrial centres in the Italian region of Piedmont. “Positioning Incas in Biella was definitely not a random choice,” says Mrs Ramona Pronesti. “This city has for many years been the heart of the Piedmont textile industry and Incas began its activity as a company specialising in automatic weighing and labelling systems mainly intended for the textile sector.” In 2011 Incas Group will celebrate its 30th birthday and during all these years the company has been able to quickly move from a local entity to a leading supplier of highly dynamic automated logistics solutions for material handling and warehouse management systems. “When Italy’s textile industry started to be threatened by the growing

competition of low-cost fabrics coming from the Far East, our CEO Ermanno Rondi had the intuition that the only way to stay on the market was to concentrate on quality and high technology.” It was at this point that Incas took the first step towards becoming an integrated solutions provider for both large and small companies. Mrs Pronesti continues, “Our expertise today is in the planning, design, implementation and lifetime service to help managing a company’s supply chain.”

Dates to remember

Incas Group’s success has been marked by a long list of major events which are worth mentioning. “An important date for us to remember is 1988,” says Ramona Pronesti. “This was when our R&D team developed the first warehouse management system based on radio frequency terminals, which today is better known as WMS EASYSTOR, our flagship product.” EASYSTOR is an operative management system for the optimisation of warehouse logistic activities. It has a modular and open structured application, it is easy to configure (even by the user) and it naturally adapts itself to the most widespread operative reali-

ties. “Another important event took place in the years 92/93 during which we developed the first fully automated system for Bonfiglioli, a Bologna-based company.” According to Mrs Pronesti this represented the first of many successful implementations of plant automation systems. In 2007 Incas merged with Nortech Impianti a company founded in 1985 and specialising in the electrification and automation of material handling systems. “Nortech was already a company under the Rondi family’s leadership, which worked closely with Incas,” said Mrs Pronesti. “However, in order to respond better to our customer’s specific requirements, all of Nortech’s business and technology has been now integrated into Incas, giving us the ability to meet future market challenges in a better way.” Mrs Pronesti also stated that the brand Nortech Impianti is still present as an Incas division specialising in security systems fully integrated with industrial automation systems.

Tailor-made solutions

In an increasingly competitive global market, factors such as innovation, quality and the ability to provide highly customised services

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represent a great advantage over the competition. “We have always invested and we will continue investing in innovation,” points out Ramona Pronesti. “We work very closely with our customers and being a leading systems integrators company, our main objective is to develop the best possible solution that will help our clientele to be successful in their business.” Through a well-established distribution network, Incas follows and supplies its customers wherever they are. “Obviously our main market is Italy, followed by South America and Spain where we have an office in Barcelona. However we are present in almost every country in the world,” adds Pronesti. “We always find the right solution for anyone, anywhere.” Incas offers its products and solutions to a vast number of industrial sectors, from Logistic and Transport to Publishing, from Food to Cosmetics, from Electronics to Fashion, and so on. “Each individual production plant, depending on the product or commodity they produce, has different challenges and different needs. However, we are able to find the right technology for any manufacturing company that needs to lower production costs while optimising the efficiency of its

workflow processes.” To prove the point Mrs Pronesti confirmed that Incas Group has recently developed the first warehouse management system for the Sant’Orsola Malpighi Hospital in Bologna. “This is a new market for us. It is a sector that offers our company new opportunities for the future and we are ready to rise to the challenge.”

change, depending on market requirements.” By providing tailor-made solutions to each one of its customers Incas has already acquired leadership in various sectors and in different areas. Now the company has another big challenge ahead – to become the undisputed Italian main provider of both picking and storage automation systems by 2015. n

A challenging future

As indicated by Ramona Pronesti, markets have changed dramatically in the past few years. “At one end, there’s China and its lowcost products. At the other, there’s a modification in the characteristics of consumers who are becoming more demanding than they were a few years ago. Furthermore the recent economic crisis has affected all industry sectors in different ways. Despite all of this our company has not stopped investing. We have developed new solutions, optimized our internal organization and found new ways to improve our already efficient customer service.” Clearly Incas Group is ready to tackle any future challenge. Mrs Pronesti concludes, “Our big strength is being a systems integrator. We are like a tailor always ready to design the right suit to fit a specific customer. We are very flexible and we can quickly adapt and Industry Europe 139

Nissan Forklift enjoys all the benefits of the engineering success of the Nissan Motor Company, along with the expertise it has developed itself over the years in lifting equipment. Abigail Saltmarsh reports.

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issan Forklift has recently seen the launch of a number of new products and upgrades, developing its already successful series of counter balance and warehouse forklift trucks to offer customers more comfort, safety and efficiency. Manager of product marketing and sales support at Nissan Forklift Europe BV, René Eenhoorn said the company had, for example, recently developed a new RG Series reach truck model and would launch a new heavy forklift truck, the ZX Series, later in the year. “In both these cases we have series that include several models,” he said. “In all areas, we are continually improving them to respond to modern market demands. We need to differentiate our products from others on the market as much as we can. This can be done in all sorts of areas, from ergonomics through to driver safety.”

Producing in Europe

Nissan Forklift’s story began in 1957, when the company began producing the vehicles at Nissan’s Totsuka plant in Japan. Ten years later, it began exporting to Europe.

By 1975, research and development and manufacturing was concentrated on the Murayama facility but the following decade, a European parts centre and an industrial machine facility were opened in Europe, and then Nissan Forklift began to produce in Spain. “We now have production facilities in three countries,” said Mr Eenhoorn. “Counterbalance forklifts are produced in Spain, the USA and Japan. Our warehouse models are manufactured in Sweden. The move into warehouse models came about in 2007 after the Nissan Motor Company acquired the Swedish manufacturer Atlet AB that focused on this area. The company felt it was important it covered all areas of forklift and warehouse models up to a certain size to become a ‘full liner’, which it now is.”

Ongoing investment

Investment in all sites is ongoing, he explained. Nissan Forklift has recently modernised a final assembly line in Spain. “We invested millions of Euros here in order to be ready for the future and to speed up production,” said Mr Eenhoorn. “We also

invest in developing new products on an ongoing basis which is reflected in the two new product launches this year. “Furthermore we develop new options at the customer’s request or as result of overall market changes or legislation changes. Our trucks further evolve as result of new safety regulations and new modern engine technology for lower fuel consumption and emissions.”

Different series

Nissan Forklift’s products with engines include its DX Series – ECO X, the LX, LX35 and GX. The new ZX Series will complete the range in the heavier forklift class later on this year. In electric forklifts, it has the threewheel TX Series, as well as the four-wheel TX4, QX2 and BX. In warehouse vehicles, it has reach trucks, order pickers, pallet transporters and pallet stackers. Nissan Forklift’s highly successful DX Series ECO-X is the trendsetter when it comes to emission levels. Its standard three-way catalyst in the electronically controlled Nissan ECCS LPG-engine, together with the engine sensors and the engine control module (ECM), result

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HYDAC in Lift Trucks HYDAC is one of the leading suppliers of fluid technology, hydraulic and electronic equipment. Our wide product range combined with expertise in development, manufacturing, sales and service enables best reliability of lift truck machinery. Products such as hydraulic and breather filters as well as customized application-related filtration solutions, made from high-quality filter element materials, providing high operational safety and long service life (example: RFM filter, efficiently installed at Nissan Forklifts).

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in exceptionally low emissions and optimal fuel consumption. The GX series is rugged, with solid construction, for hard work in the harshest conditions. It ensures low operator fatigue through a comfortable cabin option and has spacious legroom. There is a fingertip option for easy and safe truck handling, clear surround visibility for safe operation and can have simple servicing via full 90 deg opening top panel.

Stack of benefits

In June 2011, Nissan Forklift launched its newly designed RG Series reach truck range which offers reach trucks from 1.2 to 2.5tonne load capacity. This series has been fine-tuned for the toughest applications and as a result can offer industry-leading operator comfort and safety. For example, the handsfree direction control and optimal placement of the LCD display, keyboard and (optional) writing desk all contribute to a relaxed working space resulting in a productive operator. The RG Series can allow the operator to achieve much greater levels of efficiency in a number of ways. For instance, the

unique level assistance system or level selector help the operator to go to preset lifting heights in the racking at the push of a button. Less time spent on position means more handling, which translates to greater productivity. It has driving speeds of up to 14.5 km/h and lift speeds of up to 700 mm/s, 1000 hour service intervals and an HSHL® drive wheel for reduced wear, which all means less maintenance and increased working time. The RG Series also offers a number of optional truck protections, such as straddle wheel protection, cold store protection and battery cover. Furthermore, it comes equipped with Build In Test Equipment (B.I.T.E.), an integrated diagnostics system which allows for easy troubleshooting and less maintenance downtime with no extra computer equipment required.

more stringent and we want to provide a top quality forklift with the maximum uptime potential and the lowest possible costs.” He went on: “We are currently developing a lithium-ion battery for battery-operated forklifts. At the moment these are quite expensive but they are the way forward when it comes to reducing energy consumption and use of environmentally friendly materials. We expect to be able to launch a product with this battery sometime in 2014/15. “As in other areas, we are able to lead in this market in part due to the knowledge and experience we glean from Nissan automobile technology. Nissan was the first to launch a fully electric car on the market last year. And those battery cells were tested in n one of our forklifts!”

Powering on

“Our new developments see us constantly striving to be more energy efficient and to have lower levels of emissions,” said Mr Eenhoorn. “Requirements are becoming

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TECHNOLOGY UNDER CONTROL Leading independent provider of advanced valve technology, Swiss company Eugen Seitz AG is building on its more than 50 year history by branching into new geographical regions and developing commercial partnerships. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to head of Business Unit Dr Jürgen Uebbing to find out more. 144 Industry Europe

ounded by Eugen Seitz in 1958 in the Swiss city of Wetzikon, Eugen Seitz AG today employs more than 130 people at its high-tech production plant. Specialising in products and solutions in the field of advanced valve technology for gaseous media, Seitz is well known worldwide to its customer base including manufacturers of gas turbines, nuclear power plants, gas and diesel engines, chemical plants, PET bottle blowing machines and CNG filling stations. The company is proud of its heritage, with its long-term experience in high pressure pneumatics giving it a commercial edge. Head of Business Unit Jürgen Uebbing told Industry Europe how its enthusiasm has helped shape the company. He said, “Hardly a day has gone by since 1958 when we have not been faced with new and exciting challenges. Every one moves us further forward and teaches us more

about advanced valve technology, which we then pass on to our customers. As a family company founded by Eugen Seitz, we have a permanently innovative spirit and passion for continued growth. And now we have grown from his active workshop into the technological leader in the very demanding sector of valve technology for gaseous media.”

The ‘driving force’

The family values of Seitz are evident in the company’s day-to-day activities, with Mr Uebbing stating that the customers are the ‘driving force’ behind every new product innovation, the quality-focused manufacturing and all marketing decisions. He added, “Our continuous aim is to achieve added value for our customers, to create competitive advantages and to build on our foundation as a successful corporation. Our dealings with our

employees, our customers and our partners are characterised by the shared values of trust, fairness, autonomy, acknowledgement and support. With these solid values and our strong financial position we can guarantee sustainable and profitable growth.” As a valued partner worldwide in the field of advanced valve technology, Seitz offers high pressure pneumatics ranging from 10 to 700 bar. It provides everything from individual components to complete solutions, all of which utilise its high level of engineering expertise and commitment to service quality. A core product range for Seitz is its PET blowing stations and air supply, with more than half of the world’s 300 billion PET bottles produced annually made using Seitz products. The company has more than 20 years’ experience in this field and is considered an industry leader both in terms of volume and reliable quality. The

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range includes a number of products that harness the company’s specific application know-how for single blow valves right up to fully integration system solutions. Seitz’s product development activities for alternative fuel systems (AFS) see it working to create valves for use with natural gas and hydrogen applications, primarily to make refuelling more effective. Mr Uebbing explained, “We

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have long been involved with the field of high pressure solenoid valves, with our products used all over the world for the control of the flow of gas in petrol filling stations and for the gas systems in vehicles. Our innovative technology supports the global trend for reducing emissions and our holistic approach makes it possible for major automotive manufacturers to meet their targets.”

Worldwide growth

Seitz operates four international presences, with its latest opening in Dubai now live alongside its sites in Switzerland, Germany and China. Its continuous investment programme has seen the company gain the KMU Swiss Lean Award in early 2011, and it intends to maintain process development as a major expenditure in the coming years.

With R&D a key recipient of that investment, Seitz’s state-of-the-art production facilities are all carefully stocked with the latest equipment and testing capabilities. Recent new developments include fast switching valves for applications in engine systems, and H2 valves for pressures up to 700 bar in fuel cell applications. An important aspect of this long-term innovation programme is Seitz’s cooperations with carefully chosen partners in order to

pool resources, intellectual property and engineering experience in particular fields. Mr Uebbing added, “Thanks to these close cooperations we can create pioneering solutions. We align ourselves to the needs of our customers and the market so that we always stay one step ahead, and within this dynamic environment we can develop customised solutions that are made with the complete understanding of our customers’ systems.”

As Seitz looks forward to the next chapter in its successful history, its growing global presence will see its reputation spreading beyond its traditional European heartland and into the emerging markets of China and the Middle East. While it will not forget its strong European customer base, Mr Uebbing stated that Seitz’s expectation for a consistently growing turnover will come from both maintaining its European business and building on opportunities in new markets. n

TOUCHING PEOPLE’S LIVES Unilever is a global market leader in health, hygiene and beauty products, as well as in other FMCG sectors. The company’s recent acquisition of the Sara Lee Corporation enhances and extends its portfolio in the personal care segment and in particular the bath and laundry market. Philip Yorke takes a closer look at the Unilever success story and why this latest acquisition is good for both the company and the consumer. 148 Industry Europe

t the end of 2010 Unilever were given the green light by the EU Competition Authorities Commission to proceed with the purchase of the personal care division of the Sara Lee Corporation. The deal was worth €1.2 billion in cash. The brands involved generated sales of more than €750 million in 2009. The addition of such well known brands as Radox, Duschdas and Neutral brings market-leading bath products into the already diverse portfolio of Unilever’s personal care products. These brands now will sit comfortably alongside other Unilever iconic brands such as Dove, Impulse, Lux, Sunsilk, Sure and Timotei.

Improving the value chain

Unilever is a true global giant with almost 200,000 employees worldwide and in the UK alone records sales of more than €2.4 billion. The volume of products sold every

day in the UK market is staggering. For example, 35 million cups of PG Tips tea are consumed and over 1 million tubs of Flora are produced every day. In addition, one billion Wall’s ice creams are eaten every year and four Pot Noodles are sold every second. Unilever’s Personal Care products are produced and consumed on a similar scale. So why did Unilever want to add the Sara Lee brands to its already highly successful list of brand leaders in the Personal Care sector? Doug Bailie, Unilever’s president of Western Europe, summed it up like this, “We are pleased to have received the green light from the European Commission for this deal and look forward to adding important brands to our business. Home and Personal Care is a key growth area and we are acquiring a number of leading brands that fill gaps in our portfolio, improve the shape of our overall European

portfolio, while offering significant potential for development in other geographies” The company also said that the acquisition of these market-winning brands complements Unilever’s existing categoryleading portfolio of global brands such as Axe, Dove and Rexona. With this extended range, the business can cover a wider spectrum of price points and better meet the demands of more consumers in more markets. As a result, Unilever expects to be able to stimulate further growth in an intensely competitive market. In addition to Radox, Duschdas and Neutral, the deal includes local category leaders such as Biotex in Laundry, Zwitsal and Fissan in Baby Care and Prodent and Zendium in Oral Care. The company says that together these brands will enhance its category mix and deliver breadth and depth to an already successful product portfolio.

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Value-added sustainability

Unilever devotes close to one €1 billion to research and product development every year. A significant proportion of this goes into improving the sustainability of its products and reducing its environmental footprint. This is another valid reason why the Sarah Lee Corporation deal is good news for the consumer. Not only will the

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products become purer in content, but the manufacturing will embrace new technology to reduce their environmental impact. To underscore this, in November 2010 the company launched the ‘Unilever Sustainable Living Plan’ in which the company commits to three positive outcomes by the year 2020: To halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of its products;

to help more than a billion people take action to improve health and wellbeing; and to source 100 per cent of its agricultural raw materials sustainably. These core values underpin Unilever’s approach to sustainability and its overriding culture of consumer care. When it comes to health, hygiene and beauty, Unilever aims to help people to

feel good, look good and get more out of life. At the heart of this mission is hygiene – and health through hygiene. The desire to be clean, active, healthy and energetic is common to everyone. However to billions of people in the developing world, health is simply a matter of the absence of illness.”Without good hygiene, consumers are vulnerable to a wide range of infectious

diseases that not only have the potential to severely undermine the quality of their lives, but even to end their lives prematurely” says Steve Miles, Unilever’s Global Vice President Health Brands. Today Unilever is helping to set improved hygiene standards in the emerging nations through education and practical support. For example, by providing educational grants,

such as the one for the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, as well as practical suggestions for local communities, which can be as simple as recommending that a gel might be more appropriate than a bar of soap in regions where there is little running water available. The future now looks greener and healthier for Unilever’s consumers and n the world at large

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THE FUTURE OF STEEL Rubiera Steelworks, headquartered in Casalgrande in the Italian province of Reggio Emilia, is a familyrun manufacturer of ingots for rolling and forging, and continuous casting billets. Eugenia Fiusco looks at its operations, recent investments and plans for the future.

ubiera Steelworks was founded in 1965 by two men, Mr Testi Sr and Mr Cima Sr, at a time when the market for machining steels was experiencing strong growth. “The company’s founder is Mr Cima Sr, who has now retired,” says current company director, Mr Franco Testi. “He and I have run the company for the past decades, so the future is now in the hands of our brave young men,” he says, referring to their two sons Mr Mario Cima and Mr Claudio Testi. At first, the business was characterised by the mass production of common steel, such as ingots for rolled rods and

reinforced concrete rebar. However, the company grew year-on-year along with the available technology, making it possible for it to offer increased quality and more refined products. In particular, the casting department was expanded and two electrical furnaces, as well as a continuous casting plant for billet production, were installed. In the early 1990s, Rubiera Steelworks was the first Italian company to use DC arc furnaces – a technology which improved product quality and reduced power, electrode and refractory consumption in comparison to the existing technology.

Products and applications

Rubiera Steelworks’ production profile falls into two main categories: ingots for rolling and forging (round, square and polygonal bars from 1 to 120 tonnes) and continuous casting billets (square and round bars with cross sections of 100, 120, 145, 160 and 180mm). The former represents twothirds of production. The latter, meanwhile, accounts for one-third and is used mainly in the automotive industry for the manufacture

of gear levers. The steels used include manganese, chrome and low or medium carbon. “The main applications of our products are in the energy and the oil and gas markets,” explains R&D manager Mr Cima Jr. “In the energy market we are particularly prominent in wind power. We produce gas and steam turbines, wind tower shaft generators and coupling fringes. In the oil and gas

market we provide steels which are used to manufacture tools to carry out methane extractions in Italy and abroad. Rubiera Steelworks also supplies steels for nitriding and tool steels, which are employed in industrial processes such as aluminium or steel extrusion. The energy market is both the most profitable and the most challenging – thus, it is the most rewarding.”

Nuova Fonderia di Castenedolo S.p.A. supplies best quality cast iron ingot moulds. For over 60 years Nuova Fonderia di Castenedolo S.p.A. have been dealing with cast iron ingot mould. Over a surface area of 120.000 sq. m., of which 20.000 covered, Nuova Fonderia works with cast iron and makes ingot mould with an important quality certification.The yearly output of about 25.000 t is obtained with the following equipment:n°1, 50-t electric induction smelting furnace for cast iron and ingot mould n°1, 65-t electric induction smelting furnace for cast iron and ingot mould n°1, electric crucible furnace of T25 for cast iron and ingot mould Equipment of appropiate size for production of cast iron and ingot mould, working and handling the products used and obtained. Certifications Nuova Fonderia di Castenedolo S.p.A. got its UNIISO9002/ today ISO 9001:2000, quality certification in 1998. Nuova Fondera di Castenedolo products: Ingot moulds, slag pots, plates, counter plates, tundish covers, sprues, hot tops, grounds, hematite cast iron fly doheels up to 100 T/each and spheroidal cast iron up to 30 T. Nuova Fonderia di Castenedolo cast iron production includes: round ingot moulds, square ingot moulds and polygonal ingot moulds for slabs up to a maximum lenght of 5.7 m.

25014 Castenedolo (BS) ITALIA Via Patrioti no118 Tel. 030 2731137 - Fax 030 2731839 E-mail commerciale@nuovafonderia.com info@nuovafonderia.com C.C.I.A.A. Brescia no348817 iscr. Trib. BS no53314 P.IVA 03261190171

Via S. Zeno 388, 25124 Brescia, Italy Tel: +39 / 030.2160622 Fax: +39 / 030.2160592 Web: www.fonderiesanzeno.it E-mail: info@fonderiesanzeno.com Sales manager: Eng. Carlotta Antonini E-mail: carlotta.antonini@fonderiesanzeno.com Fonderie S.Zeno covers 32.000 square metres, 12,000 of which are covered. It was founded in 1960 as a foundry for the production of ingot moulds and hematite casting for steel plants. In the 70's, Dr. Silvano Antonini, the Company's young owner, perceived the importance of the introduction of continuous casting in steel production and decided to diversify the product range by adding rolling mill roll to ingot mould production destined mainly for the Italian hot rolling mills. In the 80's, roll production reached ingot mould production levels with exports to Europe, Latin America, the USA, Asia and Far East. At the end of the 80's the company adopted a personnel qualification and production reorganisation strategy that led to ISO 9001 certification. In the new millennium, when the second generation of the Antonini family joined the Company, the Fonderie S.Zeno took courageous steps towards technological and computer innovation which could employ materials to improve product quality thanks to the new production processes. The Company's mission is the customer satisfaction, which is achieved through continuous material improvements and flexibility derived from a streamline and well-organised structure, characterised by the direct management of key positions by the owners. Customers are assisted throughout the process, from grade choice to post-sales, thus guaranteeing delivery schedules and constant product quality.

Ca.m.i. Depurazioni s.r.l. performs its activity since 1970 in environmental protect plant. Working out feasibility studies, plant design and construction in environmental field of industrial processes, our company operates mainly in the following sectors: Steel plant, foundry ferrous and non ferrous, Ceramic tile, sanitary production, brick-works, dye stuff production and preparation, cement factories etc. Our most frequent produced and commercialized equipments are:

● Filtering systems: efficient aspiration of volatile solids from working

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places prevents dust proliferation in the establishment improving clean working conditions for machinery and operator. We supply: filter units (either dry and wet systems) for dust collection and fume filtration (with pollutant elimination), aspiration hood design and construction, pneumatic cleaning, odour control (active-C filters), VOS elimination. Waste water treatment plants: water has become a more and more precious resource both for human and industrial purposes. We supply: waste water treatments for recycling and/or disposal purpose together with sludge management systems for industrial processes (both chemical/physical and biological), inverse osmosis, ionic exchange resins, water de-hardening and potabilization plants. Energy recovery: energy can be recovered and reintroduced into the production process. We supply: air/fume and water/fume heat exchangers, economizers. Sound proofing systems: for realizing healthy working conditions around noisy equipments. We supply: Sound proofing cabinets, acoustic isolation of rooms, silencers. Pneumatic transport: high speed and clean transportation of solids across the establishment. We supply: high and low pneumatic pressure plants. Special equipments: spray cabins with wet film or dry (our patent) with centralized or autonomous aspiration system, double clapet discharge valve, actuated butterfly valves, sludge agitation tanks, polielectrolite preparation stations, etc. Engineering: design and construction of metallic carpentry and piping based on our proper know how and our own drawings. We are able to realize turnkey plant supplies.

CA.M.I. Depurazione S.r.l., Via XX Settembre, 18 Fraz. Ubersetto, 41042 - Fiorano Modenese (MO) Tel.: +39 0536 843 861, Fax: +39 0536 845 670, +39 0536 927 350, P.Iva: 00251340360, info@camidepurazioni.it, www.camidepurazioni.it

A promising investment

The company is particularly proud of its recent investments which, according to Mr Testi Sr, will be able to guarantee a significant profit when the global economy has recovered. “We have invested €60 million in a project aimed at implementing our production. As part of this project, we have equipped our production unit with four remelting plants to improve the quality of steel,

a VAR plant (vacuum arc remelting) and three ESR plants (electro-slag remelting).” Thanks to these investments, Rubiera Steelworks is one of the few companies in Europe, if not the only one, that is able to melt 100 tonnes of ingots. At the moment, the company operates almost exclusively in the Italian market; however, the implementation of the new equipment may increase the number of sales abroad. An important part

of its future business may come from the nuclear energy market, which is currently expanding throughout Europe and is constantly in need of remelted steel. “However,” says the commercial director, “we will not set up subsidiaries abroad in the near future. We invest in quality, and this business philosophy has proven to be rewarding, especially during the difficult times the economy has undergone these last two years.”

IR T is a company belonging to Metal Group, a holding controlling

about 15 companies. These companies operate in the iron and steel industry. Some of them operate at purely commercial level, while the rest are engaged in manufacturing and processing. In the group there are companies specialised in non ferrous metals, while others are focused on ferrous metals, ranging from steel to carbon (ferro) and all stainless steel alloys in scrap form. In connec on to this field, there are all the metals used in steel construc on, in par cular nickel, molybdenum, chrome, vanadium, tungsten, tanium, niobium, silicon and manganese in standard and refined ferro alloy form. Among those there are ferro-chrome, ferro-silicon, ferro-manganese, ferrosilicon-manganese, and all noble alloys such as Fe Mo, Fe Ti, Fe W, Fe V, Fe Nb, as well as powder oxides and molybdenum brique es.

The recent cen trend d in the steel market, the continuous increase in the product uct demand d and the steady request for higher quality have revitalised the pro production off ingots and forge slabs. Sideral Refrattari, a new company dic dedicated to the production of refractory plate by bottom casting, originates d operates within it and this framework. The company project dates back to 2006 00 and is realised a in 2007 starting start the productive activity. The raw materials, the electronically controlled e use of selected c erials, ri e and monitored production process, on u ss the h job order tracking enable to t produce rac ria with the highest hi es quality standards. The productive du refractory material seat mp rm and d ffeatures all systems needed ed to reduce complies with sa safety norms ssio in the e atmosphere osp o ssafeguard the environment. ent Sideral emissions to ttar Srl is ccertified fie ISO 9001:2008. 0 Refrattari

OUR RELATIONSHIP ELA ATIO ON NS WITH H ACCIAIERIA DI RU RUBIERA IS AN EXAMPLE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MPLLE E OF O SUCCESFUL CCESFUL S SF ERS CUSTOMER ER R AND A D SUPPLIER. SU UP PPLIER. E

www.sideralrefrattari.it

IR T is one of the few companies in Italy able to supply the en re range of the exis ng noble ferro alloys on the market employed in the refinement of special steel. The company mainly sells its products to steel plants based in Italy. The concentra on index is important, but mirrors the company commercial policy of presen ng itself as a key supplier for some selected clients.

www.metal-group.com

Tel: +39.0363.88.787 / +39.0363.330.320 • Fax: +39.0363.88.16.58 • Email: info@metal-group.com

Sideral Refrattari Srl 41049 Sassuolo (MO) ITALY - Via Friuli 1 Tel. +39 0536 812 681 | Fax +39 0536 888 370 | Email: info@sideralrefrattari.it

Health & safety and future goals

Rubiera Steelworks was awarded the ISO 9000 quality certificate more than 10 years ago. As for environmental issues, it was certified according to ISO 14001 last year. This was a huge step forward, as it is one of the very few steelworks in Italy to be EMAS certified. “This is very important to

us, because in our industry environmental issues are a delicate matter and have to be taken into serious consideration,” says Mr Testi Jr. The company is also hoping to achieve ISO 18000 certification as soon as possible. Rubiera Steelworks has invested in the quality of its steels and in exclusive

Metallurgical equipment from Poland: Ingot Moulds – Bottom Plates – Slag Pots

KRAKODLEW S.A. Ul. Ujastek 1, 30-969 Kraków, Poland Tel: +48 12 378 76 25, www.krakodlew.com.pl

equipment, such as a 100-tonne capacity oven. “Once a goal has been achieved, the entrepreneur has to have another one ready,” says Mr Testi Sr, “and we do have many other goals, ideas and projects for our company. However, at the present time we have to wait for the outcome of the n recent investments.”

NEW LOOK ELECTRONICS SOLUTION The newly formed electronics specialist Melecs is making sure it makes full use of the long-term know-how of its employees and strong customer relationships to build on a successful management buyout. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to COO Bernhard Pulferer to find out more.

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lthough the name is new, Melecs has a long history that’s well known in the electronics industry. Created following a successful management buyout of a number of business units from Siemens AG Austria, Melecs is just two years old but has more than 25 years of electronics expertise, thanks to its strong position in the market throughout its history. The management buyout was instigated when three senior managers from Siemens AG Austria decided to build their own team. COO Bernhard Pulferer was one of those managers, and he told Industry Europe how this decision has proven to be successful. “We have certainly retained our strong relationship with Siemens and are registered with them for continued activities, but as our own operation we quickly thrived, and our management team saw considerable benefits to operating as an independent business.” Austria-based Melecs is therefore both a new provider on the international electronics market and a recognisable face, which brings with it the benefits of being able to operate in a fresh, customer-focused way while still making the most of industry expertise and long-term customer, supplier and employee relationships.

Current success

The company has three core business areas, with electronics manufacturing representing the major portion of its activities, segment-tosegment switch cabinets the second largest and the production of mechanical parts for rolling stock vehicles the third largest area. In this last area, technically advanced pantographs for various vehicles including highspeed trains are a popular product within the portfolio. Of the €160 million turnover posted in 2010, electronics manufacturing represents at least €110 million, with switch cabinets generating €25 million and the remaining nearly €25 million from mechanical parts.

Mr Pulferer explained how these business areas work together to deliver a complete service to its customers worldwide. He said, “The buyout has ensured that we have a strong team that’s used to working together, but also passionate about the new opportunities we’ve gained. While we don’t plan to acquire any additional businesses for the time being, we do predict continued solid growth across our business areas and we will consolidate first so that any further growth is in the same positive mould we’ve established.” Vertically integrated company Melecs has three sites in Austria, in Siegendorf (electronics production EWS), Linz (switchgear production SWL) and Vienna (mechanics production MWW), with additional sites in Teplice, Czech Republic (switchgear production ETS) and Györ, Hungary (electronics production EWG). Melecs also has a production partner for electronics in Sibiu, Romania. Melecs generally has three main branchs – mechanics, electronics and switchgear. In the field of electronics, Melec works primarily in four commercial segments – automotive, white goods, industry and communication – with each area dedicated to electrical excellence, innovation and continued development. Within the electronics field, Melecs is focused on working with white goods manufacturers and automotive electronics companies, particularly in major niches such as electronic control units and automotive LEDs for front and rear vehicle lights. Mr Pulferer added that the growth trend in both these areas is very positive and they represent important future markets. The third segment in which Melecs is active is the international communications products market, which clearly sits closely with the company’s pre-management-buyout portfolio. Here, Melecs works together with various UK entities to develop and manufacture a range of electronics products for a specific niche in the mobile phone handset market, as well as track and trace devices for various

applications. The company also works in the industry segment, with electronic solutions for building technology applications and control units for elevators.

Future focused

In all its active segments, Melecs is committed to continuous development. The company often just industrialises products and then manufactures them, but its longer-term aim is to be more of a major player in the solutions development aspect of electronics manufacturing. Mr Pulferer added, “Our goal is to be led even more by the exact specifications of our customers, and to create solutions that meet their needs. We certainly see that this is achievable in the near future as we have a terrifically strong understanding of the industries in which we operate, and we have a diligent, highly motivated workforce.” Whilst Melecs’ key sales markets are its German-speaking neighbours, primarily Austria and Germany, its products are indirectly exported worldwide, with strong markets in western Europe, China and the USA. The company is well-positioned to achieve its growth aims in its current active segments; its strategy is to remain in these core areas of electronic control units, communication products and building industry solutions. Mr Pulferer is clear that Melecs is likely to see organic growth of at least 5 per cent year-on-year, which will allow it to develop its machinery and production capabilities as well as gaining market share. Mr Pulferer concluded, “Our history, present and future makes us very special in this market; we have 25 years’ experience yet a young outlook, and can offer everything from mechanics, electronics and switchgear to engineering project management, logistics and production. We will continue to work with our customers and suppliers in longterm, mutually beneficial relationships that make the most of our high level of competence in creating individual solutions.” n

With 1700 locomotives built in its historical plant at Vado Ligure since 1905, and with its know-how in the high and very high-speed sectors, Bombardier is today the leading producer of electric locomotives in Italy. Agnese Bresin talks to Roberto Tazzioli, Bombardier Transportation Italy’s president and managing director.

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The Very High Speed train V300ZEFIRO in partnership with AnsaldoBreda

A NEW SENSE OF SPEED IN

the near future there will be trains travelling across Italy at speeds of up to 360km/h. This is in large part owing to Bombardier’s dedication to hightech innovation, which helped it achieve a revenue of over €300 million in 2010. The company has been active in the rail sector for over a century and is determined to maintain its world-leading position. Bombardier Transportation Italy is part of the Bombardier Transportation Group. Based in Berlin and chaired by André Navarri, the company currently has the biggest rail fleet worldwide – around 100,000 vehicles produced to date. Bombardier Italy itself has

around 800 staff who are employed over its two sites in the country. The first is in Vado Ligure, in the province of Savona, Liguria, where locomotives have been produced since 1905. In 2007 the Vado Ligure unit became the first European technological pole of excellence for the production of TRAXX DC locomotives for the transportation of goods. The other unit is located in Rome and is called ‘Rail Control Solutions’. This is an engineering centre dedicated to the development of a wide range of control systems, from railway control through to signalling and traffic management. Bombardier Transportation Italy serves the biggest rail operators in Italy. Trenitalia, the

Italian state-owned and primary operator of trains in Italy, regularly purchases Bombardier locomotives for regional and national transport routes. In 2010 Trenitalia ordered 50 V300ZEFIRO trains produced in partnership with AnsaldoBreda, which are very high-speed trainsets operating with a combination of Bombardier’s Zefiro technology and AnsaldoBreda’s V250 technology. .

Zefiro in Italy and around the world

Zefiro is the most widely-used technology in the worldwide locomotive industry today. The V300ZEFIRO version of this was entirely

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ABB ABB is the world’s largest independent supplier of power and

Globally, ABB is number one in rail traction transformers with more

automation products and systems to train manufacturers and

than 50 percent market share. Traction transformers step down elec-

railway operators. It offers a portfolio of innovative and reliable tech-

trical voltage from the catenary so it can be used on-board the train

nologies that delivers a comprehensive range of rail applications

to power motors and auxiliary systems such as heating and lighting.

from rolling stock to fixed installations. In rolling stock, Bombardier

ABB traction transformers can be found on numerous Bombardier’s

and ABB have a long history of cooperation with respect to traction

flagship locomotives, regional and high speed trains such as the

components for regional and commuter trains, as well as high speed

TRAXX family of locomotives, the SPACIUM EMU train series and the

trains and locomotives.

high-speed V300ZEFIRO trains to be operated by TrenItalia.

developed in Italy, designed by the famous Italian automobile designer Bertone and produced in the regions of Liguria, Tuscany and Campany. It is set to become the ‘Italian train for Europe’. As a group, in 2009 Bombardier Transportation agreed to supply the Chinese Ministry of Railways with 80 ZEFIRO380 trains – an order worth over one billion euros. ZEFIRO380 trains will be able to reach the highest commercial speed in the world – up to 360km/h. Further countries set to purchase Bombardier trains and transport solutions in the near future include India, where the company is going to build the Mumbai underground system; Brazil, where it is set to construct the biggest monorail worldwide, capable of serving 500,000 commuters each day; and Saudi Arabia, with the construction of a monorail.

More space with Spacium

V300ZEFIRO is not the only groundbreaking product from Bombardier Italy. Spacium 3.O6 is a train that has been specifically designed for commuter traffic in the large urban areas of Europe and is currently circu-

lating in the metropolitan area around Paris. There are a few things that make this model unique: the first is its size, as the carriages are shorter, articulated and wider – allowing a 100m train to carry nearly 1000 people, many more than the regional double-decker trains currently used in Italy. In addition, the doors are bigger and provide greater accessibility, shortening the jump-on/jump-off time by a third compared to traditional trains. Finally, Spacium is a high-tech transport solution, with its video surveillance system, Wi-Fi connection, LCD screens, LED light system and a smart air conditioning system that regularly adjusts to the number of passengers on board – thus significantly reducing energy consumption. Mr Tazzioli describes it as “a concentrate of technology and comfort.”

“Trains are becoming more and more competitive with airplanes,” he continues. Statistics say that for a three-hour train journey, 80 per cent of the passengers choose to travel by train rather than by airplane. “It is a rather understandable choice if you calculate the door-to-door travel time.” The fact that it produces both trains and airplanes gives Bombardier the flexibility to effect a technology ‘crossover’ between the two sectors: i.e. technological solutions designed for airplanes can be applied or adjusted to trains and vice versa. From this point of view, Bombardier can certainly offer n ‘a new sense of speed’.

Trains vs airplanes

Mr Tazzioli, himself an engineer, has a broad vision of the development of the transport sector in the future: “Mobility is growing, connection among cities is becoming a key factor and the demand for high-speed is enormous,” he explains. Apparently high-speed rail lines might reach 70,000km by 2025.

Industry Europe 167

INNOVATION IN SHIPBUILDING

As the biggest private shipyard in Spain, Construcciones Navales Del Norte has enjoyed a long and successful history. With plans to further specialise in high-value projects, the company is looking forward to its next chapter. Emma-Jane Batey reports.

168 Industry Europe

he roots of Construcciones Navales Del Norte go back to 1908 when the Sestao Shipyard on the left bank of Bilbao started. The shipyard’s location on the north coast of Spain proved to be an excellent choice, with its well-connected port and prominence in this important Spanish industrial area. The Construcciones Navales Del Norte name began in 2005 when the Sestao Shipyard was purchased by state-owned organisation Izar and the company refocused its activities on the very highest levels of naval construction. Today, Construcciones Navales Del Norte, known colloquially as La Naval, is Spain’s biggest shipyard. Having built more than

250 vessels since 1908, the company has learnt to continually adapt to market trends and challenges, giving it a valuable position as both an experienced traditional shipyard and one which has the very latest technology at its fingertips. Commercial manager Mr Javier Angulo told Industry Europe how this strong history gives the company a valuable advantage. He said, “We have always been dedicated to adding value to our customers’ businesses by fulfilling all their shipbuilding requirements and delivering in good time, so our reputation for excellence has been well deserved over more than 100 years.”

Sophisticated products

Construcciones Navales Del Norte specialises in building high-tech vessels that demand the most accurate and specific craftsmanship. It offers a portfolio of LNG tankers, stainless steel tankers, sophisticated dredgers and offshore vessels for the oil and gas industry, but more than any one vessel the company builds tailor-made ships. Mr Angulo explained, “Our most valuable advantage is that we listen to our customers and build the vessel that best suits their exact requirements, rather than offering a range of standard products. We meet the needs of the ship owner or operator whatever they may be.”

In order to achieve this customer-led shipbuilding, Construcciones Navales Del Norte has a strong engineering capacity of both basic and detail engineering, with its 400-strong workforce including 24 engineers and naval architects alongside 66 technical draftsmen and more than 1500 additional subcontractors. The company has mutuallybeneficial ties with local universities in Basque and Spain in order to attract the best possible graduates, and also has a strict process of selection and training. Over the last ten years, Construcciones Navales Del Norte has cemented its reputation for building large-scale high-tech vessels with

an advanced LNG carrier with 138,000 cubic metres capacity and specialist trailer hopper suction dredgers. Mr Angulo continued, “We have now built the biggest dredger currently on the market, having recently made the delivery of a 46,000 cubic metre dredger. We are also in the final stages of building a 30,000 cubic metre dredger, so we have considerable experience in these sophisticated vessels.”

Technologically advanced

Construcciones Navales Del Norte is increasingly involved in the building of offshore vessels too, and made the delivery of its first vessel for the offshore oil and gas industry in 2009. Industry Europe 169

170 Industry Europe

The fall pipe and rock dumping vessel is primarily used for covering pipes on the sea bed and is able to do so to a maximum depth of 1700 metres, thanks to its large scale and technologically- advanced construction. Mr Angulo explained how Construcciones Navales Del Norte sees its continued success in the specialised shipbuilding industry and, as such, is looking to capitalise on its achievements in the offshore oil and gas and wind energy sectors. He said, “Alternative energy is clearly an important growth market worldwide. We have tended to focus on the European markets, but as shipbuilding is inherently a global business, we are pleased that we are steadily building a stronger presence internationally, particularly in the Middle East and South America, where we see considerable opportunities for our

specialised shipbuilding expertise. We are wherever our clients need us to be and as we continue to build great ships, we continue to build great relationships.”

Utilising investment

Following a major strategic investment in its facilities in 2000, Construcciones Navales Del Norte is well-positioned to utilise its highly competitive capabilities, with excellent quality control and a team of dedicated employees. The company has no immediate plans for further investment as its facilities are already among the most advanced in the industry. Construcciones Navales Del Norte’s plan for 2011 and beyond is to continue to consolidate its presence, particularly in the dredger, offshore and offshore wind segments

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172 Industry Europe

and to maintain its position as one of the most important private shipyards in Europe. Mr Angulo concluded, “The last two years have been tough for many industries, including the shipyard industry, and so we are ready for a positive period of consolidation and activity. We will continue to focus on large-scale highvalue projects for specialised vessels that meet the exact needs of our clients and are n always delivered on time.”

Iveco Magirus is a global leader in the design and manufacture of firefighting and civil protection vehicles. Philip Yorke talked to Tobias Welp, the company’s sales director, about its latest high-tech products and plans for further expansion.

OPTIMISING FIRE

PROTECTION IN

1864 Conrad Dietrich Magirus was the fire chief in the town of Ulm, Germany, located on the shores of the River Danube. He wanted to improve the efficiency of firemen who needed to carry ladders to fires on their shoulders. This resulted in the famous ‘Ulm ladder’, which could be pushed and accelerated. However, the firefighting revolution really began with the Magirus turntable ladder and later the world’s first articulated ladder was introduced. Today Ulm remains the headquarters of the company that has

grown to become a global leader under the name of Iveco Magirus. From the very beginning the company’s focus was on innovation and it was responsible for a number of firefighting ‘firsts’. This started with the world’s first horse-drawn 25m rotating ladder and was followed by the world’s first fully automatic-drive turn table in1916. Magirus motor vehicles began production in 1917. Today Iveco Magirus produces a unique range of firefighting and civil protection vehicles from its six locations throughout Europe. Industry Europe 173

With sales exceeding 1500 vehicles per year, Iveco Magirus is one of the biggest suppliers of firefighting equipment in the world. When it comes to turntable ladders, the company is the undisputed global leader.

Perfect combination

The equipment and firefighting machines that Iveco Magirus produce today are all developed to meet the increasing demands and challenges of a fast-changing marketplace. The demands that airports, industry and municipalities are facing today are both diverse and complex. Iveco Magirus’ research and its innovative solutions are designed to provide the optimal response to such modern firefighting needs. A good example of this innovation is the company’s latest 32-metre class, fully automatic turntable ladder with combined 174 Industry Europe

movements. This state-of-the-art machine offers modern load-sensing hydraulic units with intelligent control and monitoring systems. This makes it possible to perform a wide range of different hydraulically driven movements simultaneously. Available in configurations that include operating heights of 27m, 32m, 39m, 55m and 60m, as well as articulated arm technology, this equipment out-classes any comparable unit. Mr Welp said, “Our flexible approach to design and standardisation makes it possible to produce combination products to meet almost every eventuality. This means that our vehicles can cover more missions offering various aerial rescue options and diverse pumping scenarios and crew capacities ranging from one to eight people. There is a big interest in the market for our sophisticated combination vehicles, espe-

cially in the UK, Spain and eastern Europe, as well as in emerging markets such as Brazil. These specially designed combination vehicles are ideal for smaller fire brigades as well as for the big operators. Our top-selling vehicles are our turntable ladders, a market where we are the clear global leaders. “Our tanker pump technology is also unique, with electronic cooperation between the pump and the control flow operation. In addition, our one-sided super-driver aircraft tender reached new levels of operational optimisation. These were launched with revolutionary superstructure systems, innovative cab solutions and cutting-edge pump technology. Furthermore, these are complemented by our impressive, all-wheel vehicle configuration concepts. Unlike our competitors, customers can get everything in one hand and when we demonstrate the

176 Industry Europe

effectiveness of these vehicles, it results in sales. Recently we sold 20 of these vehicles to one of the world’s biggest and busiest airports, Hong Kong. This is why airports the world over prefer to rely on Iveco Magirus equipment. We are committed to staying one step ahead in the field of modern firefighting technology.”

A ‘local’ global network

Operating as a global partner for fire services worldwide, Iveco Magirus is present in almost every country on earth, whether it is Africa, Siberia or Australia. The company’s local branches ensure that firefighting services always have a competent partner close at hand to resolve everyday challenges and engage in permanent dialogue to implement optimal solutions. Mr Welp added, “Customer service is a priority for us and although we are an international company we have always operated at a local level. This is important for many reasons, especially when you consider that alongside our high-tech components and hydraulics, our turntables are all hand adjusted. They are also hand crafted to perfection, with full attention paid to the last detail. Like all companies in Germany, we are environmentally driven

and in addition, we listen carefully to our customers, in order to learn what the latest priorities are on the ground.”

New generation of pumps

Magirus pumps are renowned for their reliability, robustness and durability, all attributes that are of great importance to every firefighting force. With these criteria in mind, Magirus has developed a new generation of pumps based on a unique modular concept

that reaches new standards of efficiency and compact operation. This latest two-stage range of pumps meets all requirements, both as high-pressure pumps of 250—500 litres per minute, at 40 bar and as normal pumps of 750—6500 litres per minute at 10 bar. In addition, the company’s well-proven ‘Primatic’ priming technology has been retained for this model, as well as its seawater-resistant light metal alloy and optional bronze alloy for n the special pump housing.

Industry Europe 177

TILES FIT FOR A KING

178 Industry Europe

Leading design-focused tile manufacturer and supplier Koninklijke Mosa BV offers products with the looks, functionality and sustainability that performance-conscious architects demand. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to technical director Jac Laumans to find out more.

oninklijke Mosa BV was established over 120 years ago in Maastricht in the Netherlands, where its main production facilities and head office operations are still based. With ‘Koninklijke’ meaning ‘Royal’, the company has a proud history of designing and producing high quality, stylish tiles for a demanding customer base which includes many leading architectural firms and a number of high-profile automotive clients who have used Mosa tiles in their head offices and showrooms. Mosa has made a conscious decision to locate its core operations in Maastricht, with the rich history of the company present across the site, enabling the design teams to capture the spirit of Mosa in every new design. Technical director Jac Laumans told

Industry Europe, “We distinguish ourselves by design; we are very Dutch in our sleek, stylish designs in a way which is clearly different from the more flamboyant tiles from Italian or Spanish manufacturers. The majority of our tiles are designed and produced here, with our influences evident in our classic and latest designs.”

Upbeat about growth

While Mosa did see a decline during the global economic downturn in a clear reflection of the slowing down of the building and construction industries across Europe, its increasing focus on export sales has helped to support its expected success in 2011 and beyond. Mosa is already active in Germany, the UK, France, Benelux, Scandina-

via, Austria, Switzerland and the USA, with advanced plans to expand. The company predicts a 2011 turnover of €120m, which has been its constant result for the past few years, with 2012 onwards predicted to see a steady increase. Mr Laumans added, “We actually only saw around a five per cent reduction in sales, which was very good considering the dramatic slowdown of our core construction and automotive markets. We’re already seeing a clear pick-up across our main geographical markets, as well as an exciting increase in markets we’ve serviced over the past few years, namely Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, where the commercial design projects are perfectly suited to our hardwearing, beautiful tiles.” Industry Europe 179

GAPE DUE From its headquarters in Sassuolo, Italy, GAPE DUE is supporting customers across the world, shaping their ceramic projects into elegant tiles with a contemporary edge. The route from a new tile concept through to industrialised ceramic production must pass through the pressing process, and this is where GAPE DUE moulds play a major role. Thanks to our expertise and advanced technology, rough steels can be transformed into precisely shaped moulds to ensure our clients’ ceramic tiles are of the highest quality and fit perfectly. GAPE DUE has developed a range of moulds and punches for the ceramics industry which is able to process the most advanced and sophisticated ceramics row machines. We pay special attention to modern, unglazed porcelain tiles, in large and extra-large sizes, with double-layer application during the pressing phase. Our years of research in the field of isostatic pressing have allowed us to achieve excellent results in dimensional and geometrical precision tile processing. Our skilled workers in the production department can mould materials such as steel, aluminium and polyurethane with fine reliefs and decorations, thus achieving pressing punches of the highest resolution and exquisite shapes. GAPE DUE works hand-in-hand with the ceramics industry to finalise many successful ceramic tile ranges and we have been awarded with many international recognitions.

Mosa has a 30 per cent share of its domestic Dutch market and has built a solid reputation for the quality and performance of its stylish tiles.

Design that makes the difference

The Mosa design team has ten designers dedicated to new development of tile designs and styles, all maintaining the ‘Mosa USP’ of real ceramic tiles that offer great functionality. Mr Laumans explained, “We offer designers tiles that contribute optimally to the intended architectural result both functionally and aesthetically. We have a vast range of colours, finishes and sizes for both indoor and outdoor applications, so it is more than probable that we already have what the designer or architect wants, and if not we can custom-make small batches too. All our tiles are guaranteed to deliver great quality and dimensional stability, as well as a reliable flatness that enables them to be installed to the highest possible 182 Industry Europe

finish. We only make real ceramic tiles rather than any kind of ‘false material’ tiles that look like wood or leather or whatever. Our tiles are always true ceramic.” With the ‘less is more’ philosophy that underpins the Mosa design approach, the company offers ‘restrained, colourful, geometrically formal or polymorphous mosaic’ tiles in its vast portfolio, all of which can be used to create the exact look and feel the designer specifies. Mosa products have won a number of internationally recognised design prizes, including a recent IF Award and the prestigious Red Dot Design Award. In order to continue this achievement, innovation plays an important role at Mosa. It was one of the first companies to produce tiles consisting of a body and top-layer of differing compositions, and it has continued to be a pioneer in the tile industry ever since. The introduction of the minimalist Xtreme range of tiles in 2000 saw glass and steel

added to the famous Mosa ceramic, which enables LED lighting to be incorporated while still retaining the traditional methods of tile making in the Mosa quality-led range.

Passion for sustainability

As Mosa looks forward to a future of predicted success, its commitment to sustainability comes into even sharper focus. The company has long been a passionate advocate of responsible production and, as an independent operation that is owned by Dutch equity firm Egeria, Mosa is clear that this ecological dedication will continue. Mr Laumans concluded, “As we continue to see strong growth in both our traditional European markets and the Middle East and USA, we are keen to reach more architects and designers that will specify our tiles. The aim is for Mosa to be the first choice when it comes to looks, functionality and sustainability – a position we’re fast approaching!” n

Framamosaici Framamosaici, European leader in the industrial production of mosaics,is a partner of the most prestigious ceramics industry, ceramics industry. The company spread the made in italy with two new eco sustainable products, GREENGLASS, made of 100 per cent recycled glass,and ETNALAVA, an etna basalt worked exclusively with the strength of fire without the addition of chemicals. These products, with high technical and aesthetic value, are already available on the market. For information visit the website: framamosaici.com

Industry Europe 183

ADVERTISERSINDEX A

Forshedaverken AB

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Plascore GmbH

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Frama Mosaici Srl

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Plastek UK Ltd

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AB Strangnas Valskvarn

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Franki Foundations Belgium

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Process Plant Technology (pty) Ltd

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ABB SpA

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AB Holsbyverken

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Ålsrode Smede & Masinfabrik AS

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Henkel Italia SpA

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Alstom Belgium SA

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Holland Colours NV

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Saint-Gobain Sekurit International

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AMV Production AB

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Hoppecke Batterie Systeme GmbH

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Sala Punzoni Srl

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APS Srl

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Hultec S & B Technical Products Inc.

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Sanden of Europe GmbH

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Afta BV

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AWG Fittings GmbH

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Sener Ingenieria y Sistemas SA

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Indasa, Industrial de Acabados SA

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Sest SpA

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Industrias Mansilla SA

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Shangai En Yao Corporation

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IR Trading Srl

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Shantou Goworld Display Co. Ltd

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Steen F.P.M. International

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J M Heaford Ltd

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Talent Plastics

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Termoflon Produktion AB

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Tinby A/S

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MB-Pneumatyka Sp. z.o.o.

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Momentive

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Moog Italiana Srl

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MSA SpA

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Umicore AG & Co. KG

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Uniwell Electronic Ltd

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Dacom SpA

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Demo SpA

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Diehl Metall Stiftung & Co. KG

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Nordic Brass Gusum AB

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Nuova Fonderia di Castenedolo SpA

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Vario Edelstahl AG

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Fireco System NV

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Flenco SpA

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Perstorp UK Limited

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Z Zoppas Industries

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Industry Europe – Issue 21.7

Articles inside

Tiles fit for a king Koninklijke Mosa

Optimising fire protection Iveco Magirus

Innovation in shipbuilding

New look electronics solution Melecs

A new sense of speed Bombardier

Touching people’s lives Unilever

Technology under control Seitz

The future of steel Acciaieria di Rubiera

Supply chain excellence Incas Group

Fit for the future Sappi

The new name for HVAC expertise

Hot favourites Elba

Playing it safe Linco Food Systems

Fruitful relationships Agrana

The finest Italian oils and fats Unigrà

Maximising energy potential OMV Group

Taking the pressure Nema Makine

Smart power Vattenfall

Power in action Hellenic Cables

Baltic bioenergy is booming Vapo Group

Global engineering expertise Tractebel

Heavy duty reliability Finnradiator

Lighter, warmer, stronger Huntsman

Driving brake technology forward Haldex

Fruitful relationships Agrati

Graphic example Stoneridge

Flexible converting solutions Comexi

Aerospace news The latest from the industry

Winning business New orders and contracts

Technology spotlight Advances in technology

Bill Jamieson Good for some

Linking up Combining strengths

Hypersonic green machine EADS’ Mach 4 airliner

Centre of attention SW Machines

Moving on Relocations and expansions