Industry Europe – Issue 23.6

VOLUME 23/6 – 2013 • €6

The world of European manufacturing

FEDEGARI - SERVING THE PHARMA INDUSTRY FOR SIXTY YEARS HIGH SPEED MILLING SOLUTIONS FROM FIDIA MATISA KEEPS IT ALL ON THE RIGHT TRACK

AIRBUS TRIUMPHS AT PARIS SHOW

OPINION

PETERMERCER

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Liberté. égalité, morosité France’s president promised ‘le changement’ but most French people think it’s all just getting worse.

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hy are the French so gloomy? It could be the terrible weather this year; violent thunderstorms in June are not what Paris expects. The fact that the economy hasn’t grown in the last five years doesn’t help, of course, and it’s just been confirmed that the country is now definitely in recession, after two quarters of falling output. More than 3.6 million French workers are unemployed and youth unemployment has reached an alarming 26 per cent. The right and left clash on the streets, nominally over ‘mariage pour tous’ but probably over even deeper anxieties, while the Socialist government struggles with scandals quite as colourful as those of the Sarkozy years.

On top of all this, reports of spectacular howlers from this year’s candidates for the feared baccalaureat have made us all wonder if perhaps not every Frenchman is, after all, as clever as Derrida or Lacan.

The assertion that ‘un octogénaire’ is a geometric figure with eight sides has made the news across Europe but other ‘perles du bac’ include the belief that the motto of France is ‘liberté, égalité, fecondité’ and that a light year is the amount of energy a person uses in a year to light his house.

Some candidates’ grasp of geo-politics also seems a bit shaky; President de Gaulle may have withdrawn France from NATO’s military structure as long ago as 1966 but it’s still faintly alarming to find someone at this level of education who thinks that L’OTAN is a wind that blows in the south-west of France.

And an entirely new slant on the Cold War was offered by a candidate who explained that it was a confrontation between a warm bloc – the USA, with its Miami beaches – and a cold bloc – Russia, with its Siberian immensities of ice.

However, ill-informed as these young people may be, they are still French, still the children of Descartes, so it is no surprise that epistemological anxiety is never far

from their minds. No one really knows, says one, exactly how long the Hundred Years’ War lasted but most people think it was about 50 years (‘guerre de cent ans’ evidently misheard as ‘guerre de santan’).

And another is troubled by the most ancient of unknowables – ‘It is very difficult to find where a circle begins’.

Identity crisis Of course what the French as a whole don’t know is who they now are. They know who they are supposed to be, what they have always been – ‘la grande nation’, a natural leader among nations, the dominant political and cultural power in Europe. But what they see, of course, is French power and influence waning as the EU is increasingly dominated by Germany, its paymaster.

They see French output falling and factories closing – more than 1000 in the last four years – as German exports power ahead.

And now they have the humiliation of the European Commission telling them to get on with the implementation of essential structural reforms. The Commission, responded President Hollande, had no right to dictate anything to France; it would proceed with reform in its own way and at its own pace.

There isn’t much doubt about what needs to be reformed, what needs to be done to restore French competitiveness. A report by former EADS CEO Louis Gallois concluded that France needed to reduce the ‘social’ elements of its wage costs (currently around half of gross salaries), loosen its rigid labour laws, which protect those with jobs at the expense of those trying to get them, put up the retirement age and lower taxes.

Unfortunately Hollande was elected on promises to do none of those things. His government is still committed to lowering the retirement age for certain groups and finding a way to raise top taxes to 75 per cent. It is still allowing its Minister for Pro-

ductive Recovery to rage against the closure of failing factories and denounce the evils of globalisation and the German economic model, which, he says, is ‘dangerous for France and suicidal for Europe’. It has just got through the Senate its plan to recruit 60,000 more teachers over the next five years, ignoring warnings from the Cour des Comptes that the problem in the schools is not lack of resources or of teachers but of poor utilisation of existing resources. So bac candidates might still not know how long the Hundred Years War lasted but the up side is that all those new teachers, like the million or so already in the classrooms, are pretty certain to vote Socialist.

And this, maybe, is the essence of the problem. More than any other country in Europe, France is a client state; the government directly employs more than a fifth of the entire workforce and, despite the success of its many world-class companies, there is an assumption that they too serve the Republic rather than their shareholders.

It maintains an intellectual culture in which capitalism and entrepreneurship are treated with at least disdain and at worst hostility and in which free trade and, the market economy are dirty words. Globalisation, of course, is the Great Satan.

And, above all, there is Europe. Peter Jay, one-time British ambassador to the USA, recalls being at a lunch in Paris in 1952 with Jean Monnet, the ‘father’ of European union.

Jay was only 15 but he vividly remembers the explanation of the grand projet. Gradually and indirectly the nations of Europe were to be drawn into a full political union so that France, its natural leader, could be once again a superpower to rival America and Russia.

Well, that Bonapartist dream has been pushed as far as monetary union but the French seem to have ended up not with the Third Empire but something more like the Fourth Reich. No n wonder they’re gloomy.

Industry Europe 3

CONTENTS 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 Batey Barbara Rossi Philip Yorke

Art Administration Tania Balderson p6 Aerospace Industry

Advertising Manager Andrew Briggs Sector Managers Matthew Howe Milada Preslova Massimo Ragazzo Helen Leisi Mac McCarthy Anthony McClintock Ben Snowing Anna Dudek Stephen Moore Martin Gisborne Victoria Pease Gabdi Saunders Jay Foord

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 4 5

Opinion Liberté. égalité, morosité Bill Jamieson Don’t bank on it James Srodes Rain or shine

Aerospace Industry 6

Battle for the skies

Airbus and Boeing compete in Paris

9 12

Aerospace news The latest from the industry Working for greener skies Experimenting in electric aircraft

News

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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 22 23

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

Aerospace & Defence © Industry Europe 2013 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.

POSITIVE PUBLICATIONS

A Square Root Company

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Taking turboprop efficiency to a new level ATR Global defence systems Saab Dynamics

Automation 32

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Leading the revolution in ‘cleantech’ applications Cencorp

Unparalleled service in automation installation technology Insta Automation

Automotive US Industry Today, Industry Europe’s sister publication, is published in the United States of America. For further information or to subscribe contact: Sue Poeton, 100 Morris Avenue, Suite 202, Springfield, NJ 07081. Tel: +1 973 218-0310 Fax: +1 973 218-0311. Email: corporate@USIToday.com. Web site: USIToday.com

4 Industry Europe

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42 46

Delivering innovative, cost-effective solutions Adiator

Constant growth BorgWarner Delivering the world’s most advanced valve technology VTI Ventil Technik

VOL 23/6

Above: Adiator p38

Building & Construction 49 52 56 60 64 68 72 77

Preferred partner Cimtas Opening doors to new markets Royal Boon Edam Strong foundations Cofra Prospects for growth in Europe Inker Ultra-versatile UV windows Nordan Better by design RZB Leuchten Continuous expansion KHD Humbolt Wedag Keeping out the weather Krimelte

Chemicals 80 84

Keeping the world in motion Petrofer Under your feet and over your head Tessiture Pietro Radici

Electrical Equipment 87 90 94

Going the extra mile Eldon Group Harnessing the future PKC Group Electromechanical expertise Fanina Electromechanical Apparatus

130 Fine yachts from Poland Delphia 134 Specialised shipbuilding skills

Tehnomont Group

Metals & Metalworking 137 142

148 152

156

160

164 167 170

High tech milling systems Fidia All-round quality development Industrie Riunite Odolesi

Above: Petrofer p80 Below: GE Oil & Gas p97

Innovators in high grade steel Nedstaal Enhancing the value of speciality tubular steels OSTP Masters of sheet metal machinery Petersen Machinery

Driving high-performance aluminium components forward SAG Motion Rolling out high-precision technology SLF Extreme precision Bruno Presezzi Casting the future Leinovalu

Paper Products 174 Driving the turnaround Katz Group

Energy 97

Solutions for the oil and gas industry

Pharmaceuticals

GE Oil & Gas

102 Global leader in cable industry Nexans

177 Optimising opportunities Multipharma 180 Serving the drug industry Fedegari

Food

Transport & Logistics

106 A fresh approach Findus

186 On the right track MATISA 192 Delivering green logistics Ekol

HVAC & Refrigeration 111 Good connections VULKAN 114 Reliability plus customer focus – that’s

Aurora conditioning Aurora

Above: Delphia p130 Below: Fedegari p180

Also in this issue...

196 Creative cosmetics solutions Albea

Marine 118 Sailing to success Bavaria Yachtbau 122 Bulk cargo solutions Salzgitter Maschinenbau 126 Global solutions provider Scana Industrier Industry Europe 5

COMMENT

BILLJAMIESON

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Executive Editor of The Scotsman

Don’t bank on it Banking union is crucial to the survival of the euro but progress is painfully slow.

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or a time it seemed a central banker’s words enjoyed more force than policy action. Take, for example, the famous declaration by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi last summer that he would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro from collapse.

The words had an immediate and powerful effect, sparking a rally in the euro and in the government bonds of the eurozone’s stricken economies – Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy in particular.

He followed this up in early January of this year with a declaration that “the darkest clouds over the eurozone area subsided” in 2012. This ‘back from the brink’ miracle is even more remarkable when considering how very little the ECB has subsequently actually done. A new ECB bond-purchase plan – Outright Monetary Transactions – was announced to great fanfare. But this mighty howitzer has barely fired a pop as debtstrapped governments took one look at the terms and conditions and lost any enthusiasm to apply. Thus, mere declaration of the existence of a super-plan has apparently done the trick in easing tensions and taking the menace out of the eurozone crisis.

But every so often we see reminders that the crisis is as menacing as ever – renewed political crisis in Greece and fresh concerns over the country’s budget credibility. There has also been fresh social unrest in Spain over record levels of youth unemployment.

Central to any progress in lifting the euro zone out of this state of constant incipient crisis is the condition of its banks and progress in moving towards European banking union. It is another grand euro aspiration.

In the real world of stricken government finances and attendant political tensions it is something else altogether.

Yet bank recapitalisation is becoming ever more urgent as non-performing loans continue to climb at an alarming rate. The 6 Industry Europe

non-performing loans of Italy’s banks shot up by 22.3 per cent in April to represent 7 per cent of total lending. The Spanish non-performing loan ratio rose almost 11 per cent in April, with that for mortgage loans rising to 4.2 per cent in the first quarter compared with 3.1 per cent a year ago. As Citigroup’s Europe watchers point out, “the speed of the increase in bad loans in Italy and Spain remains very high, creating a major impediment to extending new lending.”

Central to any progress in lifting the euro zone out of this state of constant incipient crisis is the condition of its banks and progress in moving towards European banking union. It is another grand euro aspiration.

EU Commissioner Olli Rehn has called for an immediate agreement by the eurogroup on plans for direct bank recapitalisation. The issue has now been discussed for almost 12 months with little sign of progress. Proposals now centre on plans to open the door for some direct financial assistance to stricken banks – providing, of course, that the ECB has become the effective supervisor by the middle of next year.

Difficulties in the way That looks unlikely, given the difficulties. It would involve the ECB, as a first step, taking over responsibility for supervising around 130 of the largest banks among the 6000 or so banks on the eurozone. And before this can happen, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has to subject the banks selected for ECB supervision to stress tests.

There are both political and regulatory difficulties here. Eurozone member governments are reluctant to hand over bank regulation and control to an agency of the EU which may then use this pressure to enforce further integration. And Germany itself is reluctant to cede regulatory oversight of all but its ‘global’ banks to external control.

And the regulatory problems themselves are all too familiar. Given the severe flaws that appeared in previous eurozone ‘stress test’ exercises which did severe damage to their credibility, we are assured that the new stress tests will be stricter than previously.

However, guidelines for these have still to be drawn up. As on so many previous occasions, eurozone institutions are incapable of moving at any great speed to deal with the problems facing them. Progress is glacial, at best. Delay in meeting that 2014 deadline now looks increasingly likely.

The hope was that banks would have taken the opportunity over the past two years to strengthen their capital position.

This is a pre-requisite for further progress towards a banking union. As Monument Securities economist Stephen Lewis points out, there is now a deeper appreciation of the long-term drag on economic activity that banks’ capital weakness imposes and that there can be no sustained recovery in the eurozone economy until the banks take action to achieve a genuine restoration of their capital strength.

However, increases in non-performing loan ratios suggest the problem is getting worse.

This feeds a further and deeper worry for the European Commission. If the latest stress tests were to prove less than thorough and fresh banking problems were to plague the early months of the new ECB supervisory regime, this might undermine the credibility of ‘banking union’. And this matters to Brussels, because it is one of the EU’s last chances to n establish the viability of the euro.

USA

JAMESSRODES

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Veteran commentator on Washington & Wall Street

Rain or shine How solid is the US recovery?

“Happy Days are here again!

The skies above are clear again.

So let’s sing a song of cheer again.

Happy Days are here again!”

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaign anthem during the Great Depression of the 1930s. hile Cheerleader-inChief Barack Obama has wisely refrained from trying to lead America in a rousing chorus of the Democratic Party’s signature campaign song, it is clear there is a concerted effort these days to portray the US economy as poised to resume the ebullient prosperity of another time.

The professional media commentariat has done little else over the past month but stress that there are enough convincing signs of an impending American economic recovery from the doldrums of the last six years. And there are plenty of straws in the wind to grasp. Wall Street share prices boom. Motor car production is at a recent high, sparked by productivity gains that generate truly glittering profits for the big car makers. Home prices are rebounding with a resulting revival of new home construction.

Yet events of just a fortnight ago shows just how dark the clouds remain hanging over the American recovery. While it may not rain right away on Mr Obama’s parade, it is too problematical for him to keep trying to take a victory lap. It is too much to suggest that President Obama is relegated to the political sidelines for the remaining two years

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or so of his second term. But it is increasingly clear that the man in Washington with the most direct control over the fate of the nascent recovery is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Just witness what happened on June 19 when Chairman Bernanke ended two days of meetings with the Fed’s policy making Open Market Committee with a rather sad plea that the news media and Wall Street’s market analysts try very hard to listen to precisely what the FOMC had concluded. “We are determined to be as clear as we can, and we hope that you (the media) and your listeners and the markets will all be able to follow what we are saying.”

What the US central bank was saying was that the recent, albeit modest and fragile, upturn in economic activity was expected to continue on an upward, albeit fragile, path through next year.

And based on those expectations the Fed was raising the mere prospect that sometime in the distant future, it was prepared for an orderly reduction of its $85 billion per month purchases of long term bonds which were intended to keep interest rates low and to provide lending capital to spur economic growth. While the so-called Quantative Easing programme has spurred a modest uptick in the housing and motor car markets, its overall effect has been to force banks and other money market managers to hoard capital which they have diverted into a stock and bond market

bubble at home and risky ventures abroad—mainly in China.

Bernanke went to great lengths to stress that the QE programme was not about to end, but that in the future it might be scaled back in orderly increments as economic growth increased.

But all the market analysts could hear was the ghost of William McChesney Martin, the long-serving (1951–1970) Fed Chairman. Martin famously said the central bank’s job “is to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going.” But there is no prospect that Mr Bernanke is about the grab the punch bowl between now and 2016; it is just that he may not continue to spike the punch so lavishly and may even water it down a bit.

Nonetheless, the bears of the global share markets went on a short-selling binge that soaked billions out of equity values on all major exchanges. When coupled with a Beijing-induced banking crisis in China, that addictive punch bowl of stimulus suddenly did not look quite so appetising to the party goers.

The real economy While investment markets probably will regain some of their aplomb in the weeks to come, it is past time to reconsider just how solid the American recovery is and is likely to be over the next 18 months. Take the motor car industry—long one of the three legs in the tripod of American industrial power (housing and heavy machinery being the other

two). Much is made of the fact that car sales are projected to hit 16 million vehicles this year, an improvement to be sure over 2012’s 10.7 million sales. But nowhere near the 24 million cars sold in the US 15 years ago. And while car makers report their plants are running full tilt, gains in productivity and robotics have not revived the industry’s employment of workers. Detroit’s car makers once employed 1.4 million highly paid workers; now there are fewer than 700,000 car jobs and many of them are at reduced wages.

And while Chairman Bernanke was right to beg sober consideration of the Fed’s policy decisions, it also is worthwhile to identify some of the leading bears who have been dumping some of the bluest of Wall Street’s blue-chip shares. In recent public disclosure reports, no less a traditional stock market cheerleader than Warren Buffett disclosed he has reduced his Berkshire Hathaway holding company’s portfolio of ‘consumer product stocks’ by a whopping 21 per cent. Another billionaire share enthusiast, John Paulson, has reversed his position on banking shares, dumping 14 million shares of Goldman Sachs, along with many of the same consumer shares. George Soros too has gotten rid of nearly all of his bank stocks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, nearly a million shares in all.

One has to ask what these men know that President Obama n does not.

Industry Europe 7

© Airbus S.AS 2013

Airbus A350

BATTLE FOR THE SKIES Aero giants Airbus and Boeing fought again for sales – and media attention – at this year’s Paris air show. Murdo Morrison, editor of Flight International, reports.

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ike the Roman mob, there is nothing the media at the Paris air show enjoys more than an epic gladitorial contest, with a victor and a loser, bloodied in defeat. Europe’s Airbus certainly enjoys the role of triumphant combatant at the biggest biennial gathering of the global aerospace industry – the 50th edition was held over five days at the Le Bourget airfield near Paris in mid-June. In front of a home crowd, Airbus never misses an opportunity to upstage rival Boeing, gleefully updating its orders tally daily and using the event to debut its latest products.

This year was no exception, with a flypast on the final day of the show of Airbus’s newest airliner, the A350, a week after the widebody’s maiden flight in Toulouse. There was even an emperor – in the form of President Hollande – in attendance to give it the thumbs up. The A350 – which will undergo a 2500h flight test programme ahead of planned entry into service next year – is Airbus’s belated answer to Sukhoi Su-35

8 Industry Europe

the all-composite Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first 50 examples of which spent most of this year grounded following incidents with in-flight battery fires.

Boeing, by contrast, always grumpily denies that there is an ‘orders race’.

Customers may or may not choose to make public new airliner commitments during the week, it insists. It does not time its own announcements with Paris or any other show. However, the US manufacturer does seem to be slowly recognising the publicity potential of playing the media’s game. After boycotting flying displays for years, at last year’s Farnborough in July, it flew its 787 for the first time at an air show. The Dreamliner was again on display at Paris – in Qatar Airways colours – though not flying.

This year, Boeing made the headlines again when Michael O’Leary, outspoken chief executive of Ryanair – Europe’s biggest low-cost airline and one of the US Bombardier CSeries

manufacturer’s best customers – broke a self-imposed ban on attending air shows (a hard-nosed businessman, he says they are full of ‘aerosexuals’). He turned up to ink a $3 billion order (at list prices) for 175 Boeing 737-800s. He also revealed that the Irish carrier was evaluating an order for at least 200 of the re-engined Max version of the 737, which it could announce by year-end.

O’Leary is among the toughest negotiators in the business and, although Boeing will not be maxing profits from any deal with Ryanair, its business will be welcome: Ryanair, an all-737 operator, had flirted with Airbus’s rival A320neo and China’s under-development Comac C919. O’Leary admitted that one of the reasons he did not choose the A320neo (for new engine option) was the likely delay in receiving aircraft. The re-engined Airbus narrowbody – which will go into service in 2015, two years ahead of the Max – has been a victim of its success, he said.

Boeing 787

Although Boeing announced an accelerated production schedule for its re-engined narrowbody at Paris, the 737 Max registered only one firm order – for 30 aircraft. It leaves Boeing’s new offering in the crucial short-haul segment trailing the A320neo by 800 orders, despite being launched just nine months later than its rival. At the time, Boeing opted to follow Airbus with a re-engined version of its topselling narrowbody rather than – as many had predicted – gambling on an all-new design, which would have been much more expensive and taken longer to reach market.

After a tortuous entry into service with the 787 – initially delayed by two years and then grounded for several months this year by its battery problems – Boeing did have better news on its Dreamliner, announcing at Paris the latest and largest variant, the 787-10, with 102 firm orders from five customers. It gives Boeing a family of three Dreamliners, straddling the 250- to 330-seat market. The 787 sits below the larger twin-engine 777, at 350to 400-seats, a revamped version of which – the 777X family – Boeing is now working on.

With the latest variant of Boeing’s venerable jumbo jet, the 747-800, struggling, Airbus has the opportunity to own the ultra-large segment with its 550-seat A380.

Since the glory days of the 747 in the 1970s and 1980s, Boeing has been sceptical of the potential of this market and sales of the A380, almost six years after its entry into service, would appear to prove it right. Despite flying the aircraft in the colours of its latest customer, British Airways, and an order at Paris for 20 aircraft – the first for six months

– Airbus is still 18 short of 300 orders, seen as the breakeven for the programme.

As expected, Airbus had a good Paris in terms of new business, notching up firm orders for 241 aircraft, out of a total of 630 orders, commitments and options, according to Flightglobal figures. This included 170 A320-family twinjets and 71 long-haul airliners, including a commitment for 10 A3501000s from United Airlines. Thanks mainly to orders for the 787-10 and confirmation of Ryanair’s 737 deal, Boeing’s tally was more than respectable, securing commitments for 342 airliners during the show.

Regional jets Airbus versus Boeing was not the only headto-head contest going on at Paris. Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier have long fought it out in the market for sub-100seat regional jets, enjoying a duopoly since the exit of makers such as BAE Systems, Fairchild Dornier, Fokker and Saab more than a decade ago. Paris certainly belonged to Embraer. It notched up 365 orders for the second generation of its best-selling E-Jet family, single-aisle airliners of between 80 and 118 seats that compete just below the narrowbodies of Airbus and Boeing, which it formally launched at the show.

Like Airbus and Boeing, Embraer has opted to re-engine its existing range to provide better fuel economy, rather than undergo a fundamental re-engineering of the airframe. It has also ruled out a higher-capacity aircraft to take it into full competition with the Americans and Europeans. Bombardier, by contrast, decided

last decade to come up with a clean-sheet design for a larger five-abreast narrowbody to complement its CRJ family of regional jets.

The result, the CSeries, is a 100-seat-plus aircraft that competes both with Embraer’s largest offerings and entry-level variants from Airbus and Boeing. The CSeries was not at Paris – Bombardier was expected to fly the initial CS100 variant for the first time at the end of June, with the aircraft due to enter service in 2014. The Canadian airframer is putting a brave face on its just 391 orders accumulated over several years and insists that the fact that the CSeries is the only all-new aircraft on the market to offer a step-change in fuel efficiency.

Several other manufacturers are battling to enter the regional market, which demand for short-haul feeder services in emerging regions has re-ignited. They include Japan’s Mitsubishi, China’s Comac and Russia’s Sukhoi. Of them all, only Sukhoi was making any noise in Paris.

Its Superjet is a collaboration between the Russian design bureau – known mostly for its Cold War fighter aircraft – and Italy’s Finmeccanica, with a subsidiary of the latter responsible for sales in the ‘Western hemisphere’. Sukhoi has already made a modest number of deliveries in Russia and South East Asia.

That subsidiary, Superjet International, had on display the first Superjet to be handed over to a western customer – a Mexican airline.

But strains are beginning to show in what is the first real collaboration between the Russians and European industry on a commercial aircraft, with Finmeccanica’s chief executive complaining at Paris of a difficult and suspiIndustry Europe 9

Embraer E-Jet

cious relationship between the Russian and Italian company, which has provided Sukhoi with engineering as well as marketing and branding expertise.

That was not the only spat between Finmeccanica and a foreign partner. The Italians jointly own ATR, a maker of 70-seat turboprops, with EADS, Franco-German parent of Airbus. Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia is keen to press ahead with a 90-seat stretch of the aircraft, but EADS is sceptical about the return on what would be a hefty investment. Alenia has threatened to go it alone, or team with another manufacturer, if a launch decision is delayed much longer. How practical this would be when both partners jointly own the design rights to the current ATR models is unclear.

Military aircraft With the US military and its contractors absent because of bugetary sequestration, it was left to the Europeans and the Russians to dominate the air displays with arrays of military hardware. Probably the most impressive participant was the Sukhoi Su-35, the latest thrust-vectoring version of the Cold War fighter known as the Flanker.

The aircraft has been designed primarily for the Russian military, but Moscow is keen to promote it on export markets, along with other products from a newly-confident, restructured Russian industry.

One of the Su-35’s main competitors, the Dassault Rafale, was also performing in the displays, with Canada emerging as a possible second export customer. Dassault has also teamed with Alenia and EADS to develop 10 Industry Europe

a new unmanned air vehicle for European governments. The new chief executive of the family-owned Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, used Paris to criticise the ‘buy American policy at any cost’ among some European nations.

Several, including the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, are acquiring the US-designed Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The absence of US rivals also gave Airbus’s Military division a chance to put in the spotlight its A400M airlifter, due to go into service with launch customer France within weeks. Ironically, given the dire straits of most European budgets, the defence market remains dynamic, at least at the valuefor-money end. Several firms are spotting opportunities for adapting existing aircraft into

low-cost platforms for surveillance equipment, allowing governments and agencies to avoid paying over the odds to a traditional defence contractor such as BAE Systems, Raytheon or Northrop Grumman.

Among them are Austrian manufacturer of piston training and leisure aircraft Diamond and Italy’s Piaggio Aero, maker of a stylish but sluggishly-selling turboprop executive aircraft. The latter has turned its unmistakeable twin-pusher Avanti II into a remotely-piloted spyplane, which, packed with sensors, can take high-definition pictures of activity on the ground from an altitude of 45,000ft and stay in the sky for 16h. The so-called HammerHead will fly for the first time later this year with Piaggio hoping for a launch deal from its home customer, cash-strapped Rome. n

Airbus A400M

© Airbus S.AS 2013

NEWS

New developments in the Aerospace industry

Nordic Aviation Capital places a landmark order for 90 ATR-600s

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he European turboprop manufacturer ATR and the Danish leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital have signed a historic agreement for the sale of 90 ATR-600s, including 35 firm orders (30 ATR 72-600s and 5 ATR 42-600s).

The contract, including options, amounts to over US$ 2.1 billion.

NAC, which has signed several orders for new ATRs over the past three years, already has the largest fleet of ATRs in the world with over one hundred aircraft. With the progressive arrival of the 30 additional ATR 72-600s and 5 ATR 42-600s into its fleet, NAC’s ATR portfolio will exceed 150 aircraft by 2016.

Visit: www.atraircraft.com

VistaJet places order for up to 40 Bombardier business jets

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istaJet, a world-leading luxury aviation company and exclusive operator of Bombardier business aircraft, has placed firm orders for 20 Challenger 350 jets and options for an additional 20 Challenger 350 jets.

“Following a historic Global aircraft order late last year, we are very proud that VistaJet has once again chosen to partner with Bombardier for their fleet expansion needs. Our newly launched Challenger 350 jet will be an excellent complement to their existing fleet of Bombardier aircraft,” said Steve Ridolfi, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “The Challenger 350 jet’s superior performance, new cabin and best-inclass operating costs will further support VistaJet’s global expansion and mission to offer the ultimate business jet family across the world.”

Visit: www.bombardier.com

Air France-KLM confirms future with A350 XWB

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he Air France-KLM Group has finalised a firm contract for 25 Airbus A350-900 aircraft and for a further 25 options. These aircraft will become an essential element in the group’s future fleet strategy.

“This order of new-generation, high performance aircraft reflects the importance

INDUSTRYNEWS

First SSJ100 delivered to Mexican airline Interjet

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uperJet International (SJI) joint venture between Alenia Aermacchi (a Finmeccanica Company) and Sukhoi Holding (a UAC Company) has delivered to the Mexican airline Interjet its first Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft. With

an order for 20 aircraft plus 10 options, Interjet is the first western customer to take delivery of the SSJ100.

The SSJ100 is a 100-seat state-of-the-art regional jet, which incorporates the most modern western technology and is powered by two PowerJet’s SaM146 engines.

The SSJ100 aircraft, developed and built by the Russian Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) in partnership with Alenia Aermacchi, was painted, completed and customised at the SuperJet International facilities in Venice, Italy.

Visit: www.superjetinternational.com

Eurocopter’s X3 hybrid helicopter makes aviation history

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he Eurocopter X3 hybrid helicopter has opened the frontiers of aviation by attaining a speed milestone of 255 knots (472 km/hr) in level flight on 7 June. Several days before this accomplishment, the X3 reached a speed of 263 knots (487 km/hr) during a descent. With these two successes, the X3 surpasses the unofficial speed record for a helicopter.

Eurocopter achieved the historic speed milestone with the X3 flying at an altitude of around 10,000 feet during a 40 minute test flight over southern France near Istres. It marks the latest in a growing list of achievements for the X3, which is Eurocopter’s technology demonstrator for an advanced, cost-effective vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) transportation system.

Visit: www.eurocopter.com

Air France-KLM signs MOU with Rolls-Royce for Trent XWB engines

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a landmark deal announced at the Paris Air Show, Air France-KLM Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with RollsRoyce for Trent XWB engines to power 25 Airbus A350s. The agreement is worth $1.1bn at current list prices. Air France-KLM also has options covering 25 more A350 XWB aircraft.

Eric Schulz, president – Civil Large Engines, Rolls-Royce, said: “We look forward to forging a strong relationship with Air France-KLM group. This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate to Air France-KLM the exceptional product efficiency and superior service of our investments for the benefit of our customers, whose comfort is at the heart of our concerns. With the A350, Air France-KLM will continue to operate one of the most modern fleets in the world, and ensure the growth of its long-haul activity, while achieving significant cost savings,” said Alexandre de Juniac, chairman and CEO of the Air France-KLM Group as of first of July 2013.

support benefits that Rolls-Royce Trent customers enjoy.”

The Trent XWB is the fastest selling Trent engine ever, with more than 1300 already sold. The first A350 XWB made its maiden flight last week in Toulouse and is due to enter service in 2014.

Visit: www.rolls-royce.com

The A350 XWB is the all-new mid-size long range product line comprising three versions and seating between 270 and 350 passengers in spacious three-class layouts. The new family will bring a step change in efficiency using 25% less fuel and providing an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions.

Visit: www.airbus.com Industry Europe 11

NEWS

New developments in the Aerospace industry

MTU records record orders at Paris show

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TU Aero Engines has achieved numerous new contracts at this year’s Paris Air Show. Germany’s leading engine manufacturer recorded orders worth more than 1.3 billion US dollars. Over threequarters of the more than 1300 engines ordered are of the PW1000G family, which offer a lower fuel burn and are very quiet. “This is an impressive proof that the eco-efficiency of flying is increasingly becoming a major priority, and that the geared turbofan engine has firmly established itself as the new propulsion concept in the marketplace,” commented MTU CEO Egon Behle.

With the PurePower® PW1000G Geared TurbofanTM (GTF) engine, Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines are building the propulsion system of the future. Compared with today’s engines, the new technology holds promise of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 15% each, and of cutting perceived noise levels in half.

Visit: www.mtu.de

AirAsia place $8.6 billion CFM engine order ThyssenKrupp Aerospace

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irAsia has ordered additional CFM LEAP-1A engines and CFM56-5B engines to power the 100 Airbus A320 aircraft it ordered in a deal announced last December and signed a comprehensive long-term service agreement to support its fleet.

The order, which comprises LEAP-1A engines to power 64 A32neos and CFM56-5B engines to power 36 A320ceo aircraft along with 5 CFM-56B spare engines and 9 LEAP-1A spare engines, is valued at $8.6 billion at list price, including a 20-year RPFH (Rate per Flight Hour) agreement, under the terms of which CFM will guarantee maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.

Contract for Meteor integration on Typhoon signed

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urofighter GmbH has signed a Meteor weapon system integration contract with NETMA. The purpose of the contract is to facilitate and secure integration of MBDA’s Meteor Beyond Visual Range Missile system. Alberto Gutierrez, chief executive officer of Eurofighter GmbH, said: “These latest

SkyWest Inc. Orders 100 New E2 E-Jets from Embraer

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mbraer SA and SkyWest Inc. have signed a firm order for 100 E175-E2 aircraft, with another 100 Purchase Rights, bringing the total potential of the order to 200 aircraft. This new contract is in addition to SkyWest’s previous order in May 2013 for up to 200 current gen-

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opens site in Tunisia

“This order is a great extension of a fantastic relationship,” said Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM. Visit: www.thyssenkrupp.com

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developments confirm the growing momentum of the Eurofighter enhancement programme which is delivering real capability to our customers. Meteor adds genuine potency to the Eurofighter Typhoon.

When coupled with a range of other enhancements we are bringing into the programme, this will further secure the aircraft’s position as bestin-class offering customers unrivalled levels of performance, reliability and support.”

The Meteor missile system, integrated with the current class-leading M-Scan radar (and in the future the advanced E-Scan radar) fitted to the Eurofighter, and utilising the full potential of two-way data-link communication, will greatly increase the ‘no-escape-zone’ around the aircraft, enhancing both its effectiveness and lethality.

Visit: www.eurofighter.com

eration E175 aircraft, and therefore the potential order of E-Jets at SkyWest may reach 400 aircraft.

“After concluding an agreement for up to 200 orders for our current-generation E-Jets from SkyWest just last month, I’m more than glad that the company has made this decision to be the launch customer for the E175-E2,” said Paulo Cesar

Silva, president and CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “To have the world’s largest regional airline placing this E-Jets E2 order shows SkyWest’s confidence in Embraer and its products. Our companies have a long history together and with this new contract, that partnership is going to continue well into the future.” www.embraer.com

hyssenKrupp Aerospace recently opened its first facility on the African continent at Aerospace Park Mghira, Tunisia. The operation includes cutting block drafts from aircraft grade aluminum plates, the exclusive distribution of metal plate and sheet as well as aluminum profiles.

ThyssenKrupp Aerospace president Jürgen Funke said: “We’re in the business of supporting our customers as well as possible. When that means going where the customers go or already are, then that’s what we do. So in this case it was only a matter of time until we would join our regional customers here.”

Visit: www.thyssenkrupp.com

INDUSTRYNEWS Saab Sensis’ A-SMGCS selected for Luxembourg Airport

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he Administration de la Navigation Aerienne (ANA) has selected defence and security company Saab’s subsidiary Saab Sensis’ AdvancedSurface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) for the safe and efficient management of Luxembourg Airport’s runway and maneuvering areas. The A-SMGCS will fuse multiple surveillance sources for a comprehensive view of the airport surface and to provide runway incursion alerts to the air traffic controllers.

“As the country’s main airport, Luxembourg Airport’s runway needs to maintain safe operation no matter the weather,” said François Mathieu, head of ATC for ANA. “The Saab Sensis A-SMGCS provides us with all-weather surveillance needed for enhanced airport surface safety.”

Visit: www.saabgroup.com

Lockheed Martin UK submits response to Polish Air Force training requirement

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ondon-based Lockheed Martin UK has formally launched its bid to help create a new state-of-the-art Polish Air Force pilot and aircrew training centre at Deblin. Under Lockheed Martin’s proposal, Polish Air Force pilots will graduate through a completely new training programme.

It would be an affordable, modern, technologybased system, producing highly capable, agile and adaptable aircrew to protect Poland’s national sovereignty and NATO interests.

WZL 2 has become the first Polish partner for Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Aircrew Training System bid. It will be responsible for maintenance,

AgustaWestland AW189 Helicopter Enters Full Scale Production

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aniele Romiti, CEO, AgustaWestland said: “We are proud to achieve this major milestone on schedule. The start of full scale production brings us

GKN Aerospace to supply Silvercrest engine cases

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KN Aerospace has signed a long term agreement with Snecma (Safran) to manufacture low pressure turbine (LPT) cases for their new Silvercrest large/long range business jet engine.

Odd Tore Kurverud, president, GKN Engine Systems – Norway, comments: “This contract win extends our 25 year-long partnership with Snecma on the CFM56 programme – for which we have reliably delivered high-quality LPT cases in large volumes. This has clearly supported a decision to involve us on this important new engine programme. In addition, although the Silvercrest engine is significantly smaller than the CFM56, in producing this LPT case we will employ many of the same skilled metal manufacturing techniques.”

Visit: www.gkn.com

Boeing and Air Lease Corporation announce commitment for 30 787-10Xs

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oeing announced at the Paris Air Show a memorandum of understanding with Air Lease Corporation (ALC) to purchase 33 airplanes. The Los Angeles-based leasing company has committed to order three 787-9 and 30 787-10X Dreamliners.

repair and overhaul (MRO) of the high-performance T-50 advanced jet trainers which will be a cornerstone of the new flying training programme.

Visit: www.lockheedmartin.co.uk

closer to the first AW189 delivery later this year and the customers who already operate the AW139 will start benefitting from the Family advantage.”

The AW189 is designed in response to the growing market demand for a versatile, affordable, multirole medium helicopter. With deliveries set to start later this year, the new 8-tonne class, twin engine helicopter is optimised for long range offshore transport and SAR missions and has already received orders for more than 70 units making it the market leader in its class.

Visit: www.agustawestland.com

Cobham to provide composite aerostructures for Piaggio’s new multirole patrol aircraft

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obham has been selected by Piaggio Aero Industries to provide several major composite aerostructures for the new Piaggio Multirole Patrol Aircraft (MPA) under development with ADASI – Abu Dhabi Autonomous System Investments – a subsidiary of Tawazun. The Piaggio MPA – based on the P180 Avanti II platform – has a larger flying surface area and more powerful engines for greater endurance and range.

Cobham Antenna Systems will design, manufacture and qualify dedicated ailerons, fixed trailing edges, outboard wing flaps, horizontal stabilisers, elevators, flap track fairings, main landing gear doors and a selection of aerodynamic fairings.

Visit: www.cobham.com The 787-10X would be the third version of the 787 family, with a range of up to 7000 nautical miles and seating for 300–330 passengers. The second member of the family, the 787-9, is in final assembly in Everett, Wash., and set to make its first flight later this year.

“ALC has taken a disciplined approach to building a portfolio that offers its airline

customers the most fuel-efficient and desirable airplanes on the market today and in the years to come,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Ray Conner. “The ALC leadership team has an excellent record of placing Boeing airplanes with airlines worldwide. They are an ideal partner to help establish the 787-10X in the leasing market.”

Visit: www.boeing.com Industry Europe 13

WORKING FOR GREENER SKIES Will electric propulsion ever become a viable alternative for fossil fuel in the aviation industry? EADS is evaluating several different approaches.

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this year’s Paris Air Show EADS demonstrated a number of initiatives in the field of electric and hybrid propulsion for aircraft.

The group has developed and built an electric general aviation training aircraft in cooperation with Aero Composites Saintonge (ACS), called E-Fan. It has also engineered, together with Diamond Aircraft and Siemens, an updated hybrid electric motor glider, the Diamond Aircraft DA36 E-Star 2.

EADS has also cooperated with Rolls-Royce on a smarter future distributed propulsion system concept. These three projects are known as ‘E-aircraft’ projects.

The development of innovative propulsion system concepts for future air vehicle applications is part of EADS’ research to support the aviation industry’s environmental protection goals as spelled out in the ‘Flightpath 2050’ report by the European

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Commission. This roadmap sets the target of reducing aircraft CO2 emissions by 75 per cent, along with reductions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) by 90 per cent and noise levels by 65 per cent,compared to standards in the year 2000. EADS Innovation Works (IW), the corporate research and technology network of EADS, is developing and continuing to explore innovations in the field of environmentally friendly propulsion, in order to provide technology bricks for the operating divisions.

E-Fan: electric aircraft in progress Two years after the first electric aerobatic plane and the smallest manned aircraft in the world with four electric engines, the all-electric Cri-Cri, the teams at EADS IW and Royan-based ACS (Charente Maritime, France) have gone a step further with E-Fan, a fully electric general aviation training aircraft.

“The introduction of the E-Fan electric aircraft represents another strategic step forward in EADS’ aviation research. We are committed to exploring leading-edge technologies that will yield future benefits for our civil and defence products,” said Jean Botti, chief technical officer (CTO), at EADS. The two-seat E-Fan has undergone a very intensive development phase of only eight months. It features two electrical engines driving shrouded propellers. Total static engine thrust is about 1.5kN, with the energy being provided by two battery packs located in the wings. The length of the aircraft is 6.7 metres with a wingspan of 9.5 metres. It is the first electric aircraft featuring ducted fans to reduce noise and increase safety. Another innovation is the main landing gear. It allows electrical taxiing on the ground without the main engines and in addition provides acceleration during take-off up to a speed of 60km/h. To guarantee simple

handling of the electrically powered engines and systems, the E-Fan is equipped with an E-FADEC energy management system.

“We believe that the E-Fan demonstrator is an ideal platform that could be eventually matured, certified to and marketed as an aircraft for pilot training,” explained Botti.

EADS IW is developing the electrical and propulsion system together with partners like ACS, which is building the all-composite structure, the mechanical systems and conducted the aerodynamic studies. The French innovation institutes CRITT Matériaux PoitouCharentes (CRITT MPC) and ISAE-ENSMA, as well as the company C3 Technologies have been responsible for the construction and production of the wings. The engagement of these companies is also an investment in French infrastructure, jobs and know-how. Furthermore, electrical engineering experts from Astrium and Eurocopter helped out with their expertise in testing the battery packs while the livery was designed by Airbus. The E-Fan project is co-funded by the Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC, the French civil aviation authority), the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the French Government (Fonds FRED), the Région Aquitaine and the Département Charente-Maritime of France.

Hybrid propulsion systems In addition to the development of the E-Fan, EADS is also working on hybrid propulsion systems. One of them is in the Diamond Aircraft DA36 E-Star 2 motor glider first

introduced at the Paris Air Show 2011. The two-seater has been updated with a lighter and more compact electric motor from Siemens, resulting in an overall weight reduction of 100kg. Electricity is supplied by a small Wankel engine from Austro Engine with a generator that functions solely as a power source. EADS IW prepared the battery packs, which are installed in the wings.

“The serial electric propulsion allows us to design airplanes with totally different characteristics than today. Vertical take-off and high-speed cruise can be realised in a much more efficient way. The DA36 E-Star 2 was the next step to prove this technology and through its positive results to continue further developments,” Diamond Aircraft owner Christian Dries said at Le Bourget.

The research partnership between EADS, Siemens and Diamond Aircraft aims to ultimately introduce hybrid drive systems for both helicopters and large airplanes, while the airworthiness certification of full-electric and hybrid aircraft in the General Aviation category is to be achieved within the next three-to-five years.

Smart systems Since 2012, EADS IW has also been working together with Rolls-Royce within the Distributed Electrical Aerospace Propulsion (DEAP) project, which is co-funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. The project researches key innovative technologies that will improve fuel economy and reduce

exhaust gas and noise emissions by having a distributed propulsion system architecture.

In this architecture, six electrically powered fans are distributed in clusters of three along the wing span and housed with a common intake duct. An advanced gas power unit provides the electrical power for the fans and for the re-charging of the energy storage.

“The idea of distributed propulsion offers the possibility to better optimise individual components such as the gas power unit, which produces only electrical power, and the electrically driven fans, which produce thrust. This optimises the overall propulsion system integration,” explained Sébastien Remy, head of EADS Innovation Works.

“The knock-on effect we expect thanks to the improved integration of such a concept is to reduce the overall weight and the overall drag of the aircraft.”

“Electric aircraft are a key element in our research for the future of aviation,” EADS CEO Tom Enders said. “Only over the decades to come we will learn where the journey will take us, what shape and form electric propulsion will take. But we know we have no time to lose in terms of testing alternatives to fossil fuel. One thing is clear though: aviation will need to continue to fly with ever less fuel, less emissions and less noise. Working together on future propulsion systems is the best our industry can n contribute to greener skies.” www.eads.com Industry Europe 15

NEWS

New contracts and orders in industry

DOF Subsea Group has been awarded multiple new contracts

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OF Subsea, a subsidiary of DOF ASA, has secured multiple contract awards in the Asia Pacific region over the last couple of weeks, with a total contract value of about USD 50 million.

The tunnel will directly link the cities of Santos and Guarujá located on either side of the fairway leading to Brazil’s most important port.

The contracts will utilise the vessels Skandi Singapore, Skandi Hercules and Skandi Hawk.

Mons S. Aase is pleased with the new contract awards, further improving the contract coverage

for the project fleet in the Asia Pacific region.

With a multi-national workforce in excess of 4300 personnel, DOF ASA is an international group of companies which owns and operates a fleet of modern offshore/subsea vessels, and engineering capacity to service both the offshore and subsea market. With over 30 years in the offshore business, the group has a strong position in terms of experience, innovation, product range, technology and capacity.

Visit: www.dofsubsea.com

Fincantieri awarded Pemamek welding automation contract

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incantieri and its Monfalcone Shipyard have decided to continue with a well-tried Pemamek welding automation technology in the shipyard’s production lines: Fincantieri has ordered a unique profile processing line and a one-sided welding station with laser-hybrid process and integrated milling.

Pemamek has previously supplied Fincantieri with patented Vision Robot Stations for welding panels. The new contract consists of a full turn-key delivery with design, manufacturing, assembly, installation and training. The delivery of both these outstanding solutions will take place during summer 2013 at Monfalcone.

For the first stage of the project, PEMA created efficient solutions for profile processing and plate joining in close cooperation with Fincantieri. As Pemamek stands for one of the only global professional manufacturers of both types of complete systems, a package solution was the best way to solve Fincantieri’s production needs.

The plate joining system is the first of its kind on the market and consists of a huge onesided welding station with laser-hybrid welding process integrated together with a tandem MAG process for welding a wide range of thicknesses.

Visit: www.fincantieri.com

Balfour Beatty awarded Providence Tower contract in London

Beatty will utilise sustainable construction methods including modularised mechanical and electrical services, constructed off site and delivered just in time, to reduce on site construction timescales and the number of vehicle movements to and from site.

Balfour Beatty chief executive, Andrew McNaughton, said: “Providence Tower is a great example of the big, complex build-

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alfour Beatty has been awarded a contract in excess of £110 million to construct the 43-storey Providence Tower residential scheme for Landor – a wholly owned subsidiary of The Ballymore Group. Upon completion, the structure will be the tallest building constructed by Balfour Beatty in the UK. Balfour

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Eminox wins major contract to supply exhaust systems to Liebherr

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iebherr Machines Bulle SA, the Liebherr group engine manufacturer, has chosen emissions technology specialist Eminox to supply exhaust systems to achieve Stage 4 emissions standards.

The systems, based on SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology, will be fitted to the complete range of Liebherr on- and off-road machines, comprising some 10,000 machines per year.

In awarding the contract, Liebherr Machines Bulle were looking for a partner who could support them with technical system development as well as the manufacture of the final units.

Paul Canwell, project manager at Eminox, said: “This has been a real development partnership between the two companies, with each complementing the other in perfecting these systems.”

One of the key objectives was to keep the number of exhaust system variants to a minimum while working within the limited space available for mounting the systems on many of the machines.

Eminox met these requirements by using novel system geometry and innovative urea injection points coupled with advanced mixing.

Visit: www.eminox.com ing projects where Balfour Beatty excels.

It allows us to bring together our experience and include sustainable and innovative solutions to create high quality living spaces for communities.”

The project will deliver 484 residential units located at New Providence Wharf, by the river Thames.

Visit: www.balfourbeatty.com

WINNINGBUSINESS

Wärtsilä to design heavy construction vessel for Subsea 7 W

ärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading solutions and services provider, has been contracted to provide the design for a large heavy construction

vessel (HCV). The ship is to be built for Subsea 7 SA, the seabed-to-surface engineering, construction, and services contractor to the offshore energy industry worldwide, by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in South Korea. HHI is one of the world’s largest ship building companies.

Wärtsilä Ship Design’s VS 4285 HCV design will be one of most capable heavy construction vessels in Subsea 7’s fleet of over 40 ships.

The vessel will be deployed globally to meet increasing market demands for executing ever

larger and more complex projects. It is designed for operating efficiently in deep and ultra deep waters and in harsher environments.

The new HCV will be capable of operating on a year round basis. In finalising the design, close cooperation between Hyundai Heavy Industries as builder, Huisman for the crane and vertical laying system, and MAATS as supplier of the carousel, was essential in meeting the requirements set by Subsea 7.

Visit: www.wartsila.com

NCC secures Outokumpu supplies tailor-made concreting stainless steel for Stolt chemical tankers contract for new utokumpu has won a contract to supply contract forms a unique scope of supply within O tailor-made advanced materials for chemical stainless steel industry. It gives the customer suspension bridge tankers. Outokumpu will supply 12,250 tonnes thean optimal solution to reduce lead times as well

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CC has been commissioned to construct sections of the second longest suspension bridge in Norway. NCC’s sections comprise two connecting bridges and two pylons (bridge pillars) made of concrete. The order is worth SEK 739 million and will be registered during the second quarter of 2013.

“This is a project that is ideally suited to NCC, thanks to its excellent specialist expertise in slip casting and concrete designs. We are extremely gratified to have been selected to participate in projects that will contribute to faster travel and thus also to a reduction in CO2 emissions,” says district manager NCC Construction Norway, Tor Helge Nordstrøm. NCC is to construct the two pylons, which will be 170 metres high, and the two connecting bridges, which will extend between the land and the pylons. The work is to be completed in 2017.

Visit: www.ncc.se

of duplex 2205® stainless steel to a Chinese shipyard for five chemical tankers ordered by Stolt Tankers. Stolt Tankers operates one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated fleet of chemicals tankers. The contract also includes an option for additional three vessels.

Once completed, these tankers will be used to transport various liquid chemicals throughout the world. The use of duplex grade in cargo tanks enables reduced weight, excellent corrosion resistance and high strength, all necessary in transporting chemicals in a safe and efficient way.

Outokumpu will supply large-sized plates in tailor-made dimensions. The delivery also includes further added value services such as edge preparation, forming and welding to larger assembly sections.

“Together with Outokumpu’s technical support and training program for the customer, this

Skanska to build bus depot in Gustavsberg, Sweden

The bus depot will be situated in Ekobacken 1, about two kilometres south of central Gustavsberg. It will be dimensioned for 140 buses and will, amongst other things, include a workshop, parking lots and offices.

Project work will start immediately and construction is planned for mid-January 2014. The facility is planned to be completed in the summer of 2016.

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kanska has signed a contract with AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, SL, for constructing a new bus depot in Charlottendal, Gustavsberg, east of Stockholm in Sweden.

The contract is worth SEK 375 M, which will be included in order bookings for Skanska Sverige in the second quarter 2013.

as guarantee the quality with a single point of contact. Our extensive experience and quality reputation with the shipping industry were decisive factors for us to win this deal,” says Leif Rosén, senior vice-president, Special Plate.

The deliveries will start in early 2014 and continue throughout 2015.

Visit: www.outokumpu.com

Skanska Sweden is one of Sweden’s largest construction companies, with operations in building and civil-engineering construction. It has approximately 11,000 employees and revenue in 2012 amounted to approximately SEK 30 billion. In Sweden, Skanska is also active in the development of residential construction and commercial premises.

Visit: www.skanska.com Industry Europe 17

NEWS

Combining strengths

Solvay and INEOS join forces to Funkwerk AG sells Microsyst Systemelectronic GmbH create world-class PVC producer F S olvay and INEOS have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to combine their European chlorvinyls activities in a proposed 50-50 joint venture. The combination would form a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer ranking among the top three worldwide.

The joint venture would have pro-forma net sales of €4.3 billion and REBITDA of €257 million, based on 2012 figures. The combined business would have around 5650 employees in 9 countries and would pool each company’s assets across the entire chlorvinyls chain. This includes PVC, which is the third most-used plastic in the world, caustic soda and chlorine derivatives. RusVinyl, Solvay’s Russian joint venture in chlorvinyls with Sibur, is excluded from the transaction.

“The joint venture will improve the competitiveness of its operations in a very challenging environment regarding feedstock and energy costs in Europe. We are convinced that this is

the right project to secure, for the long term, the development of Solvay’s European chlorvinyls activities, of its employees and its plants,” says Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO of Solvay.

Visit: www.solvay.com

Saab acquires TIKAB

support solutions. Solutions include technical publications and interactive training tools and the acquisition of TIKAB further strengthens Saab’s position in the market.

“With this acquisition, we can offer new and existing customers a wider portfolio of services and a complete range of integrated support solutions. There are clear synergies between TIKAB and Saab’s operations in which we can utilise each other’s expertise to strengthen the competitiveness of our offering to achieve growth,” says Lars-Erik Wige, senior vice-president and head of business area Support and Services.

Visit: www.saabgroup.com

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efence and security company Saab acquires TIKAB, a Swedish technical information provider. The acquisition expands Saab’s service portfolio and means Saab can offer a more complete range of technical services, further strengthening the company’s competitiveness as a provider of support solutions.

Saab’s business area Support and Services has signed an agreement to acquire TIKAB – a company that produces and supplies technical documentation for the civilian and military market.

The Support and Services business area has a strong position in the global market for integrated

Fagerhult acquires I-Valo Oy

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order to further strengthen the Fagerhult Group’s position in the European lighting market as well as adding a complementary product range, Fagerhult has acquired 100% of the shares of I-Valo Oy based in Iittala, Finland.

I-Valo has 60 employees and manufactures lighting fixtures and solutions primarily

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for industrial applications located in very demanding conditions. Example application areas include paper & pulp, mining & minerals & metal and (bio-) energy industries.

“Our strategy is to become a clear leader in the European lighting industry.

With this acquisition we will strengthen our Nordic base while also gaining access to a product leader within the Industrial

unkwerk AG, Kölleda, has sold its 100% share in subsidiary Microsyst Systemelectronic GmbH (Microsyst GmbH), Weiden/Bavaria, in a management buyout to the company’s authorised signatory.

The main segment of Microsyst GmbH, a manufacturer and supplier of display systems for industrial applications, is focused on large-format displays used for processes such as assembly lines in the automobile industry. Generating revenues of around €7 million with a workforce of some 40 staff in 2012, the Bavarian company also specialises in solutions for paperless order picking.

Over the last two years, Funkwerk AG has implemented a comprehensive restructuring programme designed to increase its efficiency and in the process has shed several peripheral sectors which are not considered part of its core business.

As a result, Funkwerk now focuses entirely on its two strategic segments Traffic & Control Communication (TCC) and Security Communication (SC).

Visit: www.funkwerk.com

applications segment. We expect I-Valo to grow within its current attractive niche, but also provide a platform to grow into adjacent lighting segments that also require lighting solutions operating in very demanding conditions - such as the marine & offshore segment,” comments Johan Hjertonsson CEO Fagerhult.

Visit: www.fagerhult.se

LINKINGUP

Kalmar acquires Spanish Mareiport

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almar, part of Cargotec, has acquired total ownership in the Spanish crane refurbishment and maintenance service company Mareiport SA. The acquisition is a strategic step for Kalmar to become a major global crane refurbishment and services provider. Kalmar has been a minority shareholder with 30% ownership in the company since 2007.

Mareiport is a privately owned company established in 1985 in Algeciras, Spain. The company has been providing maintenance services for ports and terminals and refurbishment and heightening services for a large variety of different cranes, including quay cranes, rubber tyred gantry cranes, bulk cranes and large shipyard cranes especially in the Mediterranean area. In 2012, Mareiport’s sales totalled approximately €20 million and it employs approximately 250 people.

“By acquiring full ownership in Mareiport, Kalmar will expand its crane services and refurbishment capabilities especially in southern Europe, Middle East and Africa and together with our

existing competences in central Europe, South East Asia and east coast USA we will be able to respond to the growing customer needs globally,” says Olli Isotalo, president of Kalmar.

Visit: www.kalmarglobal.com

Dassault Systèmes to acquire AprisoTurkey D assault Systèmes has announced its intent to acquire Apriso, a leading provider of manufacturing software solutions, for approximately $205 million. The acquisition of the Long Beach, California-based Apriso enriches the global manufacturing operations management capabilities of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

Apriso expands Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE footprint across multiple industries, such as consumer goods, packaged goods, high tech, life sciences, transportation & mobility, aerospace & defense and industrial equipment.

Apriso will be integrated with and expand Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA application portfolio and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform’s

Ovako purchases operations of BE Group in China

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vako has signed an agreement to acquire the operations of BE Group in China. This accelerates its plan to establish a service centre in China. The objective is to support Ovako’s customers in Asia with specific niche products.

“With the acquisition of BE Group’s

virtual+reality capabilities. Apriso’s solutions synchronise global manufacturing networks, offering real-time visibility and control over the business processes performed by plants and suppliers. These solutions establish a common set of operational standards that can be managed holistically, on a global basis, while continuously improving and meeting local market and customer needs. By integrating these solutions with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, customers will have a comprehensive view of their business, from idea to design, to production and global product availability for consumers worldwide.

Visit: www.3ds.com operations in China we are taking the step of establishing Ovako in Asia. This is an important market for us and for our customers and we hope this will enable us to provide them with even better support. The acquisition is also in line with our strategy to establish Ovako as a premium provider of engineering steel and to broaden our international position in selected niche areas,”

Acquisition to cement Arla’s Russian ambitions

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fter more than five successful years in Russia, Arla has purchased the last 25% of Artis, the joint venture that controls its Russian activities. The former owner, Mike Lyasko, will continue to head Arla’s activities in the Russian market.

The acquisition makes the Russian company a wholly-owned Arla subsidiary. Russia is one of Arla’s three strategic growth markets, and will be delivering a significant share of the company’s growth up to 2017. The goal is a threefold increase in revenue from today’s level of approximately DKK 600 million. “The acquisition cements our ambitions in Russia. Under the agreement from 2007, we have always had the option to acquire the remaining holding, and in view of our success in the Russian market, both parties considered this to be the right time,” says Hans Christensen, senior vice-president in Consumer International with responsibility for Russia and North America.

Artis was a distribution company, headquartered in St. Petersburg, when Arla acquired a 75% stake in 2007 and the name was changed to Arla Foods Artis. Since then, the company has expanded into a full business with 150 employees.

Visit: www.arlafoods.com

says Tom Erixon, president and CEO Ovako.

The purchase price corresponds essentially to the net assets of the operation in China and will have a marginal impact on Ovako’s accounts. The purchase price is estimated at approximately SEK 10 million.

Visit: www.ovako.com

Industry Europe 19

NEWS

MOVINGON

Relocations and expansions across Europe

€40m port expansion at Cherbourg

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Volkswagen builds new plant in south-central China

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onstruction work has begun on the new Volkswagen vehicle plant in Changsha in the province of Hunan, south-central China. The factory is being built in cooperation with the Chinese joint venture ShanghaiVolkswagen (SVW). “We are expanding our capacity in China to four million vehicles per year by 2018 in order to meet demand from our Chinese customers,” says Prof. Dr Jochem Heizmann, member of the board of management of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for China and president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, at the contract signing ceremony and groundbreaking in Changsha.

The new plant in Changsha is scheduled for completion end of 2015 and will manufacture approx. 300,000 vehicles per year. A complete production facility with press shop, body shop, paint shop and final assembly is being built. Shanghai-Volkswagen currently operates vehicle plants in Shanghai and Nanjing as well as Yizheng in the province of Jiangsu. Further factories are being built in Ningbo and in Urumqi under the ‘Go West’ strategy.

Visit: www.volkswagen.com

he Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA) has begun construction at Cherbourg (north-western France) in order to expand part of the harbour area and its capacity: this is in connection with offshore wind-power and other marine-renewable-energy (MRE) developments, in the Channel.

The quay-expansion project, at a total cost of €40 million, will include the construction of a public wharf, together with the redirection of the railway lines and roadways serving the port of Cherbourg.

Undertaken by building specialist Soletanche Bachy, the development project began in February 2013, in line with commitments to prepare for the installation of Alstom’s blade-manufacturing plant and tower-preparation site in the port area, as well as the arrival of EMF’s assembly hub at Cherbourg.

Visit: www.pna-ports.fr

Cargotec opens a new Technology and Competence Centre

Eagle Ottawa operations in Hungary

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agle Ottawa, the world’s largest automotive leather supplier, is expanding its manufacturing facility at Szolnok in Hungary to meet increasing customer demand. The facility will increase in size by 60%. Established in 2001 as a state-of-the-art facility to provide premium leather to automotive manufacturers in Europe, Eagle Ottawa Szolnok will be adding cutting edge roll coating technology to its current equipment.

The facility finishes and cuts automotive leather and offers secondary operations such as custom leather perforation, lamination and embroidery.

“Eagle Ottawa’s vision, ëto be the most respected leather supplier in the worldí, is directly reflected in the high levels of quality and service provided to customers,” said Bryn Kahrl general manager Eagle Ottawa Szolnok.

Visit: www.eagleottowa.com

Construction begins for Wartsila’s new JV production facilities in China

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artsila Yuchai Engine Co. Ltd, the joint venture owned 50/50 by Wartsila and Yuchai Marine Power Co. Ltd., has begun construction of its new production facilities with a groundbreaking ceremony in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province of China. The company will manufacture medium-speed

20 Industry Europe

C

argotec has invested approximately €35 million in the construction of its new Technology and Competence Centre in Tampere, Finland. In the Centre, Cargotec’s Kalmar business area focuses on the development of energy-efficient, safe and intelligent machinery and automation solutions.

“The functioning of ports is simulated in the laboratory and testing range, based on real data provided by our customers. In this respect, the Centre is unique in the world,” stated Mika Vehviläinen, president and CEO of Cargotec.

The Technology and Competence Centre is one of the most energyefficient office buildings in Finland. In March, the Centre was awarded the international BREEAM environmental certificate.

Visit: www.cargotec.com

marine engines to serve the increasingly dominant Chinese shipbuilding industry.

The products to be manufactured by the joint venture company will include the Wartsila 20, Wartsila 26 and Wartsila 32 series of medium speed engines. Production is planned to start in 2014.

“Today marks an important step towards our goal to serve our customers in the

Chinese shipbuilding market in the best possible way. The combination of Wartsila’s industry leading technology and Yuchai’s position as the leading high speed engine manufacturer in China, will provide strong competence in manufacturing, sourcing and market access,” said Bjorn Rosengren, president & CEO of Wartsila.

Visit: www.wartsila.com

NEWS

INDUSTRYPEOPLE Ricardo appoints chief financial officer

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icardo plc has announced the appointment of Ian Gibson as the company’s new chief financial officer. A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Ian Gibson is a highly experienced finance professional with almost 30 years’ commercial experience, most recently as chief financial officer of Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc.

“I am extremely pleased to be able to welcome Ian Gibson to Ricardo plc,” commented Ricardo CEO Dave Shemmans. “Ian brings with him a wealth of global business experience in technology-driven markets.”

Cargotec appoints Mikko Pelkonen as senior vice-president, Human Resources

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UK safety seal manufacturer Roxtec strengthens team B

ury-based safety seal manufacturer Roxtec has appointed Phil Ridley to strengthen its team. The 51-year-old joins the company as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) manager for international projects.

Roxtec UK managing director Graham OíHare welcomed Phil to the company. “Phil is a highly experienced professional and is regarded as an industry expert,” he said. “Roxtec’s UK operation plays a vital role in growing the company worldwide and we are looking to Phil to reinforce our energetic and ambitious growth campaign.”

As EPC manager Phil will liaise with UK-based designers and engineers working on international projects in the oil and gas, power and process industries.

argotec has appointed Mikko Pelkonen (43) as senior vice-president, Human Resources and member of the executive board and reporting to president and CEO Mika Vehviläinen. He will be responsible for corporate human resources strategy and implementation.

Mikko Pelkonen is currently vice-president of Human Resources at Nokia Siemens Networks, Mobile Broadband Business Unit. He has worked in Nokia Siemens Networks and Nokia for 17 years in different global and regional leadership positions and driven transformation of the business in China, the United States and Latin America.

“I am very excited to join Cargotec, whose leading brands and global competence create a unique position for the company to build a highly performing organisation,” says Pelkonen.

New senior VP Marketing, Sales and Customer Service for Volvo Cars

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lain Visser has been appointed to succeed Doug Speck as senior vicepresident, Sales and Customer Service, and will become a member of the Volvo Cars executive management team.

Alain Visser joined Volvo Cars in 2012; his current function is vicepresident, Sales & Marketing. “I am happy to welcome Alain Visser to the executive management of Volvo Cars. Alain has already started a positive change process within the sales organisation aiming at increasing speed and sales by enhancing brand execution,” says Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars.

Sébastien Remy appointed head of EADS Innovation Works

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ébastien Remy, 52, has been appointed head of Innovation Works at EADS. In his new role he will lead the group’s network of research centres with a highly skilled workforce of more than 800 employees worldwide. Sébastien will report directly to Jean Botti, EADS chief technical officer.

“Sébastien’s key mission will be to foster and continue the strong innovation culture we have within EADS. Together with his team, Sébastien will be operating the laboratories that guarantee EADS’ technical innovation potential with a focus on the long-term,” said Jean Botti.

In 2009, Sébastien was nominated head of Airbus’ Engineering Centre of Compe-

tence dealing with propulsion systems, auxiliary power units and aircraft noise, with teams in Madrid, Toulouse and Hamburg. In 2007, Sébastien created the Airbus Alternative Fuels Advisory Group, became head of Alternative Fuels Research Programmes and initiated the activities that led to the A380 flight with alternative fuel in February 2008, a world premiere.

Industry Europe 21

NEWS

TECHNOLOGYSPOTLIGHT

Advances in technology across industry

The Square Rigger turbine sets sail New generation

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he UK’s Tradewind Turbines has launched a revolutionary small wind turbine that incorporates sail technology. The use of sail technology means the Square Rigger captures much higher levels of the available wind energy than turbines of similar size.

The Square Rigger has a number of key design benefits: it is capable of high energy capture for its height (only 10 metres) and swept area; it is effective in low wind speed ranges, becoming operational in just 3 metres per second of wind; it is operational across a broader range of wind speeds than conventional turbine designs.

Particularly quiet in operation, the turbine is environment and wildlife friendly; the company’s first turbine order is to provide power to a medical clinic in a Kenyan game reserve; Tradewind sees huge potential demand, domestically and around the world, for on- and off-grid electricity production and for pumping applications in mining, in agriculture for drainage and irrigation, water provision, treatment, management, aeration, fish farming, desalination, conservation and associated sectors.

Visit: www.tradewindturbines.com

ocean robots

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Revolutionary kiln technology A

kiln piloting revolutionary technology that could cut energy costs for the ceramics industry by up to 30% is set to be unveiled. The equipment could help UK producers reduce carbon emissions at the same time as increasing profits and employment – and experts believe there could also be benefits for sectors that use advanced ceramics, such as healthcare.

Materials technology business Ceram has finished building the kiln at its Stoke-on-Trent headquarters after winning about £2.5 million from the government’s Regional Growth Fund last year. Previous research and laboratory trials found ways of reducing the temperature at which ceramics need to be fired. Now Ceram’s Low Energy Firing Project team has built a 25-metre-long (80 feet) commercialscale kiln to develop the technology further.

Dr David Pearmain, project manager at Ceram, said: “The potential of this work is really exciting.

We think we can reduce firing times as well as temperatures, so there could be very, very significant advantages for the sector. Making ceramics is really energy intensive, and the sector is under a lot of pressure to cut consumption because of costs and environmental regulations.”

Visit: www.ceram.com 22 Industry Europe

he next generation of ocean-going robotic vehicles will be developed by two cuttingedge technology companies from the south coast of England, working with the UK’s National Oceanography Centre.

ASV Ltd of Portchester and MOST (AV) Ltd of Chichester have won contracts under the government-backed Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to develop the vehicles – known generically as Long Endurance Marine Unmanned Surface Vehicles – that will carry out sustained marine research over long periods.

The Technology Strategy Board and Natural Environment Research Council jointly fund the programme with supplementary funding of additional elements from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

When developed, the vehicles, which operate on the sea surface rather than at depth, will be invaluable platforms for gathering scientific data from the ocean over periods of several months.

A wide range of sensors to take measurements beneath and above the ocean surface, together with satellite navigation tools, communications for command and control and for data transfer to shore, are all readily available. The vehicles will demonstrate several feasible technologies to provide the energy necessary for long deployment.

Visit: www.noc.ac.uk

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON...

France Ian Sparks reports from Paris on the contrasting fortunes of France’s aero and auto industries.

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uropean aviation giant Airbus has stolen a march on US rival Boeing by carrying out the maiden test flight of its new A350 – three days before the start of the Paris Air Show this month.

Airbus then swooped low over the crowds at the annual event in Le Bourget – to send out a clear signal to potential customers that their latest long-haul jet is suffering from no similar problems to the American firm’s trouble-prone 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing managed to get its Dreamliner off the ground at the show almost a week after Airbus, desperate to prove the plane, which was grounded after its late delivery in 2011 due to overheating batteries, is now fully safe.

Airbus has already won more than half of the market for medium-haul, singleaisle planes, a position that will be further strengthened by a preliminary agreement with Easyjet for 135 A320s – including 100 of the new A320 neo – for 8.9 billion euros and delivery between 2015 and 2022.

The deal is still dependent on the approval of shareholders, of whom Easyjet founder and principal shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is known to be against the bulk buying of new aircraft. But Easyjet director general Carloyn McCall said: “Finally Airbus offered us the best deal, at a discounted price more significant than our order in 2002. It’s a very good result for Easyjet, our shareholders and our passengers.”

Airbus is now hoping that by positioning its A350 in the long-haul market between the popular Boeing 777 and the 787, it will steal business away from both. The Toulouse-based company also insists the plane will consume six per cent less fuel than the 787 and a quarter less than the 777, which has helped it already secure advance sales with British Airways, Qatar Airways and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific.

Meanwhile Boeing hinted at Le Bourget – the global aviation industry’s largest show –

that it is also set to announce an up-to-date version of its existing 777, with wings made of the same fuel-saving composite material as the Dreamliner.

Boeing’s strategy is to offer customers a wider choice of long-haul airliners, Tom Enders, boss of Airbus parent company EADS, said: “It’s not necessarily the one who has more products who is also better positioned on the market.”

US-based aviation expert Richard Aboulafia told the French media at the show: “Airbus can, and will, argue that Boeing’s ability to execute is questionable and that the A350 is a better bet in terms of timing and availability.”

“Airbus can, and will, argue that Boeing’s ability to execute is questionable and that the A350 is a better bet in terms of timing and availability.”

Auto industry woes Meanwhile, France’s beleaguered car industry looks set to be overtaken by Britain as the second largest in Europe after Germany.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association has reported that last year a total of 1.5 million cars were made in Britain, and has forecast that this figure could rise to two million by 2018, overtaking France’s 1.9 million output. Germany is still the dominant European car manufacturer producing 5.5 million vehicles a year.

Industry experts believe that increasing foreign demand, particularly from China, could see UK plants run by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), BMW and Nissan race ahead of their French rivals. China is now JLR’s biggest market and the company has responded by building a factory there that will make 130,000 cars a year.

An EAMA spokesman said: “All the indications appear to be saying that Britain will be the second (largest car manufacturer) in a few years. It could happen as early as 2018.”

Nissan’s executive vice-president Andy Palmer added: “You could see the UK overtaking France if UK plants are at full capacity, which they are not far off being.”

In France, industry figures show a 12 per cent decline in new car registrations between January and May due to weak European demand, and just under half of all the 24,000 jobs lost in 2012 were in the automobile sector.

Renault also said recently that it plans to axe 7500 jobs across France over the next three years, and PSA Peugeot Citroen has said it must cut 8000 jobs as part of a ‘restructuring project’ that includes plans to close down its oldest plant to the north of Paris. Industry minister Arnaud Montebourg tried to persuade PSA Peugeot to reconsider its plans, but eventually even he admitted that the closure of the plant was ultimately ‘unavoidable’.

The desperation of French car dealers was also revealed in June with a garage in the southern city of Nîmes began offering a buy-one, get-one-free deal, telling customers if they buy a four-wheel drive Hyundai ix35 model for 29,500 euros, they get an i10 hatchback worth 10,000 euros for nothing.

Buyers flocked to the garage and the 12 free cars were all snapped up in a few days.

Car dealer Olivier Mourier said: “We sold more cars in that week than we would in a normal month. The economy in France is flat-lining and most people do not have money to spend on new cars, which are already too expensive. We may have reduced our margins but we still made a small profit and we have gained clients and drawn attention to our dealership.

“It is only a shame that we were not able to make the offer with French-made vehicles, and boost our own country’s industry. n It needs it.”

Industry Europe 23

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON...

Germany Allan Hall reports from Berlin on new thinking about European recovery.

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argaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, once famously said she was not for turning. Now it seems her ‘lite’ version in Europe, Angela Merkel, is poised to do just that.

With the eurozone crisis showing no signs of abating Germany is finally backing down from its mantra of austerity and planning to spend billions to stimulate the ailing economies of southern Europe. It was a move that Mrs Merkel said she would never contemplate, but now she has little choice.

Her own country has largely weathered the effects of the crisis thanks to its export led industries. But hard times abroad will eventually mean fewer customers to sell those goods to. As she in particular – and Germany in general – has been pilloried across the continent for its hard line on austerity, a new mindset is sweeping the chancellery in Berlin. Cynics claim it may not be unrelated to the fact that Mrs Merkel is seeking a third term in office in the general election in the autumn.

Wolfgang Schäuble, her long serving finance minister, broke the news of the new strategy late in May when, after meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Vitor Gaspar, he announced: “We need more investment and more programmes in the eurozone.” This was seen as him, and his boss, greenlighting a spend, spend, spend initiative after so long telling people there was no more money to be had.

“If Germany couldn’t manage to trigger an economic recovery, our success story would not be complete, and the German government is always prepared to help,” he added. It brought something akin to gasps of incredulity in those countries which had been dancing to Berlin’s austerity tune, but also some of relief.

Prominent news magazine Der Spiegel said, “A new way of thinking has recently taken hold in the German capital. In light of record new unemployment figures among 24 Industry Europe

young people, even the intransigent Germans now realise that action is needed. ‘If we don’t act now, we risk losing an entire generation in Southern Europe,’ say people close to Schäuble. Berlin is making an about-face, even though it aims to stick to its current austerity policy. The German government has stressed budget consolidation and structural reform since 2010, when Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy. Berlin has been arguing that this is the only way to instil confidence among investors in the battered debt-ridden countries and help their ailing economies recover.”

With the eurozone crisis showing no signs of abating Germany is finally backing down from its mantra of austerity and planning to spend billions to stimulate the ailing economies of southern Europe.

Merkel and Schäuble are willing to abandon the hitherto ironclad diktats of their current bailout plan by providing direct assistance to select crisis-ridden countries instead of waiting for other countries to join in or for the European Commission to spearhead rescues. This will involve more money from a country that has already spent more than any other in the EU to try to get the sclerotic economies of the southern nations unclogged and functioning once more. “We want to show that we’re not just the world’s best savers,” says a Schäuble confidant, believing that Germans will not begrudge the extra cash if it ultimately results in more marketplaces for German goods. As it stood just a few weeks ago, Germany was in the unenviable position of seeking billions poured into the black hole of Greek, Portugese and Spanish bailouts with precious little to show for it.

Growing pessimism In April a report showed how German exporters were becoming more pessimistic. The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) released the results of a survey showing that companies dependent on exports showed one in eight firms believing business was headed south. “Exports are likely to develop less dynamically in the coming months,” the DIHK said in the report based on survey of 25,000 companies. At the time it was published nine of 17 member states of the common currency zone were in recession, with the zone as a whole shrinking by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Mark Carney, outgoing Bank of Canada governor, who is to become head of the Bank of England on July 1, said in a speech on Europe: “Deep challenges persist in its financial system. Without sustained and significant reforms, a decade of stagnation threatens.”

He added, “Europe can draw lessons from Japan on the dangers of half measures.”

Merkel and Schaüble are no political fools and worry that Germany’s tight-fisted image might be doing as much harm to eurozone recovery hopes as the policies themselves.

Two thirds of German manufacturers sell their wares within the eurozone. One political analyst said: “You only have to look at the numbers to see that they will soon begin to crunch on the wrong side of disastrous. By offering money now to get other economies moving, Germany is in effect preserving its own industries.”

The idea is to lend big sums to Spain which would in turn translate them into low interest loans to domestic businesses. Madrid hopes that the loans, coupled with a direct invest of venture capital of 1.2 billion euros, could translate into 3.2 billion euros of new investment. How well the programme fares with the Spanish will dictate future aid programmes along similar lines to Lisbon and Athens.

It may be late in coming, but for a hard pressed Europe, it is better late than never. n

TAKING TURBOPROP

EFFICIENCY TO A NEW LEVEL ATR is the global leader in the design and manufacture of short-haul regional transport aircraft. Philip Yorke looks at the remarkable success of the company and reports on its strategy for future growth and its plans to launch a larger 90-seat model.

IN

the 32 years since ATR (Avions de Transport Regional) was formed by the merger of France’s Aerospatiale with Aeritalia of Italy, the company has designed and manufactured more than 1030 aircraft. Currently ATR produces two advanced turboprop models: ATR 42 and ATR 72. The design of these aircraft is based upon a high-wing turboprop configuration that optimises efficiency, increases operating flex-

24 Industry Europe

ibility and offers low maintenance, as well as providing an exceptional degree of passenger comfort. The unparalleled success of the ATR range with its state-of-the-art turboprop and navigational technology opens new opportunities for ATR in terms of global sales.

Today ATR is one of the world’s leading aerospace companies and the largest manufacturer of regional aircraft with over 180 operators worldwide. Headquartered in

Toulouse, in southern France, ATR employs over 1100 people across Europe and in 2012 recorded sales of more than USD 1.44 billion.

New generation ATR’s new generation of regional aircraft, the ATR 600 series, which includes both 72 and 42 models, have become the world’s shorthaul aeroplanes of choice. These ultra-modern aircraft feature the world’s most technologically advanced avionics, including a cockpit that was inspired by the latest Airbus A380 technology. This advanced avionics suite results in a significant reduction in pilot stress and workload, as well as offering increased reliabil-

ity and operational efficiency. ATR’s latest 600 series provides outstanding performance at take-off on short runways with increased payloads, which in turn allows airlines to optimise their operations in key regional markets.

Modern energy-efficient LED lighting illuminates the stylish passenger service units (PSUs) on the ATR 600 series and the aircraft’s new seating provides improved comfort and additional legroom for passengers. The new generation’s cabins also benefit from wider overhead bins which are able to house larger roll-bags than any other turboprop aircraft. In addition, the new generation 600 series offers a very quiet cabin thanks to its built-in acoustic

treatment and dynamic vibration absorbers.

This is in addition to offering the advantage of lower emissions and enhanced passenger comfort on board the 600 series.

The ATR 72-600 and 42-600 are the most recently certified aircraft of their passenger categories and both have now entered into service worldwide. This latest generation of regional aircraft from ATR also offers significant economic advantages when compared to other regional turboprops or short-haul jets, the most important being significantly lower fuel consumption and improved ability to operate on shorter runways and routes.

Industry Europe 25

For example, on a typical regional route an ATR 600 series aircraft burns typically 30 per cent less fuel than its main competitors and up to 50 per cent less when compared to an equivalent sized jet.

Emerging markets driving demand The world’s fastest growing economies are driving global demand for more efficient shorthaul air transport. Out of all deliveries made in 2012 almost 65 per cent went to airlines operating in the fast growing markets of Asia, Latin

26 Industry Europe

America and Russia. The success of ATR sales in these regions is the result of a long-term investment strategy and its ability to meet the changing needs of the avionics industry.

Filippo Bagnato, ATR’s chief executive officer said, “Domestic transportation plays an essential role in the development of these emerging markets and we play a significant role in supporting this increase in air traffic.

The mature markets such as Europe and the USA will also bring us many replacement opportunities in the near future. Interestingly,

aircraft leasing companies have also seen strong growth and represented around 18 per cent of our sales over the last few years.

Between them they have purchased more than 50 ATR aircraft to date, proving that we continue to be increasingly attractive to aircraft lessors.

“The future for ATR looks very bright, with a record backlog of more than 200 aeroplanes, which represents three years production. In the years ahead we will be bringing our annual production up to 90 aircraft per annum which

will increase our turnover to over USD 2 billion – that’s four times the size we were in 2005.”

Possibly the most exciting development at ATR currently is that it is considering the launch a 90 seat version of its current 600 series. In the future, ATR expects that about one third of the market for all short-haul regional aircraft will be for 90 seat models.

Continuous programme of innovation Even though the ATR 600 series is now fully certified and in service worldwide, the company has a continuous improvement policy aimed at introducing further advanced navigational aids and approach performance technology to enable the aircraft to be more independent from the ground. As part of this continuous improvement programme, ATR

also strives to further minimise the overall environmental impact of its delivered products, processes and services.

The high-tech, turboprop engines used on ATR’s aircraft ensure that airlines can benefit from their unrivalled fuel efficiency and remarkably low noise levels, as well as from their exceptional environmental performance. With a fleet of more than 900 ATRs in service around the world, the company is also committed to ensuring that it constantly assesses and updates its customer support policy and therefore continues to establish sales training facilities and customer service n centres worldwide.

For further details of STR’s advanced turboprop aircraft visit: www.atraircraft.com

Industry Europe 27

GLOBAL DEFENCE SYSTEMS Saab Dynamics serves the global market with missile and anti-tank systems. Industry Europe reports on a small Swedish company with a long history.

28 Industry Europe

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reviously known as Saab Bofors Dynamics AB, Saab Dynamics is a subsidiary of Saab AB, specialising in missile and anti-tank systems. It also has excellent industrial underwater competence. Main product areas cover torpedoes, ROVs, UUVs and Underwater Data Acquisition Platforms.

Its headquarters and main operational centre is at Karlskoga, 240km west of Stockholm, and there are other important bases at Linköping and Eskilstuna. It currently employs nearly 1500 people.

Its corporate heritage has roots in Bofors, founded in 1646 to make cannon, and Saab’s aviation interests, which started around 1937. In 1999, Saab purchased the Celsius group, the parent group of Bofors.

The company has two core businesses: complete missile solutions and short-range support weapons.

The company is prime contractor for the Swedish defence forces. Although relatively small when compared to the competition, Saab Dynamics is also a significant player on the international market, both as a

system supplier and as a partner. Exports account for more than 80 per cent of the company’s order book.

Recent contract In January 2013 Saab signed a contract for the delivery of autonomous underwater vehicle systems, AUV62, in training configuration. The order has a total value of SEK 269 million and comprises supply and long term maintenance and support of AUV62, the latest version of the advanced training target for Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) training.

“We are very proud of the confidence our customers place in the AUV62 system and are satisfied to have been able to secure this order for the system.” says Görgen Johansson, senior vice-president and head of Business Area Dynamics.

The industry’s nature is such that depending on circumstances concerning the product and customer, information regarding the customer will not be announced.

The AUV62 is an advanced and highly modern and capable system for cost-efficient training of a navy’s ASW forces. The AUV62

is an artificial acoustic target that mimics a submarine in a way that is compatible with any torpedo and sonar system on the market today. The AUV62 system fully replaces the use of a submarine in the role as a manoeuvring training target. With the AUV62, Saab offers a state-of-the-art training capability for demanding customers investing in the future.

System deliveries will take place during 2014 and 2015, followed by long-term maintenance and support of the systems.

Dividing costs As in many other areas of defence development costs for guided weapons have risen enormously. Few countries outside the USA feel they can afford to develop advanced missiles on their own. This has caused many countries, including Sweden, to participate in cross-border missile development projects.

“It’s a very big portion of our spending,” says a company spokesperson. “But it’s tricky to say just how much. While we have our own budget for development, some is taken on by our subcontractors and partners.

Industry Europe 29

Stigma is one of the leading companies for plastic and rubber injection moulding.

• Over 25 years experience • Over 25 IM machines • Clamping force 60 - 1630 T • 2K moulding, 3K moulding, nitrogen gas assisted moulding • Various complaxity assemblies • Experienced professional staff • EN ISO 9001:2008, EN ISO 14001:2004, ISO TS 16949:2009 • Customers - well known companies and brands including SSAB group More information available on www.stigma.lt

J.Janonio 30b, Panevéžys, LT-35101, Lithuania Phone: 370 45 508553 Fax: 370 45 508554 E-mail: info@stigma.lt www.stigma.lt

30 Industry Europe

In addition to meeting the high costs of development, another reason for international collaboration is to form credible competition to the US defence industry.

Lean and light A high proportion of the company’s production is contracted out, in many cases to factories and workshops that Saab previously owned but has since sold off.

“Our strategy since the formation of Saab Dynamics has been to outsource our production facilities. The previous company Bofors produced everything. We had our own steel production at one end of the factory and at the other end we produced guns and ammunition.

“But that cost money. We had very modern, paint workshops, electronic and mechanical workshops, with a lot of investment tied up in state-of-the-art machinery and equipment. But with the limited size of our orders they were underutilised, by up to 70 per cent.

“So, we sold them to companies working on the commercial civil market. Because their markets were less specialised they could secure jobs and increase the number of employees, while we were no longer

lumbered with big capital investments in a volatile market.

“The only production we now have is the final assembly and tests. No components, no subsystems are produced within the company. It’s subcontractors all the way.”

While reliance on subcontractors gives Saab Dynamics more flexibility, it does mean the company has to pay close attention to quality control and compliance monitoring.

“Our purchasing department has become more and more vital for the company in that they are very, very professional in buying,” says the company spokesperson. “In the R&D section they must be very specific in terms of handing over all the specifications for what should be bought quality-wise, and everything must be very well-specified and controlled. During the years that we have been active that the purchasing department is much more important today than it used to be.”

Changing world The future of Saab Dynamics is rooted in the sea changes that have affected the defence industry in the past decades. “During the cold war, Sweden had a powerful domestic defence industry. We designed

and produced our own submarines, fighter aircraft and missile systems and most of the equipment for the forces in Sweden was produced within Sweden.

“Now the size of our army has shrunk by more than 90 per cent and defence contracts have reduced proportionately.

Where once we could rely on a strong domestic market and could double that income through exports, now 85 per cent of our sales comes from the export market and just 15 per cent from our own country. So that’s the sales pattern for the future.”

The nature of the product has changed, too. For example, sales of the more advanced tank killers and anti-tank missile systems have fallen since the collapse of the Soviet threat. On the other hand, the company sells more of the light anti-tank systems, which are more appropriate to smaller, highly mobile campaigns such as those in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another trend which is very obvious now is internationalisation of the market. Sweden will never again buy a major system just for Sweden.

To exploit these changes, Saab Dynamics has established a strong presence in n markets outside Europe.

Industry Europe 31

LEADING THE REVOLUTION IN ‘CLEANTECH’ APPLICATIONS

Cencorp is a global technology leader in the field of laser and industrial automation solutions. Philip Yorke talked to Iikka Savisalo, the company’s CEO, about its transition from an automation systems solutions provider, to a broader based company that provides ‘cleantech’ applications. The report also includes details of the company’s acquisition of the leading photovoltaic company, Sunweb Solar.

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encorp Corporation was founded in 1978 and is a leading provider of laser and industrial automation solutions. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Finnish Savcor Group, which is listed on the Helsinki and Australian stock exchanges.

Savcor is a global supplier of technology involved in the maintenance of infrastructure, buildings, marine structures and waste water, as well as having industrial assets in the process industries, including mining, power and oil and gas.

Today Cencorp’s corporate offices are located in Mikkeli, Finland, with sales and manufacturing facilities in Finland, China, North America, France and Estonia. The company also has regional sales and service centres in North America, China and Europe.

Today as well as being a technology leader in the supply of laser and industrial automation solutions, Cencorp also 32 Industry Europe

produces special components for mobile phones, cameras, laptop computers and other electronic devices.

Transition offers new ‘cleantech’ solutions Cencorp is known worldwide as a company that specialises in production automation systems and special components for a diverse range of manufacturing and electronics industries. However, in a strategic move to optimise its strengths in laser and automation technology, it is today in transition to become a company that also provides advanced ‘cleantech’ applications. The company’s main objective is to achieve a strong market position as a leading provider of high-quality photovoltaic modules that are locally produced by leveraging its laser and automation technology.

To accelerate this change, in January this year, Cencorp and Sunweb Energy Hold-

ing BV (Sunweb Solar) of the Netherlands, completed a transaction in which Cencorp acquired Sunweb’s photovoltaic module business and related pilot production lines, as well as its trademarks and other intellectual property rights. Cencorp’s goal is to build its own dedicated photovoltaic module factory in Mikkeli, Finland, based upon its well-proven engineering and automation know-how. This will result in the most advanced and efficient photovoltaic production plant in the world, taking Cencorp to the forefront of technology leaders in its field. At the time of going to press, Cencorp has already received its first batch of orders for its advanced photovoltaic modules and anticipates sales in the first year to exceed €50 million.

Mr Savisalo said, “We have taken this strategic step to leap-frog the competition and we will be redesigning everything inhouse, so we will end up with a fully auto-

mated, highly efficient facility that will be capable of producing more than 500,000 units per year. Our advanced automation systems play a crucial role in offering big improvements in quality and consistency on which we can build world-beating modules for our clients.

“These are designer-led products which will make them the most desirable on the market. We will be producing these stateof-the-art photovoltaic modules in Finland because, with the high levels of automation involved, labour costs are no longer an issue. Our products can all be produced without the need for manual labour. Furthermore, unlike most of our competitors, our products are lead-free, making them even more attractive to the commercial market.

“We also do the complete technology transfer to our local partners, so that our high-quality modules can be produced close to the locations of our global clients.

We have ambitious targets and anticipate a turnover for this sector of more than €200 million by the year 2016. As far as the future is concerned, we will continue to see strong

organic growth, but we will keep our eyes open for the right acquisitions should they present themselves.”

Delivering speed, quality and cost efficiency Cencorp currently operates three distinct centres of excellence: automation applications, laser applications and special components. In its automation applications division, Cencorp’s mission is to offer highperformance automation with consistent quality that benefits its customers through improved efficiency and cost-reduction.

Today, Cencorp can offer solutions that include the accomplishment of tasks that are impossible to perform manually to meet challenging client specifications. These challenges arise as products continue to provide more functionality whilst their size continues to decrease. Therefore they become too small to produce without the implementation of high-precision automation technology.

Cencorp’s advanced automation technology offers customers greater assembly reliability, labour savings, assembly yield improvements

and savings in floor space as well as the optimisation of production processes.

In laser applications too, Cencorp’s workstations are designed to meet the specific needs of each customer. These high-tech workstations are available as standard units or as custom-built designs, and provide laser marking, laser cutting and laser welding, as well as laser drilling and laser micromachining functions.

At Cencorp’s component production plants in Beijing and Guangzhou the company’s production technologies are designed for high-volume runs to meet the needs of the expanding consumer electronics industry.

Cencorp works with the world’s leading brand owners and OEM manufacturing companies, to offer them EMI shielding, RFD and flexible antennas, as well as a diverse range of product decorations. Mr Savisalo added, “Currently we are serving more than 2000 active customers, mainly in the electronics manufacturing sector, and these include the giants of the consumer electronics industry, companies such as Nokia n and Ericsson.”

For further details of Cencorp’s high-tech products and services visit: www.cencorp.com

Industry Europe 33

UNPARALLELED SERVICE IN AUTOMATION INSTALLATION TECHNOLOGY Insta Automation is a market leader in automation technology services. Philip Yorke spoke to Jarno Pitkanen, the company’s director for installation, about its diverse range of high-tech services and its move into new markets.

34 Industry Europe

I

nsta Automation was founded in Tampere

by Finn Mattsson in 1960 and after over 50 years of successful trading remains an independent, family-owned business. The company began by offering dedicated industrial automation services and the installation of instrumentation equipment. Insta Automation was able to build upon its early successes and has seen consistent growth since, serving customers involved in business sectors such as automation engineering, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

The Insta Group enhances the performance of its customers’ operations and through its two core business units, Defence and Security Technology (Insta DefSec) and Industrial Automation Technology (Insta Automation) provides a wide range of technological services. The company’s customers represent a broad

variety of fields including the power industry, the defence industry, municipal waterworks, the process industries, pulp and paper industries, as well as public transportation and material handling industries. Today this fast-growing, high-tech business employs over 700 people and in 2012 recorded sales of more than €80 million.

Multi-faceted core competences Insta Automation’s leading position in the market is based upon the core strengths it has developed through many years of automation technology experience. The company’s various teams of professionals have all acquired strong competences in a wide range of disciplines relating to manufacturing plants, production processes and systems. Insta Automation’s approach is always client-driven, professional and flexible, and the company has an enviable

track record for completing its projects on time and within budget.

Insta Automation provides services throughout the automation investment lifecycle which includes automation consulting, engineering, manufacture, installation commissioning, maintenance and modernisation. The company’s broad range of installation services embraces everything from electrification installations, small pipe installations and installation supervision, to control devices and field cabinets.

Mr Pitkanen said, “As an independent family-owned business we are different in many ways from our larger competitors and are known in Finland and the Nordic regions for our dedicated, personal and flexible approach, as well as for our reliability and high-quality services. We are not the cheapest provider but you know with us that you will have a topquality result. This year more than 50 per cent Industry Europe 35

of the income from our installation division will come from countries outside Finland. We have just completed some major installations in the UK and the Netherlands. In addition, we have recently placed 15 of our fitters in Uruguay to install instrumentation in a major new pulp mill being constructed there.

“Many of our customers are global operators and include such industrial giants as Metso, Andritz and Foster Wheeler. Despite the economic slowdown we are seeing a different picture here at Insta and we remain

36 Industry Europe

extremely busy. This is endorsed by our need to move into larger premises which are currently under construction at our head office in Tampere, Finland.

Mr Pitkanen added, “Looking to the future we expect to continue to grow organically and are also looking at new areas of operation, such as the nuclear power industry.

However, the main challenge we face is the recruitment of highly skilled and qualified engineers and fitters. For every 500 applicants we see, we are lucky to find 15–20

who meet our very stringent qualifications.

Maintaining the highest standards for our customers and the protection of our reputation is of paramount importance to us.”

Versatile expertise and turnkey services Insta Automation’s engineering unit offers versatile expertise in automation and electrical engineering, as well as in project management. The company provides flexible services that range from conceptual engineering to start-ups and from small

sub-projects to large-scale, comprehensive investments and major installation programmes. Insta Automation’s strengths are based upon its technological and process know-how which has been gained through extensive experience across the board, and the deployment of automation technology that is best suited to each individual project.

Furthermore, Insta Automation is providing electrification and instrumentation installations to a bio-oil production plant at Fortum’s Joensuu power plant, and in February this year it signed yet another major new contract for the delivery of instrumentation installations for a major new waste-to-energy power plant at Vantaa Langmossebergen in Finland. This project

includes instrumentation installations, fieldbox supply and trunk bus cabling installations. Insta’s part of the installation works commences in June 2013 and completion is n scheduled for January 2014.

For further details of Insta Automation’s advanced engineering services visit: www.insta.fi

Industry Europe 37

Adiator is a technology leader in the development and production of tailor-made electromechanical solutions. Philip Yorke spoke to Rikard Rockhammar, the company’s managing director, about its unique products, its innovative human-interface solutions and itsmove into new market sectors.

DELIVERING INNOVATIVE, COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS S

tockholm-based Adiator is part of the well-known Addtech Group of Sweden which comprises of more than 100 specialist engineering companies. As part of the financially strong Addtech Group, Adiator benefits not only from its liquidity but also from its broad engineering expertise, and works within the goals set by its parent company. Adiator is a highly specialised company whose core products include customised push-button solutions, control panels, sensors and human interface components mainly for the automotive and construction industries.

38 Industry Europe

This innovative company has a business model which optimises manufacturing efficiency and cost-effectiveness through a proven network of production units which are designed to enable it to achieve maximum flexibility. In addition, this gives the company a unique ability to handle relatively small production volumes, which in turn bridges a gap in both of its core markets.

Adiator is well respected within the industry and complies with a number of key industrial certifications, such as ISO/TS 16949 (automotive), ISO9001 (management) and ISO14001 (environment) and takes full

responsibility for the entire lifecycle of a product from feasibility and design, through to production, delivery and after-sales service.

In line with its customer’s own work parameters, the company subscribes to the latest ‘lean’ production protocols where cost-effectiveness and efficiency enable it to deliver its products on time and within budget.

Better by design Another major advantage that helps to differentiate Adiator from its competitors is the importance that it places on the ability of its innovative design teams, whose main task is

Industry Europe 39

www.jfv.dk

WHO WE ARE Jaegerspris Finmekanisk is a Danish family business that has been engineering and manufacturing small precision mechanic components for more than 40 years. Our focus is mainly on the needs of pharmaceutical, Electronic and offshore clients.

WHAT WE DO We take charge of the entire process and provide: • • • • • •

Preparing the construction data for production.

Climate controlled precision measurement.

CNC turning and milling.

Laser welding and laser engraving.

Surface- and heat treatment.

Assembly and completion of product lines from 1 to 500.000 units p.a.

• Certifiable management and control according to ISO 9001:2008 standards.

40 Industry Europe

to fully understand its customers’ needs. Its ability to meet tough requirements and delivery schedules in volumes that are uneconomic for the bigger companies, makes Adiator unique. Thanks to its extensive expertise and experience coupled with its good relationships with key suppliers of standard components, Adiator can develop the most cost-effective turnkey solutions for its clients.

Mr Rockhammar said, “We pride ourselves on our ability to come up with innovative, creative ideas that offer optimal solutions for our customers. We work with everything within HMI (human machine interface) and design and manufacture a diverse range of products and solutions from sensors and switches to heating and cooling controls. We market products under licence, as well as our own, and we are seeing strong growth in areas such as sensors, HMI and more recently in the design of heating and cooling solutions. All our R&D is conducted in-house and we have considerable resources at our disposal considering

the size of our company, which currently has a turnover approaching €12 million.

“Today we supply some very big automotive brands such as Scania and Volvo, who we work with in three key areas: truck, bus and the construction sector. Unlike the big players, we are only interested in small to medium-size production runs of between 2000 and 100,000 pieces and have the advantage of being a small player in a big construction and automotive world.

Therefore we can offer a very flexible, more personal and dedicated service with a wider range of options. More and more companies are trying to copy our business model but it takes many years to amass the skill-sets that we have acquired over many years.”

Mr Rockhammar added, “Our in-house experts all operate as project managers, and work closely with our strategic partners so we can always guarantee the highest level of competence for any individual project. A significant growth area for us is sensors where we can offer in-depth expertise and a wide range

of standard products. With these we can add value solutions in low volumes. For example, we might have a client with a situation where they want to change an aspect of a sensor’s function in the human interface and they would not be interested in making a unique part for such a low volume. Here we can be the processing step in between, by adding a communication module between the sensor and a vehicle’s ECU. In fact, in some cases we have also developed solutions with several sensors with just one common interface.”

Flexible, dedicated production process Adiator has perfected a design and production flow process that optimises its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The company operates two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, one in Solvesborg, Sweden, and another in Riga, Latvia. This arrangement means that at the beginning of a project, Adiator can establish a production line in Solvesborg and then when it is optimised, move it to Riga for even more cost-effective production. Often engineers from Riga come to Sweden to work and familiarise themselves with the project and receive training on the production line prior to starting full scale production in Riga.

There are on going projects at all times in Solvesborg, but for larger volumes it makes more economic sense to move larger scale production to Latvia. This kind of production flexibility is uncommon in the automotive industry and rarely seen in the construction industry either, which makes Adiator a company that is matched in price and innovation by very few. n For further information about Adiator’s innovative products and services visit: www.adiator.com

Industry Europe 41

42 Industry Europe

CONSTANT GROWTH BorgWarner is a global leading company in powertrain solutions with a focus on developing leading powertrain technologies that improve fuel economy, emissions and performance.

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he American BorgWarner group is a technology leader in the field of turbocharging, and today it has 59 locations in 19 countries. The company sets high standards in regards to performance, smooth running, reliability and durability.

It has established sites in Mexico, China, South Korea, Poland and Germany in addition to the Hungarian site in Oroszlány. The German manufacturing site in Kirchheimbolanden is the European headquarters.

In 2011, BorgWarner acquired the Traction Systems division of Haldex Group – a leading

provider of innovative products for the global vehicle industry headquartered in Stockholm.

This has accelerated the group’s growth in the global all-wheel drive (AWD) market as it continues to shift towards front-wheel drive (FWD) based vehicles. This has added industry-leading FWD/AWD technologies, with a strong European customer base, to BorgWarner’s existing portfolio of front- and rear-wheel drive based products. This means that the group can now provide global customers with a broader range of AWD solutions to meet their vehicle needs.

Traction Systems produces electronically controlled FWD or AWD systems for cars.

The fact that these systems are controllable means that they can better interact with other subsystems in the car. The system software can be customised to meet each carmaker’s particular wishes in terms of driving characteristics and traction.

Growth in Hungary BorgWarner turbochargers are made for cars as well as for light trucks and commercial vehicles. The Hungarian produc-

Industry Europe 43

tion facility was built in 2001. The factory, located in Oroszlány, was initially built to serve the Audi factory in Hungary. At first it was only a site to assemble the turbochargers, but soon they began to manufacture and assemble the products. The company has seen dynamic development ever since, and has doubled its turnover every year.

Parallel to its increasing turnover, the capacity of the production site has also continuously grown, requiring greater investment in infrastructure. Most recently was in November 2007 when a new 4000m2 production hall opened, increasing the company’s total area to 13,386m2.

Initially BorgWarner only manufactured turbo systems for passenger cars in its Oroszlány plant.The company’s largest client is still Audi but its client base is expanding and

44 Industry Europe

now includes other prestigious car manufacturers including Renault, Fiat, VW, BMW, GM/Opel and Volvo.

The demand for cars with turbochargers is on the rise because of their reduced carbon dioxide emission and increased performance. Therefore it is not surprising that whilst the growth of the global automotive sector was on average 3 per cent in the last decade, BorgWarner achieved five times greater growth in the same period. The company will continuously improve its product range with newly developed, improved products whilst maintaining high quality.

Predominantly the company is aiming to maintain its lean concept whilst developing its current site. For example, the assembly equipment will be implemented in one direction, whilst the factory will aim to take full advantage of its existing equipment and bring in changes that will increase the efficiency of the production.

“We would like to manage our operation based on a concept that decisions are made at the lowest possible levels, which will increase the quality of our products and improve our customer service,” he reveals.

“This is quite a serious investment, which is not put into bricks and iron but to our n human resources.”

Lean management Besides significant technological investments BorgWarner puts great emphasis on training its human resources, using a new and unique training method. “In order to maintain our competence we have to continue to produce market-leading products, and this requires excellent engineering staff that speak many foreign languages,” says a company representative from the Hungarian site.

Industry Europe 45

DELIVERING THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED VALVE

TECHNOLOGY

VTI Ventil Technik is a global technology leader in the design and manufacture of industrial valves. Philip Yorke talked to Holger Rohrer, the company’s new managing director, about the company’s latest innovative product developments, its recent restructuring and its move into new markets.

46 Industry Europe

V

TI (Ventil Technik International) was founded in Menden, Germany in 1853 and began by producing semi-finished goods in copper and copper alloys. After a long period of steady growth the company developed its first valves for use with technical gas cylinders and fire extinguishers in 1946. During the past two decades the company has managed to gain new valve businesses which enabled it to become a major global player. However, it was not until 2006 that it moved into what was to become one of its biggest business sectors:

the automotive market. Today VTI exports its products worldwide with its key markets being Europe, the Far East and the USA.

Setting new standards VTI has always put technology and innovation at the centre of its business activities and matches its core valve competences with the highest standards of product engineering. The company’s clear focus on R&D has kept VTI at the forefront of the industry by combining creative engineering with lean production methods and dedicated cus-

tomer services. This strong technical focus and commitment to innovative technology has always been precisely targeted to the individual needs of its customers.

Naturally, fulfilling its legal production obligations is a standard practice for VTI. However, exceeding these minimum requirements for operational safety and quality is common practice and forms part of the company’s value-added offering to its customers. VTI therefore sets its own high standards by carrying out extensive, additional test procedures to ensure that its

Industry Europe 47

customers can expect the highest levels of safety, reliability and precise performance.

The company’s ongoing investment in R&D and the regular launch of new products and advanced technology production processes continues to set new standards within the valve industry.

Mr Rohrer said, “Our main markets are the breathing air, automotive, medical and fire sectors, and we have improved our product offerings in all these key areas.

We are the clear technology leaders in our field and market leaders in many countries including Germany, the UK and South Korea. We develop our valve technology at our centre of excellence in Germany where we are developing lighter, smaller and more eco-friendly products and production methods. We are also using better materials that are both more efficient and more cost effective. Our major restructuring in 2012 has meant a change from centralised organisation to more flexible matrix management system that is clearly focused on our individual market needs. This in turn improves communications across the spectrum of our various business activities.

Mr Rohrer added, “We are looking to expand our global reach in the next few years and we see major opportunities not only in the US market but also in South America, in countries such as Brazil, Peru and Bolivia where we will be providing new products for CNG buses and trucks. We will also shortly be opening a new sales office in the USA and this will be followed

48 Industry Europe

by others in South America in due course.

We are continuing to grow with our customers and will be continuing to develop new innovative products in close partnership with them.”

Five dedicated business units VTI operates five distinct business units: AIRcontrol, Automotive, FIREcontrol, MEDcontrol and TECHcontrol. The major business application areas are health and safety, automotive, medical, shipbuilding, fire extinguishing and technical gases. Each of VTI’s autonomous divisions is responsible for its own product development and investment in new plant and technology. In 2012 the company invested several million euros across the board and this will increase in 2013. This level of investment is projected to continue until 2015 when further evaluation will be made. Much of this investment will be focused on new product development and business development in VTI’s planned new markets.

In the automotive sector the company specialises in valves, pressure regulators and safety devices. These are designed for use in CNG powered passenger cars, trucks, busses and stationary CNG tanks, as well as for CNG and hydrogen applications. All VTI products are approved according to ECE R1i, ISO 15500, ANSI NGV2, TPED, DIN ISO 10297, as well as KGSC and CCoE certifications.

VTI also provides reliable technology solutions to meet the increasing demand

for medical gases in hospitals, medical practices, emergency and rescue operations and Homecare institutions. All these products are approved to meet and exceed all existing directives and certification standards relating to the medical industries.

FIREcontrol is another major market sector that VTI has been pioneering since the company developed its first valve technology back in 1946. The key purpose of these products is to protect life and limb, as well as buildings, vehicles and other assets against damage by fire. VTI’s high quality products are used in fire extinguishing and fire suppression systems throughout the world.

Breathing apparatus and personal protective equipment is another specialised market sector where VTI has developed leading technology products. These are designed for use in such areas as mining and other businesses that deal with high pressure equipment for breathing protection.

The company’s fifth business unit, the TECHcontrol division is responsible for products fitted to compressed gas cylinders, containers and drums and all these products have been developed in close cooperation with clients. What’s more, all VTI’s high-tech products are designed for long lifetime operation and operating times as well as for offering high security standards and ease of operation. n For further details of VTI’s high-tech products and services visit: www.vti.de

PREFERRED PARTNER Integrated design and engineering group Cimtas Pipe Fabrication & Trading Ltd Co. is the preferred supplier for a wide range of demanding construction projects worldwide. With blue chip clients and a workforce of highly skilled and dedicated experts, Cimtas has maintained its upward trend throughout the economic downturn.

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trategically located in Gemlik, Turkey, just three kilometres from two deep international seaports, construction corporation Cimtas Pipe Fabrication & Trading Ltd Co. operates from a 24,000m2 state-of-the-art production facility. With the ability to deliver demanding projects on time and on budget, Cimtas provides design and engineering, procurement fabrication and cleaning services for the fabrication of power process and OEM piping systems.

Incorporated in 2002, Cimtas Pipe is an integral element of the Cimtas Group, a collection of complementary companies that are bound by the same mission, vision and values. A company representative for Cimtas Pipe explained to Industry Europe how these core beliefs underpin the continued success of the group.

“We share the same business information and passion for quality across the group, which enables us to build the most effective project teams and performance-based solutions for each and every customer. Our mission is to deliver high quality engineering, procurement, welded fabrication, assembly and installation services safely, on time and at the least total cost to the customer.

We’ve taken great care to address every important issue in this mission and we believe that it illustrates the extensive competencies and commitment to success that is at the very heart of Cimtas.”

The few years since 2002 have seen a number of developments at Cimtas Pipe, including the expansion of both its procurement team and sourcing capabilities, with the impact of the global financial crisis bringing

about the unavoidable cancellation of some OG&C (oil, gas and chemicals) and power projects worldwide. Thankfully, the company’s activities in China, particularly by supporting its ability to remain cost competitive, have allowed Cimtas Pipe to stabilise during the downturn.

Building on investments During its initial development years, Cimtas Pipe focused on Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. The company continues to aim to make the most of the vast investments in the GCC, but is aware that the region also presents tough competition. Mr Berkel continued, “We are pleased to see that our domestic Turkish market is coming back with new energy investments which represent interesting opportunities for us.”

Industry Europe 49

Cimtas mostly serves the OG&C and power sectors, delivering a fully rounded service through the Cimtas Group, with extensive technological resources available to ensure the timely success of each project. The company’s vast know-how in welding and heat treatment technologies spans its pipe fabrication capacity of 2000 tons each month, with its recent investment in induction bending technology adding another string to its bow.

The Cimtas Pipe list of completed projects in recent years includes globally recognised names, with the Walsum coal-fired power plant for Hitachi Europe, a Port Arthur crude expansion project in Texas for Shell and four separate

projects for the Cairo Electric Production Company. Major customers include Alstom, with whom Cimtas completed the Grain power plant and Bechtel, for the Angola LNG (liquefied natural gas) project.

Power of shared values The synergy of the group is also evident in the geographical advantages of executing these fabrication projects as the Cimtas Group has a total of four fabrication shops, three in Gemlik and one in China. Cimtas Ningbo is a fully owned subsidiary of Cimtas and fabricates power and process pipe spools at its port location just 30 minutes south of Shanghai.

As Cimtas looks towards a future that continues to harness the capabilities of high-quality engineering on time and at the least total cost to the customer, the company is considering growth through both organic expansion in its target markets and synergic acquisitions in developed markets.

A particular target sector is the nuclear power plant project arena and related supply. The company spokesperson pointed out, “We are proud to be a preferred solution provider in the energy market and will continue to satisfy our customers through continuous improvements in our extensive n and efficient integrated services.”

Industry Europe 51

52 Industry Europe

OPENING DOORS

TO NEW MARKETS Netherlands-based Royal Boon Edam is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of revolving door systems and access technologies. With an emphasis on constant innovation, to remain ahead of its competitors, the company has also been further expanding its global presence.

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oyal Boon Edam was founded in 1873 as a small carpentry shop in Amsterdam. Over the years, it prospered, and in 1970 the family business moved its headquarters to larger premises in Edam. In 2004 it was granted the right to use the title ‘Royal’ Boon Edam, after more than 130 years of business and over 100 years of revolving door production. Today it employs over 900 people and has a network of subsidiaries and distributors in over 60 countries worldwide. It has also expanded its manufacturing capabilities considerably since its small beginnings: it now has plants in the Netherlands, the USA and China.

Today the company’s core business is focused on door systems, security access and advanced door care. Within these areas it can offer clients a broad portfolio of products and services to meet all their needs. It is continu-

ously developing and improving upon its technologies, with the stated belief that ‘innovation must be a continuous process’.

Range of products Boon Edam’s door systems include manual revolving doors, automatic revolving doors and special-purpose doors for unusual or difficult applications, such as curved sliding doors or its Flowside line which combines revolving and sliding door technologies to allow two streams of people to pass through a junction point without merging. Its range of security access products includes security doors and portals, turnstiles, pedestrian security lanes and access gates. Finally, its advanced door care service encompasses service and maintenance, retrofits and upgrades – all carried out by its teams of professional engineers.

In February last year, Boon Edam unveiled its latest product – the Energy Generating Revolving Door. The NRG+2 Tourniket combines revolving door technology with an energy generating concept which has enabled the company to create the ultimate ‘green’ entrance – a product that not only saves energy but can also actually generate it. The first model in this line was introduced in 2008, but this latest upgrade features a new energy generating system with up to 50 per cent higher power output, progressive speed control, improved feedback indicators, flexibility in design and the ability to also connect solar power.

At Passenger Terminal Expo, the leading international airport terminal conference and exhibition, Boon Edam took the opportunity to introduce its latest innovations in self-boarding technologies.

These included facial recognition, passport reading, NFC (near field communication) technology, and 2D barcode reading.

The company has also been involved in some fairly high-profile projects over the past couple of years. For example, in November 2011 it completed the installation of a 10m revolving door at Solna Shopping Centre in Stockholm. The door, which is based on Boon Edam’s Tournex High Capacity Revolving Door, is noteworthy for being the tallest revolving

door installed to date. The Tournex revolving door is capable of handling a huge number of visitors passing through each day. Moreover, the ‘always open, always closed’ principle of the door saves energy on heating or cooling.

As can be seen from the above, the environmental concerns play an important part in the company’s product development and overall activities. There are many examples of how they put their core values into practice and this can also be seen in the products,s that

are emerging from the company, such as their zirconium-coated revolving doors. This hightech coating is so environmentally friendly that any waste products can be disposed of after simple pH testing.

Expanding global presence Future growth for Boon Edam is likely to be organic. Already well-established in Europe, the company is also continuing to strengthen its presence further afield.

In August 2011 it announced the expansion of its subsidiary network to include a sales and service subsidiary based in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, to cover the entire South East Asian region.

Lourens Beijer, Boon Edam’s chief commercial officer, commented at the time on the reasoning behind this development: “South East Asia is an important region for Boon Edam with a growing security market and strong economy, offering truly great potential. Boon Edam South East Asia is our 16th sales subsidiary company and represents an important step forward in our plans for organic growth.”

In addition to this region, the company is also seeking to broaden its customer base in South America. It took a step further in this direction in June last year when it announced the launch of a new website for Latin America – www.boonedam.com/LatinAmerica. This new Spanish language website is aimed at the up-and-coming markets in Latin America.

The latest stage in Boon Edam’s expansion strategy has seen it take steps to grow its presence in the Russian market.

The company has been present in Russia since 2007 but in November last year it moved to a new larger premises to meet growing demand from this market. n

STRONG FOUNDATIONS Market-leading civil engineering contractor Cofra BV specialises in designing and installing ground improvement solutions. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the head of sales, Paul van den Horn, to learn more about the company and its latest developments.

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ith its headquarters in Amsterdam and sales offices in Stockholm, Singapore and Bratislava, civil engineering contractor Cofra BV has a solid presence across a number of interesting markets.

Known as an innovative contractor, Cofra BV specialises in designing and installing ground improvement solutions and liner construction projects. Head of sales, Paul van den Horn, told Industry Europe how these projects utilise the capabilities of Cofra’s teams. He said, “Our

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projects are primarily concerned with making the ground stronger for localised infrastructure or impending large-scale development. So it may be that a big shopping centre or airport development is being built on land that requires some additional strength to withstand the long-term settlement demands that the project will create. Cofra is called in to offer various soil improving techniques, vertical drains and other sediment acceleration techniques. We have a broad spectrum of techniques we can offer

to make sure that the soil is able to carry the loads that will come.” The company’s ownership structure allows it to take advantage of the excellent experience and opportunities that being part of a large global group presents.

Mr van den Horn added, “Cofra BV is part of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, a major, internationally operating dredging company,

and we represent the ground improvement arm of the business. As part of the Group, we can call upon its potential reach to gain awareness of upcoming projects and tenders, and we have the experience and reputation to give us strength. Of course, the Cofra name is synonymous with quality engineering solutions, so this is also beneficial.”

Global projects As the European market leader in vertical drainage, Cofra BV has built its ongoing success on consistently meeting the demands of its customers in challenging projects worldwide. Mr van den Horn continued, “We offer the total process from design to implementation. Quality and solution are

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our buzzwords at every stage of the project.

Our latest contract sees us installing more than five million metre vertical drains in a huge project in Mombasa, Kenya. It’s a really quick time-frame project, so we’re installing about 60,000 metres a day.” Other recent Cofra BV projects include liners being installed for a landfill site in Veendam in the Netherlands, vertical drainage for a container terminal in Alblasserdam, and CDC techniques being utilised for engineering projects in Begium and Australia.

With its broad portfolio of consolidation acceleration and ground strengthening techniques, Cofra BV can deliver full-scale, concept to completion projects anywhere in the world. Mr van den Horn explained that the company is able to draw on the widereaching network of its parent company to guarantee that everyone working on a project is on message in terms of quality and solutions-focused performance. Cofra BV is ambitious about its plans for continued

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Full Service European Polymer Distribution 58 Industry Europe

growth. With its strong presence worldwide and network of skilled teams on hand, the company is able to tender for projects in a vast range of countries and situations, from airport expansions in Europe to commercial premises in developing countries.

The company expects to grow considerably and consistently in the coming years thanks to its ability to complete projects in all manner of situations, and its lack of reliance on any one particular market. Ready

for growth Mr, van den Horn added, “We have two key focus areas in terms of our future growth, both of which represent our ambition and our capabilities. Firstly, we will extend our range of activities even further, yet still retaining our commitment to quality and solutions in everything we do. I expect

this extension will take the form of developing and integrating several new forms of soil improvement techniques that can be successfully introduced as part of our portfolio. Secondly, we are already enjoying growth in new markets, particularly South America and Russia, and I expect that this

will continue. There are a wide range of possible projects that could benefit from the experience and capabilities of Cofra. I am confident that by focusing on these two areas of growth and by developing our offer of innovative solutions, Cofra will continue to n enjoy success worldwide.”

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PROSPECTS FOR GROWTH IN EUROPE

Inker d.d. is a Croatian manufacturer of sanitary ceramics, located in the small town of Zaprešić, near Zagreb, capital city of Croatia. The managing director, Mr Christian de Haro, updated us on the recent market situation. Vanja Švačko reports.

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nker started as a manufacturer of ceramic tiles and porcelain tableware in 1953. Very soon it expanded its production to sanitary ceramics, which remain its main activity.

Being the only domestic manufacturer of similar products in Croatia, Inker has been widening its product portfolio (washbasins, toilet bowls, bathroom furniture, bidets, bathtubs etc), using the best raw materials from western European mines.

The end of the 20th century brought an unpleasant reality check to many businesses in the Balkan region. Strongly affected by the war, the market rapidly changed while sudden economic crises have slowed down any sign of development. For Inker, significant positive changes started in 2006, when the Spanish group Roca Corporacion Empresarial SA decided to acquire the company. The membership in the Roca group, which is recognised as a benchmark in the production and design of

bathroom products, helped Inker to become part of a global corporation that is number one in its field.

In transition The experience of Inker mirrors what has been happening with many companies in the former Yugoslavia. Following the loss of domestic markets due to political turmoil, investing in modern equipment and new technologies was the only viable option to stay competitive in European markets.

After 2006, Inker introduced innovations in design and the functional and environmental features of its products, the quality of which was tested and approved by European quality standards, German DIN and Dutch KIWA. The company has gained some new markets in Europe in addition to its long-term clients such as Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

This favourable period ended up with an annual turnover of €20 million.

“Upon becoming a subsidiary of Roca, Inker has developed significantly,” explained Mr De Haro. “However, not only did Roca have to invest in modernisation and production of new lines, but it also put a lot of work in establishing economic relationships among former partners in the Balkan region, especially between Croatia and Serbia.”

Former Yugoslav regions Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia were importing 50 per cent of Inker’s products.

In the last few years production and sales have been strongly influenced by economic crisis and the decrease in market demands. Two years ago Inker sold its tableware division and focused on the production of sanitaryware that now brings in all of its revenue.

“Investments have changed since our focus on industry sectors has changed. Our production is mostly linked to the construc-

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tion sector, which is currently going through hard times in southern Europe. The market has experienced a drop of around 50 per cent since 2008 and our sales are affected significantly,” said Mr De Haro. “We had to reduce our production, the number of employees and currently we are running only 60–70 per cent of our production capacity.

However, we strongly believe that in the next few years the situation will get better.”

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Thinking Europe In 2013, Croatia will become a member state of the EU. Fast growth in its tourism sector had already in 2012 accounted for one-third of the country’s GDP. Croatia is certain to attract even more tourists from abroad, which would increase demand in the construction sector.

On the other hand, it is important to mention that currently the majority of the

Balkan countries that are Inker’s target customers are signatories of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), under which all products manufactured in Croatia can be exported to all CEFTA members without any customs duty. “But after Croatia’s accession to the EU, Serbia will have a customs duty for our products, which would further affect our export,” added Mr De Haro. “This is a big problem

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for Croatian industry overall, since Serbia is one of its major customers. However, customs duties are supposed to be reduced to zero in 2014.”

Despite the fact that today Inker is employing 195 people and has a turnover around €10 million, which is a significant change from 2007, its efficiency has grown over these years thanks to major investments in the mixing of raw materials, new installations for casting, new glazing facilities etc. According to Mr De Haro, Inker is benefiting from these facilities, although not to its full capacity due to

reduced production volumes. The company also stays active in researching new models and designs that respond to the customers’ demands and at the same time to the requirements of environmental issues.

“Some of our new models that are designed on the group level are significant examples of products that make you particularly conscious about the environment.

We have started a project whose goal is to eliminate any residue from our factories.

Year by year we are reducing this amount by utilising it in our own factory or selling

it to cement factories,” explained Mr De Haro. While less internal research is happening in its subsidiaries, the main projects are within Roca.

Inker demonstrates a robust corporate culture that will be needed for the company to take a leading position in the region when the market becomes favourable.

Croatia’s forthcoming accession to the EU could enable companies like Inker to be in the lead of the country’s long-awaited n economic recovery.

Visit: www.roca.com

ULTRA-VERSATILE UV WINDOWS Nordan is a global technology leader in the design and manufacture of low-energy windows and frames.

Philip Yorke talked to Johannes Rasmussen, the company’s sales director, about the success of its N-Tech range and the growing demand for its advanced security windows.

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ordan was founded in 1926 by Johannes Rassmussen 1st, a master carpenter who began by making staircases, windows and doors. Consistent growth followed his enterprise and as building methods changed, Rassmussen made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on the manufacture of windows and frames and set about designing one that would be versatile yet

be completely secure against the elements.

The result was the world’s first ‘tilt and turn’ window, which was an instant success in the Nordic region.

Today Nordan is one of Europe’s most successful window manufacturers with stateof-the-art factories in Otta, Egersund and Arneberg in Norway and Varnamo, Kvillsfors and Tanumshede in Sweden, as well as in

Wolsztyn in Poland. The company employs more than 1300 people and in 2012 recorded sales of NOK1.4 billion.

Innovation backed by quality From the very outset, Nordan has been committed to investing heavily in research and product development and this culture remains today. For more than 80 years, Nordan has led

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the field in cutting-edge window technology and design. The most recent examples are its N-Tech concept which produced the world’s first Swan window and its ground-breaking Passive Window and insulated sash and frame. These advanced window systems both offer big energy savings, as well as providing unparalleled environmental friendliness and other user benefits and features.

Nordan’s unique N-Tech range provides up to 50 per cent reduction in heat loss from buildings. A traditional, single-glazed window has a typical ‘K’ value of around 5.0W/m2K, whereas Nordan’s N-Tech windows have a

K value of just 0.7W/m2K, making them the most efficient, insulated windows in the world.

In order to achieve this remarkably low value, Nordan’s in-house R&D department redesigned the thermal surround of the window sash and substituted it with special aluminium spacers and with super-spacers made of silicone. Unlike typical aluminium spacers, which permit heat transfer through the perimeter of glazed units, this super-spacer provides an extremely effective barrier against heat transfer. The result is that the temperatures at the edges of the glass remain several degrees warmer and this in turn greatly reduces the

risk of condensation and the subsequent heat loss. Furthermore, to enhance the quality still further Nordan also uses the highest performing coated glass and fills the void in its glazed units with Argon gas in order to ensure minimal heat loss.

Increasing demand for Passive Window insulation When Nordan launched its low-energy windows with Passive Window insulated sash and frames, building companies and architects alike applauded its many attributes. The remarkable success of this Nordan

patented product has led to increasing demand and the company’s further investment in production capacity.

Mr Rasmussen said, “We realised that our latest Passive Windows would be well received as they tick all the boxes concerning existing and forthcoming EU legislation.

However, we were surprised at just how popular these products have become. We are different in many ways from our competitors and we offer a wider range of products that combine innovation with the highest possible quality. Passive Windows offer low, low U values and excellent quality sound insulation, ideal for use in noisy city environments. They also offer significantly reduced UV exposure.

Furthermore, we are involved in every step of the value chain from pest-controlled forestry and the design and manufacturing of all components ourselves, even the special glass.

“We are also strategically located in 22 different places, which means that we are close to our key markets. We also place a high priority on our key accounts and we do that by offering a truly dedicated and professional service. We are the clear market leaders in Norway and Sweden and deliver our products to private home builders and end users. What we like to say is that ‘We are large enough to lead and small enough to care’. All our products are tailor-made to suit the specific needs of our customers and they can rely on our ability to deliver the highest quality products – and on time. We have over 3000 types of products and series customisation means that there are no limits as to what we can produce.

“Our biggest seller today, and possibly the most important growth market for us, is our security window range, although we tend to look at all our products as potential growth markets. Today we are focused on taking

market share from the PVC window sector as they are not environmentally friendly and do not have the same visual appeal as window frames made of wood.”

Despite the global economic slowdown, Nordan is confident that it can maintain its annual, growth record of between 10 to 15 per cent and could possibly exceed this in 2013 thanks to its recent acquisition of Kvillsfors Fonster of Sweden. Today the company is in a very strong position financially thanks to its on-going investment in new products, resulting in award winning products that include its Passive Windows, N-Tech concepts and advanced security windows. As a family business, Nordan has the ability to make quick decisions and implement them without delay and is constantly one step n ahead of the competition.

For further information about Nordan’s latest energy-saving products visit: www.nordan.no

BETTER BY

DESIGN Renowned lighting expert RZB Leuchten has been sharing its unique mix of design and efficiency with designers and architects for nearly 75 years. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to international sales director Pascal Rinckenberger.

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stablished in Bamberg, Germany in 1939, RZB Leuchten is still owned by the founding family, with its name coming from the founder, Rudolf Zimmermann of Bamberg. Initially started as a manufacturer of electrical consumer goods, RZB Leuchten has steadily developed its ‘qualitative lighting’ business to become one of the most influential enterprises in the European lighting industry.

RZB Leuchten’s international sales director Pascal Rinckenberger told Industry Europe about the company’s long-standing role as a pioneer. He said, “We have more than 500 employees and they are all dedicated to the challenge of constant innovation in order to continue to produce luminaires of the

68 Industry Europe

highest quality. We manufacture more than 20,000 high-end lighting units every day, so we know that this is only possible when the whole company is devoted to one crucial aim, and that is the desire to get as close as humanly possible to perfection.”

Consistent quality This quest for perfection is a common theme throughout Industry Europe’s interview with Mr Rinckenberger. He explains that RZB Leuchten’s market-leading position in European lighting comes from the surety that the company’s role is to set standards rather than meet them. He continued, “Our success has always been driven by our willingness to improve the quality of our

products and by ensuring the efficiency of our manufacturing processes. We have proven that our unique balance of design and efficiency can consistently create what we call qualitative functional lighting.”

By defining its offer as qualitative lighting, RZB Leuchten highlights its understanding of the purpose of good lighting, both in terms of the beauty of the product and the application. Mr Rinckenberger explained how this works in practice. He said, “We start by taking a light source and then we build a luminaire to support the efficiency of that light source. We know that poor lighting can see up to 40 per cent of output lost, so we make sure that our products are both beautiful and brilliant!”

Quality is the watchword at RZB Leuchten – quality when it comes to product performance, design and also customer service.

The company is active across Europe’s lighting industry, with a broad range of designers and architects specifying RZB Leuchten.

Offering lighting for applications including indoor, outdoor, emergency, office and sig-

nage, RZB Leuchten works with designers and architects to guarantee that its products are ideally integrated into their schemes, whether that is a large-scale corporate project or a retail project.

Environmental sustainability is also important to RZB Leuchten. The company knows that good lighting can effectively contribute to reducing the environmental impact of a building, particularly when it comes to major corporate or retail projects, so by committing to delivering responsible lighting solutions it is making an important contribution. Mr Rinckenberger continued, “Thinking green is one thing, but making sure it is put into action is quite another. We know that many businesses are reflecting on their own contribution to a more sustainable world but here at RZB Leuchten we feel that just reflecting is not enough. We put our money where our mouth is when it comes to the environment, both with our own facilities and our products.”

In 2010, RZB Leuchten fitted its Bamberg plant with a high-tech solar energy system that has over 30,000m2 of solar collector Industry Europe 69

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70 Industry Europe

surface, generating over 1.1 megawatts of output – almost as much as the whole manufacturing plant requires. This has also reduced the site’s carbon emissions by 930,000 kilograms per year.

Form and function It’s not just the manufacturing site itself that is forward-thinking. The R&D department is also at the top of its game. Under the statement, ‘It’s good when form follows function. It’s even better when the two harmonise’ RZB Leuchten is leading the way in lighting design. Mr Rinckenberger continued, “We work with a number of creative designers, both internally and externally, to guarantee that we continue to create and produce beautiful, functional lighting. We believe that it is only once you have mastered the essentials that you can deliver innovation

and invention, and with nearly 75 years of lighting knowledge under our belts, we know that we are in the best position to do this.”

RZB Leuchten’s passion for beauty and functionality in lighting has been noted by a number of respected design bodies. Having recently been awarded a Red Dot award for its integrated LED lighting solutions, the company is proud to have industry recognition. Mr Rinckenberger added, “This smart new solution blends technology and excellent design – exactly what we are best known for – and we have been gaining a number of awards for it – nearly 40 in fact. This ‘smart lighting’ marks an important step in our next chapter as we can really implement everything that we have learned over the past seven decades and marry it with our exceptional understanding n of innovative lighting solutions.”

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CONTINUOUS EXPANSION KHD Humbolt Wedag GmbH is the key global player for cement plant technology, equipment and services. Industry Europe looks at the foundations of the company’s success and its current activities.

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a technology leader with over 150 years of industry experience, KHD is renowned for its process engineering and project management competencies as well as its energy-efficient products for the cement grinding and pyroprocessing sections of cement plants.

Today, the holding company, KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG, has over 750 employees worldwide, and area offices for Asia/Pacific, North and South America, India, China and CIS/Russia. Ralf Slomski,

responsible for KHD’s operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, is based at the Cologne headquarters.

Global development based on innovations The company was founded in 1856 as a manufacturer of mining machinery. A key date was the first delivered cement kiln in 1906, but KHD’s best known breakthrough was the invention of the first preheater kiln in 1953, a revolution in terms of energy effi-

ciency which is still industry standard. The same year saw the start of the international expansion with market entry in Australia, followed by in India in 1964, USA in 1974 and South Africa in 1977. Major developments followed in 1993 after the German reunification, when KHD merged with Dessau-based ZAB, a major player in the Russian market.

The company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since April 2010.

Quality manufacturing worldwide KHD offers core equipment for more than half of an entire cement plant, from preheaters, calciners, coolers and kilns to grinding systems and roller presses. The company stopped centralised production in Germany back in 2009, explains Mr Slomski: “We improved our competitiveness by outsourc-

ing all manufacturing. We invested heavily in our quality management staff and now certify our own selected manufacturers, which are as close as possible to the projects.

We still provide manufacturing, engineering and supervision services, and together with independent surveyors we ensure that our German quality standards are met or exceeded at every production site.”

KHD also offers process design, equipment manufacturing, spare parts and the full range of plant services. Although new constructions account for the majority of sales, there are also upgrades and service contracts for existing facilities.

New contract in Turkey The company has been expanding its operation in Turkey, to which end it established a Turkish office two years ago. This covers

all processes from tendering and sales to execution and after-sales, supported with tools, strategies and manpower from its global headquarters in Cologne. In March 2013, KHD Humboldt Wedag signed a contract with the Limak Bati Group, in Turkey, to supply engineering and equipment for a kiln line capacity increase from 1820 tpd to 2500 tpd of clinker at its Trakya cement plant.

Limak’s Trakya cement plant is located in Pinarhisar, in the Thracian region of Turkey.

The plant began operation in 1970, with a capacity of 840 tpd of clinker. The first upgrade was completed in the 1990s, resulting in an increased production capacity of 1820 tpd of clinker. KHD’s services for this expansion project will include engineering, design, and the supply and supervision for erection and commissioning. Start-up of the plant expansion by KHD is scheduled for the beginning of 2014.

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Closer to customers KHD holds numerous patents and is known as a front-runner for creativity and innovation. The R&D department in Cologne focuses on energy efficiency, alternative fuels and materials. “We never take our eye off the ball, both in detailed improvements and in big jumps. The fact that we have developed a new roller press technology

which saves up to 50 per cent of energy in the grinding process shows that there is still room for improvements,” says a company spokesperson.

“Being the technology leader is good, but there’s more to the winning ‘overall package’. We see the new strategic concept of establishing local customer service centres as a key to our future success.” KHD has

over 500 plants and 5000 units of machinery installed worldwide, and it is dedicated to improving customer services by shortening response times and distances.

New business In addition to service improvements, the mining industry offers growth potential, says the company spokesperson: “Eighty per cent of our contracts are in the stable cement industry, with global growth rates of 3 per cent and slightly higher in emerging markets. We therefore see more significant growth potential in mining, where we’re gaining market share with our HPGR roller press technology. This technology is key to the mining industry; it’s a revolution in efficiency and easy to maintain and repair.”

The company is also looking forward to completing successful projects with AVIC in the years ahead. “The market tendency shows a clear demand for EPC turnkey projects, handled by one competent partner.

We are in a perfect starting position for this, based on the strength of our partnership that combines our technology with competitive civil construction.” n

KEEPING OUT THE WEATHER Krimelte is a global technology leader in the development and manufacture of joint sealants, coatings and facade solutions. Philip Yorke talked to Jaan Puusaag, the company’s CEO, about its latest innovative products and move into new markets.

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rimelte OU is part of the Estonian Wolf Group, and a leading European producer of joint sealants, applicators and insulating foams. The company was founded in 1994 and full production began in Estonia in 1998. Krimelte made a very quick transition from a retailer to bring a major manufacturer, and today exports its products to over 50 countries worldwide.

Due to the extreme climatic conditions in Estonia, the company set itself the highest

quality standards from the outset in terms of both products and materials. Around 50 per cent of all Krimelte products are manufactured as private-label brands for many of the world’s leading retailers. The company’s historic involvement in the retail sector has provided it with a unique insight into the global retail market. Today, Krimelte is a major global player and employs over 250 people and in 2012 recorded sales approaching €100 million.

Strong growth in export markets In 2012, Krimelte delivered its best financial results to date, thanks to a combination of high-quality, innovative products and strong sales to its export markets. As part of the Wolf Group, the company exports construction foams, joint sealants and breathable facade solutions to over 50 countries worldwide. Sales rose by 12 per cent last year to approach €100 million, with results being enhanced by a significant increase in pro-

duction efficiency and the number of new export countries attracted by the quality and unique benefits of Krimeltes’ products. The market that has demonstrated the most significant growth to date is Russia, which remains the biggest export destination for the company. In addition, excellent growth was also recorded in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in Bulgaria and Romania.

Krimelte continues to strengthen its position in the South American market, expanding its reach to include Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Peru. Mr Puusaag said, “Our export momentum continues unabated with many of the countries that we export to then re-exporting our products in turn to their

own overseas markets. For example, the UK is an important market for us, and one of our customers there exports private label products produced by us to Cyprus and Malta. With our continuing focus on South America, we recently entered into a joint venture there with a manufacturer called Elasteq do Brazil, which in turn will significantly boost our sales in the region.”

Emerging markets embrace new technology It is worth noting that the company’s fortunes really changed in the late 1990s when many emerging markets discovered the benefits of professional insulation and modern sealants.

As a result, Krimelte has been proactive in educating and training both the consumers and wholesalers in these fast-growing markets.

Most people tend to believe, for example, that South American cities like Sao Paulo are always sunny and warm but this is not at all the case. In fact, often at night and during the winter season temperatures drop below 10oC and, like everyone else, people there prefer to stay warm in winter and cool in summer. City and country dwellers welcome the new high-tech sealants, coatings and foams from Krimelte, which not only significantly improve thermal insulation but also offer UV protection and resistance to other extreme weather condi-

tions. These are regions where coatings and sealants can transform the thermal efficiency of a building and there is a recognisable sea change in perceptions in these South American markets.

Product innovation driving sales Since the company was founded in 1994, Krimelte has placed a high priority on new product development. This commitment to innovation has resulted in the launch of many new products and variants, and Mr Puusaag was keen to explain more about his company’s latest high-tech creation. “Thanks to the innovative capabilities of our in-house R&D department, we recently launched a new straw applicator which offers major benefits over other similar applicators on the market.

This is an entirely new design which makes the use of straw foams easier and more economical. Based on tests in everyday practice, our new Easy-Gun ensures better results under a variety of conditions, with 34 per cent better outflow, 40 per cent more accurate measures and a 20 per cent smaller post-expansion. What’s more, its new straw trigger has a special nozzle for attaching the straw during pauses of up to 1.5 hours to avoid the problem of clogging.

“You ask me which of our products is special and technically superior to those of our competitors. In fact, all our products are special as they have all been developed inhouse and are part of a programme of continuous improvement and upgrading. We are never resting on our laurels when it comes to our past successes, and we prefer to stay one step ahead of the competition and well in advance of any forthcoming legislation.

“Another major point of difference between us and our competitors is that we are a privately owned company where all our shareholders are stakeholders and involved in ensuring the continuing success of the company.

We are therefore able to be very flexible on a

day-to-day basis, and to make fast decisions and quick turn-rounds. Currently, we have one facility in Russia and three factories in Estonia.

The latest are all located in close proximity to each other, but each is responsible for a different range of products. All of them employ the latest automated technology.”

Today, Krimelte’s broad product range comprises of gun foams, manual adapter foams, cleaners, silicone and acrylic sealants, as well as adhesives. In addition, the company’s product portfolio also includes: gun and straw applicators, tools and selfn adhesive expanding tapes.

For further information about any of these products visit: www.krimelte.ee

KEEPING THE WORLD IN MOTION With over 600 high quality chemical products in its portfolio, Petrofer is renowned as one of the world’s leading companies for industrial lubricants, specialised fluids and process technologies.

Future plans include both geographic and sector expansion. Lynne Saxby reports.

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T

he Petrofer story started in 1948 with the establishment of this privately owned company in the North German city of Hildesheim. Since then, the company has expanded into 42 different countries and 50 per cent of its business is now generated outside Germany. China makes up 25 per cent of Petrofer’s sales. Other main markets include Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and India. The company follows a clear policy of transferring its know-how and technology to all subsidiaries able to provide products with a significant amount of local content and additional service application technology. All localised product technology is being approved by the German Headquarters and according to Petrofer’s international product specifications. In February this year Petrofer opened a new production facility in Mexico to support its growing business. According to Mr Wienbreyer, director of sales and marketing, “Future plans will focus on expansion in Russia and Brazil, two large and

important markets where we are currently under-represented.”

Petrofer’s impressive product portfolio is based on many years of research and development. This is combined with a company philosophy of offering customers individually tailored solutions, consistent quality, environmental compliance and technical support.

Ninety per cent of Petrofer’s products are sold to the automotive trade. The company is proud of its ability to support the full value chain, so places an emphasis on products designed for early in the metalworking production process. The range includes quenching oils, release agents for die casting, industrial lubricants, metalworking oils and fire resistant hydraulic fluids.

Industry challenges Mr Wienbreyer talks of a number of key challenges facing the industry in the future.

Protection against wear, friction reduction and keeping the production lines running

continue to be top priorities for customers.

Lighter materials are playing an increasingly important role. He says, “Customers expect suppliers’ support in optimising the process of working with these materials. In addition, they require suppliers to help increase the energy efficiency and reduce the CO2 emissions of production.” The industry also faces the challenge of increasingly strict European legislation, which means product formulation is restricted by a growing number of banned substances. As this is not uniform, it requires companies to reformulate the portfolio on an individual country basis.

Petrofer believes the best way to meet these challenges is to adhere to the company goal “To connect mankind’s constantly increasing demands for progress with the most recent technology available.” Therefore it invests heavily in research and development and drives product innovation in close cooperation with customers. The company’s specialised chemical management programmes

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ensure that Petrofer is capable of meeting all customer needs regarding its products from procurement and logistics, through optimised usage to waste management and cost saving.

In addition, members of staff from Petrofer are present on all the major industry committees to help understand and drive best practice.

Supplier of the Year Award – UK Cast Metals Industry Award Petrofer UK won the Supplier of the Year Award in the Cast Metals Industry Awards 2012 for the development and launch of its new range of biostable die-face releasants for the high pressure die casting sector. Traditionally, these releasants have had to contain biocides and fungicides to control microbial attack. However, the normally used substances have only little efficiency and in some cases these additives are viewed increasingly as a health and safety and environmental hazard. By transferring new technology from other sectors, Petrofer has developed release 82 Industry Europe

agents which are bio-stable and due to their special composition not to be labelled as harmful. This not only improves the safety of the working conditions, but also improves the process, leading to lower costs and the opportunity for better casting properties. Says John Parker, chief executive of the Cast Metals Federation, “Petrofer’s continuing evolution of their products and close working with foundries to deliver what they need now and in the future has seen them feature regularly in our Awards lists over the years and they are worthy winners.”

Future goals Over the next few years Petrofer plans to place a clear emphasis on organic growth by building its presence in new market sectors such as alternative energy and recycling.

It will also create a fresh approach to more traditional sectors such as woodworking, mining and aerospace. Petrofer wants to expand geographically into new countries

such as Russia and Brazil and to increase its penetration in existing regions where it is under-represented in certain sectors.

The growth strategy will build on the key pillars, which have been instrumental in Petrofer’s success to date. Innovation and best practice from the technologically advanced automotive sector, which is Petrofer’s heartland, will be introduced into new market sectors and adapted to meet customer needs on an individual basis. The company plans to continue to maintain a fully international offer and to ensure close cooperation with international customers, global contracts and geographic expansion to meet customers’ needs around the world.

However, local customer needs will also continue to play a key role in planning. This is clearly illustrated by the fluid management service offered predominantly in Asia, where Petrofer staff work closely with the customer on their premises to offer advice on machine n optimisation, logistics and process.

UNDER YOUR FEET AND

OVER YOUR HEAD

In addition to offering innovative products, specialist in spunbonded non-woven fabrics and yarns for artificial grass, Tessiture Pietro Radici SpA, is focused on being a positive force in terms of economic, social and environmental responsibility. Barbara Rossi speaks to its MD, Mr Enrico Buriani.

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essiture Pietro Radici SpA belongs to the RadiciGroup, one of the most active Italian chemicals companies at an international level.

Tessiture Pietro Radici has a special role in the group, being its historical antecedent, established in the 1940s, and hence the entity from which the group expanded. The company shares its location with the group’s headquarters in Gandino, 20km from the northern Italian town of Bergamo, where it was first set up and where the Radici family still resides.

RadiciGroup, a leader in nylon chemicals, has a range of activities: its diversified businesses are focused on chemicals, plastics and synthetic fibres. The group turned over €1.2 billion in 2011 and employs about 3500 people worldwide. In fact, while the RadiciGroup, as its name suggests – Radici does indeed mean roots – is strongly rooted in the Bergamo area where it was first born, over the years it has also acquired a real international dimension.

Today the group has production and sales sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia and its products are used in applications such as apparel, sports, furnishings, automotive, electrical/electronics, home appliances and consumer goods. RadiciGroup, with its chemicals, plastics and synthetic fibres

business areas controlled by parent company Radici Partecipazioni SpA, is part of a larger industrial group that also includes textile machinery and energy businesses.

As a company, Tessiture Pietro Radici SpA has a turnover of €40 million and about 150 employees; its two registered trademarks are Dylar® and Radigreen®. The former is made up of non-woven spun bonded polypropylene fabrics, while the latter is polyolefin yarn for synthetic grass.

Mr Buriani explains: “when the company first started, in the 1940s, it was manufacturing blankets. Over the years the production focus shifted several times. We have been engaged in our two current strands of activity for about ten years now. Actually the group started with Dylar® in the mid 1990s and with Radigreen® in the mid 1980s. Two different companies were carrying out these activities, which in 1997 merged into us. Since 2004, we have been concentrating solely on Dylar® and Radigreen®.”

Dylar®’s main application sector is construction – roofing in particular – where it is used as a supporting membrane underneath tiles, followed by HORECA, and hygiene and protective apparel. Radigreen®, synthetic grass, is employed in the sports sector, as well as for

decorative-domestic purposes (landscaping).

In the latter it is used, for instance, in gardens, parks, and wherever else the use of artificial grass is preferred to that of the natural version, also in order to lower or avoid maintenance costs. The company supplies semi-finished products, which are sold to companies which transform them into final applications, for instance in terms of Radigreen® to producers of synthetic grass carpets.

We are more than numbers “Since the beginning of the new millennium we have carried out investments for the modernisation of our production activities. We are carrying out a progressive modernisation and strengthening of our production capacity so as to maintain our competition levels both in terms of prices and quality. We have our own R&D department which is continuously engaged in updating our product portfolio, in particular for synthetic grass, as this is a field in which product development, alongside product obsolescence, takes place at an extremely fast rate. Our R&D department can avail itself of a dedicated pilot facility, thus being able to carry out its activity, focused on industrial development, independently from production operations. Our commitment to research and Industry Europe 85

innovation really pays, as 20 per cent of the 2012 synthetic grass turnover derived from new products.

“Our products are sold all over the world and export now accounts for 80 per cent of our production. Our main market is Europe, led

by Germany and Belgium. In future the company is going to consolidate its current markets, as expansion of geographical boundaries is somewhat restricted by transport costs, especially, as far as spunbond non-woven is concerned. However, we could start serving new geographical areas if our clients were to relocate. In terms of our non-woven products we will have to evaluate what diversification may be achievable thanks to our technology.

In particular we will examine how our technologies can be adapted to the transformation of new materials.”

“With regard to synthetic grass, I have to say that there is a certain market stagnation. In terms of both sports and decorative-residential applications there will be a trend towards a reduction of natural grass maintenance cost, alongside a tendency to exploit public green

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spaces in a more intensive manner, which would favour the synthetic grass sector. However, this implies an initial investment on the part of sports clubs and councils, which given the current economic difficulties, may prove to be difficult. Obviously this is a problem affecting all of western Europe, although Italy’s suffering is particularly acute. As a company we are perfectly ready to increase our volumes.”

The Group is particularly attentive to environmental sustainability. “Sustainability is a true challenge for our group,” said Filippo Servalli, corporate marketing manager of RadiciGroup. “All along our production chain – that is, from chemicals to plastics and synthetic fibres – we are committed to reporting our corporate responsibility performance according to Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. What really counts on the sustainability front is taking action. Concrete action. Our words must be transformed into tangible results. Indeed, throughout the years, our group has been developing and will continue to develop products using renewable source materials,

products made with post-consumer recycled waste and products that contribute to lowering CO2 emissions. We use methods such as life cycle assessment to measure and quantify product performance in terms of environmental impact. Furthermore, we are committed to developing and registering Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for our products, according to the specific requirements set forth in the Product Category Rules (PCR). Last but not least, in the communities where our production sites are located, we support projects and events on environmental protection themes and strive to raise the environmental awareness of our employees by promoting a shared group culture of sustainability – all the while, respectful of local communities, people and cultures.”

Specifically, Tessiture Pietro Radici SpA, which is already ISO 9000 certified, is working towards obtaining the ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18000 certifications, respectively covering environmental standards and occupational health and safety, which should be achieved by the end of the current year. n

GOING THE EXTRA MILE The Eldon group delivers enclosure systems engineered to boost the success of its clients’ businesses.

Industry Europe looks at the solid success behind this globally operating company.

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he Eldon Group focuses on the development and manufacture of enclosures, switchgear and electrical distribution systems. Owned by EQT Partners since 1999, Eldon was originally Sweden-based but now has its headquarters in Madrid and employs 450 people.

The group has a global presence, with representation in 45 countries, giving it the local technical and service support skills to ensure the success of its clients wherever they are. Founded in 1922, Eldon has been operating for over a century so its success is built on solid foundations.

Production facilities All Eldon’s products are sold under the Eldon trademark and manufactured at plants in the UK, Romania and India. These state-of-the-art plants are focused on supplying mission-critical, quality-approved standard enclosure and accessory solutions, as well as standard special solutions, for a broad spectrum of power distribution and control applications to different industries, including machine building.

The most recent of Eldon’s manufacturing facilities was opened in Brasov, Romania, in 2007. Here the group manufactures standard wall mounted as well as floor-standing enclosures in both mild and stainless steel, accessories and parts. Meanwhile its factory in Rotherham, UK, manufactures its complete range of stainless steel enclosures. Lastly, the factory in Umbergaon in India manufactures standard wall-mounted and floor-standing enclosures, plus terminal boxes, as well as standard specials.

Unique solutions Eldon’s wall-mounted, floor-standing and console solutions are available in a variety of materials, including mild or stainless steel,

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aluminium, fibreglass-reinforced polycarbonate, GRP, ABS and polyester. Furthermore its full range of accessories includes fixing systems, thermal management, multiple shelving and door configurations, baying, hinging and smart cable management.

This is in addition to a number of general purpose devices including lights, door switches, power sockets, signal towers, din rails, cage nuts and screws.

The company is able to adapt its solutions to meet the exact needs of clients in any industry sector. It will modify its standard enclosures to incorporate custom hole patterns and different colours and dimensions. Up to 85 per cent of Eldon’s sales are of ‘standard’ products, with the balance made up of products with small or large modifications, or totally new ideas.

“We try to make sure in our basic products that we are continuously looking at new materials and solutions and ways of doing things, to solve the customers’ problems,” says a company spokesperson. “The trend in the business over the past 10 to 20 years has been that, as electrical components have been getting smaller and smaller, so the enclosures

required have also been getting smaller.

However, they still emit a lot of heat, so the requirements of removing heat from the enclosure are getting bigger. So you have to have good thermal solutions with fans, air conditioning, etc. We have to be a solutions type of partner to the customer.”

There are three key customer types served

by Eldon – electrical wholesalers, panel builders and OEMs – manufacturing products such as CNC machines, lathes and other machinery that needs electrical controls and, therefore, an enclosure for the controls.

Recent success Eldon can count many of the major European players amongst its clients. For example, in February this year (2013) Bombardier installed its floor cabinets in LKAB’s mine in Kiruna to house the latest control system, called OCS950, for trains, points and signals on railway traffic. Mines, subways and common rail systems are examples of possible areas where this control system can be used.

The first contact between Eldon and Bombardier was established in 2009 in

order to jointly examine how to develop and homogenise the existing control systems to be more efficient and better. Until today, these solutions have, to some extent, been country specific and varying. Multiple control systems and a variety of cabinet solutions were used.

Bombardier wanted to develop a smarter and more efficient system in a series of base cabinets. These will form the basis for OCS950 over the world. To develop a unified system which is equivalent and standardised across the globe was a priority.

“We were actively looking for a flexible supplier that was willing to work with us to develop a really good solution for our new and improved OCS950 system. It is also very important to be able to supply us with cabinets of the highest quality with fairly short lead times. Eldon has shown that they are willing and able and to do that and we have a very good and constructive cooperation,” says Benny Slotteborn, product manager, Rail Control Solutions (RCS) at Bombardier.

The requirements for the new enclosures are high. They should be uniform in the

structure of the interior so that they can be easily customised for the needs at each railway project. Eldon meets the needs of the system using modules that are added to a basic configuration of OCS950.

Logistics demands Eldon works with distributors around the world in order to cover all of its markets.

There is a central warehouse in each of the four key countries – Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Products are manufactured and sent to these warehouses, to be shipped to distributors or direct to customers.

It is working continuously on new markets, where it has two types of operation. First, it has its own sales people and warehousing and it is supplying directly to customers. Secondly, it is working with one exclusive distributor or agent who is serving that country. It has dedicated distributors doing the job that it is doing in its more local markets and that is really growing. It is finding more and more global n channels for its products.

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HARNESSING THE FUTURE PKC Group is a global leader in the design and manufacture of integrated electrical distribution systems and related architectural components for major global commercial vehicle brands. Philip Yorke talked to Jyrki Keronen, the company’s senior vice-president, about PKC’s unique product and service offering, and its strategic initiatives.

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he Group’s roots go back to 1969, when Pohjolan Kaapeli Oy began by manufacturing wiring harnesses as a subcontractor to a new local car manufacturer. In 1994 PKC Cables Oy was established and in the spring of 1997 PK Cables Oyj became the first company in northern Finland to be listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. At the end of the 1990s, the group opened a factory in Brazil and acquired its electronics business. PKC saw strong international growth in the years 2000–2010 when it bought its Estonian and Russian subcontracting opera-

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tions, acquired North American and Polish operations and opened a factory in China. In 2011, the acquisition of the AEES companies in the USA, Mexico, Brazil and Ireland along with the acquisition of the SEGU companies in central Europe strengthened PKC’s product and service portfolio and its market position, particularly in North America and central Europe.

Today the company is a global leader in its field with around 20,000 employees and a turnover close to €I billion. PKC Group Plc is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

Unique competences driving growth PKC Group is a growth-driven company and has developed its business both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Today the company’s customers include all the main western truck manufacturers as well as makers of the world’s leading tractor brands, construction equipment and light commercial vehicles as well as recreational vehicles. In 2012, in addition to its traditional markets in Europe and the Americas, PKC expanded its operations in Asia to provide its customers with the same unique service and product portfolio it offers in the

other regions. PKC offices and production facilities are also strategically located in order to be close proximity to its customers worldwide. Today the PKC Group has production facilities in China, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Russia and the USA. The added value that the company offers originates from its unique competence base which is composed of special processes, tools, expertise and advanced architecture components developed for the complex management of electrical distribution systems. This combination of skills enables

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the company to mass produce high-quality, tailor-made products, with an infinite variety of options and performance potential.

Mr Keronen said, “The complexity of electrical systems within the commercial vehicle industry is increasing and we are applying our processes, technologies and IT tools to meet the more sophisticated challenges and features determined by increasing environmental legislation. We feel that the timing is right for expansion as awareness of the benefits of fuel efficiency and concern about pollution are growing, especially in the Asia Pacific area.

“We are pretty unique in that we know precisely the processes of our customers and develop IT systems accordingly. Our intellectual property enables us to offer greater customisation to our clients which include all the world’s biggest truck and commercial vehicle manufacturers. However, today it is China that is the biggest manufacturer of trucks and buses and we are looking at making significant investments in that country.

“Many of our customers involve us at an early stage in their product development programmes and we partner them in the creation of new system architecture which ensures the best outcomes and best-practice procedures.

We assist them with the development of new designs but they remain the owners of the design itself. Whilst trucks and buses are our main markets we are also involved with other sectors such as light and recreational vehicles, construction equipment and agricultural and

forestry machinery. New areas of opportunity for us are other major transportation sectors.

Mr Keronen added, “Our knowledge of complexity management decreases the costs of units and offers low cost start-ups. In addition, we can decentralise power distribution if desired. Our power distribution centres consist of modules that make them very adaptable when it comes to vehicles required to operate under very harsh climatic and operational conditions. Our unique know-how of managing complex processes of individually tailored products makes us an asset to our customers’ value chain.”

NPI centres enable continuous development

largest commercial vehicle market and is predicted to grow significantly in the years ahead.

PKC’s customers have also placed extra emphasis on these markets by forming jointventures with leading Chinese and other Asian truck manufacturers. The company says that in addition to market growth, Asian vehicle markets are also subject to structural change with new emission standards being imposed and customers’ needs for uniquely optimised n vehicles increasing.

For further information about PKC uniqueness and managing the complexity in electrical distribution systems visit: www.pkcgroup.com

In order to develop still further its competitiveness and manufacturing capabilities, the PKC Group is establishing NPI centres (new programme Introduction-centres) in Keila, Estonia, and in Curitiba, Brazil. The company already has an NPI centre in North America in Acuna, Mexico. The objective of these new centres of creative excellence is to ensure seamless customer programme ramp-ups from the early product design phases to the final, full mass-production stage.

PKS’s core competence is to be able to mass produce high-quality, uniquely tailored products with very fast turn-around times. The company foresees increasing demand for its expertise in the fast-growing Asian markets.

Asia, and in particular China is the world’s Industry Europe 93

ELECTROMECHANICAL EXPERTISE Fanina Electromechanical Apparatus Factory, a company from Przemysl in Poland is a well-known expert in electrotechnical manufacturing, especially products for railway transport, the electromechanical industry and the power industry.

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anina was founded in 1959. “The very fact that the company has survived on the market for all these years, in spite of numerous storms, crises and adversities and is still maintaining the highest technological standards and is developing, can be considered its undoubted success,” says Mr Robert Matuszyk, the Fanina president of the board.

The turn of centuries saw two key moments in Fanina’s history: in 1998 the company was transformed into a joint-stock company wholly owned by the Treasury, and then in 2002 it was privatised. Since then, Fanina has been fully owned by a private owner.

The year 2004 saw another important moment in the company’s history. “Our longterm experiences as well as constant striving to satisfy the needs of our customers have enabled us to be proud of the very high quality and reliability of our products. This is confirmed by an integrated quality management system compatible with the PN-EN ISO 9001:2008

standard, the certificate for which was issued

by DEKRA in 2004 and is constantly monitored by this company,” explains Mr Matuszyk.

Fanina’s production is all carried out at a single location, which enables it control the whole process of manufacturing. The company has 110 employees. “Our strategy, is to improve quality of our products systematically, to boost production efficiency and to follow the growing expectations of our customers.

We have for several years been carrying out a programme of intense modernisation of our stock of machine tools and production equipment. At the same time we have been regularly training our employees to improve the quality and efficiency of their work and encouraging them to become acquainted with the most modern technological and organisational solutions. We have also equipped our research & development department with the most modern software/hardware design tools,” points out Mr Matuszyk.

Constant development and improvement The company’s current output includes products for railway transport, electromechanical industry, and power industry such as couplers, solenoids and coils, spare parts for railways, current transformers, cable guides and electromagnetic chucks.

“In terms of the production of electric heating couplers for railway rolling stock (coupler assemblies used to connect individual railcar segments of the train’s high voltage heating systems) and solenoids for hydraulics, we are by far Poland’s leading manufacturer. Our strategic development is aimed at maintaining and further strengthening this position. In the current transformers market our share is about 25 per cent, and increasing this segment is our biggest challenge in the near future,” adds Mr. Matuszyk.

According to Mr Matuszyk, despite the economic crisis in Europe, the company’s financial situation is good. Fanina annual sales are Industry Europe 95

about PLN 9 million (€2.2 million). It has been profitable for a long time, and the whole profit is earmarked by the owner for further investments. Such a strategy helps the company to develop consistently and to maintain high standards of technology and quality.

The share of annual exports remains at 22 to 25 per cent of the total sales volume. Due to the economic problems in most European countries, foreign sales are characterised by high intensity of fluctuations. Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic are Fanina’s main export markets. Solenoids, spare parts for railways (couplers) and electromagnetic chucks are the company’s leading export products.

Carefully selected partners Fanina’s commercial success wouldn’t be achieved without the chain of partners it has cooperated with.

“The company’s policy in this regard is precisely defined in our quality management system. The purpose of these rules is to identify providers who offer their products on the most favorable terms. The criteria for the selection of suppliers are not designed to take only price into account, but also many other factors, such as: quality, stability of specifications, terms of delivery and the supplier’s ability to deliver ordered components on time. We evaluate suppliers systematically and the list of regular partners, with whom we cooperate on a longer term is updated on the basis of this evaluation.

Four pillars of the future Despite the successes that Fanina has achieved for more than half a century of its activity, the company doesn’t intend to rest on its laurels. Mr Matuszyk explains that the company’s strategy for further development stands on four pillars:

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• improvement of products that are in the production programme systematic increase in the volume of their sales. These are particular measures of the modernisation of solutions and improvement of current products; • expanding the range of each product group by introducing to the market new types, versions and varieties; • investments to maintain the machinery at the highest technological level, but above all broader investments in engineering and technical staff (increasing the staff potential through recruitment and training); • the implementation of management accounting processes based on the theory of constraints (TOC) and Lean Manufacturing production management system, along with Kanban scheduling system for lean and n just-in-time production. www.fanina.pl

SOLUTIONS FOR THE OIL

AND GAS INDUSTRY GE Oil & Gas (Nuovo Pignone) has experienced outstanding growth since 1994, when Italian company Nuovo Pignone was acquired by American multinational General Electric. Since then the Oil & Gas division has become increasingly important for the American giant, as Barbara Rossi learns.

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eneral Electric, set up in 1878 by Thomas A. Edison, is today a multinational company operating in a wide range of sectors, ranging from energy to financial services, medical diagnostics imagery, aero engines, television programmes and plastic materials. Its aim is that of producing technologically innovative solutions to solve the most complex problems encountered in daily life, and in this endeavour the group operates in 100 countries, employing 300,000 people. GE has been present in Italy since 1992, where it operates through four macro-divisions, with 15 sites and 7000 employees, and has invested €70 million in R&D in the country.

Nuovo Pignone also has a long history, as it was established in Florence in 1842 as a cast-iron foundry, called Pignone. In the early 1900s it started producing reciprocatIndustry Europe 97

ing compressors and engines. After experiencing a difficult patch over the World War II period, the company was acquired by ENI and became Nuovo Pignone. Finally there was the GE takeover in the 1990s, which led to a very successful future.

The global headquarters of GE Oil & Gas (Nuovo Pignone) are in Florence, Italy. This is a clear sign of the importance that Nuovo Pignone has in the Oil & Gas division of General Electric. In fact, Nuovo Pignone is at the head of the GE division, accounting for about 80 per cent of total business turnover.

When, in 1994, GE acquired Nuovo Pignone, an Italian leader in the production of turbines and compressors for the oil and gas industry

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– GE acquired an 80 per cent stake at the time, increased to 100 per cent in the following years. The group was not a specialist in oil and gas, but from 1998 the American multinational initiated a campaign of acquisitions in the sector, purchasing companies in France, the UK and the USA, thus creating a completely new oil and gas business division centred round Nuovo Pignone and bearing the name of GE Oil and Gas. The decision to acquire Nuovo Pignone was a winning choice for both parties, first because Nuovo Pignone was already a GE supplier and also because Nuovo Pignone has enjoyed a series of advantages due to becoming part of the GE group: being able

to offer a complete range of products and services, having greater visibility and gaining access to the wide range of talent and technologies present in the group itself. Since the 1994 takeover the oil and gas turnover has grown tenfold, reaching €10 million in 2011, while the number of employees has seen a 15 per cent increase, tallying 4500 people at the end of the same year.

This division is today a global leader supplying advanced products, services and complete solutions to the oil and gas industry, starting from the well-head to the refining and related petrochemical and plastic industries.

The division supplies all the major oil multinationals, as well as state-owned companies

in different countries. GE Oil & Gas operates in various countries, following the markets of its customers, including former Soviet states, African countries, North America, China and India, as well as European countries.

Towards a very bright future The future of the oil and gas division is very promising. In fact, considering the importance that shale gas will have as an energy source in years to come, both in the USA and in other regions, GE Oil and Gas to lead the shale gas revolution is a winning asset.

Moreover, thanks to its innovative products, the division has identified a real potential for supplying gas turbines in Africa. Oil & Gas is in fact the fastest growing business of the group, with revenues of $15 billion and earnings growing at 16 per cent.

Furthermore, GE Oil and Gas shares the same focus on R&D as the rest of GE, which is the seventh most valuable company in the world. Investing in both capability and people, continuously developing cutting-edge products, the division will launch 10 new gas turbines during this decade, significantly more than it ever did in the past. In addition to this, it has launched the first subsea com-

pressor, creating an industry-leading position.

There are electric submersible pumps (ESPs) to extract oil from mature fields, a technology which GE is further enhancing and which is currently able to operate at a depth of up to 12,000 feet and at temperatures up to 230˚C. The division also supplies the AGP system (Flex Efficiency Advantage/Advanced Gas Path), offering improvement of gas turbine output by up to 4.8 per cent, reducing fuel consumption by 1 per cent and lessening the environmental impact.

In Italy, specifically in Avenza, GE Oil & Gas manufactures industrial modules and pre-assembled units, designed in-house, which are then supplied to customers all over the world. These are turnkey power generation and compression solutions to increase efficiency, reliability and power in restrictive areas. They are particularly important because new reservoirs are usually in remote locations, often with environmental restrictions and extreme climates. The modules are delivered to customers fully connected and wired and offer benefits in terms of a small footprint, high power-to-weight ratio and the ability to increase productivity n levels quickly and significantly.

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GLOBAL LEADER IN

CABLE INDUSTRY

Nexans is the global leader in the energy-based cable connector industry. It specialises in high voltage cable connectors for the wind turbine industry and innovative products for the ‘smartgrid’ solutions sector.

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exans is recognised globally as the leading expert in the cable industry with energy as the basis for its development.

The company is a global player in the infrastructure, construction and local area network (LAN) markets as well as being involved in key industrial market sectors.

Nexans offers an extensive range of cables and cabling systems that are designed to raise industrial productivity, improve business performance and enhance both reliability and security. With an industrial presence in over 40 countries and commercial activities worldwide, the Nexans Group employs more than 23,000 people worldwide. Nexans is listed on the Euronext stock exchange as well as on the New York stock exchange.

Diverse products with global reach Nexans serves more than 100 countries worldwide and historically Europe has been its main market. However, even with its strong move into the emerging Asian and South American markets, Europe remains very important to the company. The key industries Nexans serves are the world’s main OEM utility companies, including Siemens, Schneider, ABB, Ormazabal and CG, for whom it produces switchgear and transformers as well as cable solutions.

This is in addition to the traditional utility companies it serves, such as EON, EDF RWC and Scottish Power. The company is a tier-one and tier-two supplier to OEM wind-turbine companies, installers and other renewable players, in both the OEM and infrastructure sectors.

In the infrastructure sector, Nexans supplies a wide range of products including medium voltage connectors, surge arrestors, cold and heat-shrink joints, and bushings for transformers and switchgear.

In addition, the company also supplies technical training and ‘pre-made Jumpers’ for the renewable infrastructure sector. For the industrial sector it offers a complete portfolio of cables and solutions for markets as diverse as automotive, rolling stock and aerospace, as well as for shipbuilding, nuclear power, oil and gas and the petrochemical industry. In building and construction, it supplies cables and network solutions for residences, public buildings and big industrial complexes. Local area networks

rely on Nexans for copper and optical fibre cabling systems for new, resource-intensive applications such as data centres, security services and storage area networks.

The company also continues to invest heavily in new technology and recently installed fully robotised compact connector production facilities at its plant in France, as well as acquiring the latest CNC machinery for production of its metal contacts in Germany.

Innovation driving sales Innovation continues to be the key driver for the success of the Nexans Group’s global operations. This commitment to innovation has resulted in major contracts being awarded to the company recently, including a breakthrough order in the Malaysian offshore sector with a subsea umbilical order for the F29 field development project. It also recently won a €11 million order for its XLPE cable solution to support the future develop-

Bekina Compounds Bekina Compounds has been supplying specialty rubber compounds to Nexans since 1993, complying with Nexans’ high demands for electrical insulation and high permittivity applications. The basis for this successful partnership between Nexans and Bekina Compounds is the extremely modern automated production facility of BEKINA and top-level control equipment. Bekina also specializes in water swellable sealing systems and fire resistant and intumescent compounds.

ment and expansion of Beijing’s power transmission infrastructure.

Nexans R&D has also developed new connector ranges specifically for use in wind turbines, as a company representative explains: “We have built the biggest manufacturing plant in Europe for shielded connectors in view of the way that the renewable market is growing.

We are active in two separate markets here.

The first is the OEM market where we sell our products direct to Enercon and the other

big companies, and the second is the wind infrastructure market. This is where we develop products for connections between offshore and onshore operations for the utilities and independents. Today, there are many new players outside the traditional power utilities and we have a vast array of customers in the wind turbine construction sector.

“Currently we are making ‘jumpers’, which offer pre-mounted cable solutions that are developed inside our factories and tested and industrially prepared prior to installation, which you cannot do in the field. We are also making much more compact connectors today that are capable of higher voltage levels as the wind turbines increase in size and power, and we offer similar solutions for solar power plants.

These sophisticated compact cables have been designed specifically for use in the internal cabling of wind turbine towers and offer

unparalleled durability and reliability. Long life cycles of 30−40 years are standard for these products. In another development, the evolution of ‘smartgrid’ for the renewable sector presents new opportunities for us, along with the trend towards new electrical vehicles. We are focused on preparing solutions for these future challenges, at our R&D facilities and global competence centres around the world.”

Turnkey solutions at Nexans Benelux Like the other companies in the Nexans Group, the Benelux company possesses wide, specialist expertise and knowledge of the cable industry and as one of the country’s biggest manufacturers is heavily represented in the industrial market. In addition to cables, components and accessories, the company also offers comprehensive turnkey solutions for its customers.

Currently the Nexans company in Belgium employs over 300 people and has three production plants. Nexan’s site in Charleroi produces medium and high voltage cables for 6–500kV with synthetic insulation (XPLE), and has its own testing laboratory.

The Charleroi facility also takes care of the installation of cables and accessories for the Nexans Group. The company’s site in Dour in Belgium manufactures medium and low voltage cables of up to 6kV as well as serial cables, and at Buizingen, also in Belgium, cables for domestic use are produced. These are low voltage cables and PVC mixtures required for the insulation and outer sheathing of cables manufactured on-site. The logistics centre responsible for cutting and shipping all the company’s cables produced for the European market is n also located at Buizingen.

FLEXTRUS Flextrus is a leader in flexible packaging in Northern Europe and supply environmentally responsible materials to customers with high requirements. By taking a step closer to our customers we participate in their development in a structured manner and develop packaging solutions with desired feel, appearance and functionality.

As a pioneer and leader in HD flexo printing, Flextrus uses latest technology to print advanced designs with sharper picture, smoother gradients and larger colour gamut. Resources and time are minimised when our proactive prepress team is involved early in projects.

This is why Flextrus has become the natural choice for Findus and others.

A FRESH APPROACH The Swedish activities of global frozen food products manufacturer, Findus, have not only a long history in the region but also a clear focus on offering products that meet the demands of today’s consumers.

Industry Europe looks at how this is achieved.

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ounded in 1941 in Bjuv, Sweden, Findus Sverige AB is a key part of the global Findus Group, a leading frozen food and groceries provider with both retail and foodservice presence. Alongside other strategic Findus locations in the Nordics, UK and southern Europe, the Swedish operation is carefully developed to deliver a reliable local service that meets the needs of its local customers, while still adhering to the strict quality standards of the Findus Group.

A company spokesperson told Industry Europe, “The Findus Group is based in London, and the international offices work in clusters so that we can be targeting the local audiences. Findus Sverige is active within the Nordic region cluster alongside the UK cluster and France/Spain, and we can all share information that is relevant across the cluster and have our own locallyspecific trends and profiles. As such, we can deliver a varied product range that

addresses the individual tastes and preferences of our local audiences while still utilising the Group power of Findus, which gives our consumers the best of both worlds – wherever they are in the world!”

Plenty of choice The Findus product range includes frozen food such as ready meals, vegetables, fish and bakery, and groceries including mayonnaise, soup, pasta sauce and jams. Findus is perhaps most famous for its frozen fish, offering both fish portions and fish in various flavoured sauces and coatings. A key part of its strategy is to ensure that it continues to offer freshly frozen fish and vegetables which can either be used for people to cook from scratch, such as individual portions of frozen fish or high-quality frozen peas, or products which have been carefully created to make cooking at home easier, such as fish in a tasty sauce.

www.valskvarn.se

A company in constant development

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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.

The healthy aspect of Findus’ products is a major ingredient in its sales and marketing communication, not least because frozen products often contain considerably more nutrients than poorly kept fresh products, particularly vegetables. The company spokesperson added, “Our fish is frozen as soon as possible, which retains all its nutrients as well as keeping it wonderfully fresh until the consumer wants to cook it. Here at Findus we are committed to sharing the benefits of frozen products as they are sometimes seen as ‘second to fresh’, whereas actually they can be tastier, healthier and often cheaper.

Our corporate policy ‘Vision Zero’ also plays

a part in this as it highlights our work towards delivering products without additives. Also, our frozen food is without preservatives since freezing is the natural way to preserve food.

We’re bringing this message to the consumer to make sure that frozen food products get the credit they deserve.”

The cost-effective benefit of buying frozen food is also clearly evident when it comes to the reduced waste. With Sweden ahead of even the wasteful UK when it comes to throwing away food, the message from Findus is clear – frozen food is not only often cheaper to buy in the first place but it is also very effective in reduc-

J.P. Klausen & Co. A/S J.P. Klausen & Co. A/S was established in 1990 by Jens Peter Klausen in New Zealand. After a few years a sales office was established in Denmark, Europe, which has been the registered head office from 1993. Today seafood products are sourced from around the world and delivered to an expanding customer base from the Middle East, across EU to markets in Central and East Europe, Asia and Africa.

New suppliers are adding to the volumes distributed by J.P. Klausen & Co. A/S making it one of the largest Seafood suppliers in Europe with a very wide product range.

ing food waste as you only cook what you need and keep the rest frozen.

“Frozen food represents great value – you can happily store food in your freezer for 12 months when you know it has been frozen as soon as it was caught or picked. We are also careful to manufacture our ready meals and ready to cook prepared frozen products just as you would at home – our mashed potato for example is just potatoes cooked in hot water with a little salt, then mashed with butter and milk. So we help our consumers save time while giving them complete peace of mind that we’re giving them food that’s just as nutritious and carefully prepared as though they’d made it themselves.”

Positive outlook With Findus Sverige experiencing a challenging market during the global economic downturn, it is confident that the steady increase is set to continue, particularly as the company has a concerted effort in its marketing to highlight the cost and nutrition benefits of frozen products. While the FMCG sector in general has seen issues, the company’s more recent introductions to its portfolio address the current demands of its customers, such as more one-portion meals n and additional lighter choices.

GOOD CONNECTIONS For more than 35 years, VULKAN Lokring’s success has been founded on solder-free tube connection technology. Industry Europe talks to Michael Frank, a product manager at Vulkan Lokring.

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he history of the Vulkan Group dates back to 1889, when Maschinenfabrik Louis Schwarz was founded. A merger with the Heinrich Behrend company resulted in the establishment of Vulkan AG. Still actively managed by the fourth generation of the Hackforth family, who are the sole owners to this day, the initially medium-sized business grew to the multinational corporation it is today.

Vulkan has three divisions, Vulkan Drive Tech, Vulkan Couplings and Vulkan Lokring.

Vulkan’s Couplings division focuses on the manufacture of flexible couplings, dampers, mounts and drive line components, while the Drive Tech business line is concerned with the development and production of mechanical power transmission systems. As the market leader in coupling and transmission components, Vulkan supplies technology for a variety of industries ranging from mining to the agricultural engineering sector. The company is particularly well-established in the shipping industry and has a branch in every major harbour.

The Lokring division Vulkan Lokring’s history began in 1978 when the Hackforth family purchased the patent for their superior weld and solder-free tube connections. Initially invented in the 1960s to

provide strong fuel pipe connections following tragic accidents in the Apollo space programme, this new type of connection proved leak-resistant and of remarkable durability and is still widely used within the aviation industry.

Today, Vulkan Lokring’s tube and hose fittings are primarily used for refrigeration systems in household appliances and white goods such as refrigerators and freezers.

Other applications include commercial cooling systems and air conditioning systems, also in vehicles. Lokring currently has production facilities in Herne (Germany), Florida, Brazil and India and is planning to open a new manufacturing plant in China soon to complement and supply its direct sales operations in nearly 20 countries and with independent representation in a mere 30 countries, with more than 1.5 billion LOKRINGS in use only within the refrigeration and air conditioning sector.

Lokring and Lokclip Vulkan’s two types of tube and hose connection fittings, Lokring and Lokclip, have revolutionised the world of refrigeration by combining durability and reliability with ease of use. Preferred by many large-scale OEMs such as Bosch, Samsung, LG, Electrolux, Whirlpool and Indesit, the Lokring Single Ring can serve as a tube connection for a variety

of materials such as copper, brass, steel or aluminium. The Lokring fittings have numerous advantages in addition to their strength.

They can be used for quick and easy repairs or installations, which makes them an ideal part for commercial refrigeration units. Any leakages can be fixed on site during opening times without causing disruption to the business, saving time and money.

Vulkan’s Lokclip hose connection benefits from the same advantages and can be used to repair air-conditioning systems, for example in automobiles, trains and busses. A money-saving alternative to more traditional tube and hose connections, the Lokclip fitting can be assembled in a simple five step process utilising Lokring’s assembly tool, the Loktool. Thanks to the efficiency and quality of Lokring products, the brand enjoys international presence and is currently available in all parts of the world, including Europe, USA, Korea, China and Brazil.

Driving innovation In a constant effort to drive innovation, Vulkan Lokring has been making substantial investments with regard to its research and development as well as production technology.

Continuing its steady growth, the company has recently invested in personnel and in new

multispindle production machines. Due to Lokring’s focus on developing new technology, the Vulkan division has also invested in new test equipment and is currently conducting research into the properties of CO2 with regards to its use as a cooling agent.

Another Vulkan Lokring innovation is the Loktracer, a leak detector designed to respond exclusively to hydrogen gas. This efficient device overcomes the difficulties of finding a small leak and makes it possible to

quickly identify the exact location of a leakage in any environment, even if the pipes are behind walls or under floor tiles. It is also highly useful for the detection of leaks in air-conditioning systems of passenger cars and has become standard equipment in many BMW and Carrier workshops.

Vulkan Lokring’s latest visionary project is aluminium tube connectors which are pressure-resistant up to working pressures of 50 bar, in accord with today’s new

high pressure refrigerants, and designed to offer a superior alternative tube connection method to installers of systems for the current standard copper tubes or aluminium tubes. Having recognised the superior qualities of aluminium, which is already a material commonly used in car air-conditioning, Vulkan is ready if, as expected, aluminium tubes become an industry standard within the coming decade. Aluminium tubes are significantly

Michael Frank, product manager

cheaper and up to 30 per cent lighter than their copper equivalent, making them costeffective, and, in combination with Lokring fittings, an ideal choice for plumbing far beyond the refrigeration sector.

Award-winning service As a part of the Vulkan Group, Lokring adheres to the Vulkan code of conduct and is dedicated to ensuring good working

conditions for its staff as well as care in the choice of supplier.

Protecting the environment forms part of this code of ethics and the company strives to exceed its legal requirements with regard to its ISO14001 certification. The Lokring product catalogue reflects this underlying principle of sustainability, as all products are made to last.

Vulkan Lokring is particularly proud of having recently been honoured with the

BSH supplier award. BSH Bosch and Siemens Haushaltsgeräte GmbH award this prestigious prize to a supplier every year for outstanding achievements in the areas of quality, reliability and flexibility. Lokring takes pride in having been selected out of several hundred suppliers and is looking forward to continuing to provide an excellent service to an increasing number of clients n all over the world.

RELIABILITY PLUS CUSTOMER FOCUS – THAT’S AURORA CONDITIONING With a long and continuous growth record in the development, construction and production of HVAC systems, Germanbased Aurora is poised for further global penetration, as the general manager, Hannes Wolf, explains to Colin Chinery.

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ighty five years ago Konrad Schulz devised a water heater for the family Model A Ford. Another five for his small fleet of tourist buses quickly followed, and after impressing Karl Kässbohrer, head of the leading coach manufacturer in Ulm, BadenWürttemberg, and seeing the mobile market potential for HVAC systems, the enterprising Schulz launched Aurora in Leipzig.

That was in 1930, and today Aurora, now based in the southern German region of Neckar-Odenwald, is a sector byword for reliability and customer focus, with a global span across five continents.

Focusing chiefly on on–and-off highway vehicles and machines in the bus, rail, agriculture and construction industry vehicle sectors – and with a reach into specialist and military segments – Aurora offers customised solutions for complete heating and air conditioning systems, each individual

component having advanced technical specifications that can be matched for maximum system performance.

The strategic product grouping consists of air conditioning units and devices – both roof-mounted and integrated air/heating systems, blowers – radial, twin radial, axial fans, roof ventilators and cabin blowers – heaters – built-in or supplementary, oil or water heater, and nozzles and accessories.

“Our whole thinking is based upon the belief that the entire operation – both components and systems – is only as good as its weakest part. We are developing components such as heat exchangers, blowers, water valves, controls, louvers – a new family of which is now going into production – and air distribution outlets, while at the same time looking at the whole system,” says general manager, Hannes Wolf. “Most of our competitors, certainly the big ones,

are only focussed on systems supply. We believe in a highly integrated, vertically integrated production.”

From R&D to service With a strong R&D focus on market-specific components – often with heavy-duty applications – Aurora’s research and production facilities at its Mudau headquarters are all-encompassing, with – on the systems side – a complete range of engineering tools including performance simulation, optical measuring systems, reverse engineering, and testing tools from small components up to an entire vehicle analysis in the climate hall. Of the company’s 240 employees 36 are highly trained engineers, with 15 per cent of all staff engaged in development.

For Aurora – 14001 certified – environmental considerations are very much a daily issue, and becoming more and more so

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www.aurora-eos.com

HVAC Systems for on/off highway vehicles AURORA can offer customised solutions for complete heating and air conditioning systems. The individual components with advanced technical specifications can be matched to give maximum system performance.

Our long term experience in the heating and air-conditioning of commercial vehicles is the key to the complete fulfilment of our customers’ needs.

AURORA Konrad G. Schulz GmbH & Co. KG Joachim-Schulz-Str. 4, 69427 Mudau, Germany Phone: +49 6284 9202-0 • E-mail: info@aurora-eos.com

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among the big league players says Mr Wolf.

“Overall we are not a market leader in terms of volume, but we are part of the premium level in terms of service and technology.”

Since high-performance HVAC systems can continue functioning only at the highest level, any periodical servicing is carried out by specialised Aurora staff or through the company’s world wide partners. This close link to its global customer base gives Aurora a big competitive edge, one that Mr Wolf says it is being enhanced through the extension of the Aurora local brand presence – as distinct from partnerships.

Branding goes global This process began in 2001 with the foundation of Aurora Turkey, with North America following in 2010. “We are seeing a lot of growth in North America with this approach, giving the right service to low volume customers,” says Mr Wolf. It is a brand growth strategy now in the final stages of being rolled out for China and the Far East, Russia, India and South America, and Mr Wolf promises some early news. “In the long run we want to have a much deeper presence in these areas, and within the next two months

Faz Elektrik Faz Elektrik produces AC / DC electric motors and fans for different applications such as truck/ yacht windscreen wiper systems, HVAC systems, brushless motors, drivers and user interface for electric motors, motors with reducer, fans and blowers as an OEM in Faz’s integrated factory.

Mentioned products are not just electric motors, they are delivered as a plug and go items with an Kaizen approach which gives our clients to improve their productivity. Faz provides various solutions for a worldwide client group which includes industrial, automotive, white goods, medical and marine companies. With all these mass manufacturing products, Faz Elektrik also provides special purpose products for client’s different demands with a strong engineering ability. Included plastic injection and aluminum injection plants give ability of actual design, dynamic development process and retainable quality. Continuously improved simple production system and ISO certificated quality assurance system is the keystone of just in time delivery for high quality products. That makes Faz Elektrik, the reliable power in customer’s products.

you should be seeing something more concrete in this respect.”

Since 1990, Aurora has been a 100 per cent subsidiary of INDUS Holding AG, based at Bergisch Gladbach, a long-term investor in medium-sized companies run as independent operating units whose continuity and brands remain secure. Aurora’s output has doubled in the past ten years and over the next twelve months Mr Wolf expects to add at least 10 per cent.

The strategy in place allows for both organic growth and acquisitions. “If there’s a good opportunity to buy a company then we will take that, but the test is that it must be one that is in line with our culture. However the main growth will be in the emerging markets. We will not be seeing big growth in Europe anymore.”

Even so, Aurora will be spending 4 million euros this year and next on a new production hall, extending the present five injection mouldings to twelve, and Mr Wolf sees this as a demonstration of its continuing confidence in Germany and Europe.

Customer loyalty And confidence is what Aurora certainly enjoys from its customers. Kässbohrer – its first client back in 1930 – and now Evobus, part of the Daimler Group, is its fourth biggest customer. Fritzmeier, world market leadership in the production of cabs for agro and construction vehicles is another major purchaser, with the number one client being MAN Truck & Bus AG, the largest company in the MAN Group and one of the leading international provid-

ers of commercial vehicles and innovative transport solutions.

“For us, each customer has the same value,” says Mr Wolf. “We don’t differentiate between the large and the small. A customer is a customer. And whatever a customer’s question might be, we take the challenge to deliver the right answer, the answer specific to that customer and its needs. If there’s a problem, we have to solve it – and solve it at the beginning.

“Aurora is a stable company – when the family sold to an investor it was to a very stable investor – and we are on the growth track by going international, and having many new projects, production facilities and customers.

We are financially sound, able to self-finance our investment, and we have never let a customer down.” n Industry Europe 117

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SAILING TO SUCCESS Germany-based Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH is the world’s second-largest producer of motorboats and sailing yachts in its field. Abigail Saltmarsh reports on its recent successes.

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his year has already seen Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH cruise towards another major achievement in the boating world.

The German company, which is the world’s second-largest producer of motorboats and sailing yachts in the 29ft to 56ft category, has won the European Powerboat of the Year Award for its first ever flybridge yacht.

Constantin von Bülow was appointed CEO of the company in April 2013. Mr von Bülow has extensive experience, having started his career at McKinsey and subsequently held various management positions in the automotive and packaging industry. He said that this recent accolade has reinforced the company’s position at the forefront of leisure boat making and showed that the operation was still firmly at the helm of its industry as it navigated towards even greater success.

“We have been in the business for more than 35 years now,” he says. “This is the first

time we have entered the flybridge yacht market and so we are extremely pleased to have won this prize.”

The 12.37m long, high-performance Virtess 420 Flybridge yacht saw off four other shortlisted boats to win the yachts up to 45ft category. Design, handling, safety on board and value for money were among the main test criteria.

“Winning the European Powerboat of the Year Award with our new flybridge marks an important milestone in the history of our shipyard and shows that we are also well on course in this segment.”

The first flybridge As standard, the Virtess 420 Flybridge yacht comes with a fly deck fitted with radar arch GRP, an anti-slip structure, a helm stand with a double seat and a table, sun bed and wet bar with sink. Optional

additions include an electrical or gas grill, a refrigerator, ice maker, modular sun bed that converts into a co-pilot seat and a foldable table.

“It has been extremely well-received,” Mr von Bülow continues. “It also won the prestigious Nautical Design Award, in Italy, and Motorboat of the Year 2013, in the UK, against very strong competition, in the flybridge yachts up to 55ft category.

“This award is organised by Motor Boat & Yachting, Motor Boats Monthly and ybw. com and is the most important British design award for motorboats. Bavaria’s first flybridge yacht has set itself apart from impressive competition right from the start and clearly demonstrates the innovative spirit and design quality of boats from Giebelstadt.”

He adds: “We expect to be rewarded now with good sales results and now expect to increase our flybridge range.

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Design and innovation The Virtess 420 Flybridge was on show at the celebrated boat show in Düsseldorf in January, with her sister model the Virtess 420 Coupé. This also received a superb response.

“The Virtesse 420 Coupé is the next logical step to expand market share in the premium segment. Its powerful, free-spirited design and innovative features such as a panoramic sunroof, comfortable reclining areas, bright

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and open interior and fine furnishings mean that the new yacht represents the ultimate in luxury and comfort,” he says. “I think we will see great results in both areas as the new season begins.

“Both these boats offer unique features.

The Flybridge is one of the biggest in the market and is ideal for people who want to be able to go upstairs. But the Coupé offers another choice. In this area, we expect to

see a take-up of about 60 per cent for the Flybridge and 40 per cent for the Coupé but it will be interesting to see what happens.”

Quality and price Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH operates from a state-of-the-art shipyard in Giebelstadt.

Established in 1978, it has a reputation for quality as well as outstanding price-performance ratio, says Mr von Bülow.

“We produce more than 1200 motor and sailing yachts every year,” he says. “We have four lines, which in total given us a maximum capacity of close to 3000 boats, making us the largest boatyard in Europe.”

The company, which employs approximately 550 people, develops its boats on an ongoing basis. All boats, from the Sport 29 motorboat to the Cruiser 56 sailing yacht, are produced to order, which allows the customer to configure an individual yacht to taste.

Made in Germany From hull lamination to final delivery, the yachts pass various assembly stations covering a distance of more than six kilometres. CAD and CAM and high-precision robots are used in combination with the highly qualified employees.

“We still sell most of our boats in Europe but do export to new markets, such as Asia and Brazil, where we want to improve our presence,” says Mr von Bülow. “We are known as a “made in Germany” brand that really stands for quality both here and in other countries.

“At the same time, however, the efficiency of our production lines enables us to offer better prices as well as the highest quality – and as we continue to grow we are determined to maintain this focus. Both the Virtess 420 Flybridge and the Virtess 420 n Coupé demonstrate this.”

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BULK CARGO SOLUTIONS Specialist mechanical engineering company Salzgitter Maschinenbau AG (SMAG) is the world market leader in the development and manufacture of grabs for bulk cargo applications. Industry Europe looks at how the company has become the market leader in its sector.

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stablished in Salzgitter, Germany in 1919

by Anton Raky, a pioneer of the engineering industry, Salzgitter Maschinenbau AG (SMAG) today is the world market leader in grabs. A 500-person strong mechanical engineering company that specialises in the development, manufacture and operation of grabs for the loading and unloading of seagoing cargo vessels, SMAG operates worldwide.

Bought by the Salzgitter Group in 1937, SMAG has continued to acquire strategically

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beneficial companies throughout its nearly 100-year history in order to gain brands, skills and market presence. It bought the grab division of Peiner AG in 1986 and continues to operate under this well-known brand for its grabs. It uses the SMAG brand for motor, hydraulic and rope grabs. Both names are considered leaders in their fields.

A spokesperson for the company told Industry Europe how SMAG’s core competencies continue to be boosted by clever

acquisitions: “Relatively recently we bought special technology company Herbst GmbH located in Braunschweig, which has allowed us to enjoy rapid growth in this sector, as it was respected for its truck loading equipment specifically for the mining and steel mill industries. Now called Herbst SMAG Mining Technologies GmbH, it has brought us increased activity in mining technology which works well with our existing mining equipment capabilities.”

Grabs and more SMAG’s core competencies see mining technology sit alongside its famous grabs and mobile antenna equipment. These three SMAG divisions all work separately from its Salzgitter head office, with further production facilities in Döbeln, Germany and Shanghai, China. The mobile antenna equipment division primarily provides mechanically and hydraulically actuated antenna masts. The company also develops and manufactures fully auto-

mated drilling rigs specifically for salt mining applications. As the world market leader in grabs, SMAG’s Peiner grabs are ideally suited to bulk cargo applications such as the lifting and unloading of sand, gravel, coal, refuse, wood and agricultural commodities.

The blend of these services allows the company to meet the demanding bulk cargo loading and unloading needs of the marine industry, particularly for cargo shipping, as well as for steel mills, incinerator plants, construction

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ODU Connection Systems A perfect alliance For many years SMAG Salzgitter Maschinenbau GmbH trusts in the expertise and the know-how of ODU. Whether it’s heavy plug connectors or durable individual contacts – as a specialist for innovative connection systems, ODU also offers the most suitable solutions specific for the most demanding of requirements on the market. It is on this basis that they have made a reputation as a reliable partner with their convincing implementation competence in markets such as medical, industrial, measurement and testing, military and security, energy and automotive.

Contact: Michael.gorski@odu.de

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and timber sectors. It has extensive in-house capabilities that it has developed throughout its history, and added to by strategic acquisitions.

SMAG has 100 per cent ownership of a Leipzig-based company called Matec. Matec’s expertise in manufacturing cabins for trucks for excavators and other applications is a welcome addition to the SMAG portfolio. It also owns 70 per cent of a joint venture in China, where a further 420 employees are based.

worldwide, with a particularly strong position in Europe, the USA, Australia, Asia and South America. The company spokesperson continued, “As yet we are not that strong in the Middle East or Russia, where we are keen to find new partners to enable us to bring our products and services to these regions. Strategic acquisitions have long been an important part of our business development strategy and we have been cooperating closely with the Ger-

man Chamber of Commerce to ensure that we are utilising all possible opportunities.”

SMAG is focusing its ongoing acquisition plans in the fields of coil tongs and paper tongs, as these will add value to its current crane and grab offer. Open-minded to the location and specific capabilities of its potential acquisition targets, SMAG expects that its marine activities will steadily be eclipsed by its n growing material handling business.

Continuing investment Ongoing investment also plays a key role in SMAG’s continuing success, both in terms of adding to its existing capabilities and by increasing its technical offer. The company invests every year, with upgrades in the past couple of years including a state-of-the-art paint shop and drying hall. This has ensured that SMAG remains ahead of the changing EU regulations requiring all companies to use only water-based paint for ecological reasons.

SMAG has also installed two machines which offer the very latest plasma cutting technology. Over the past two years these have significantly boosted its effectiveness and productivity in this department.

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GLOBAL SOLUTIONS PROVIDER

The Scandinavian company Scana Industrier ASA produces steel forgings and castings, gears and propulsion systems for ships, and components for the oil and gas industry.

Combining long experience and the latest technology, Scana is active throughout the world.

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he oldest company within Scana, Scana Steel Boforge, was founded in Sweden over 350 years ago. This company learned to adapt, and its core business today is producing arms for forklift trucks.

Overall, Scana is a collection of many different companies operating in three main business areas: steel, marine and oil and gas.

The group is more than the sum of its parts and the different entities within it can support each other. For example, Scana Steel Stavanger produces special steel and high alloy steel for use in marine and oil and gas applications.

Meanwhile, within the oil and gas business area, Scana Subsea, which supplies risers to the oil and gas industry, can draw on the technical capabilities of Scana’s various steel companies.

The headquarters of the group are in Stavanger, a city with a strong tradition of shipbuilding that has become the home port

for Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry.

The group’s marine and oil and gas business areas complement each other well and sometimes overlap. For example, within the oil and gas area, Scana Offshore Vestby assembles and installs unloading systems for FPSOs (floating production, storage and offloading vessels). Likewise, within the marine business area, Scana Skarpenord’s hydraulic valve control systems have been installed in oil rigs as well as in ships.

Scana may be a Nordic company, but its vision is global. With almost 1800 employees, the group is a major exporter to the Far East and Latin America. Beyond Scandinavia, it has production facilities in Poland, China and Korea.

Strong in marine Scana’s marine business specialises in equipment for the shipbuilding industry. The business area supplies two kinds of products:

propulsion technology, including propellers, gears and tunnel thrusters; and valve control systems. Scana Volda, located in western Norway, has been making propellers for fishing vessels for nearly a century, supporting the country’s important fishing industry.

The company develops controllable pitch

propellers adapted to the requirements of the customer. Using data from model tests of the vessel, it can tailor the design of the propeller blades to the type of work for which the ship is intended. With its extensive knowledge of cargo ships and offshore vessels, Scana Volda builds propellers that deliver optimal fuel efficiency and ensure that the lowest possible level of noise and vibration.

Scana also manufactures propellers and gears in Poland, where it has a subsidiary, Scana Zamech. Located in Elblag, Scana Zemech has a maritime tradition going back to the 19th century and was acquired by the group in 2009.

Valve control systems In the other part of the marine business area, Scana Skarpenord is a world-class supplier of valve remote control systems for the shipping industry. The main demand for Scana Skarpenord’s hydraulic valve systems comes from builders of larger ships such as cargo ships and tankers. Valve control systems are used to handle liquid and dry cargo, and so are needed in oil and chemical tankers. Scana Skarpenord produces valve control systems to suit the customer’s specifications. The valve control systems can be operated from the ship’s main automation system or from a computerised touch screen panel.

Hydraulic control systems fulfil a vital function on cargo ships, and in Scana’s view, the technology is likely to remain relevant for a long time to come. Scana Skarpenord has already delivered more than 2000 of these systems to customers, and the factory at Rjukan provides a high level of after-sales service. For the past 30 years or so, Scana

Skarpenord has kept careful records of the installations it has carried out, and is therefore well prepared to assist with future upgrades.

Breaking new ground Much of the world’s shipbuilding industry is now located in Asia. Indeed, China and Korea are Scana Skarpenord’s main markets. In

China, Scana Skarpenord has an office in Shanghai, while in South Korea, the group supplies valve control systems to the local shipbuilding industry through its joint venture, Scana Korea Hydraulic Ltd. Established in 1998, Scana Korea has managed to obtain a 25 per cent share of the Korean market for remote valve control systems. Scana Skarpenord makes the key components for Scana Korea back in Norway. The responsibilities of Scana Korea, which employs around 50 people, relate to engineering, assembly and testing. Scana Korea’s clients include the big names in the Korean shipbuilding industry, such as Hyundai, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung. n

FINE YACHTS FROM POLAND In north-eastern Poland, surrounded by lakes and forests, is the stunning city of Olecko. This beautifully situated town has a rich tradition in sailing and is home to Delphia Yachts’ boatyard. Delphia was launched in 1990 and has become the largest builder of yachts and sailing boats in Poland. Piotr Sadowski writes.

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fter 20 years of developing a successful business, the Delphia brand has become known throughout the global sailing community for its unsurpassed build quality, innovative designs, comfort, durability and performance. “Looking at our most recent history, two key events need to be mentioned,” explains Wojciech Kot, founder and owner Delphia Yachts. “We purchased the Maxi Yachts brand, a purchase which will involve significant amounts of work over the next two years. We also introduced a new integrated IT system. This was a costly, but certainly necessary and important decision, as it greatly contributes to further strengthening our processes.”

Strong performance The market position is changing as many smaller companies are forced out of the market; there is also an ongoing consolidation in the European market for sailing boats and yachts. Within this environment, Delphia continues to perform very well. Growth for the end of this year, compared to 2012, is expected to reach 13 –14 per cent. This growth is not as big as that recorded in 2010 over 2009, when it reached 38 per cent but

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taking into account the slump which occurred over the last couple of years, it is still an impressive increase in production, dictated by incoming orders. “The department with the highest level of activity is the manufacturing preparation department,” says Mr Kot. “This is because, in addition to sailing yachts and motorboats, it also deals with activities such as manufacturing forms for other shipyards and serves clients in industries such as aviation, railways and road infrastructure.”

Continuous development The company has fully reorganised its system of modernising motorboats and moved into linear production. In fact, there is only one other shipyard that undertakes such a process in Europe. The production of motorboats has also been changed and from the beginning of August they are being manufactured only using laminates. Delphia is also continuing to introduce new products. Recent additions to the offer include Delphia 31, Delphia Escape 800. Delphia NANO and Delphia Escape MC. Under the acquired MAXI brand one new yacht – Maxi 1300 – will be introduced at the upcoming ORST trade fair in Sweden. As Mr Kot

points out, from September onwards new features are being introduced to existing models, such as, for example electronic systems. All such activities – including a change towards using eco-friendly renewable energy – are part of the overall drive to continue developing Delphia Yachts.

Acquisition of Maxi Yachts Maxi Yachts has always been synonymous with well-constructed vessels whose build quality has earned them great respect throughout the sailing world. Since its establishment, the boatyard has delivered over 16,000 vessels. Delphia regards the acquisition of Maxi Yachts as part of the company’s strategic development, going the extra mile to meet clients’ expectations, always seeking new solutions and continuously increasing its product range.

“As a constantly growing company seeking new challenges, we feel that acquiring Maxi Yachts presents a great challenge,” says Mr Kot. “It is a challenge that takes preparation, investment and time to achieve the desired results. By acquiring Maxi, we are able to expand our dealership network and further strengthen our market position.”

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Delphia 31 The new Delphia 31 is designed to be an easy-to-handle craft, ideal for families seeking adventure on the water. From stem to stern, it is built to be functional, solid and very reliable in harsh weather conditions.

Even during long voyages, the D31 guarantees its occupants a sense of high comfort and safety. The self-draining cockpit with two

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lockers, the specifically designed anti-slip surface on the cockpit floor, the self-tailing winch and roller furling jib are just a few of the wealth of features to ensure the ultimate sailing experience that a craft in its class can offer. Inside, the all-new interior with sumptuous sofas offers sleeping accommodation for up to six adults. The D31 is available with a cast iron keel, recommended for blue

water sailing or a swing-keel available on request. Optional extras also include a furling mainsail and a mast lowering kit. It is worth adding that on 22 February 2012 at the boat show in Zagreb, the D31 received the title of the ‘Croatian Boat of the Year 2012’ in the category of sailing yachts. Furthermore, D31 has been nominated for the ‘European Yacht of the Year 2012/13’ Award. The jury of this

highly prestigious competition is comprised of 18 largest water sports magazines in Europe and the official Awards Ceremony took place in January 2013, at the International Boat Show in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Delphia Escape 800 The new DE800 is a continuation of two previous models, Nautika 1000 and Nautika 1300.

This time, the boat can be transported on a two-axis trailer (thus weighing around 2,200 kg), while its width of 2.9 metres ensures that its transportation does not require any additional permits. The boat can be fitted with a permanently attached engine or a detachable one – or both at the same time. It has two double sleeping cabins and a dining area in the lounge. With immersion depth of only 45cm and a detachable engine which can be raised, it is a perfect boat for cruising on lakes.

“For a while now we have not really been present on the Polish lakes and moved towards the sea with our products; it is time to come back and Delphia 800 Escape is the answer,” concludes Mr Kot. “Outside of Poland, we are developing our exports in countries such as Russia, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. We n are also preparing to enter China.”

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SPECIALISED SHIPBUILDING SKILLS

T

he Tehnomont Group consists of the 100 year old Tehnomont Shipyard Pula Ltd and Tehnomont BMN Ltd. Apart from shipbuilding, ship repairing and the production of solar equipment the Group also serves the metal industry, as well as the tourism industry in Marina Veruda.

The shipyard, located in Pula Bay, started with the production of smaller size wooden ships; today, it is a modern company with an open production area of 32,000m2 and a covered production area of 3000m2, consisting of fully equipped workshops and all the infrastructure necessary for smooth operations. Two slipways for the large sized ships (up to L 50m, W 18m, Wt 600t) are also part of the production facilities.

The company constructs a wide range of vessels for various purposes such as patrol boats, cruise ships and passenger boats, fishing and fire-fighting boats etc. It also has an overhaul and repair department which is engaged in maintenance and reconstruction of ships made of various materials. In addition, Tehnomont Shipyard produces its own marine equipment such as stairs, cradles, dry docks and platforms, made of steel. The production of offshore steel-hulled ships and other special-purpose vessels still represents the shipyard’s core businesses.

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The Tehnomont Group is one of the major shipbuilding companies in Croatia. It is integrating the wide range of its activities to develop its potential and adjust to economic changes in Europe.

Aluminium solutions

Long-lasting collaboration

When the prices of fuel kept on rising dramatically in the last couple of decades, Tehnomont Shipyard Pula began to set its sights on producing more sophisticated ships made out of aluminium which due to their light weight ultimately consume less fuel. Another reason for considering aluminium solutions was a response to the competition from the Far East whose shipbuilding industry has conquered international markets with its steel vessels.

Currently the company is focused on building vessels up to 80m in length.

Although European customers have not shown much interest in aluminium ships in the past, it looks as if this material is slowly acquiring an important place in the European shipbuilding industry as a result of increasing demand for larger and faster ships.

Tehnomont’s first step in aluminium shipbuilding technology was getting its workers trained in Germany and Italy. Today the company successfully implements these technologies in delivering its own marine vessels and passenger ships. The latest example from 2012, a new 37m long passenger catamaran vessel completely made of aluminium alloy, shows that Tehnomont Shipyard meets one of its pivotal business strategies – bringing aluminium shipbuilding to the Mediterranean.

Another profit centre within Tehnomont is its operations in other countries. More than 300 of its skilled workers are sent to Germany and Italy to help in constructing particular ship sections, fitting ship pipes and engaging in other marine construction work. Tehnomont owns branch offices in these shipyards. Experience gained during 30 years of such collaboration enables the workers to return armed with new knowledge which is then implemented in their own company. HDV Kiel, P. Lundenau Kiel, Fincantieri Monfalcone and Fincantieri Ancona are just some of the shipyards where Tehnomont’s experts in steel and pipe manufacturing perform outfitting and learn new technologies.

When it comes to assembling aluminium structures on various ships and vessels, Tehnomont has worked on numerous cruise ships in Italy and Germany. It is particularly proud of its contribution to the 165m long yacht for the Kingdom of Oman, delivered by the Bremen-based shipyard Lurssen.

The company has also built large aluminium funnels for Aida and Disney ships.

Eggs in different baskets Apart from the shipbuilding industry, Tehnomont Group benefits from two other activities. It develops and produces solar panels

Industry Europe 135

for water heating and has the largest collector arrays built in one place in Croatia (at the Zaton holiday resort near Zadar) with 1036 pieces installed (2072m2) for supplying 4500 guests. This project has been upgraded through the years. In fact, Croatia was, together with the USA, one of the pioneers in the production of solar systems.

Tehnomont BMN Ltd, which mainly deals with management of the whole Group, also runs Marina Veruda, a fully equipped sea port located on the southern part of the Istrian peninsula. The Marina operates a charter fleet, 630 berths in the water and 300 berths on shore. Additionally, it offers help in repairing and maintaining vessels in

trouble and holds authorisation for servicing motors from well-known engine makers such as Honda, Yamaha etc. All activities are carried out in compliance with environmental laws.

Moving upscale The leadership of the Group is aware that the Croatian market is too small to keep ship sales going. Hence, there is a constant need to expand markets internationally.

Tehnomont Group is present not only on the European markets, but in the Middle East as well. It has been engaged in the modernisation of the Moroccan fishing fleet, as well as in supplying rescue and pilot boats.

To offer high quality products, Tehnomont collaborates with renowned project designers such as Macduff Ship Design, Bruce Roberts, Simtec Marine d.o.o.

Camarc Design. Major investments are being carried out especially in the facilities for constructing aluminium equipment for new vessels. For that purpose Shipyard Pula has built a new movable and extendable workshop hall that can reach 100m in length. The company is continuing to use its years of experience and collaboration to meet new benchmarks and to remain an n independent shipbuilder.

Visit: www.tehnomont.hr

HIGH TECH MILLING SYSTEMS The days of milling process collisions due to machine errors during production are over, thanks to the software and numerical controls offered by Fidia SpA, as Barbara Rossi discovers when talking to the company’s high speed milling division communication area manager, Mr Piliego, and to its co-funded research manager, Mr Tamburini.

F

idia SpA has grown and evolved in a significant way over the years, after being founded by its current CEO Mr Giuseppe Morfino in Turin in 1974. At the start, its activity was entirely focused on the production of numerical controls for complex form milling. In the 1980s the company had already grown in terms of staff and turnover, and had opened a series of foreign branches, while the 1990s saw the introduction of numerical controls for high speed algorithms and the start of its own high-speed milling machine production. This led the company, which has always had an international vocation, to reorganise itself in two areas, namely electronics and mechanics, opening two mechanical manufacturing

sites, respectively in Turin and Forlí. This was followed by the establishment of the first Chinese branch, of a solely commercial and support nature, just like the other foreign sites. The first decade of the 21st century saw the company being listed on the Milan stock exchange and acquiring Sitra Automazione, a company based in the north western Italian town of Alessandria and specialised in the production of inverters and spindles. This was followed by the opening of a second Chinese site, as well as by the development of a third Italian manufacturing plant also based in Forlí.

Today Fidia SpA has a worldwide staff of 360, eight foreign branches, three manufacturing sites, electronics production

taking place at its Turin headquarters (San Mauro Torinese), a turnover of €45m and a joint-venture in China (whose manufacturing is solely for the local market). High-speed millers (HSM), generating about 70 per cent of turnover, form Fidia’s core business, but the company is also specialised in numerical controls and digital drives, milling heads, accessories and software.

In terms of HSM, the company has a wide range of sizes and models of five-axes vertical millers. The last series developed in 2008 is Gantry which, given the large dimensions of its models, is particularly important because it extends the applicability of Fidia machines to pieces of a size up to 20 metres and more.

Stöber New, high efficiency rack and pinion drives with innovative pinion bearing for machine tool A new compact solution is developed from Stoeber Antriebstechnik -Germany. The ZTRS drive are based on a Servofit precision gearboxes with integrated supporting bearing, that increased significantly the power density.

The additional supporting bearings permit to reduce very strong the load on the bearings of gearboxes. Due to this highly stiff design is achieved a very high drive tilting moment, an increasing of linear stiffness and reduced linear backlash.

Also one of the important Italian machine tool manufacturer like Fidia is using this innovative solution that permits maximum feed forces.

The company has a vast range of clients and works to find solutions to their needs.

For instance, all the milling heads produced are proprietary and have been developed by Fidia to fulfil the needs of particular products and sectors (automotive and aerospace in particular). In terms of multi-axis numerical controls for high-speed milling of complex forms, the company’s offer is very wide and top of the range. All these controls are equipped with two totally independent processors, with two different and separate operating systems. Fidia also produces accessories and software, which can be included as extra optional features to its numerical controls, in addition to having patented HMS (head measuring system), an automated calibration and measuring device that can be employed for all rotary axes on a machine tool, such as various types of milling heads. The device is able to identify and correct geometrical errors, positioning precision and RTCP parameters.

R&D is extremely important for Fidia and this is the reason why annually the company invests more than 12 per cent of its turnover in this area, to which are dedicated almost 50 staff members. R&D is carried out on a continuous basis and is supported by co-funded research. It concerns all different aspects of the company’s activity, from new materials and control algorithms to business

models and supply chain management.

Mr Tamburini, Fidia’s co-funded research Manager, explains, “We have been involved in co-funded research for about 20 years, where research projects are co-funded by the European Commission, Italian Ministries or the Piedmont Region.”

ViMill, C40 Vision and Look Ahead version 5 One of the results of the R&D activity is the recently developed, patent pending ViMill tri-dimensional software. This product is able to visually check any possible collision or unexpected movement between tool, head and machine and the actual workpiece, just before pressing the start push button or during the actual milling process. ViMill fills a market hole, because, unlike other simulating products

which operate before the actual milling process, thus reducing but not eliminating errors, ViMill is an on-board software, operating just before and during production. When a problem is identified, the milling machine is put on hold and an alert is generated, allowing the operator to decide on the course of action to take. ViMill also safeguards the operator’s manual movements, thanks to a safety buffer with a lower volume limit of a few millimetres placed around the tool and the work piece. Here again, the same warning procedure is activated when the machine enters the security measures.

Fidia also offers two control architectures designed to be used by clients who adopt ViMill on board their machines: C20 Vision and C40 Vision. The latter is a totally new numerical control featuring a touch-screen graphic interface, while the former is a new

CMI Srl has been active in the engineering industry since 1978.

We specialise in machine tools and its production facilities cover an area of 12,000m2.

The range of services we offer customers is extensive and comprehensive, and includes: • Carpentry light / medium / heavy • Machining department with advanced machinery • Assembly and wiring of complete groups • Industrial painting • Experienced design and engineering team Our company co-operates with major customers and has acquired extensive know-how in a wide range of technological fields, allowing us to be a point of reference and a competent authority for any kind of customer request.

Via Ponticella, 4 • 29018 LUGAGNANO VAL D’ARDA(Pc) - ITALY Tel: +39 0523 892744 • Fax: +39 0523 891998 E-mail: mario.sgorbani@cmi-piacenza.com • www.cmi-piacenza.com

version of an existing numerical control. Mr Piliego also highlighted the new Look Ahead version 5 algorithm. “Since January 2013, this algorithm has been integrated in all of the company’s controls from the entry level Nc 15 to the C40. It offers an interesting performance, as thanks to it, it is possible to obtain an increase of production quality, as well as saving 30 per cent of cutting time.

“All of our production, both in terms of mechanics and electronics, takes place in Italy and much of it is for the international markets, which we supply thanks to our

network of branches. Where we cannot be present with a direct branch, we operate thanks to a service centre. We are always close to our clients to provide assistance, spare parts and other services, both during and after the guarantee period. I think that both our electronics and mechanics production gain from the synergy deriving from the fact that all our production sites are relatively close to each other, as this has also allowed us to rationalise our supply chain, something which is reflected in the final price. Furthermore we can present ourselves to medium to large clients as an only supplier, able to supply a range of products and services.

“In terms of HSM machines our main market segments are aerospace and automotive, while with regard to numerical controls

we serve a wider market range, also including energy, marine, white goods, automotive or industrial design prototypes and sheet metal moulding. Overall automotive and aerospace account for about 70–80 per cent of turn over, but the balance between the two varies according to the year. Geographically speaking China is still our main market, although in the last year we have witnessed a re-balance between China and the West. Today, China generates about 60 per cent of turnover, with the remainder originating in western markets, thanks to demand in the USA, Europe and Brazil, but we have clients in all the four industrialised continents. Due to the success of our Gantry series of HSMs and the volume growth that we are experiencing in our mechanics division, we have planned for, the construction of a new 4000m2 production site in Forlí.” n

ALL-ROUND QUALITY

DEVELOPMENT Just as in the past, the core business of IRO (Industrie Riunite Odolesi) SpA is still the production of reinforcing bars, but for some years now the company has started diversifying its activity, manufacturing niche products and billets. Barbara Rossi interviews Mr Carlo Leali, the company’s vice-president.

I

RO SpA has a 60-year history, having been established in Odolo (Brescia) in 1951, as a rolling mill for the production of reinforcing bars. The company further developed its activity over the years, with the installation in the 1960’s - of the first electric furnace for scrap melting and the introduction of one of the first continuous casting lines for billet manufacturing, followed in the 1970’s by the installation of a new rolling mill and a new

continuous casting machine, always with the aim of increasing production and improving product quality. In the 1990’s there was another quality leap, thanks to the inclusion of the Tempcore system, for product welding and ductility, into the manufacturing process; and to gaining the UNI EN ISO 9001 certification, in addition to which today the company has also achieved the UNI EN ISO 14001 environmental benchmark.

Two years ago IRO, which currently has 215 employees and an annual turnover of about €200 million, made investments totalling €12 million for the construction of a new continuous casting line, which has allowed it to widen the dimensional range of the billets that it manufactures, which can now reach maximum square section dimensions of 180x180mm. Moreover, thanks to this line, the company can manufacture

quality steels, a sector which the company is trying to expand, to counterbalance the dip in demand for reinforcing bars, due to the crisis affecting the construction sector in Europe.

Following the diversification route Nowadays about 70–75 per cent of the company turnover derives from the sales of finished products, in other words bars.

80 per cent of this percentage is generated by reinforcing bars, which anyhow remain the company’s main activity. The remainder derives from the previously mentioned niche

products – mainly in the form of smooth bars for various uses, mainly produced using highquality steel, according to the requirements of the final application for which they are meant.

Smooth bars are supplied to a wider range of sectors, including the mechanics, prefabrication and moulding industries. “Our billets are a semi-product, not a finished product like bars. 25–30 per cent of our turnover derives from these products, which are then transformed by other rolling mills or moulders. The type of steel employed in our billets varies according to the final application,” Mr Leali explains.

IRO also owns an 80 per cent share of Nova PM Sider, a pre-forming company based in Bologna, engaged in customising, with tailored modifications, reinforcing bars so that these fulfil the design specifications of the architects in charge of the construction projects. “This is an activity which until 20–30 years ago companies used to carry out internally, but which in recent years, due to cost optimisation, has been outsourced.

About 5 per cent of the reinforcing bars that we produce are for Nova PM Sider, while the rest is sold to other processing plants which also carry out pre-forming. This is

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what happens in terms of the reinforcing bars that we sell in Italy. With regard to foreign sales, in particular those in nonEuropean countries, predominantly concentrated in Algeria, we supply large local distributors, which then resell our products.

In terms of reinforcing bars, the export share has significantly increased in recent years; suffice to say that today it almost reaches 50 per cent, while 20 years ago it was about 15–20 per cent. This increase in the export share is mainly due to the crisis which has hit the construction sector in Europe, and particularly in Italy, causing a reduction of the volumes supplied to these geographical areas. This reduction took place four or five years ago, while I would say that in the last two or three years volumes have stabilised. In this framework the level of overall product volume has remain unchanged, but the foreign market has acquired an increasingly greater importance and our international share has grown in comparison to the total.”

Concluding our conversation, Mr Leali states, “Precisely the crisis of the construction sector in Europe, Italy included, which started a few years back, has made us take the decision to differentiate our activity both in terms of new geographical markets – as we did for reinforcing bars – and in terms

of new market segments – which we have done with the development of quality steel production and with the widening of the dimensional range of the billets that we produce. Both smooth bars and billets will allow us to supply a wider range of industrial segments, which in future we would like to expand so as to also include the automotive sector. Our smooth bars are mainly sold in Italy. Our billets also mainly supply the

national market. In terms of our traditional product and core business, which is reinforcing bars, differentiation has mainly taken place in terms of new geographical markets.

As already mentioned, Algeria is our main export market, thanks to the significant development of this country and the fact that other areas around the Mediterranean basin are experiencing particular political phases. Clearly, we are still exporting in

Europe, to places such as France, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and other nearby countries. We will continue our diversification process, and reinforcing bars will remain our main product. Geographically we are always looking for new markets which, due to the nature of reinforcing bars and to the bearing of transport costs on the final price of this product, must be in areas n close to us.”

INNOVATORS IN

HIGH GRADE STEEL Netherlands-based Nedstaal is an innovative producer specialising in various types of steel cut to size. Abigail Saltmarsh looks at its plans for growth.

O

ver the last 12 years, steel producer Nedstaal has grown from an operation with just one customer to a company with more than 150. Now, says CEO Bert Bult, the company – which works with high-grade customised steel and offers ingots and blooms that are cut to size – is seeking further substantial growth as it creates extra capacity to meet even more demand.

“There is so much growth potential for us just with our existing customers,” he says.

“By adding extra capacity and with a focus on efficiency and quality, we expect to grow from a company producing 150 tonnes a year to one producing 190 tonnes.

“We operate in a very niche market and have a very specific product range. If someone wants high volumes then we are not the company for them but if they want our more specialised service then we can help.”

He adds: “Because there is a demand for our products, we expect to expand by about 20 per cent over the next three years.”

The highest quality Nedstaal was founded in 1938 as a subsidiary of NKF, a manufacturer of strips and wires used in electrical cables. In the mid 1960s, the company was taken over by Philips and was later incorporated into Thyssen Stahl AG. In 1998, it underwent a management buyout by Glimmerveen and the H2 Investment Group.

Today, the operation produces steel for processing companies forging or rolling sub-assemblies into semi-finished or

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finished products. It recycles scrap into high-grade steel that complies with the highest quality standards.

“About 15 per cent of our volumes go to customers as ingots,” explains Mr Bult.

“Approximately 85 per cent is rolled and sold on as blooms to the forging market or to the wire business.”

At its base in Alblasserdam, Nedstaal can deliver steel alloys with alloying element percentages of up to 30 to 35 per cent.

These can be produced using a combination of an electric arc furnace and a separate ladle furnace.

“For a long time, many of our customers just saw us as a basic steel supplier, known for its short delivery, reliable supply and very customer-specific service. Now, however, we are putting a lot of effort into explaining that we can work with alloys as well.”

Investing at the plant The company has one production site, which includes its raw material depository,

steel plant, rolling mill and alloy machine.

Approximately 35 tonnes of scrap is melted for each charge in an electric arc furnace.

Alloys are added in a ladle furnace using a dosing system that ensures that the chemical composition remains within the required tolerances. If required, argon is injected to create an inert atmosphere that keeps the steel as pure as possible in compliance with the highest quality standards.

“Over the last five years we have invested heavily in secondary metallurgy, as well as our IT systems,” says Mr Bult. “For the next three years we are going to invest quite an amount in increasing the capacity of the steel mill. This will help us reach our target of increasing output from 150 tonnes to 190 tonnes by 2015.”

Customers are Europe-based, primarily from the UK, Italy, France, Germany and Poland. On the forging side, they are from the transport sector – automotive, heavy trucks and trains etc – as well as oil and gas and renewable energy, such as wind farms.

“I would say that on the forging side of the business we are looking for growth in all sectors. For example, we are currently developing steel for crank shafts for customers in automotive but also, with the growth in fracking, we are seeing demand for seamless steel tubes from the energy sector. This sort of product requires ingot cast steel.”

Emphasis on training Nedstaal’s growth will be organic, he suggests. As the company expands, it is putting more emphasis on training staff as well as investing in equipment.

“We need technically educated people for our machines. People are the key, particularly in a niche area like ours; we have to keep training levels up, to ensure a high level of skills,” says Mr Bult.

“If we can find and keep the right people then we can offer an even better service. We know the potential is there for growth and n we are doing all we can to achieve it.”

ENHANCING THE

VALUE OF SPECIALITY

TUBULAR STEELS OSTP is a market leader in the manufacture of speciality, stainless steel tubular products for the natural resources industry. Philip Yorke spoke to Andrea Gatti, the company’s CEO, about its global restructuring programme, duplex grade products and its major investment in a new production facility in Saudi Arabia.

O

STP is a joint venture between the Outokumpu Group of Finland and Tubinoxia Srl of Italy. Tubinoxia is owned by the family of Mr Andrea Gatti and on 18 January this year increased their shareholding to 51 per cent, thus demonstrating a clear commitment to the strong future that is predicted for the company. Today OSTP is one of the largest and most respected producers of stainless steel tubular products in the world. The company manufactures the widest range of welded and stainless steel

products available today. OSTP’s portfolio includes process pipes, butt-weld fittings and threaded fittings, as well as a broad range of process equipment. With 11 major production sites located in Finland, Sweden, Canada, Estonia and Saudi Arabia, OSTP is capable of meeting the increasing global demand for the world’s highest performance, stainless steel products across a broad spectrum of applications.

As an experienced global player, OSTP understands that the demands placed upon

its stainless steel products can vary greatly, especially when considering the diverse range of applications and industries that it serves. Furthermore, when it comes to achieving optimal performance, then process industries worldwide need to consider many factors when selecting materials.

These include safety, corrosion resistance, strength and ductility, as well as the ease of welding. OSTP’s stainless steel products meet the challenges of today, whether they are designed for oil rigs, petrochemical

Industry Europe 153

projects or a water treatment plant. In addition, the company’s experts offer customers comprehensive selection advice, technical support, shared R&D opportunities and extensive access to its global resources.

Major investments in new plant and technology OSTP has always been committed to investing in energy-efficient production processes and operating lean management protocols. The company has recently seen the commissioning of its latest, state-of-the-art production facility in the Middle East, which was developed in association with its joint venture partners. This €15 million investment is the first of its kind in the Middle East and is the only facility in the region that produces high-performance stainless steel products, thus serving an expanding, quality conscious market right on its doorstep.

This latest state-of-the-art plant is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and manufactures pipes for the process sector, including the oil and gas industries, as well as for water and wastewater treatment plants. The new facility has production lines capable of welding longitudinal pipes up to 219.1mm OD and 8.2mm in wall thickness. The current output capacity for the Riyadh plant is around 10,000 tonnes per year.

Mr Gatti said, “In order to remain competitive and to be able to offer our customers the best in value and services, we recently embarked upon a major restructuring programme that effectively restricted our plants to strategically focusing on one type of highperformance product each. The effect of this

has been significant in terms of manufacturing efficiency, quality and faster delivery of products to the highest possible standards.

We are continuing to commit resources in new plant and technology in order to meet the increasing demand for our products in the natural resource sectors such as oil and gas, as well as increasing demand from other industries focused on wastewater treatment, desalination and pulp and paper.

“We are also occasionally involved in architectural projects such as tubular stainless steel bridge constructions, but these are rather an exception. The future looks very positive for OSTP with our key markets remaining buoyant and seeing consistent growth. This is particularly true in the Asian, Middle East and US markets but not so much so in Europe where demand has plateaued over the last few years.

Mr Gatti added, “In order to maintain our market lead in speciality and more complex stainless steel alloys, in 2008 OSTP made a major investment in a twin furnace facility with advanced process controls.

This was an early step designed to satisfy the increasing demand for special alloys such as Duplex stainless steel. The oil and gas industries are the largest consumers of Duplex pipes and fittings. In fact, OSTP was the first tubular manufacturer of both pipes and fittings to be NORSOK approved according to the latest edition of this standard, M-60 edition 4, and we also have been approved for the super austentic stainless steel grade 254SMO (UNS S31254).

“Furthermore, we have continued to invest in new surface blasting equipment

which reduces pickling time, thereby leading to better delivery performance and shorter lead times. Our on going mission is to offer our customers enhanced value throughout the production and service chain of our broad-based operations.”

Sustainable products with lower life-cycle impact OSTP continues to produce material that enables its customers to achieve more efficient solutions and ones that offer lower life-cycle impact. Stainless steel is a key building block for a sustainable future, and sustainability has always been a key element of the company’s business strategy. Mr Gatti commented, “The idea of sustainability is embedded in our products, as stainless steel is a fully recyclable and a maintenance-free material. Sustainability in our operations stands for safety and health in the workplace and we continuously develop our processes to minimise the environmental n impact of our operations.”

For further information about the highperformance products and services of OSTP, visit: www.ostp.biz

MASTERS OF SHEET METAL MACHINERY Petersen Machinery is a market leader in the design and manufacture of sheet metal fabricating machinery. Philip Yorke talked to Peter Tafazoli, the company’s CEO, about its unique solutions for optimising sheet metal production and its global re-branding strategy.

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etersen Machinery has been manufacturing machines since 1907 and highperformance sheet metal machinery for over 50 years. Today the company is based in Gotene, Sweden, where its state-of-the-art facilities develop machines that are designed to meet the latest needs of the sheet metal industry. The company markets two renowned global brands: CIDAN and Göteneds. The CIDAN brand was created from the initials of the founder, Christian Iensen of Danmark, and the Göteneds brand simply reflected the home-town name of the company’s original facility in Sweden at Goetene.

Petersen Machinery offers a wide range of machines and custom-made equipment that

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covers an equally diverse range of product groups. These include CNC power folding machines, motorised guillotine shears, cut-tolength lines, decoilers and recoilers. Between them these machines set the industry standards and offer features that are not available anywhere else in the market. The company is owned by Petersen Machinery Denmark AS, which has subsidiaries located in the USA and China. Petersen Machinery also has a comprehensive worldwide network of dealers to meet its customers’ servicing and technical support needs.

Unique, flexible, energy-saving solutions All Petersen’s advanced products are developed in house and based upon its own internal research, and they all benefit from the latest patented Petersen technology. The company’s famous range of folding machines offers a number of features that are unique to the sheet metal fabrication industry. Today CIDAN folding machines offer unparalleled flexibility with their

advanced technology and are known by many names: CNC Bender, Metal Bender, Power Folder and Power Bender. These machines are all motorised CNC powered folders and all models bear the famous CIDAN or Göteneds logo and are supported by the company’s comprehensive service guarantees.

All Petersen folding machines offer optimal solutions to any company that seeks flexibility in their production processes and an environmentally friendly approach, with the additional aim of cutting costs. The CIDAN range of folding machines from Petersen are flexible products designed for a large variety of different profiles and are so easy to use that a single operator with one set of tools can manage the production of multiple types of sheet metal profiles.

To enhance the efficiency and ease of use of these machines, the company invented the original Combi Beam, which is now a well-known automatic tool-changing system that has revolutionised the whole concept of

folding machines worldwide. The automatic locking of the Petersen Combi Beam makes it exceptionally easy to change tools and offers a level of flexibility and ease of operation that is unmatched by any other manufacturer.

The tool change sequence is programmed into the control system, which means that when it is time to change tools, the upper beam will automatically rise up to its maximum height. This allows the automatic rotation manoeuvre to be controlled by the foot of the operator. In addition, its two different tool set-ups save valuable time and ensure smooth, efficient production flow.

Focus on Asian markets In the second half of 2012, Petersen Machinery registered and opened a dedicated sales and service facility based in Shanghai, China.

The company is named CIDAN Machinery Trading Shanghai Co Ltd, and sells and services Petersen Machinery’s sheet metal machines under the brand name CIDAN

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throughout China. Within the power folding machine market, Petersen occupies a unique position, as these machines provide users with a wide range of advanced production possibilities which at the present time are not known to Chinese companies within the sheet metal industry.

Mr Tafazoli said, “As a privately owned company we are flexible and able to make decisions and act upon them without delay. Since 2007 we have seen significant growth following our establishment of CIDAN Machinery Inc. in the USA and the introduction of new power folders and shearing machines. However, Petersen Machinery was one of the pioneers of folding machines in the USA sold under a different brand name and now has thousands of machines only in North America. Furthermore, in 2012 we also established a firm foothold in China. In our continuous programme of upgrading and renewal we also took the step of promoting our company through our globally renowned brand, CIDAN. Therefore from now

on we will be marketing ourselves as CIDAN Machinery instead of Petersen Machinery, as this translates far better as a global brand and is a brand with equity that is well known and respected worldwide.

“Our business in our mature markets such as Europe and North America is seeing consistent growth, but we see the Asian and Pacific Rim markets as offering us our biggest growth opportunities. However, although there is great potential in these emerging markets, the main challenge is introducing this new technology to the market and to educate it accordingly. Even in Sweden and the USA it took us more than 10 years before we had managed to educate and grow the market significantly.”

Mr, Tafazoli added, “There are many points of difference between us and our competitors – we have a distinct advantage thanks to the competitive edge of our proven and advanced technology. Our hightech machines are simple to operate and

offer unparalleled precision and flexibility.

The sheet metal machine market can be volatile but we are present in many markets, and as a privately owned company, we can change direction very quickly to exploit market forces. We are also different in that we offer our customers training and provide unmatched after sales service and support.

“All our machines are in fact tailor-made to meet the individual specifications of our customers. So we are pushing to have a modular approach to manufacturing which provides optimal flexibility and the interchange of functional technology. We are optimistic about the future and keep the door open for possible acquisitions should the right opportunity present itself. Today we are very much a global company but we continue to offer a n truly dedicated local service.”

For further details of CIDAN Machinery’s latest high-precision sheet metal machines visit: www.petersenmachinery.com

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Welding and forming of light weight aluminium as a core competence Highly automatised production processes and continuous improvement are key success factors.

DRIVING HIGH-PERFORMANCE ALUMINIUM

COMPONENTS FORWARD SAG Motion is a market leader in the development and manufacture of high-quality aluminium components for commercial vehicles. Philip Yorke talked to Josef Lohninger, the company’s sales director, about its advances in pressure tank and fuel tank technology for trucks, and its move into new market sectors.

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AG Motion is a wholly owned subsidiary of SAG, (Salzburg Aluminium Group), which is headquartered in Lend, Austria. The company is the world’s market leader in metallic fuel tanks for the Heavy Truck Industry. But the aluminium group has much more to offer. The company’s Euromotive business unit is focused on supplying aluminium components, systems and special solutions for the automotive and

Military vehicles rely on highly complex and sophisticated special aluminium fuel tanks.

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aerospace industry, as well as products made from alternative and hybrid materials. SAG Motion’s product portfolio is broad-based and includes pressurised containers, lightweight construction systems, aluminium thixocasting and renewable energy systems. The company is a global operator with more than 70 per cent of its products being manufactured for export markets worldwide.

Air suspension system including SAG Aluminium Air Reservoir – picture provided by Conintenal®

Innovative concepts One of the automotive industry’s top priorities today is to reduce the weight of its vehicles in order to make them more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly. In order to meet the new Euro 6 emission targets legislated for commercial vehicles it is vital to develop more efficient engines and to focus on improved, lightweight constructions.

All main heavy truck OEMs are relying on SAG Motion Aluminium Fuel Tanks - more than 500.000 SAG Motion fuel tanks per year are mounted on new Heavy Trucks worldwide!

700.000 aluminium air tanks in aluminium and steel for the automotive and commercial vehicle industry provided by SAG Motion Group

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SAG Motion is an approved supplier of air-pressure tank systems made from aluminium for commercial vehicles, and these new-generation components contribute to a reduction in weight for both the truck and its trailer. The company’s aluminium air-pressure tanks offer up to 50 per cent less weight in comparison with their steel counterparts, however their engineers went a stage further to produce a lightweight mounting system for its new air-pressure tanks. To achieve these advances, the company has developed a new ‘C-Bar’ profile, which offers flexibility combined with less weight and quick assembly. Additional benefits include improved corrosion resistance and a reduction in the number of component parts.

Mr Lohninger said, “From an early stage, we made the strategic decision to introduce aluminium pressure tanks, in order to replace steel. This was in the vanguard of the industry-

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wide drive to reduce weight and meet stricter environmental protocols. Aluminium is also more corrosion resistant and we were fortunate that this move coincided with the number one manufacturer in this business sector pulling out of the pressure-tank business.

“Subsequently we were able to introduce new products for heavy duty trucks. Our unrivalled expertise in this area has also led to the development of new, air tank systems for passenger cars. Between 2002 and 2006 we were also able to develop other vessel shapes and not just the traditional spherical products. These offered customers greater flexibility and wider options for installation. Today we are also developing our own sophisticated alloys not only for the truck industry but also for the aerospace industry.

Mr Lohninger added, “With our unique ‘knowledge-chain’ for joining, welding and profiling we have established our own engi-

neering consultancy that works in close cooperation with our OEM customers. We involve them at an early stage prior to prototyping in order to develop, improve and enhance their individual product ranges. Another key differentiator is that although we are a global operator, we work locally serving our customers close to their own manufacturing bases.

“Furthermore, our lightweight, anti-corrosion technology is now being applied to new market sectors such as those for defence applications and for special vehicles, where light weight, anti-corrosion and reliability count.

With the new legislation concerning CO2 emissions and the emergence of electric and hybrid vehicles, our lightweight solutions are being utilised in conjunction with the heavy lithium batteries that are required to power these vehicles. These are all exciting growth areas for us and our on-going investments in new, innovative technology will continue to keep us at the forefront of our industry.”

Reshaping aluminium lightweight components Ongoing investment in R&D has resulted in a continuous flow of innovative products being produced by SAG Motion. The company’s research encompasses the development, processing and reshaping of aluminium lightweight components, which consist of advanced profiles, sheet metals and forging components. Over the last few years, SAG Motion has also been able to significantly increase its proportion of complex aluminium modules developed in-house.

The company also operates a Thixalloy business unit which specialises in the manufacture of moulded, complex compo-

nents for the automotive and commercial vehicle industry. This division supplies a wide range of finished products and know-how, which includes safety components with high-yield strength, as well as thin-walled, pressure-tight, weldable and hand-solderable products.

Protecting the environment Caring for the environment and working towards the production of more sustainable products and processes has always been a priority at SAG. The company strives to protect the environment by employing the most environmentally friendly procedures, modern operat-

ing facilities, optimised logistics and the recycling of waste materials. It makes a number of further direct contributions by recovering energy and metals from secondary raw materials.

By using lightweight construction materials with their associated weight reduction, vehicle emissions are significantly reduced. Aluminium is a ‘green’ material and SAG combines sustainability with innovation to enhance all its products. The company is also certified in accordance with the international environmental certificate: ISOP 14001:2004.

n For further details of SAG’s latest products and services visit: www.sag.at

Aluminium Fueltanks for Heavy Trucks from the Word’s Market Leader SAG Motion.

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ROLLING OUT HIGH-

PRECISION TECHNOLOGY SLF is a market leader in the development and manufacture of high-quality precision bearings. Philip Yorke reports on its latest innovative bearings and major investments in new plant and technology.

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LF was founded in Fraureuth, Germany, in 1993 and has grown steadily to become a recognised global technology market leader in its sector. The company manufactures ball and roller bearings with outer diameters that range from 40mm to 1600mm. The company also produces special, customised bearings according to its customers’ specifications. In addition, SLF manufactures high-quality spindles which offer quiet running and long lifecy164 Industry Europe

cles, combined with very low maintenance.

SLF spindles are carefully calculated and designed according to the performance and working speed required by its customers and can be designed to operate at speeds of more than 120,000 rpm.

Today, the company offers a range of exceptional quality products and design capabilities. The company’s dedicated service portfolio includes the repair of spindles regardless of their brand, as well as a recon-

ditioning service for bearings of any make.

Currently SLF (Spindel-und Lagerungstechnik Fraureuth GmbH) employs more than 390 people and in 2012 recorded sales of over €50 million.

Superior precision and customer service SLF has built its enviable global reputation on an uncompromising commitment to quality, innovation and customer service.

The company’s extensive service portfolio

includes a wide range of service options, such as technical consulting, which is supported by CAD construction services and lifetime performance calculations. This in turn enables the company to produce special designs in the shortest and most practical timescales. SLF’s integrated quality assurance system also ensures that the necessary tests are conducted at each individual stage of production from prototype to the final finished product.

In order to maintain its unrivalled reputation for quality and reliability, SLF continues to invest heavily in new plant and technology. During the last 15 years the company has invested more than €17

million in a purpose-built, state-of-the-art production hall that comprises the latest advanced, automated production technology, as well as a modern complex of administrative offices.

Dr Frank Schlegel, the company’s managing director, said, “In order to guarantee the highest levels of quality and reliability, every single one of our products is designed, tested and manufactured under our strict quality controls here in Fraureuth, Germany.

What is more, each individual bearing and spindle is subjected to a programme of comprehensive bench and final test procedures. Our continuous quality management system is verified by certification in compli-

ance with ISO 9001:2008. Our production facilities meet the highest international standards which clearly endorse the reputation of our brand, which is proud to confirm that it is ‘Made in Germany’.

Mr Schlegel added, “Our high quality roller bearings and spindle units are providing unparalleled performance in machines throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and North and South America, as well as in over 40 countries worldwide. Currently we are consolidating our production capabilities and have just entered an interesting new market, which is the alternative energy market. We believe that wind-driven power plants are a future-proof and environmen-

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tally friendly renewable source of energy.

We have therefore taken advantage of this by expanding our product range to meet the specific requirements of this important growth sector of industry. These same products are also capable of meeting the diverse requirements of a variety of mechanical engineering applications, both on land and at sea. Today we are supplying our products to customers all over the world and our main goal is to expand our activities in each of our key international markets.”

Maximum quality and care More than 80 per cent of all the raw materials used by SLF for its high quality products are sourced in Germany or other member states of the European Union. The company meets the challenging demands of its cus-

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tomers with regard to quality and reliability through an optimal combination of the latest production technology and the in-depth expertise of its engineers and other highly skilled SLF personnel.

The company is happy to accept any challenge when it comes to providing the most efficient and cost-effective solutions for its clients, whether this includes roller bearings that are designed for special lubrication, special heat treatment, special radial clearance or superior precision. The company can also produce high-precision angular contact ball bearings up to P2S (ABEC9) in both standard and high-speed designs as well as sealed configurations and DLR versions. The latest product innovation launched by SLF recently is its ceramic cylindrical rollers, which are not only

produced for SLF bearings but are also sold to external clients.

When it comes to precision spindles, SLF rigorously tests both new and repaired spindles and verifies final inspection with a test report which contains a complete breakdown of the spindles’ relevant performance data, such as vibration, radial run-out, temperature and rigidity. SLF’s spindle units are utilised for drilling, milling and turning and with belt-driven grinding spindles up to 1000mm in length and with integrated motors capable of more than 120,000rpm.

In addition, very large spindle dimensions n are also available upon request.

For further information about SLF’s highquality roller bearings and spindles visit: www.slf-fraureuth.de

EXTREME PRECISION Since its establishment in 1954, Bruno Presezzi SpA has grown to being a high-profile engineering, mechanical processing and construction company. Barbara Rossi finds out a little more about the company from its MD, Alberto Presezzi.

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espite now being listed on the stock market, the company is still firmly in the hands of the founding family (Mr Alberto Presezzi is the son of Bruno Presezzi, founder of the company). It has a staff of 200 people and for 2013 predicts a total production value of €77 million. Bruno Presezzi SpA operates from its main site in Burago Molgora (Milan), as well as from two nearby sites in Colnago.

The Burago Molgora plant occupies an area of 36,000m2, 9000 of which is covered, while Colnago 1 has an area of 3000m2 and Colnago 2 also covers an area of the same size. As Mr Presezzi tells Industry Europe, “We had a new office building constructed in recent years, which has been designed following innovative concepts to give staff the ability to work together and interact with each other in a different way, thus increasing efficiency. The project has been carried out using quality materials, following a ‘green philosophy’, in accordance with the beliefs of the company.”

The company mainly carries out projects commissioned by clients and its core business covers three areas: aluminium, power and oil and gas. In fact, Bruno Presezzi SpA manufactures its own patented continuous aluminium casting line for aluminium

coil production, which it sells to aluminium coil manufacturers all over the world, as well as producing spare parts for the same line in the form of the shells to be mounted on the rolls. The coils produced with the continuous casting line are then laminated and reduced and thus employed in a variety of sectors, ranging from automotive to foil or air-conditioner production.

A wide range of products In terms of the power sector, the company is active in this field by manufacturing components supplied to gas and steam turbine producers, as well as by producing large exhaust casing and turbine rotors.

The third core business sector that the company serves, that of oil and gas, is a more recent venture. In fact, as Mr Presezzi explains, “We launched our products for this sector – valves which we have engineered – in June 2011 with a group of highly skilled new staff. We are now fully operational and we supply our valves to both oil companies and contractors which employ them in their extraction, production and transportation processes. In fact, our valves are installed in pipelines, refineries and extraction centres.

We also supply equipment for other sectors –

apart from the three core areas previously mentioned – that we are able to offer thanks to the fact that we have a very strong technical department. Alongside our speciality machines we offer a strong after-sales service, including a spare parts programme and client training.”

As mentioned, the company offers machines and complete units, as well as components, and examples of its products include, as well as the previously mentioned complete continuous casting line, presses, turbine casing, shafts, hot rolls, nozzles, marine pumps, hydraulic valves, steel structures, internal and external cladding, reactors and super alloy constructions.

The company is proud of its stock of CNC machines, as well as of its testing department and of the quality guarantee it is able to offer. Recently it has invested in electron beam welding technology. Thanks to this large high-tech machine it will be possible to carry out welding at large dimensions.

Supplying products all over the world “The power sector is currently our main market, but oil and gas is the fastest-growing area in terms of the forecast for next year. Geographically we cover different markets, ranging Industry Europe 167

from western Europe, North, Central and South America (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico come to mind in particular), to the Middle East, Russia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Japan, Nigeria and India. Export accounts for over 90 per cent of turnover, further increasing if some of our Italian clients will then export the products for which they use our components is taken into account.

“While western Europe and the Middle East are our main geographical markets today, in terms of growth in the near future the markets offering the best forecast are still in the Middle East, but this time alongside Russia. We expect a positive trend in both 2013 and 2014, which I think is an impressive result in itself in the current economic situation. We’ll carry on investing

in quality in terms of staff, as well as in terms of acquiring strategic and latest generation machinery. R&D is important to us and in the last year we have channelled 3 per cent of our turnover into this. The new electron beam technology that we have acquired will have an important role to play in our development, as it opens up possibilities in n welding work of larger dimensions.”

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CASTING THE FUTURE Leading Finnish turnkey supplier Leinovalu Oy specialises in delivering complete casting solutions from its steel and iron foundry. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the managing director, Liisa Leino, to learn more.

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ounded in southern Finland in 1898, steel and iron foundry Leinovalu Oy is still owned by the same family that established the company over 110 years ago. Managing director Liisa Leino proudly represents her family’s long-established business, which is built on a very solid financial foundation.

Achieving a €15 million turnover in 2012 and employing nearly 150 people, Leinovalu Oy has a mission to form partnerships with customers and help them to succeed. With a recently relaunched website highlighting its capabilities, the company feels strong with its current market position. Ms Leino told Industry Europe, “We are in a fortunate position as most of our present cooperation with our customers is based on long-standing Win-

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Win situations and at the same time there are many good new business opportunities among new customers.”

Design to delivery Leinovalu Oy offers a full turnkey service from its steel and iron foundry. From design to delivery of ready-to-install components, the company works with customers from various industries such as forestry, energy, marine and environmental technology. Ms Leino continued, “Our customers are listed companies. People can trust us to work at the highest level and I believe that is why we have continued to succeed over the years.

That capability comes from a number of areas, with delivery accuracy, quality and

flexibility at the top of the list. We are driven by wanting to meet our customers’ expectations – to be the preferred business partnerand at the same time also to develop sustainability into our business model.”

The company’s ability to consistently and reliably work at the highest level is certainly a key advantage. As a professional turnkey solutions provider, Leinovalu has a strong reputation for delivering particularly demanding castings. Ms Leino explained how the combination of a committed workforce together with a wide-range foundry helps to achieve this. She said, “The knowledge level is high and wide in our company. Our workforce is skilled and are experts in their field. Our ability to offer ready-machined iron

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and steel including the design at the top level is what sets us apart from the competition.

We know that there are not many foundries that are able to reliably produce the type of demanding castings that we can provide here at Leinovalu. This is why we are not a high volume producer, but rather a high quality components partner to our customers.”

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Solid position It is this clear understanding of where Leinovalu sits solidly in the market across northern Europe that is helping the company to meet its customers’ high expectations and indeed its own ambitious plans for continued success. The company attends strategically selected industry trade fairs in

order to meet with existing companies and potential long-term partners, with a technical fair in St Petersburg highlighting its aim to grow in Russia. Already a well-known foundry across its domestic Finnish market as well as in neighbouring countries, Leinovalu is still seeing new opportunities in its “home market” of Europe and Russia.

Ms Leino continued, “We will develop the business together with our selected customers and this is how we will remain successful in the future. By listening closely to them and guaranteeing that we deliver ready-to-install components precisely designed and made according to their requirements, Leinovalu will enjoy profitable growth.”

Geared up for growth Profitable growth is the key target for Leinovalu’s future. The company does not wish for what Ms Leino calls “growth at any price” but

rather aims to remain true to its heritage by maintaining customer-focused. Ms Leino concluded, “By understanding the business of our customers and staying close to them we have the knowledge of developing our own business at least one step ahead of the competition. We ensure our competence to the highest level and we will continue to develop our processes so that our deliver accuracy, quality, flexibility and reaction time meet the customer needs.

As our customers are listed companies and they themselves operate at the highest level, we pride ourselves on being a valued partner.

Together with our selected customers we will gain the long-term win-win position.

“Profitable growth for us is not about keeping shareholders happy, but it is about keeping our private company in the excellent shape. Only a financially healthy company can do strong and responsible business with its customers and take good care of its personnel. We are fully committed to moving forward to develop the business with our customers and to continue to offer demanding casting solution, being the preferred the business partner.” n

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World-leading producer of beer mats and coasters,The Katz Group has long been able to deliver above and beyond its most famous product. Dedicated to sustainability and delivering added value, the newly optimised global company is converting its wood-chip board into a range of design-led products. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to managing director Daniel Bitton to find out more.

DRIVING THE TURNAROUND T

he Katz Group’s managing director since the start of 2010, Daniel Bitton, has proven the perfect man to turn around this historically successful but recently floundering board converter. With the deep pockets and long-term commitment of new owners the Koehler Paper Group firmly in place, Mr Bitton has been able to utilise his experience of turning around failing companies in the paper and packaging industry. Mr Bitton told Industry Europe, “When I was headhunted for the role the first thing I wanted to do was make sure Koehler, the new owners of The Katz Group, were looking to stick around. I didn’t want to put my energy into turning a known name like Katz around only for

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it to be sold off as soon as it became profitable again. Thankfully, Koehler value the heritage and expertise contained within the company and were just as keen as me to build the company back up and keep it in their portfolio.”

Total turnaround The key aspects of Daniel Bitton’s plan to ‘build the company back up’ involved investing over €3 million in optimising all the processes and streamlining the production as a whole. The Koehler Paper Group of Oberkirch, Germany, acquired full ownership of the Katz Group in October 2009, out of an insolvency situation.

Prior to this, the Katz Group was in private equity ownership for nearly ten years, but at the end of 2009 the company had generated a loss of more than €6 million. Mr Bitton continued, “I was recruited along with the acquisition to orchestrate a full turnaround of the group. I am proud to say that a profitable outcome has been achieved within just three years; in 2012 we generated a group-wide turnover of €39.5 million and had a positive return before taxes of 11 per cent.”

A well-known player in the paper board industry, the Katz Group has long been the worldwide market leader in the beer mat/ coaster segment. The company has a 95 per cent share of this market in the USA, where it has no competitor, and a more than 60 per cent share in Europe and the rest of the world.

While it is the beer mat/coaster sector where the Katz Group is perhaps best known, under Mr Bitton’s entrepreneurial leadership the company is both boosting its presence in this sector and promoting its capabilities beyond beer mats. Mr Bitton explained, “We have a highly creative graphics expert, a forward-thinking marketing team and a larger sales team than ever. Part of our optimisation programme is to offer design-led products across our active areas, including beer mats and coasters, so that our customers are able to get the best out of us and our products.”

As a producer of wood-chip board the Katz Group has a maximum capacity of 25,000 tonnes each year. The company can produce its board in various thicknesses rang-

ing from 1mm to 3mm in sheets and reels.

With three print facilities – one at its German HQ and two in the USA – it mainly converts its board into beer mats and coasters, making around 2.8 billion pieces a year, a figure which represents 17,000 tonnes of wood-chip board production. The remainder is used in applications for the dry-food sector (commonly base lining for boxes of cheese), display board for indoor POS hanging signage and industrial applications such as sound reduction for laminate and wood flooring. Furthermore, the Katz Group is increasingly active in the ‘give away’ sector for small cardboard games and also for door and coat hangers for the hotel sector, an area which is particularly benefiting from the company’s increasingly creative offer.

Investment used to good advantage With the major investment of the Koehler Paper Group an important requirement – Katz’s pre-press work flow had last been updated in 1980 – the company now enjoys state-of-the-art machinery and equipment to

support its workforce. The company’s commitment to sustainability has also received a considerable boost, with the Katz Group now able to use wood solely from the Black Forest near which it is based. It also runs a closed loop water system which actually puts the water back cleaner that it was taken. All the print inks used are based on plant oils, all cutting waste is reused and, depending on quality/grade, up to 60 per cent of recycled board scraps are used.

In addition to the production facilities in Germany and the USA, the Katz Group has a sales office in the UK and supplies to breweries worldwide, thanks to a distribution network and direct sales. Key markets are Australia, Singapore and Japan, with plans to expand into the Middle East, Africa and South Africa. Mr Bitton added, “We do not plan to sell our beer mats into China or India because we don’t only compete

on price. With our second-to-none design and printing capabilities we prefer to work with customers who value the quality and creativity we offer, rather than just being the cheapest. That’s not us and it’s not how we will continue our upward trajectory.”

Mr Bitton’s view of how to optimise the experience and processes of the company and its skilled workforce (mass redundancies were not part of his turnaround programme) are already showing how the Katz Group is moving beyond beer mats. He concluded, “We have begun to grow by providing not only very good products but also a creative service that is second to none. We really add value to our products, which is key in a competitive market.

Having come from a severe loss situation, our next two years will see us continue to be focused on sustaining our turnaround effort and we intend to grow steadily and solidly as n we continue to be a niche player.”

OPTIMISING OPPORTUNITIES Multipharma is a market-leading retailer of pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products. Philip Yorke talked to Marc Hendrickx about the company’s plans to develop its own-label products and non-pharma sales, as well as to increase the number of its retail outlets.

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ultipharma is a retail cooperative that was founded in a small town near Brussels, Belgium, more than 90 years ago. It began with just one ‘Apotheke’ (Pharmacy) and has grown steadily over the years to become Belgium’s premier retail pharmaceutical supplier. Today the company operates 248 outlets across Belgium and is by far the largest retailer of its kind in the country.

Multipharma employs over 1400 people and prides itself on its high quality of personal service and in-store presentation, as well as its ability to ensure that retail stocks are consistently replenished through its state-of-the-art warehouse facilities and logistics operations throughout the country.

Growth in own-label product sales Continuing legislation concerning both operational and pricing policies, plus constraints on advertising by the Bel-

gian government, has led Multipharma to explore more innovative ways to maintain its profit margins. Mr Hendrickx said, “It is a very competitive marketplace and the strict government controls on the pricing structures of pharmaceutical products have had a negative effect on our profit margins whilst our overheads continue to climb.

“To combat this trend we decided a couple of years ago to trial the launch of a few products under our own brand name, and this was made possible due to our large number of outlets. The projected sales figures based upon our extensive range of outlets across the country made this decision economically viable. This move proved to be a big success with our customers as it offered them quality products backed by a name they could trust and in addition, more competitive prices. The high volumes we were produc-

ing in these lines made it more profitable for us, as we could control our margins for the very first time on our pharmaceutical over-the-counter (OTC) non-prescription, self-medication products.

“In another strategic move, we decided to rearrange our stores to enable us to better display our non-pharma products and in particular our cosmetic and nutritional products which offer better margins for us as high street retailers. In keeping with most other EU countries, prices are continuing to go down, and in our case more than 2,200 products were reduced in price over the last two years. We are therefore facing a bleak time over the next four years or so with decreasing revenues in the pharmaceutical sector, whilst our overheads, and in particular, our staff costs continue to rise. We therefore have to do more with less. Currently we are producIndustry Europe 177

Providing health and better well-being

As the European leader* in pharmacy products for baby care and stretchmark treatment, Mustela has supported parents and baby care professionals for more then 60 years. Mustela is designed to meet the needs of babies, young mothers and mothers-to-be.

Noviderm is a specialist dermatological product which has helped adolescents and adults tackle skin problems for over 15 years. Innovation and constant improvement have made Noviderm more pleasant and effective, winning it the trust and acclaim of users and healthcare professionals.

www.expanscience.be Laboratoires Expanscience Belgium NV Brusselsesteenweg 800 - 1731 Zellik - Belgium Phone: 0032(0)2/466 38 26

178 Industry Europe

*IMS Europe, CAM November 2012

Laboratoires Expanscience’s core business is dermo-cosmetics, an area in which it markets two brands:

ing 82 own-label products and we are now extending these OTC medicines to include vitamin and nutritional supplement products. In this way we hope to not only maintain a healthy bottom-line, but also to improve upon it.”

Acquisitions and organic growth The only other way to grow the company is through the acquisition of independent ‘apothekes’ in Belgium and other smaller cooperatives or local chains. However, this is not an easy option as there are very few independents wishing to sell their familyrun retail businesses in Belgium. The main opportunity for growth therefore comes

back to being innovative with the company’s existing infrastructure.

Mr Henrickx added, “Fortunately we still have the monopoly of pharmacies in Belgium and are also fortunate at this moment in time, because unlike other EU countries, supermarkets are not allowed to sell overthe-counter’ medicines or to operate an in-store pharmacy. We are hopeful that the status quo will remain in place as otherwise this would be a big blow to our future prospects. We are very pleased with the sales of our own-label products; under the current government legislation we are allowed to promote our products with publicity that extends beyond the branding to be seen on the side

of our delivery vehicles. All other independent advertising is forbidden in Belgium” Multipharma is a success story that is based upon a management culture of innovation combined with dedicated customer services and a practical approach to the market.

Although opening new outlets beyond Belgian borders is unlikely because of the very different legislation and controls in each EU country, the company is likely to continue to see healthy growth in the years to come. This achievement is a credit to the company’s resilience and its innovative management style that continues to overcome the prevailing economic climate and the many constraints that are imposed by the n Belgian government.

Industry Europe 179

180 Industry Europe

SERVING THE DRUG INDUSTRY S

ixty years later, the Fedegari family is still heading the company. “My father and his brother manufactured sterilisers for hospitals, labs and the pharmaceutical industry. Throughout the years, our main area of expertise has become the pharmaceutical industry. Today, it is our main sector for which we manufacture moist-heat sterilisers,” said Mr Giuseppe Fedegari, vicepresident of the company.

Geographical presence and markets Today, the company is structured into two production sites: one in Switzerland and one in Italy. Fedegari (SUISSE) SA was established in Lugano (Switzerland) in the early 1980s and moved to the current site in Bedano in 2001, on an area of 3500m2.

These two production sites serve different markets. “In Switzerland, we specialise in standard production runs, such as

sterilisers destined for labs. These products are characterised by the modularity of their design. However, here too Fedegari has focused on the specialisation of the machine. Each steriliser is configured so that it can offer maximum performance, because each user, in order to compete successfully, cannot be satisfied with standardised solutions. In our Italian site all the most critical functions are carried out, such as engineering, R&D activities and automation,” explained Mr Fedegari.

In 2007 the company started on a process of internationalisation by setting up branches abroad. Fedegari Technologies, Inc. was established in 2007 in Dublin, Pennsylvania, as the US branch of Fedegari Autoclavi SpA. It is a purely commercial company which deals with the promotion and sale of Fedegari products, providing all the services needed for the installa-

The successful journey of the Fedegari family started in 1953 when two brothers, Giampiero and Fortunato, set up a company specialised in the production of sterilisers for the pharmaceutical industry in Pavia, northern Italy.

tion, qualification, validation and after-sales maintenance of these products. Fedegari Asia was established in 2008 in Singapore in order to enhance Fedegari’s position in the Asian markets. “Thanks to our branches in the USA, Singapore and Germany we can provide greater attention to our customers all over the world by offering on-site maintenance, spare parts and specialised personnel who speak the local language,” added the vice-president of Fedegari.

Fedegari exports its products all over the world, in particular, wherever the investment in the pharmaceutical industry is blooming: China, India, Indonesia and Asia in general.

After Asia, there is Europe and the USA.

Recent investments and R&D “The company is growing and we are constantly investing to improve the infrastructure. We are building a new site where all

Industry Europe 181

F.I.M DAVID Srl is one of the sector’s companies with the longest history, having been established in 1969, when the industrialisation process was increasingly focused on machinery export and industrial plants. Packaging is therefore the traditional sector of our company and has evolved over the years, developing more and more a range of services which allow clients to send with the maximum safety any item or machinery, according to the type of goods, the different types of transport used and the final destinations.

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING F.I.M DAVID designs and manufactures industrial packaging, BOXES-CAGES-PLATFORMS, with no dimensional limits, for sea, land and air transport, in compliance with different current sector legislation or according to specific customer’s instructions.

DANGEROUS GOODS We carry out dangerous goods packaging at our warehouse, for air, sea and land transport.

Goods’ reception, subdivision, classification and packaging according to IATA, INDG, ADR requirements, in UN approved crates or boxes, as well as labelling and package marking.

Shipper’s declaration and Multimodal compilation.

F.I.M DAVID SRL Via Bovisasca 15, 20026 Novate Milanese (MI) tel. 02.3542936 tel. 02.3542118 info.fimdavid.it www.fimdavid.it

Sales area Branca Laura laura@fimdavid.it mobile: 335.7631082

Cefis Umberto umberto.cefis@fimdavid.it mobile: 335.200479

David Lorenzo lorenzo.david@fimdavid.it mobile: 335.7631078

Since 1954 Achille Burocco Inoxvalvole has been committed to continuous research and development in the field of stainless steel valves for interception and regulation. Our new and modern production facilities allow us to develop new products to serve sectors such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cryogenics, iron & steel and textiles.

We work closely with clients to develop personalised products, which has given us a great deal of know-how in a wide variety of valves. Product quality, customer satisfaction and innovative technology are at the core of our company philosophy.

www.burocco.it

Established in 1977, E.VO Elettromeccanica Vogherese Srl started its activity as a manufacturer of electrical/ electromechanical panels, distribution switchboards, transformer units, motor and transformer rewinds, on board systems for tool machines.

Over time and thanks to new technologies, E.VO has modified its production with the aim of fulfilling every new need.

The company avails itself of qualified staff able to build programmable logic electrical panels in compliance with European/US/Canadian requirements, distribution panels of up to 3200A, automatic phase advancing systems, transformer units.

We also install on-board systems in public places, places of worship and small and medium sized industrial warehouses.

The technical office designs and produces management and machinery supervision software.

In addition to these services, we make anything, from all types of engraving to synoptic panels, as well as plates of various dimensions and materials.

Phone: +39 038 336 7478 Fax: +39 038 364 7368 E-mail: elettrovo@tin.it www.evovoghera.com

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING F.I.M DAVID Srl is one of the sector’s companies with the longest history, having been established in 1969, when the industrialisation process was increasingly focused on machinery export and industrial plants. Packaging is therefore the traditional sector of our company and has evolved over the years, developing more and more a range of services which allow clients to send with the maximum safety any item or machinery, according to the type of goods, the different types of transport used and the final destinations.

INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING F.I.M DAVID designs and manufactures industrial packaging, BOXES-CAGES-PLATFORMS, with no dimensional limits, for sea, land and air transport, in compliance with different current sector legislation or according to specific customer’s instructions.

DANGEROUS GOODS We carry out dangerous goods packaging at our warehouse, for air, sea and land transport.

Goods’ reception, subdivision, classification and packaging according to IATA, INDG, ADR requirements, in UN approved crates or boxes, as well as labelling and package marking.

Shipper’s declaration and Multimodal compilation.

WE OPTIMISE YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN TO REINFORCE YOUR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Mercimpex is a streamlined organisation that provides the most accurate and reliable logistics, distribution and global freight transportation services to enhance customers’ business performance and improve their global supply chains.

Mercimpex is your partner in logistics and distribution, transportation and shipping services, the handling of your international commerce, supply chain planning and design and is able to offer a wide range of services managed by a professional specialist.

Mercimpex works closely with its customers to find the best way to design and develop their supply chains. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Mercimpex can be a valid partner to help you optimise your transportation and distribution network, improve efficiency, rationalise customer service and better utilise your resources and costs.

Whether you need air freight, ocean freight or trucking, Mercimpex is capable of supplying all your shipping needs worldwide. Our established operations around the world offer a complete range of cargo services covering all your requirements.

It is an approved IATA and NVOCC agent and, as of February 1995, is ISO 9001 Vision certified.

engineering activities and personnel will be moved. The machinery we build to specification is growing in size and getting more complex and this requires space,” explained Mr Fedegari. “Moreover, we are working on new products and new technologies connected to the sterilisation process. Therefore, we are investing in the development of these areas and in increasing our production in Italy.”

An area of over 2000m2 accommodates the R&D division: this is where the products of the future are designed, new evolutionary frontiers are explored and tomorrow’s technologies are anticipated.

“First of all, the R&D division plays a critical role in establishing a business relationship with the customers, particularly at the initial stage. Its role is to verify how the new machines or the drug itself needs to be processed. All of this has a deep impact on the process; the tests carried out by our R&D division during this stage serve the purpose of identifying the characteristics that

the machine and the process need to have so that we can provide a tailored service to our customer,” said Mr Fedegari. “After this stage, the same operations can be carried out for those customers who need to process new products or change the packaging.

We can carry out experiments on the process thanks to our advanced technology.”

The R&D division is also crucial to internal operations, such as testing machine components and process controllers software.

Future goals One of the company’s major goals is to expand in new countries through sales and also strengthen its presence on the spot by being able to provide services that are close to its customers. Moreover, they are trying to move into the food industry market. This last uses sterilisation processes that are similar to those used in the pharmaceutical industry but using a much simpler technology in terms of machinery. n

Industry Europe 185

ON THE RIGHT TRACK MATISA is a pioneer of track maintenance work mechanisation. Abigail Saltmarsh reports on the company’s presence at the International Exhibition for Track Technology.

AT

MATISA Matériel Industriel SA recently took part in the International Exhibition for Track Technology, where it revealed some exciting new developments.

Stephan Guby, the marketing and sales director, said that the exhibition was a major event for the company, which specialises in track maintenance work mechanisation. “This

only happens once every four years and is a dedicated event for those in track technology,” he explains. “Everyone who attends is active in this area and so it was the ideal place for us to present our product range and our new technologies, as well as to meet our customers.”

With more than 200 exhibitors from 21 countries, around 25,000 attendees and a gigantic exhibition area in the indoor and

outdoor area of Halle Münsterland, the exhibition is by far the largest fair in the world in the field of track technology.

This was the International Exhibition for Track Technology’s 26th event. It featured special vehicles, construction equipment, maintenance machines and the latest technical developments for infrastructure design and safety.

“Our presence at the event was very important for us as it allowed us to present our products, our future developments and demonstrate our presence in the world,” he adds.

A niche business MATISA’s history goes back to 1945 when the company was founded to focus on track maintenance work mechanisation. It developed the first machines dedicated to track construction and maintenance to be

used worldwide and went on to become a respected name behind a long tradition in quality, knowledge and innovation.

“Today MATISA still belongs to a very small club of companies in this area,” says Mr Guby.

“We not only produce the machines but we also focus on related services throughout the lifetime of the machines, spare parts and maintenance.”

Headquartered in Crissier, near Lausanne, in Switzerland, where it also has production

and research and development facilities, the group also has seven competence sites in Europe, Japan and Brazil.

A complete range Over the decades, MATISA has developed its portfolio of products. Today, it offers a complete range of tampers for line, switches or combined line and switches, which restore long-lasting track geometry by using modern tamping technology.

Avesco - Partnership For A Lifetime When talking about industrial engines, reliability is the most important feature.

That is why so many railway track maintenance equipment manufacturers trust in CAT engines.

With over 45 years of experience Avesco is your partner for turn-key solutions for customized integrated power systems also for the railway industry using high-performance CAT industrial and locomotive engines.

Avesco AG Energy Systems CH-4901 Langenthal Switzerland Phone: 41 0(848) 363749 www.avesco.ch

It also supplies high output ballast cleaning machines, machines for track renewal and construction of new tracks and ballast regulators and a variety of vehicles for other track and catenary maintenance work.

The company also supplies monitoring and analysing vehicles to ensure railway safety, as well as efficient and economic maintenance planning. It also dedicates time to the design and construction of special and combined tailor-made machines.

New developments The International Exhibition for Track Technology, which took place from May 28 to 30, saw MATISA showcase two new major developments, explains Mr Guby. The first was a new generation of modular tamping machines and the second was a development that sees the integration of ballast compaction with tamping.

“What is exciting about the new generation of tamping machines is that it redefines

the modularity of the machine,” he says.

“This means that it can be configured to fit the requirements of customers in different countries worldwide. By redefining the different units, we took the opportunity to introduce new technologies in order to also improve the performances, the efficiency and the maintainability of the machine.”

“This is a highly technical machine and by using it they will be able to reduce delivery times and become more efficient. The first of these machines is actually under production and was presented at the exhibition. We are ready to start moving into production using this concept.”

Another major development is to integrate ballast compaction with tamping. “This new system is an improvement in technology that will ensure optimum tamping quality and will allow customers to be able to open lines at full speed much faster. This could also be of great benefit to customers.

Again, this is a completely new concept.

It is already in development and we plan to carry out tests this summer. We have already had feedback from networks showing that there is great interest in this technology,” he says.

Organic growth MATISA is focused on organic growth. While it is largely centred on Europe, Japan has historically been a strong railway market and Latin America and China are also poised for further development.

“We hope to see further investment in Europe over the coming years so the market will become a bit more dynamic. This will remain our most important market and as investment flows back into infrastructure again there will be more projects,” he says.

“Demand is increasing for high tech products and we are ready to deliver them n to customers across the world.”

DELIVERING GREEN LOGISTICS Turkey-based European logistics partner Ekol is proudly delivering its ‘green logistics’ solutions to new customers. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to its CEO Tayfun Oktem to find out more.

E

stablished in Istanbul in 1990 and now with 37 worldwide premises, Turkeybased logistics partner Ekol is able to serve the whole of Europe with its ‘green logistics’ solutions. With its promise of ‘logistics for a better world’, Ekol certainly aims high.

CEO Tayfun Oktem personally represents this aim too, with his enthusiasm

for the company and its capabilities. He told Industry Europe, “We like to think of ourselves as an ever-expanding, internationally focused Istanbul-based logistics company. But we do much more than logistics – we can offer customers whatever support they need in order for them to focus on what they are best at!”

Time for total service This total service solution is integral to Ekol’s plans for continued success.

Already well known for its international transport and logistics services, Ekol’s long-term target of being a pioneering brand is evident in its keenness to keep adding to its offer. Mr Oktem continued,

Tayfun Oktem, CEO

“From the very first day that Ekol was in business in 1990 we have been looking to move forward, to progress and to go beyond the competition. We believe that success takes hard work and that our hard work is evident in our growing business. We started off with providing shipment organisation in international transport and now we have achieved an integrated structure with full-third party logistics services throughout our customers’ entire supply chain. And we’re still looking forward! We are always adding to our portfolio of services.”

The Ekol portfolio of services is both broad and targeted broad in that it can offer customers whatever they require, such as warehouse management, picking and packing, foreign trade support and supply chain management; and targeted

in that customers can simply use whatever element they need. Mr Oktem explained that, increasingly, customers are turning to Ekol to manage their entire supply chain.

He said, “We are happy for customers to use us for all or part of their supply chain management needs. They can use Ekol just for logistics or for everything outside their own core business. We are very approachable and very flexible.”

With more than 4000 Turkish and 1200 European employees, Ekol’s approachable and flexible approach is evident throughout the whole organisation. The company is clear that the knowledge and experience of its workforce is a major element of its strong reputation and market-leading position, with all employees carefully recruited and trained to ensure that they offer the best service possible.

Keeping it green Sitting alongside Ekol’s talented and committed workforce is the company’s passion for ‘green logistics’. Ekol appreciates that logistics services can vary greatly, so it is continuouslly focused on making sure its offer is as ecologically sound as possible.

Mr Oktem said, “We take pride in every aspect of our business, especially our green approach. Our business model is not just about being a green inter-modal system, it’s about having a good environmental touch in everything we do, from minimising carbon dioxide emissions in our international transportation to saving paper in our head office. We are always looking at ways to make savings – big and small – both for ourselves and for our customers.

We know that this is important for our multinational customers too, as we can solve

their logistics issues while minimising harm to the environment.” Ekol’s ‘green logistics’ approach is clearly working; the company was recently awarded a European environmental performance award to mark its achievements on a day-to-day level.

As Ekol looks to its future, the company intends to stay one step ahead of the competition by continuing to build on the success of the past 23 years. It expects to expand its inter-

national warehousing capabilities to maintain its market-leading position both in Turkey and across Europe, particularly in Germany where its performance has been strong since 1996.

Mr Oktem concluded, “We’re growing east and west. Our portfolio of services is growing.

Our capabilities are growing. Ekol is in a really good place and we expect to enjoy a very positive future. We don’t just look one way – we look at everything with an open mind. It

is already the case that Ekol’s reputation for efficient, effective logistics services is wellestablished, but my hope for the future is that you will be able to ask any European business person who the top three logistics providers are and they will say that Ekol is one. It is certainly possible and we are heading in the right direction. We have always been a fresh-thinking, ambitious, customer-focused n company and we always will be!”

CREATIVE COSMETICS

SOLUTIONS Albea is a global leader in the packaging of cosmetics and fragrances, as well as oral and personal care products. Industry Europe looks at its innovative cosmetics packaging and its plans for further expansion.

196 Industry Europe

T

he Albea Group has grown to become one of the world’s most successful and innovative packaging companies, with a clear focus on the cosmetics and skincare industries. Its product portfolio is one of the most extensive in its field, ranging from plastic and laminate tubes to mascaras, lipsticks and lip glosses. The company also produces compacts, plastic closures, shells and spray caps, as well as jars, lids, cosmetic accessories and promotional items.

Today the company employs almost 10,000 people and operates 34 manufacturing facilities worldwide, of which 13 are based in Europe.

Innovation driving sales The Albea Group’s mission is described by Francois Luscan, its president and CEO, as: “To be the best global packaging company in the eyes of our people, our customers and our shareholders.” To maintain its ‘topdrawer’ position, Albea offers a truly global dimension to its operations, as well as innovation, operational excellence and highly creative design teams. The company also lists its core values as integrity, accountability, trust, transparency and teamwork.

Evidence of the success of this philosophy can be seen in the many global brands that form its customer base. For example, its unique, SpinArt™ rotating lip-gloss products, which consist of three rotating lip-gloss applicators, deliver a perfectly homogenous formula onto lips with maximum shine in just one step. In addition, their bold, eyecatching design gives them a distinctive, shelf-appeal advantage.

Another Albea exclusive is its ‘coloursensational’ lipstick produced for Maybeline New York. Working in close collaboration with Albea, Maybeline New York has created a new lipstick with an exceptional design

for its ‘Illustrious’ top-of-the-range lipsticks.

With a special copolyester (PCTG) pink cap and silver plated ABS plastic base, this lipstick features a unique design that combines elegance, shine and subtle lines that create an appearance that is both modern and exciting.

A company representative said, “As a truly global player, we provide a wide range of dedicated customer services, and prefer to be seen as a global company, but with a domestic and local focus. Furthermore, we do not just serve the big cosmetic and fragrance brands but also smaller companies and those who would like to take advantage of our creativity and production expertise to launch new products. We can offer our customers a standard range of products as well as customised products that benefit from our latest technologies. These include our advanced printing technologies, which offer photo-like special effects and metallic, mirror finishes.

“In addition, we provide applications that offer advanced technological processes for the design and manufacture of flip-top closures. These are created for

items such as toothpaste, which involve special peel and seal, ‘virgin’ flip-top membranes. We cover the whole range of possibilities when it comes to packaging for our market sector and provide design, prototype and testing services as well as a full range of packaging consultancy services.

In addition, our financial strength means that we can continue to invest in new technology and offer special design and added-value services for our customers.”

A clear strategy for growth A continuous programme of investment in new technology and manufacturing capabilities, in association with innovative design teams and dedicated customer services, has provided a firm foundation for growth.

Whilst continuing to grow organically, the group is also open to acquisitions providing that they offer operational synergies and complement their existing product ranges.

In keeping with this strategy, Albea recently announced its acquisition of Rexam Personal Care, cosmetic division – a leading producer of dispensing systems and make-up packaging for the Cosmetic Industry Europe 197

Schekolin AG – Premium solutions for packaging coatings Schekolin AG is a medium sized company specialised in the development of packaging coatings with focus on cosmetic, food, beverage and pharmaceutical packaging. The company is head quartered in Liechtenstein, locally represented by sales-agents and distributors. It offers innovative and customer specific coatings, including complete process consulting in cooperation with network partners to full-fill market requirements. The product-portfolio includes UV-curing, solvent and water born varnishes applied by roller or spray-coating as well as BPA-free internal protection powder for metal packaging. Due to latest requirements of changing regulatories, like for example migration into packaging and filling goods, corresponding products are provided as specific state-of-the-art high quality solutions to the market. Design trends like optical and haptical effects mainly in cosmetic packaging are part of our developments too. Please contact us to receive a proposal for your specific solution in packaging coatings.

Schekolin AG | Industriestrasse 3 / P.O. Box | FL-9487 Gamprin-Bendern | Principality of Liechtenstein | Phone: +423 375 75 75 | E-Mail: info@schekolin.com | www.schekolin.com

and personal care markets. The division operates 11 plants in Europe, the Americas and Asia. CEO Francois Luscan said of the move: “This acquisition is consistent with Albea’s strategy of building a strong, sustainable and profitable growth platform offering packaging solutions to the cosmetics and personal care market. We believe this transaction will allow us to better serve our customers worldwide and further enhance our strong focus on product innovation.”

As part of its strategy for growth, Albea is committed to creating innovative products with the lowest possible environmental impacts. All Albea products continue to benefit from the Eco-design 3R philosophy: (reduce, recycle, replace) developed in association with its own research department and university partnerships. This has

enabled it to offer its customers design and packaging based upon renewable and recyclable materials.

The company representative added, “We take our commitment to the environment seriously throughout our manufacturing processes to ensure an efficient integration of eco-design in all our activities. In terms of the future we are also looking at extending our capabilities in key European markets, such as France, Germany, the UK, Poland and particularly in Russia where there is a strong developing market for the big cosmetic brands. In addition, we are increasing our presence in the growing Asian markets.

I am pleased to say that despite the economic downturn in Europe, the cosmetics, personal and oral care markets seem to be weathering the storm better than most.” n

Mitsui Chemicals As one of the globally leading suppliers of extrudable tie resins marketed under the trade name ADMERTM, Mitsui Chemicals enjoys a long business relationship to the ALBEA Group and its predecessor companies.

Since many years, ADMERTM tie resin is the preferred adhesive resin, among others used in the production of coextruded multilayer tubes for the cosmetic and food industry. Such tubes are often equipped with aroma and oxygen barrier layers (mostly EVOH or polyamide). In these barrier tubes, ADMERTM tie resins are acting as functional adhesive layers, bonding conventional polyolefins to the barrier layers. The European headquarters of the group, Mitsui Chemicals Europe GmbH, is located in the city of Dusseldorf, home of one of the biggest Japanese communities in Europe. Next to the European markets, it is successfully serving the markets in the Middle East region and Africa (EMEA markets). The product portfolio consists of, among others, various functional polymers, elastomers, functional films, PP compounds, information and electronics materials and fine chemicals. Visit the local website to get a complete image of the product portfolio: http://eu.mitsuichem.com. Mitsui Chemicals would like to thank ALBEA for the trustworthy cooperation over the past years and is looking forward to its successful continuation in future.

Industry Europe 199

ADVERTISERSINDEX

A

G

P

A.R. Packaging Group

P 106

GHH Radsatz International Holding GmbH

P 188

P.E.I Srl

P 138

AarhusKarlshamn

P 109

Gnosjö Automatsvarvning AB

P 44

Paulme

P 104

AB Strängnäs Valskvarn

P 109

Petrofer Chemie

P 83

Adamet Niemet sp. z.o.o.

P 96

H

Plasmet

P 158

Aero Technique Espace SA

P 26

HAI – Hammerer Aluminium Industries GmbH P 162

Projektengagemang Devellum AB

P 40

Akzo Nobel Industrial Coatings AS

P 67

HellermannTyton

P 92

Aurora

P 116

Henschke GmbH

P 144

R

Avesco AG

P 188

Hydrel GmbH

P 190

R.M.B. SpA

P 144

Raccortubi

P 50

Renco SpA

P 99

B

I

Bayer MaterialScience

P 78

IBAU Hamburg

P 74

Rexel

Bekina

P 104

Industrilas AB

P 89

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG

Bibus Hydraulic Group

P 190

BJB GmbH & Co. KG

P 70

J

Brush HMA BV

P 98

J.P. Klausen & Co AS

P 109

Jaegerspris Finmekanisk Aps

P 40

BÜFA Composite Systems GmbH & Co. KG P 133 Burocco Inoxvalvole

P 183

K C

König GmbH

Carpenter Powder Products AB Castrol / BP Petrolleri AS Chevron Oronite SAS

P 70

P 129 P 194 Outside back

L

Roxel S.A.S.

P 30

RZB Leuchten

P 70

S Schekolin AG

P 198

Selden Mast

P 121

SGL Carbon GmbH

P 144

SKS Group Oy

P 36

SME GmbH

P 36

Laneris d.o.o.

P 63

Stoeber Trasmissioni Srl

P 140

Stopinc Aktiengesellschaft

P 146

Cignoli Elettroforniture Srl

P 183

Larco

P 154

CMI

P 140

LBI – Les Bronzes d’Industrie

P 168

Lenze

P 54

T

Lenze

P 158

TES Transformer Electro Service Srl

D

P 54 Inside back

P 145

De.Na. Srl

P 113

Linea Srl

P 138

ThyssenKrupp

Demtech AG

P 189

Lintorfer Eisengießerei GmbH

P 150

Tiesse Robot SpA

P 183

Dupont de Nemours

P 58

LWZ GmbH & Co. KG

P 113

Toma Palete d.o.o.

P 63

Tondini SpA

P 144

Traxys Europe SA

P 150

E

M

Inside front

E.VO Elettromeccanica Vogherese Srl

P 184

Manex sp. z.o.o.

P 96

Electronic Equipment BV

P 117

Mercimpex Srl

P 182

U

EM Moulds Srl

P 145

Meri-Met Oy

P 173

UAB Stigma

P 30

Expanscience

P 178

Metco Srl

P 145

Ultra Polymers

P 58

Mitsui Chemicals Europe GmbH

P 198

F

V

F.I.M David Srl

P 182

N

FAZ

P 116

Nexans Sweden AB

FLENDER-GRAFFENSTADEN

P 99

Fluidmar d.o.o.

P 136

O

Free Sped GmbH

P 86

ODU Steckverbindungssysteme

P 92

P 124

GmbH & Co. KG Omlat Srl

P 140

Onexis

P 54

Vacon Plc

P 37

Viscol SpA

P 145