EME Outlook - issue 41

QUALITEST | VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

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Issue 41

LAHTI ENERGY Sustainable district heating in Finland

UMEX The leading port and terminal operator in Constanta Port Romania

THE KINGDOM’S KITCHEN REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. reveals insights into its operations across Saudi Arabia representing the McDonald’s brand

Joshua Gould, CEO at thebigword, discusses the evolution of the language technology industry and his company’s goal of making the world smaller

TATA HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

GOODWE | NAS AIRPORT SERVICES

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Cementing the Nation

LAHTI ENERGY Sustainable district heating in Finland

UMEX

We report on LafargeHolcim Côte d’Ivoire, highlighting the company’s products, services and its place in a highly competitive West African construction industry

The leading port and terminal operator in Constanta Port Romania

UGANDA HEALTHCARE FEDERATION (UHF)

K TEDI MINING

An in-depth look into Ok Tedi, its operations within Papua New Guinea, including executives interviews and revealing deep insight into the organisation

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Issue 03

CARVER COMPANIES Water-based logistics provision

MAVIRO Serving a diverse range of markets in North America

TIDEWATER MIDSTREAM

Energy

AND Environment

THE KINGDOM’S KITCHEN

Uganda’s private healthcare sector

WADHAMS ENTERPRISES | MARTIN BENCHER CANADA

QUALITEST | VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

The oil & gas giant talks of its progressive environmental, employee and community centered operations

REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. reveals insights into its operations across Saudi Arabia representing the McDonald’s brand

Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO of Siemens South Africa, talks about the development on the continent and the pandemic-accelerated potential for digital applications

Kent Wu of JustKitchen, discusses his company’s all-inclusive business practices in the Asian food and beverage industry

Joshua Gould, CEO at thebigword, discusses the evolution of the language technology industry and his company’s goal of making the world smaller

SNEHA PATEL of NYC’s Women in Sustainability Network Hub discusses the role of women in sustainability and how the landscape is changing

the continent and the pandemic-accelerated potential for digital applications Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO of Siemens South Africa, talks about the development on

business practices in the Asian food and beverage industry Kent Wu of JustKitchen, discusses his company’s all-inclusive

technology industry and his company’s goal of making the world smaller Joshua Gould, CEO at thebigword, discusses the evolution of the language

the role of women in sustainability and how the landscape is changing SNEHA PATEL of NYC’s Women in Sustainability Network Hub discusses

KITCHEN KINGDOM’S THE across Saudi Arabia representing the McDonald’s brand REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. reveals insights into its operations

and revealing deep insight into the organisation Papua New Guinea, including executives interviews An in-depth look into Ok Tedi, its operations within

MINING K TEDI healthcare sector Uganda’s private

Environment AND centered operations environmental, employee and community The oil & gas giant talks of its progressive

Tell us your story, and we’ll tell the world.

Energy

(UHF) FEDERATION HEALTHCARE UGANDA

West African construction industry services and its place in a highly competitive highlighting the company’s products, We report on LafargeHolcim Côte d’Ivoire,

the Nation Cementing w w w. a f r i c a o u t l o o k m a g . c o m

MIDSTREAM TIDEWATER

Romania in Constanta Port terminal operator The leading port and

UMEX

heating in Finland Sustainable district

LAHTI ENERGY

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in North America range of markets Serving a diverse

MAVIRO

logistics provision Water-based

COMPANIES CARVER

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Issue 03

Africa Outlook, APAC Outlook, EME Outlook and North America Outlook are digital and print publications aimed at boardroom and hands-on decision-makers, reaching an audience of more than 800,000 people around the world; spanning the full range of industrial sectors.

GOODWE | NAS AIRPORT SERVICES

TATA HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

QUALITEST | VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

WADHAMS ENTERPRISES | MARTIN BENCHER CANADA

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WELCOME

The Bounce Back

EDITORIAL Senior Editor: Sean Galea-Pace sean.galea-pace@outlookpublishing.com Editor: Marcus Kääpä marcus.kaapa@outlookpublishing.com

With summer on the way and the number of

Junior Editor: Phoebe Harper phoebe.harper@outlookpublishing.com

people being vaccinated increasing daily, the world

PRODUCTION Production Director: Stephen Giles steve.giles@outlookpublishing.com

is slowly healing after a tumultuous 14 months.

Senior Designer: Devon Collins devon.collins@outlookpublishing.com

And one of the industries that have been hardest

Junior Designer: Matt Loudwell matt.loudwell@outlookpublishing.com

hit by the pandemic is the food and beverage

Production Assistant: Courtney Solomon courtney.solomon@outlookpublishing.com BUSINESS Managing Director: Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Operations Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com Commercial Director: Joshua Mann joshua.mann@outlookpublishing.com HEADS OF PROJECTS Callam Waller callam.waller@outlookpublishing.com Eddie Clinton eddie.clinton@outlookpublishing.com Thomas Arnold thomas.arnold@outlookpublishing.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Vivek Valmiki vivek.valmiki@outlookpublishing.com SALES MANAGERS Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Ryan Gray ryan.gray@outlookpublishing.com PROJECT MANAGERS David Knott david.knott@outlookpublishing.com Kyle Livingstone kyle.livingstone@outlookpublishing.com Matthew Taylor matthew.taylor@outlookpublishing.com Nicholas Kernan nicholas.kernan@outlookpublishing.com Sam Love sam.love@outlookpublishing.com

ADMINISTRATION Finance Director: Suzanne Welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Finance Assistant: Freya Penn freya.penn@outlookpublishing.com Office Manager: Daniel George daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com CONTACT EME Outlook East Wing, Ground Floor, 69-75 Thorpe Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1UA, United Kingdom.

Sales: +44 (0) 1603 959 652 Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 959 657 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: +44 (0) 1603 959 657 sean.galea-pace@outlookpublishing.com www.emeoutlookmag.com Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/emeoutlook Follow us on Twitter: @eme_outlook

sector. Enter REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. Despite significant and unprecedented disruption, Mohamed Alireza, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs for the company, believes it is important to look for the positives in the face of any challenging circumstance.

“In every crisis there are opportunities that present themselves,” explains Mohamed. “During this time, we have continued to focus on our company plans, and looking to the future there is a lot of investment taking place in the tourism sector in line with the 2030 vision presented by our leaders.”

Elsewhere in the magazine, make sure you check out our feature with Lahti Energy. Lahti not only aims to become completely carbon neutral in the next few years but has already implemented its greener mission across the board.

“The industry in Finland as well as globally is quite exciting and interesting. There are a lot of things going on in the energy industry at present,” says Jouni Haikarainen, CEO of Lahti Energy. “When you look back 10 years, a lot has changed. The energy efficiency business is growing fast, and this goes alongside heavy investments within the space.”

Also, don’t miss our Q&A with one of the world’s biggest producers of pasta – De Cecco. Carlo Aquilano, Commercial Director at the firm, discusses De Cecco’s traditional method of production, such as slow drying at low temperatures and bronze drawing which has been leveraged since the company’s inception in 1886.

And before you go, read our exclusive interviews with executives from UMEX, Valmet Automotive, Qualitest, TenneT, Glunz & Jensen, thebigword, Evergas and many more, featuring insights that you won’t get anywhere else!

Enjoy the issue!

Sean Galea-Pace Senior Editor, Outlook Publishing EME Outlook issue 41 | 3

CONTENTS

18

16

12

REGULARS

6 NEWS

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Around Europe and the Middle East in seven stories

24 SUSTAINABILITY APPA Spanish Renewable Energy Spotlight

8 EXPERT EYE

22

An insight into what digital transformation means in today’s market

Showcasing Spain’s Renewable Energy sector

BUSINESS INSIGHTS

EVENTS

12 MINING Euro Manganese Inc. Supporting Europe’s e-Mobility Future

16 TECHNOLOGY Safety and Software Workplace software innovation

18 MANUFACTURING Unmistakable Pasta without Compromise A world-leading pasta producer

TOPICAL FOCUS

24 4 | EME Outlook issue 41

22 ECONOMY Euro 2020 The disruption behind the fight to become the continental champion of Europe

150 EGYPS 2021 North Africa and the Mediterranean’s most important oil and gas exhibition and conference

152 Gulf Sustainability Awards 2021 The home of sustainability innovation in the GCC region

154 THE FINAL WORD What or who has been a source of inspiration for you during your career?

EME OUTLOOK MAGAZINE

48

F E AT U R E S

32 SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

FOOD & DRINK

34 REZA Food Services Co. Ltd The Kingdom’s Kitchen The Saudi food and beverage industry during COVID-19

ENERGY & UTILITIES

48 Lahti Energy Nordic Energy

96 FACI S.p.A Quality Chemistry Quality chemical manufacturing

102 Garbuio Machinery at the Fore Tobacco machinery manufacture within Europe

SUPPLY CHAIN

108 UMEX Empowering Romania’s Port Operations The leading port and terminal operator in Constanta Port Romania

Sustainable district heating in Finland

56 TenneT Driving the Energy Transition A leading European electricity transmission system operator

TECHNOLOGY

64 thebigword The Power of Language Providing industry-leading translation, interpretation, localisation and language technology solutions

70 Qualitest Revolutionising Quality Engineering A world leader in quality assurance and testing solutions

MANUFACTURING

78 Valmet Automotive The Future from Finland Electrification and innovation in European automotive manufacturing

86 Glunz & Jensen Delivering Quality at Affordable Prices

CONSTRUCTION

118 Archea Associati Expert Italian Architecture An Italian architecture firm

126 Emirates Beton Constant Change A leading supplier of ready-mix concrete in the UAE

132 Oman Cement Company Professional Cement Production

64 78

Cement production in Oman

OIL AND GAS

136 Evergas Shipping Sustainability Carbon capture and green shipping

RETAIL

142 Synsam Group Sustainable Vision A vision of innovation

136

A leading supplier of innovative, highquality plate making solutions for the global prepress industry

92 Suzuki Garphyttan Swedish Steel Manufacturing steel wiring across Europe and beyond

EME Outlook issue 41 | 5

NEWS Around Europe & the Middle East in seven stories…

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Wind energy generating jobs

TRANSPORT

ESTONIA’S UP AND COMING CAR-SHARE SERVICE B O LT, a company that offers vehicles for hire, micromobility, and food delivery services, is on track to go ahead with its very own Bolt Drive; a service allowing customers to rent a car on demand for a brief period through the Bolt app.

The app also allows customers to hail taxis, rent electric scooters and bikes, and order food. Bolt has stated that it aims to invest around €20 million in launching the service

in Europe during 2021, beginning in the company’s and country’s capital of Tallinn.

This pilot stage will feature over 500 vehicle models that will span smaller cars such as the VW Golf, to larger like the Toyota CHR, and even e-vehicles and premium cars.

Should the Tallinn pilot be successful, the company has claimed that it will expand Bolt Drive into several other European markets this year.

ACCO R D I N G to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the expansion of the wind energy industry could create an estimated 3.3 million jobs across the next five years.

The Brussels-based organisation has stated that job projection includes direct roles in onshore and offshore wind on top of jobs varying the sector’s value chain, with the latter consisting of vital roles such as installation, manufacturing, project planning, development, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning.

Overall, these positions would help to service the provision of approximately 470 gigawatts of on and offshore energy capacity between now and 2025.

Yet this sector will not only provide a vast array of jobs in the energy industry, but according to the GWEC also accelerate Belgium’s chances of achieving carbon neutrality by the mid-century in line with globally established sustainability aims.

AUTOMOTIVE

Ola hires industry professional for EV design OL A , the multinational ridesharing company, has hired industry professional Wayne Burgess as head of vehicle design.

A competitor to Uber that makes its own electric vehicles, Ola’s services include vehicles for hire and food deliveries. The company’s hiring of Burgess marks its movement towards 6 | EME Outlook issue 41

the increasing EV space.

Burgess, who spent almost two decades at Jaguar Land Rover working on a range of models that include the XF, F-Type and XE, as well as previously having worked for premium British automotive companies such as Aston Martin, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce, has now joined Ola in its EV division Ola Electric.

Burgess will be leading the Ola Electric design team and is a key part of Ola’s plan to bring global appeal and design aesthetic to the EV space.

TRANSPORT

AUTOMOTIVE

SAUDI ARABIA CONSIDERS EVS

Etihad Airways denies premium economy T H E Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways has stated that it has no plans to introduce a premium economy section to its fleet.

The airline is currently confident that the demand for first and business class travel will return and remain popular in light of an increasingly optimistic future despite the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Etihad Airways had in the past announced that they would install premium-economy cabins in three of its existing superjumbos in preparation for the anticipated shift in demand post-pandemic. However, Etihad currently has no plans to follow this and introduce a premium economy product.

IMAGE BY ADRIAN PINGSTONE

With the necessary increase in digitalisation and the use of video conferencing and communication software, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, on top of overall travel restrictions, the recovery forecast of business and first-class travel is expected to pick up towards 2025.

Despite this, the airline has stated that it continues to evaluate the potential and opportunity in the introduction of such a product, and that in the future it is something that the company will certainly move forward with.

ENERGY & UTILITIES

SAUDI ARAMCO HIKE IN PROFIT

TECHNOLOGY

Aldar partnership investment into PropTech AB U Dhabi-based Aldar Properties has invested in its joint European Real Estate Technology Fund in a partnership with global venture capital outfit Fifth Wall.

The largest listed developer in the UAE, Aldar is the first limited partner from the MENA region to invest in the fund, as the company looks to reach into Fifth Wall’s European PropTech start-up network. This is in order to gain access to the latest in technology and trends in the space that are driving the development and evolution of the real estate sector.

The European PropTech Association is anticipating an expected $185 billion to be invested in PropTech globally prior to 2025, and Aldar, which mainly operates in the UAE, is looking to be a part of this by expanding abroad. For Aldar this is partly due to the potential

SAU DI Arabia is debating starting up its own domestic electric car production company.

This potential project is linked to the Kingdom’s aims to build up infrastructure in the country’s automotive sphere, and it has hired advisers to explore the establishment of the car maker.

The establishment of an EV car company would help to boost local manufacturing as well as stoking the growth of a varied economy; one which is currently very reliant on oil.

Saudi Arabia is set to enter the EV race and has aims to agree to deals this year or during 2022.

limited growth prospects of Abu Dhabi and the country as a whole.

Aldar stated that its investment in Fifth Wall marks the next phase of its innovative journey and will allow the company to keep up with the advancements of Industry 4.0.

O I L giant Saudi Aramco exceeds expectations and estimations with a 30 percent increase in firstquarter profit of this year.

Saudi Arabia’s oil producer maintained its dividend with $18.8 billion to be paid out in the first and second quarter of 2021. The company stated that free cash flow in the first quarter totalled approximately $18.3 billion, up from $15 billion in the same period during 2020.

The profit reflects a substantially improved climate for oil markets since last year; a time when Aramco reported a 25 percent decline in net income amid the industry impacting COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet the first quarter of this year has shown promise for the rest of 2021.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 7

EXPERT EYE

EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION COVID-19 has accelerated the imperative for digital transformation. But what does this really mean in today’s world? We get the inside line from Martin Biggs, Vice President and General Manager for EMEA at Spinnaker Support Written by: Martin Biggs, Vice President and General Manager for EMEA at Spinnaker Support

A

lthough it may seem like a 21st century phenomenon, the roots of digital transformation can be traced back to 1947, when the first working transistor was invented.

Since then, every aspect of our lives – the way we work, play and function on a day-to-day basis – has been digitally transformed. Today, we have reached the point where almost everything we do involves some element of digital technology.

So, when we’ve already come so far in terms of digital transformation, why 8 | EME Outlook issue 41

are so many businesses still daunted by the prospect?

Pressure, promises and purpose In our post-COVID-19 world, there’s a real urgency around the digital transformation messaging that businesses are being bombarded with. Expert articles exhort the need for change. Scientific papers push new technologies. Software vendors promise the world.

This can be stressful and confusing.

At Spinnaker Support we regularly

talk to business leaders who are feeling under huge pressure to make wholesale digital change without fully understanding the business objectives. The result? They embark on digital transformation programmes that involve a mass of activity but deliver little real value.

Before beginning any digital transformation, you need to be absolutely clear about its purpose.

How will it help you make the most of technology, people and processes?

As a result, how will it improve your

you particularly need to achieve at the moment. How can digital transformation help you to: • Meet your customers’ expectations better?

• Improve collaboration and ways of working across the business?

• Deliver new data insights to improve your decision making?

Finally, make sure you consider and factor in the full implications of what you’re doing. Ultimately, it is people who deliver business benefits, and they will only do so if they are on board with what you’re doing. Be ready to support the technological change by investing in and updating processes, operations, organisational structure and equipment.

Software solutions

business’s efficiency, collaboration and interconnectivity?

Digital transformation can be fantastic: but it has to be purposeful.

A journey, not a destination It is time for businesses to pause and take stock of their approach to digital transformation.

The first thing to acknowledge is that in our world of constant change, digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. Just 15 years ago, Netflix was a DVD postal service and Skype was all the rage! The best we can hope for is to be as digitally up-to-date as possible.

In light of this, stand back and take a clear-sighted look at what you’re already doing. Do all your existing digital programmes still serve the need for which they were commissioned?

Letting go of pet projects can be painful, but it’s important to recognise when they’re past their sell-by date and stop tying up budgets needlessly.

Next, identify the business benefits

Which just leaves the technology itself – after 20 years in the software industry, my particular preoccupation!

Make poor software choices and your digital transformation is doomed to failure, regardless of the quality of the people and processes you put in place.

Many companies I speak to approach digital transformation as if they have a blank sheet of paper. In fact, most have already made huge investments in IT and are running perfectly effectively on existing technology. If solutions work, are secure and familiar, it is senseless to upgrade them for upgrade’s sake.

Keep software that’s working for you and supplement it with mix-andmatch solutions that build on your current systems.

Take time to look at alternative software publishers and service providers. There’s growing investment in the open-source software market and there are some extraordinarily high-quality products out there.

Don’t allow yourself to be railroaded by the big software players and don’t be scared to break away if the benefits are clear. Opting for thirdparty software support is a great

example of this; customers often aren’t aware that moving away from the vendor’s support service is an option, let alone that it can result in 60 percent cost savings. Savings like these can be reinvested in targeted digital transformation, creating business benefits and more profit, for reinvestment in other projects.

Finally, be wary of vendors creating ‘walled gardens’ – software environments that tie you into a range of products and services. A one-size-fits-all proposition may seem an easy, cost-effective option, but in the long term you could pay heavily both financially and in terms of lack of choice. Enlist the help of licensing experts to double check that you’re not signing away your rights or being coerced into meeting unlawful demands. Caution at the outset will pay dividends down the line.

ABOUT THE EXPERT Martin Biggs, Vice President and General Manager of EMEA, Spinnaker Support Martin Biggs joined Spinnaker Support in January 2020 and is responsible for sales and operational management across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Spinnaker is a leading global provider of third-party software support for mid-sized to FTSE 100 global enterprises. It specialises in providing Oracle and SAP customers with more responsive, comprehensive and affordable support services for their enterprise applications and technologies.

Martin’s role at Spinnaker builds on a long career at IBM, where he was responsible for establishing its thirdparty enterprise support business and developing service business units spanning networking, security, resiliency, managed infrastructure, and IT support and maintenance.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 9

THE PERFECT

ALTERNATIVE TO HOME LIFE

M

otor sport can be a time consuming pastime with most weekends away from home.

It is so important to find the perfect alternative to home life.

When 24-7 Motorsport team principal Phil Hurn asked the young racing driver, James Hillery to join his team, there was no hesitation in taking him up on his offer.

After a successful year in the Mini Challenge, James Hillery now steps up to the UK GT CUP in a stunning Porsche 991 GT3, with team mate David Frankland.

James, the youngest member of the 24-7 Motorsport family, now has a perfect opportunity to climb to the top, with the wealth of experience his new team can offer.

From their humble roots in Norfolk, 24-7 Motorsport now competes in motorsport events all over Europe and with two LMP cars on their books, James’ dream of the Lemans 24 hour could now be a reality.

EURO MANGANESE INC.

SUPPORTING EUROPE’S E-MOBILITY FUTURE Jan Votava, Managing Director of Magnan Chvaletice s.r.o., the Czech subsidiary of Canadian company Euro Manganese Inc., discusses the company’s Chvaletice Manganese Project and its goal of becoming the leading, competitive and environmentally superior primary producer of ultra-high purity Manganese products in Europe Writer: Sean Galea-Pace

12 | EME Outlook issue 41

“The Czech Republic has experienced a golden age in recent years, and it has been at the forefront among European countries in terms of its economy,” explains Jan Votava, Managing Director of Magnan Chvaletice s.r.o., the Czech subsidiary of Canadian company Euro Manganese Inc. Euro Manganese is a Canada-based publicly traded firm focused exclusively on the development of a new high purity manganese production facility located in the Czech Republic.

The proposed Chvaletice Manganese Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit hosted in mine tailings from a decommissioned

mine, strategically located in Czech Republic. Euro Manganese aims to establish itself as a reliable producer of very high purity electrolytic manganese metal and manganese sulfate products to satisfy the needs of sophisticated producers of lithium-ion battery precursor materials, as well as specialty steel and aluminium alloys.

Votava has worked for the company since October 2017 and witnessed the transformation of the industry in the Czech Republic first-hand.

“As a result of the pandemic, the situation has changed a bit,” he admits. “The year-on-year comparison of the February performance of Czech industry ended in the red, mainly due to a decline in important manufacturing industries such as the manufacture of cars, the manufacture of electrical equipment and the manufacture of building materials. On the other hand, industrial companies managed to close more new orders than a year ago, despite last year’s higher comparison base.

“It’s quite exciting, and I am happy to be a part of it, especially because I am contributing to a project that

MINING has the potential to contribute to the European vision of decarbonisation, a circular economy and an independent supply value chain.”

Votava believes the Chvaletice Manganese Project is unique to Euro Manganese in several ways. “It stands to become the only primary source of high-purity manganese in

INSIDE THE CHVALETICE MANGANESE PROJECT The Chvaletice Manganese Project is located about 90 kilometres east of Prague, in the Czech Republic. The Company was founded in 2014. The Company’s shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) in Canada and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

The Chvaletice Manganese Project is expected to provide Europe’s electric vehicle battery makers with a long-term, stable source of supply for the next 25 years. It entails recycling the waste from a mine that operated between 1951 and 1975. The mine produced pyrite, a raw material that was used to make sulfuric acid for industrial purposes.

No attempt was ever made to recover the manganese, which accumulated in the mine’s process plant tailings.

the European Union at a time when European automakers are quickly transitioning to the manufacture of electric vehicles,” confirms Votava.

“Because of the importance of establishing a strong European battery raw materials supply chain, Euro Manganese has earned the support of EU-backed organisation EIT InnoEnergy, helping fulfil ambitions to create a competitive and sustainable battery cell manufacturing value chain in Europe.

“Another unique attribute is that the Chvaletice Manganese Project is not a mine. It will only reprocess historical waste from a decommissioned mine.

The project is designed to recycle these fine, sandy tailings to extract the manganese they contain and to refine it into high-purity manganese products. This means the Chvaletice

development does not result in the potentially adverse impacts of hardrock mining. Furthermore, as we extract manganese from the tailings, remove other non-commercial metals, wash and neutralise the tailings, we expect to remediate a longstanding source of water pollution, bringing the site into compliance with the current, very stringent Czech and European Union environmental standards and regulations.”

Votava views supply chain as a strategic function that plays an influential role for the success of the project and today it is more critical than ever. He understands the importance of partnerships and believes that his company’s supply chain will be able to drive the firm’s progress despite the challenging environment.

“MANGANESE DEMAND IS RAPIDLY INCREASING IN THE SWIFTLY EXPANDING FIELD OF RECHARGEABLE ELECTRICAL STORAGE, WHICH ENABLES SAFE STORAGE OF HIGH ENERGY CAPACITY - INCREASINGLY RECHARGED FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES”

The Chvaletice Project will have the capacity to provide up to 50 percent of projected 2025 European demand for highpurity manganese, and around 28 percent of anticipated 2030 requirements.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 13

EURO MANGANESE INC.

ABOUT JAN VOTAVA Jan Votava is a highly skilled and respected Czech engineer and executive leader who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering. For 17 years, he held various managerial roles at Lafarge (later in LafargeHolcim), the world’s largest construction materials company.

These roles included Head of Transformation Team for Europe, Technical Director for Central Europe, Executive Chairman and Managing Director for the Czech Republic, and he oversaw, among other activities, quarrying and cement production.

He also played a leadership role with the team that constructed a €250 million cement plant in Hungary for Lafarge using Chinese technology, equipment, engineering and construction companies, and he led the team in optimising and developing the operation.

Votava is now responsible for leading Euro Manganese’s activities in the Czech Republic, for its organisational and reputational development, as well as for project permitting and development.

“Strategic partnerships are essential for sustaining the supply chain and crucial for its successful performance,” he explains. “Those partnerships are about trust, commitment, enthusiasm – these are the terms which go beyond the words in any contract. But good partnerships don’t grow on trees.

It must be cultivated and matured, mutual trust must be gradually built, so both parties feel comfortable and encouraged to invest long-term in the relationship. Then, when the bad 14 | EME Outlook issue 41

times come, a good partner can help to overcome many problems, but the wrong partner can ruin your business even in the good times.”

Without good staff, achieving longterm success is impossible. Votava recognises the importance of retaining employees and keeping them motivated while also still being considered an attractive place to work when recruiting. He believes that sharing the same vision and passion is an essential for growth of the organisation and the project’s success.

MINING

Electrolytic manganese is a refined manganese product created through the purification and electrolysis of a manganese-rich solution that is made by dissolving manganese carbonate ore or calcined manganese oxide ore. There are two primary forms of electrolytic manganese: Electrolytic Manganese Metal (EMM) and Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD).

“Finding a suitable replacement for an outgoing employee costs time and money, as well as the subsequent training of a new person — that is why we really take care in the satisfaction of existing employees,” he explains.

“We are aware that a loyal and reliable employee is of great value for the overall productivity of the company.

We currently have a great team, which I really appreciate. They are people who have been working with us almost from the very beginning, and I especially welcome the fact that

they are able to constantly absorb and learn new things.”

With the future in mind, the Chvaletice Manganese Project remains Euro Manganese’s key focus and is in an advanced state of evaluation and planning.

“We are currently fabricating a demonstration plant, which is intended to produce large-scale samples of high-purity manganese for supply chain qualification by prospective customers,” he explains.

“We have initiated work on our Final

Environmental Impact Assessment (FEIA), and we are also working on a detailed feasibility study. We expect to begin operation of the demonstration plant and complete the feasibility study and FEIA in early 2022.”

EME Outlook issue 41 | 15

RESTRATA

F

SAFETY AND SOFTWARE

ounded in 2006, Restrata is a British-owned group with international offices born of the need to address IT safety and security solutions from a consultative perspective. Restrata was created with the mission to build client resilience and optimise operations through effective management of safety and security risks.

At the company’s core is the Restrata Platform, which is an integrated safety, security and mobility cloud-based software. The platform is designed to manage the safety of people across sites, offices and countries around the globe. In response to the global pandemic, Restrata developed a COVID-19 safe component within the platform, creating a technologyenabled bio-secure environment for the safe return to operations in any industry – whether it be major sport tournaments such as the Indian Premier League, critical industries 16 | EME Outlook issue 41

We spoke to Botan Osman, CEO of Restrata, about the company’s place and provisions within the wider software space within the UK and beyond Writer: Marcus Kääpä (such as offshore energy companies) or companies in the non-essential business sector.

Restrata offers a wide range of complimentary services to support

clients. These include consultancy, security technology design, threat and risk assessment, crisis, emergency and incident management planning, 24-7 monitoring and response, and IoT tracking technology.

Botan Osman has been CEO of Restrata for the past four years, previously having served as Global Director for Business Development.

He joined Restrata back in 2013 from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, where he founded the KRG Department of IT and served as its head. During that time, Osman also served as the IT Advisor to the Prime Minister, and has proudly held a career that totals over two decades of experience in technology and security industries in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

EME Outlook (EMEO): So, tell us what sets Restrata apart from its competitors?

Botan Osman (BO): The Restrata

TECHNOLOGY Technology Platform tackles challenges head on, ensuring that managing global risk is built on the foundation of accurate live operational data from any and all systems. We not only provide this SaaS platform to our clients but also use it ourselves in the most critical of environments to respond on behalf of our clients at all times.

Our in-house experts understand the risks our clients face across all stages across operations, from design to preparation, and when a response is needed. Our technology supports this at every stage. On top of this, our agility and adaptability to working in sensitive and high-risk environments, or delivering biosecure bubbles (for live sporting events, workplaces or offshore energy oil rigs), exceeds professional requirements.

In short: we put people first.

EMEO: Can you talk us through your platform? What are its benefits?

BO: We believe the future of security is knowing the present.

There is widespread resignation that managing security and safety across a global enterprise will be through a series of fragmented systems. There is a belief that including live and accurate data from the last mile is just too hard, so we must try to make a ‘best guesstimate’ as to where people might be or what the reality on the ground is when making decisions globally.

We have seen first-hand how fragmentation of local and global safety and security operations can create gaps which risk lives, and cause inefficiencies. We exist to end fragmentation. Our Restrata Platform digitises operations that builds a global picture; empowering safety and security for customers to assess, operate and respond via leading edge cloud, IoT and mobile technologies.

The Restrata Platform ends this fragmentation. Our platform digitises operations at the last mile while using the same platform to manage

incidents, global travel, and build a global picture, multiple vantage points, and a unified system – that’s how the magic happens. Every person, incident and asset counts.

Creating a central nervous system for HSE and security.

The Restrata Platform globally enables customers to monitor the safety and security of their global workforce across all their sites combined with global travel and risk intelligence as part of day-to-day business operations or during a major incident. Locally, it integrates and deploys technology into your most critical operations. It enables your safety and security teams to manage your workforce and local incidents with the appropriate response.

Cloud born, mobile ready, and scalable, the Restrata Platform is equally ready to deploy globally for a conglomerate, or for a single site. The digital transformation of safety and security is a journey, and the platform takes the organisation through each stage of that journey.

EMEO: Tell us about the evolution of digital transformation and what it has meant for services such as yourself?

BO: The rapid evolution of technology is creating two key trends in the world of safety, security and risk management. This includes the expectation, not just a possibility, to be a connected enterprise. The technology is ready to serve real-time data anywhere, so with lives at stake, there will be increased pressure to ensure that everything is connected, both to make

life easier and to be analysed against potential threats. The cloud, IoT and 5G connectivity will mean the days using travel data only to know where somebody may be and take a best guess of whether they are impacted, these days are long behind us.

On top of this, another trend is remote work that has exploded throughout 2020 and into 2021, which means people now expect to work anywhere. That also means managing critical operations anywhere, so there is a serious expectation on companies to access safety and security data anywhere.

Their systems, therefore, must be ready to understand what is happening right now, anywhere.

EMEO: With the future in mind, what are your key priorities for the coming year?

BO: We will continue to invest in the technology, we have an ambitious roadmap which will keep us busy for many years to come and believe that the mission of building a central nervous system for HSE and security is worthy of tremendous effort and resources.

The technology we have built has delivered tremendous value to our clients, and for the coming year, we would love to get the word out and enable others to obtain the same value whether for their local operations, their global footprint or both. Our mission is to empower every organisation with the digital transformation of security and HSE to safeguard their workforce and assets.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 17

DE CECCO

UNMISTAKABLE PASTA WITHOUT COMPROMISE

18 | EME Outlook issue 41

MANUFACTURING

D

Renowned as one of Italy’s finest producers of pasta, we speak with Carlo Aquilano, Commercial Director at De Cecco, to delve deeper into the organisation and its passion for pasta that has stood the test of time Writer: Sean Galea-Pace

e Cecco is one of the world’s largest pasta producers.

From the mill with a pasta shop to the modern industry, the De Cecco method has remained intact for more than a century, under the attentive eye of the De Cecco family.

Indeed, De Cecco is now present on the tables of over 11 million Italian families, and employs more than 1,000 people, while offering over 400 pasta shapes and exporting to over 100 countries worldwide.

De Cecco has always been concerned with protecting and guaranteeing a unique method of Italian pasta making. The company believes in its traditional method of production, such as slow drying at low temperatures and bronze drawing and this hasn’t been lost in history despite industrialisation. In fact, since 1886, De Cecco has used the exact same processing methods and it is something that Carlo Aquilano, Commercial Director at De Cecco, takes in his stride.

Having worked at the organisation since January 2017, initially as Director of Sales, Aquilano became Commercial Director in May 2019. In our exclusive Q&A, we speak with Aquilano to find out more about the leading Italian pasta manufacturer.

EME Outlook (EMEO): What is your take on the industry in Europe at the moment? Is it an exciting space to be working in?

Carlo Aquilano (CA): I firmly believe that food is an ever-growing industry.

If I think of the technology industry, clearly the generational jumps are always very evident due to the advantages they bring in everyday activities. On the other hand, as far as food is concerned, progress is more discreet, however, just think of the ever-increasing awareness of the healthiness and safety of food, together with the advancement in knowledge of the influences of diets on health and the great advantages EME Outlook issue 41 | 19

DE CECCO related to processes of preservation able to keep the characteristics of products unchanged. “Last but not least”, food is always associated with a hedonistic element, of pleasure, as much linked to the discovery of new tastes, as to the desire to travel every time you go to an ethnic restaurant, or simply in the rediscovery of flavours that belong to your history. This is certainly an area that distinguishes the food sector: there is an emotional component in it that, in my opinion, goes beyond the very sense of technological progress of any other good or service.

EMEO: We understand you have just launched a gluten free pasta range.

What has this meant?

CA: Among the most innovative projects carried over the last year, there is that of the “I Grandi” line.

On the semolina pasta market, consumption dynamics of pasta shapes with a ‘greater’ thickness, with a high flavour connotation, more palatal and ideal for new recipes and gastronomic creations are emerging.

To intercept these new needs, the company strengthens its offer and celebrates the Italian culinary tradition with the “I Grandi” De Cecco line: consistent, rough, tenacious and with an exceptional cooking hold. They are ideal for creating surprising recipes, inviting dishes with full-bodied textures to enhance even more the imagination in the kitchen. Among this line, there are two pasta shapes that are enjoying great success: the Spaghettoni Quadrati and the Spaghettoni Grandi.

EMEO: Are there any key investments or other things you’re working on that you’d like to pay special mention to?

CA: We are enhancing other strategic areas of the value chain through: • Continuous training of our sell-in and sell-out teams.

• Investments in digitalisation and 20 | EME Outlook issue 41

DE CECCO Fara San Martino site

industry 4.0 with the development of production and work systems to evolve the system with modern and effective technologies, respecting the De Cecco Method that has been handed down from father to son for over 135 years.

• Innovation and modernisation plan to further increase quality, production, packaging and storage standards.

EMEO: What about the company’s supply chain operations?

CA: The De Cecco durum wheat supply chain is fundamental to guarantee the high quality of pasta and for this reason De Cecco seeks the best wheats all over the world and has established a national supply chain that in 2020 involved 10 regions, over 20,000 hectares, 1,600 farmers, almost 50 stock storers and one producer organisation.

The players in the supply chain subscribe to the parameters of a disciplinary that includes nine specific varieties of durum wheat

with varietal purity and with incentives to achieve the qualitative characteristics necessary for the De Cecco production criteria. They are supported by a team of agronomists who provide assistance on cultivation practices throughout the agricultural year. Thanks to all this, at the end of 2020 De Cecco purchased 161,000 tons of domestic durum wheat which represent over 50 percent of the total annual requirement.

Wheat destined for De Cecco production must pass the strict controls of our laboratories in order to be perfectly healthy and in line with the highest quality standards.

The De Cecco parameters are even stricter and more restrictive than those required by law; the wheat is strictly controlled at the origin, upon arrival and during processing by our agronomists. Laboratory technicians verify the purity, appearance and all physical and chemical characteristics of the grains. From 2016 to 2020, De Cecco doubled the Italian supply chain.

MANUFACTURING EMEO: Talk to us about your unique drying process? What are the key benefits of this?

CA: ‘Slow drying’ is the key step of the production process.

Drying is the last phase of the pasta production process, fundamental to guarantee all the qualities built along the supply chain. The packaged pasta must have a final humidity of less than 12.5 percent (as also required by law) in order to be preserved. To obtain this maximum humidity, the freshly drawn pasta is subjected to drying that can be made quickly (between two and a half and seven hours depending on the pasta shape) at high temperature (over 75°C) or, like De Cecco and a few other pasta factories, in a sweet and slow way at a low temperature. For example, for Spaghetti De Cecco it takes at least 18 hours at temperatures below 65°C supporting higher production costs. Indeed, for some special shapes, it takes over 36 hours.

The main advantage of De Cecco ‘Slow Drying’ is to guarantee superior quality pasta with a high nutritional value as well as the only way to preserve the flavours, the aromas of the wheat as well as the natural colour of the semolina.

The high drying temperature used by most brands on the market is achieved with modern drying systems and produces negative effects such as “thermal damage”, detectable with specific indicators and which lead to

the formation of substances that are not natural such as AGEs (Advanced Glication End products).

EMEO: With sustainability in mind, how important is 100 percent recyclable material on all products?

CA: The theme of sustainability and ‘sustainable development’ has always been at the heart of De Cecco’s competitive strategies and we have activated over the years multiple projects that concern areas such as: • 100 percent recyclable labels and packs, with clear indications on separate collection. There are other strategic projects such as the one already active about glass bottle weight reduction.

Finally, I would like to mention an important international project active since 2019 with the adoption of a new double bottom pack when and with more compact packages that have allowed a reduction in average volume of more than 10 percent and an efficiency of storage and transport units, with important environmental benefits.

• The development and design of more sustainable products. In addition to the Italian Supply Chain project, the company is highly sensitive to the needs of consumers of organic products with an assortment of over 100 references.

In addition, the company has always been active with 18 international certifications in support of the premium quality strategy for the consumer, in particular with the Environmental Certification EPD to which the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Certification is linked, which further certifies compliance with international rules and the development of a single management and organisation system. Finally, to better understand our approach to sustainability, the company has had its own hydroelectric power plant since the early 1900s adjacent to the mill and pasta factory in Fara San Martino. The latest project relates to the use of eggs from free-range hens to respect animal welfare.

Education for more responsible consumption also through Environmental and Ethical Sustainability with the SA8000 Certification. A project on which the company is strongly sensitive in educating young people on these issues, periodically organising guided tours of the company because sustainability is a “Win-Win-Win” project where everyone wins, especially our children and future generations.

EMEO: Looking ahead, what are your key priorities for the coming year?

CA: We will have many challenges in the coming years. What I consider a priority is on the culture of ‘Real Premium’ towards the final consumer.

Today, there are many brands on the market that, thanks to attractive packs or impacting claims, can communicate and make their products perceive good quality far from the real value. It is a cross-cutting problem for many categories of grocery products. The challenge will be to raise the culture of quality and truly premium products.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 21

TOPICAL FOCUS

EURO 2020

A year after the tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19, we examine the preparation for this summer’s UEFA European Championships and explore what restrictions are in place Writer: Sean Galea-Pace

T

he UEFA European Championships is set to return this summer. However, not in the format initially envisioned.

Having been cancelled, along with a plethora of other events during 2020 as a result of COVID-19, Euro 2020 will take place from 11th June until 11th July, 2021.

The tournament was initially billed as a ‘one-off party all over Europe’ instead of taking place in one country as per the norm. Indeed, for the first time in the competition’s entire 60-year history, Euro 2020 is being held across Europe in 11 host cities.

These will be Seville (Spain), Glasgow (Scotland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Rome (Italy), Munich (Germany), Baku (Azerbaijan), Saint Petersburg (Russia) and London (England).

22 | EME Outlook issue 41

The format will be similar to the previous tournament Euro 2016. The top two teams in each of the six final tournament groups will proceed to the round of 16 along with the four best third-placed finishers.

Originally, the plan was for fans to experience and explore a range of different countries and cultures while following their country on their quest for European glory. However, although such plans have been made challenging, we explore the current guidance and UEFA’s plans ahead of this summer’s tournament.

WHICH MATCHES HAVE BEEN MOVED AND WHERE? Seville is a new Euro 2020 host city. Originally, there was to be four matches scheduled to take place in Bilbao, but they have since been moved to the Estadio La Catuja in

Seville. However, it is important to note that the venue will only host 30 percent of the stadium capacity.

The three Group E matches initially scheduled for Dublin will now take place at Saint Petersburg Stadium.

The Round of 16 match that was initially scheduled for Dublin will be moved to Wembley Stadium in London.

WILL SPECTATORS BE ABLE TO ATTEND? Following a break of over a year (with the exception of test events), fans are set to return to the stadiums for matches this summer. Saint Petersburg and Baku have confirmed capacities of 50 percent, while Budapest aims to host 100 percent of the stadium capacity, however, with strict stadium entry requirements for spectators.

ECONOMY Amsterdam, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Rome and Seville are set to fill 25-33 percent of their stadium capacities respectively, while London has confirmed a minimum capacity of 25 percent for its first three group matches and Round of 16 tie. Munich aims to welcome a minimum of 14,500 fans, which will mean around 22 percent of the stadium capacity.

HOW WERE THE DECISIONS AROUND STADIUM CAPACITY MADE? Each decision was made by each host city. The key indicator was the projection of an improved health situation in their respective host country. Many factors were taken into consideration, such as the local vaccination rollout, plans for reopening the economy and the expected slow-down of the virus as a result of warmer temperatures. In order to make the tournament as

Wembley Stadium – the venue for the Euro 2020 final

safe as possible, UEFA has worked closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to adapt the WHO COVID-19 risk assessment tool for Euro 2020.

CAN FANS TRAVEL TO A EURO 2020 HOST COUNTRY FROM ABROAD? Given the nature of COVID-19, the guidance is ever-changing, and it can be challenging to plan travel to a host city from abroad.

It is important that fans are reminded of border entry restrictions and enforced requirements at the time of travel. It is believed that no exemptions will be made for ticket holders. This could mean the obligation to quarantine, provide a negative COVID-19 test result, a limit on length of stay, etc. In some cases, entry to a host country from abroad may not be permitted at all.

Hungary, Azerbaijan and Russia have put special procedures in place.

These are: • As a ticket holder travelling to Budapest, a fan wouldn’t be required to quarantine. However, other entry requirements such as a negative COVID-19 test would still apply.

• International travel to Baku isn’t allowed for non-residents at all, however, ticket holders who are citizens and/or residents of Turkey, Switzerland and the UK quarterfinalist countries will be able to obtain a visa. They will be eligible for a quarantine exemption, with proof of a negative COVID-19 test result.

• Exemptions for Saint Petersburg ticket holders are also being developed.

WHAT HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN STADIUMS? Euro 2020’s main priority is to deliver a safe tournament for all. This can be done by reducing the risk of infection and doing this is a shared responsibility.

Each ticket holder will be assigned a dedicated 30-minute entry time slot to arrive at the stadium. Fans must wear a face mask at all times. Other measures may include temperature checks or COVID-19 rapid tests; however, every stadium will be a bit different.

Despite the restrictions, it is hoped that this summer’s tournament will act as a welcome distraction and give fans a boost. With pubs and eateries now open again, Euro 2020 comes at the right time for hospitality venues that are needing income, while also acting as an ideal time for people to reconnect with friends.

Finally, although not the full capacity injection that a tournament in a pre-COVID world would have enjoyed, tourism in each host city will be expected to increase and provide a boost to each local economy, should restrictions allow.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 23

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

SPAIN’S

RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR We examine the development of renewable energies on Spain’s journey towards decarbonisation, as the country endeavours to reduce imports and diversify the energy mix Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Krisha Canlas

S

pain is a country in transition.

In line with the EU’s 2030 Climate Target Plan - which aims to cut 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 - Spain’s energy sector is undergoing a seismic shift away from fossil fuel dependency.

Covering five-sixths of the Iberian Peninsula and as the third most heavily forested country in Europe, Spain is blessed with a wealth of indigenous resources which translates to one of the most significant potentials for agricultural biomass on

24 | EME Outlook issue 41

the continent. Meanwhile, the rivers to the north of the country, the mighty Ebro and the Aragon, are the crucial arteries to feed hydroelectric power generation which presently accounts for one-sixth of Spain’s electricity. In 2019, Spain installed the most on shore wind turbines of all countries in the EU, whilst thermoelectric power plants have been in operation to the south nearby Sevilla since 2007. By leveraging these natural resources with an advanced technological infrastructure, the potential for Spain is enormous.

APPA RENOVABLES

RENEWABLES ENERGY GENERATION IN SPAIN – 2020 Listed in order of resource generation: • Wind – 49.7 percent • Hydro – 27.7 percent • Solar PV – 13.8 percent • Solar Thermal – 4.1 percent • Other Renewables – 4.1 percent • Renewable Waste – 0.7 percent

FACTS AND FIGURES • 44 percent – Renewable Electricity Spain 2020 • 7,051 – Connected renewable megawatts 2019 • 95,089 – Jobs generated from renewable energies in Spain 2019 • 42 percent – Objective 2030 renewables Spain

The country faces a long and complicated process, to achieve decarbonisation and greater renewables penetration, without compromising or disenfranchising those communities present in traditional energy sectors, most notably coal mining.

Yet promising strides have already been made.

According to a report published by Spanish grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE), in 2020 the country produced 43.6 percent of its annual electricity from renewable sources – this marks the highest percentage of renewables in Spain’s power mix since diversification first began in the early 2000s.

This dynamic shift has been a major boost for the country, leading to Spain becoming one of the EU’s major exponents of renewable energy particularly through solar and wind power. Now, the country’s goals are aligned with the EU and European Green Deal objective of national climate-neutrality by 2050. Specifically, this entails 100 percent renewable energy within electricity, and 97 percent renewable energy in the total energy mix. This will necessitate the concerted development of solar and wind power, energy efficiency, electrification and renewable hydrogen.

II N NT TR RO D U C T I O N

The prominence of the country’s mining industry has depleted Spain’s abundant coal reserves, which are no longer able to fulfil energy demands.

Consequently, Spain has converted from a mineral exporter to a major importer of both coal and petroleum, which suggests the untold economic benefits that renewable power generation could bring. Now, Spain’s coal mines, dotted throughout the mountain valleys of the Cantabrian Mountains, the Iberian Cordillera and the Sierra Morena, have effectively ceased operation - all bar one.

The Spanish Government were first alerted to the country’s pressing energy shortages in the 1960s, which prompted the launch of a nuclear energy programme and the construction of several nuclear power plants through to the 1980s. The departure towards renewable energy sources was initiated in 2006, when the country’s original 1968 power plant halted generation. As Spain gradually phases out of both coal and nuclear power, coal-fired plants have reduced production by 60 percent compared with 2019 records, and now only represent two percent of the total generation.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 25

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Santiago Gómez Ramos President of APPA Renovables

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APPA RENOVABLES

Interview: APPA Renovables – Spanish Renewable Energy Association

José María González Moya General Director at APPA

T

he Spanish Renewable Energy Association, commonly known as APPA Renovables, was founded in 1987, during the nascent days of renewable energies. Formed by a congregation of small-scale hydropower producers, APPA Renovables continue to champion the development and promotion of all renewable energies across Spain, as the country embarks on Europe’s ambitious energy transition. Now, the organisation represents over 500 companies as the sole association to lobby on behalf of renewable energies at state level.

Comprised of companies spanning the various renewable sectors, including biofuels, biomass, and high and low enthalpy geothermal amongst others, APPA Renovables endeavours to deliver the country’s clean energy future whilst safeguarding industry interests.

EME Outlook (EMEO): Can you talk us through the origins of APPA Renovables; how it came about, and its initial vision?

Mr. José María González Moya (JGM): Back in the 80s, modern renewables were more of a romantic idea than a reality. Spain, along with the rest of the world, suffered the oil crisis in the seventies at a time when wind power or solar photovoltaic (PV) were years from becoming competitive. Nevertheless, there were some renewable technologies that were playing an important role in our power system: hydro technologies. While large-scale hydro was in the hands of big companies and didn’t need protection, the smaller hydro, the origin of all the renewable generation technologies, demanded special attention. Some small hydro producers gathered and created APPA Renovables, an association to defend the renewable companies’ interests. Since then, our association has grown and continually fought for all forms of renewables: wind power, biomass, geothermal, PV, all of which play a key role in the development of renewables in Spain.

EMEO: Since inception, how has APPA Renovables developed and progressed in terms of its key objectives and the messages it tries to get across?

JGM: There have been important changes both in the social perception of and the political approach

INTERVIEW

As the sole representative organisation for Spain’s renewable energy sector, APPA Renovables have been lobbying for the development and diversification of the country’s energy mix since 1987. General Director, José María González Moya, discusses overcoming economic hurdles, strides in solar power, and the long journey ahead

EME Outlook issue 41 | 27

Pioneering Swedish Engineering firm AFRY are using their presence across Europe to accelerate the continent’s transition towards a sustainable society.

Speaking with the Managing Director of AFRY’s Spain and Portugal division, we discuss renewables and Spain’s journey to decarbonisation.

EME Outlook (EMEO): Can you talk us through the origins of AFRY; how it came about, and its initial vision? …..

Mr. Antonio de Juan Fernandez (AJF): AFRY is a Swedish Engineering, Design and Consulting multinational firm that was formed by the merger between two Nordic firms, AF & Pöyry, to form a common brand. The company is fully committed towards creating and delivering sustainable solutions to our clients with a clear mind-set on accelerating sustainability. That is a paramount concern for us.

EMEO: Like many European countries, Spain has committed to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. How are AFRY supporting Spain’s decarbonisation process? …..

AJF: The forthcoming decarbonisation process presents unprecedented challenges. Decarbonisation implies that human beings need to rethink and change the way that we produce and consume absolutely everything. Ultimately, this means that we need to

Phone number: Office contact +34 615 457 290 E-mail: Office contact antonio.dejuanfernandez@afry.com Website: https://afry.com

change the way we live - this can only be achieved step by step.

At AFRY, we help our clients by understanding the challenges that they have ahead of them and what the value pools are that these changes can offer. Finally, we explain how our clients’ business models need to be adapted to take part in this transition, while adding value along the way.

EMEO: What role are renewables playing in the country’s energy transition? …..

AJF: Spain already enjoys the benefit of plentiful Solar and Wind in terms of natural resources. Renewables are the cornerstone of the energy transition – as such, we must harness renewable resources and channel them through all sectors and energy uses. Without renewable resources, there can be no transition to zero-carbon economies and societies.

I personally started working in this field in 2000, developing wind farms in Spain. As such, I have witnessed how the industry has radically improved in many aspects. Thanks to the level of efficiency that we have achieved and the abundance of qualified and competent professionals available, Spain’s renewable energy market has become extremely dynamic. This continues to attract interest from both national and overseas investors.

All of these conditions combine to create a positive feedback loop that contributes to accelerate the

transition – this is exactly what we need now, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. On one hand, having such a bullish sector has mitigated the economic effects of the pandemic, since it is still able to produce economic growth and employment. In addition, renewables are also a scientific endeavour that brings in high value-added economic activity.

EMEO: How do AFRY helps their clients navigate strategic investments whilst managing merchant risk? …..

AJF: This is a key topic right now. Thanks to significant improvements in R&D, renewables are now the cheapest solution and less expensive than conventional generation. This opens up a lot of questions for an industry that has traditionally operated under subsidy schemes, since they need to be operationally and financially competitive on their own. This is fantastic news, since it can only accelerate the transition.

However, the paradigm for renewables has changed.

Competition is a new factor that clients need to face when it comes to renewable investment, which is a new factor compared to my early days in the industry.

Competition means risks, and risks scare investments.

AFRY is extremely useful in understanding the risks ahead. Ultimately, there are three ways to tackle risk; accept it, mitigate it or diversify it away. We have methods and tools that help clients to understand and alleviate these risks. In addition, we have designed and launched a specific tool concerning the diversification

of risk, which is being used by a number of clients with extremely useful insights.

EMEO: Have you got any projects that you wish to highlight? …..

AJF: Some of our most notable recent projects include advising utility company Iberdrola on their holistic roadmap to 2050 in a report that subsequently went public. We have also advised IFM on their ongoing offer to aquire a stake in Naturgy.

EMEO: How do you see the renewable energy industry in Spain developing over the next five years? …..

AJF: I am certainly positive for the future. We believe that the industry will remain on a strong track of deployment, and consequently contribute to the rapid progress of the energy transition. The new paradigm of ‘market’ risk’ is something that the industry is starting to really confront, and that may bring some complications but those issues can be managed.

Overall, I am convinced that the Spanish renewable energy sector will continue to be extremely active, bringing new business opportunities for investors with the determination to take on the challenges that any transition imposes.

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INTERVIEW

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

to renewables. In the 80s and 90s, renewables were a small player in comparison with fossil fuels and nuclear. During those decades, we lived in relative calm and didn’t experiment with greater development other than the first wind power projects. Everything changed in the 2000s were financial schemes entered in the equation, with feedin-tariff programmes. This bought many different developments depending on the technology.

While wind power had an organic development, the PV sector and, later, CSP, had an explosion of projects that finally traduced in more capacity than was planned. After that, there was an important movement for different players to stop renewable development, trying to link the feed-in-tariffs retribution to the systemic problem of tariff deficit.

As the message echoed through political spheres, we suffered stop-and-go policies that hampered our development for five years.

Fortunately, the work developed by APPA Renovables and all the companies of the sector, both at an institutional and political level, was fruitful.

All this work, and the competitiveness achieved by these technologies, has returned renewable energies to the leading place that they should have always occupied.

EMEO: What do you find most exciting about working within Spain’s renewable energy sector?

JGM: It is a very exciting feeling when you play a part in the energy transition. As a society, energy transition and digital transformation are the main challenges of our era, because they will bring social justice. When PV was one of the most expensive technologies, it was the solution chosen to bring electricity to the isolated population. If you wanted to bring electricity to a town that was not connected to the power grid, you chose PV. Now, PV is one of the cheapest options, and that’s a big success. We

One of the questions around renewable energy is the problem of storing the electricity generated

30 | EME Outlook issue 41

have pushed the market, and it has achieved an unprecedented cost reduction: a 90 percent cost reduction in ten years. Being a part of that revolution is fulfilling.

EMEO: On the flip side, what are its biggest challenges?

JGM: We have conquered the economic debate but there are important technical challenges ahead.

Storage, mobility, thermic uses… We cannot just rely on the electricity advances because electricity is a very small part of the overall landscape. In Spain, a country clearly located among the developed countries, electricity is less than the 25 percent of the energy consumption. In developing countries, it is even less than that figure. So, if we really want to boost renewable energies, we have to answer those challenges: how are we going to store the electricity generated, how are we going to manage an electric system based on 70 percent or more renewables, how are we going to make our vehicles greener, etc.

There is a lot of work yet to be done.

EMEO: What trends are currently transforming the renewable energy industry, particularly within Europe? How are you responding to them?

JGM: In Europe, we have a serious problem with energy dependence. More than the 50 percent of the energy has to be imported from abroad.

And the problem is even bigger in Spain, with that figure surpassing 70 percent. We don’t have oil, we don’t have gas, so we have to pay – a lot – for them.

That’s macroeconomics and maybe the industry don’t suffer this, but in a different level it’s the same problem. Self-consumption through PV is bringing competitiveness to our industries. Last year, more than 620 megawatts of self-consumption systems were implemented both at an industrial and a

APPA RENOVABLES

Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Fourth Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister for the Ecological Transition

residential level. We work with the national and the regional Governments to simplify and accelerate the procedures.

EMEO: Have you got any projects in the pipeline that you wish to highlight?

JGM: As the main renewable association in Spain, and the only one to defend all the green energy technologies, we have always been committed with Europe. We lead different European projects as iDistributedPV or DRES2Market. These projects are the state of the art in the renewable integration of the power grid, enabling us to get ahead of the challenges that we will be facing in five to 10 years.

EMEO: How do you see the renewable energy industry in Spain developing over the next five years?

JGM: 2019 was a record year in capacity installation, with more than seven gigawatts of renewable new power. 2020, amidst COVID-19, was a record gear in generation, with more than 44 percent of the electricity coming from sustainable (renewable) energies. Next decade we will have a strong installation path and we will be facing the first challenges in our power grid as the percentage

of renewables rises: curtailments, electric pool disequilibrium, etc. We have very exciting technical challenges ahead and I am sure that we will solve them successfully.

EMEO: Are you optimistic about the future of renewable energies in Europe?

JGM: More than optimistic. In APPA Renovables, we have been working on the development of renewables for the past thirty years. Back then, we were convinced that renewables were our future, and now we see that dream fulfilled. Benefits that were obvious for us are now shared by companies, society and the government, with everyone aligned in a mutual goal. When you believe in the work you are doing, the biggest challenges are only temporary delays in the achievement of your final goal.

Tel: +34 914009691 appa@appa.es www.appa.es

EME Outlook issue 41 | 31

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In joining the leading industry heavyweights already enjoying the exposure we can provide, you can benefit from FREE coverage across both digital and print platforms, a FREE marketing brochure, extensive social media saturation, enhanced B2B networking opportunities, and a readymade forum to attract new investment and to grow your business.

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Issue 41

rtunity

FOOD & DRINK

THE KINGDOM’S KITCHEN Saudi Arabian food and beverage is an up-and-coming industry.

We spoke to REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. about its operations across the Kingdom’s western and southern regions representing the McDonald’s brand

LAHTI ENERGY Sustainable district heating in Finland

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Turnbull

UMEX The leading port and terminal operator in Constanta Port Romania

THE KINGDOM’S KITCHEN

O

ver the past year, the pandemic has changed lives and shaped how the world has developed towards operating in a new environment.

One of the industries hit hardest globally is that of food and beverage.

With mass efforts to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, bars, restaurants and other hospitality institutions are only recently seeing some level of recovery and revival.

REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. reveals insights into its operations across Saudi Arabia representing the McDonald’s brand

2 | EME Outlook issue 41

THE SAUDI FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY DURING COVID-19

EME Outlook issue 41 | 3

Joshua Gould, CEO at thebigword, discusses the evolution of the language technology industry and his company’s goal of making the world smaller

www.emeoutlookmag.com/work-with-us

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

THE KINGDOM’S Saudi Arabian food and beverage is an up-and-coming industry.

We spoke to REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. about its operations across the Kingdom’s western and southern regions representing the McDonald’s brand Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Turnbull

34 | EME Outlook issue 41

FOOD & DRINK

KITCHEN

O

ver the past year, the pandemic has changed lives and shaped how the world has developed towards operating in a new environment.

One of the industries hit hardest globally is that of food and beverage.

With mass efforts to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, bars, restaurants and other hospitality institutions are only recently seeing some level of recovery and revival.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 35

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES The first McDonald’s restaurant in the region was opened in 1994, in the Hamra store on the Jeddah Corniche. Today, there are over 130 McDonald’s restaurants across the Western and Southern regions of KSA, including in other major centres such as Medina, Mecca, Yanbu, Tabuk and Jizan.

Further expansion will follow soon.

McDonald’s is now a household name in the region, and actively supports the community in a number of ways: charity organisations such as The Help Center, Friends Association Charitable Society, and Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing, as well as many more that are supported through the company’s “Share the Goodness” CSR programme and also their employment initiatives.

Mohamed Alireza, Senior Director - Corporate Affairs Alongside this, the pandemic has ushered forward the growing digital age with substantial speed and necessity, and the realm of food and beverage has adapted to this reality.

Deliveries have boomed due to a year of a relatively house-bound public.

In the Middle East, the pandemic has not spared the food and beverage industry, however as the sector has taken the time to adapt to its new reality over the course of the past year, it is on the road to recovery.

“The government of Saudi Arabia has done a phenomenal job managing this pandemic, protecting the people and minimising its economic impact 36 | EME Outlook issue 41

and we are very grateful for their concerted efforts,” begins Mohamed Alireza, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs for REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. Created in 1994, REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. exclusively owns and operates all McDonald’s restaurants in the western and southern regions of Saudi Arabia. It is a 100 percent Saudi and family-owned company that prides itself on being locally managed in all aspects, as well as reinvesting its revenue into the local economy.

“Despite its challenges, in every crisis there are opportunities that present themselves,” Mohamed explains.

The food and beverage are 100 percent Halal, and of the highest quality, with the majority of ingredients sourced locally, regionally and internationally. All suppliers must adhere to strict global official benchmarks as well as McDonald’s internal standards, product specification and farm biosecurity policies. In addition, they must also conform to social responsibility policies.

Al Rashed Food is a company associated with the mighty Rashed A. Al Rashed & Sons Co, one of the leading industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia and with operations spanning the Gulf countries and the Middle East.

The Group, through its financial and strategic support, has helped Al Rashed Food to quickly become a successful business within its own right. So much so, in fact, that Al Rashed Food is now a household name in Saudi Arabia, trusted by hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses to provide a premium quality products. Our unswerving commitment to build international quality standards is helping us to continue that success. From selecting only premium ingredients to building state-of-the-art production facilities to the look of the packed product on shelf, we strive to be the best and set the benchmark in bread and confectionery products.

Al Rashed Food Company Ltd P.O. Box 312, Riyadh, 11383 Saudi Arabia

T: +966-11-2651394 F: +966-11-2651392 E: info@alrashedfood.com

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

Del Monte “It has been more than 12 years since we started our first discussion on partnering together in providing premium quality fruits and vegetables to McDonald’s customers.

We have come a long way together, initiating the partnership by supplying the UAE, then further expanding into KSA, to now supplying McDonald’s in 6 countries across MENA. McDonald’s and Fresh Del Monte are strong allies in providing quality fruits and vegetables to customers.

This mutual value of sincerely caring about our customers and what they eat contributed to the success of this partnership.”

Mohammed Abbas, Senior Vice President APMENA, Fresh Del Monte “McDonald’s and Fresh Del Monte share a passion for delivering high quality products. Both entities combine this successful mix of local know-how and multinational organization. As a strategic partner, we embrace their support in innovating new opportunities that bring positive attributes to society.”

Mohammed Yahfoufi, General Manager, Del Monte Saudi Arabia

“In this time, we have continued to focus on our company plans, and looking to the future there is a lot of investment taking place in the tourism sector in line with the 2030 vision presented by our leaders. As the tourism industry is tied to food and beverage, we are well positioned to really continue growing and reach the great ambitions the brand is pushing towards.”

Mohamed’s journey began after having gained a bachelor’s degree in the US after moving to the country from his youth in the UK. Graduating in 1999, he began working in banking prior to joining his family’s business in 2003.

38 | EME Outlook issue 41

“There was an opportunity that was offered to me to work with McDonalds,” he elaborates. “The opportunity provided to myself and my family was something that I could not ignore, and it was within an industry that I was already intrigued and interested in.

“I was very excited to be joining McDonald’s, and I was sent to Dubai to undergo nine months of operational training. Afterward I filled the position of Marketing Manager, and over the years started to assume more responsibility, working closely with management, and eventually becoming Senior Director of Corporate Affairs.”

info-mena@freshdelmonte.com

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

McCain MENA McCain is a company passionate about making high-quality potato products that people love.

Growing top-tier, nutritious potatoes takes passion and care for the land. It takes good seed, good soil, good climate and good agricultural practices, all coming together to make mouth-watering McCain potato products.

That dedication to goodness has been at the heart of our mission for 60 years.

The McCain brothers founded our company on a simple philosophy – good ethics is good business. It still guides us today and it’s what we mean when we say: ‘Be Good. Do Good.’

Be Good Do Good is our Corporate Social Responsibility standard and our filter of how we do business.

In this position, Mohamed has had the privilege of watching REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. reach set goals in the food and beverage industry. One of the company’s targets has been to grow into the café scene.

“In Saudi Arabia, a lot of our young population like to go and socialise while having a coffee,” he continues.

“So, coffee for us is a booming subsector and one that we feel there is great opportunity for McDonald’s.

There will be a focus and investment into our McCafé® brand as it’s an important priority to move forward into this growing area.”

REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. will also be looking at increasing the investment in its delivery capabilities.

For the company, alongside a rising café culture within the Kingdom, the demand for delivery is booming. And in line with this is the increasing necessity for utilising the latest technology and software applications. With up-to-date software currently spearheading customer experience, technological investment is paramount to REZA 40 | EME Outlook issue 41

Food Services Co. Ltd.s’ ability to meet the wants and needs of its customer base.

“We listen to our customers and ensure that we stay up-to-date with the latest trends in technology,” Mohamed elaborates. “The average age of our customers in Saudi Arabia is below 30, so we have a young and digitally active population. Taking this fact into account, we see that investment in technology, whether it be in store with our digital menus or our self-ordering kiosks, is essential to ensure that we stay ahead of the game. We strive to offer our customers the most convenient solutions, serving them anywhere, anytime and in the way that suits them through our app, loyalty programme and special offers.”

REZA Food Services Co. Ltd.’s’ investments have also included branding and restaurant design, as well as multiple drive-thrus that have become incredibly important to functioning business throughout the COVID pandemic, and a critical advantage in the QSR space.

McDonald’s ‘Scale for Good’ and McCain’s ‘Be Good Do Good’ match each other perfectly.

McCain Foods has been recognised as a robust system partner to McDonald’s around the world since we supplied the first MacFries in 1974. McCain is also a proud winner of the McDonald’s 2020 Global Value Driver Award and works hard to continue to be the “Partner of choice” for accelerating growth on all continents.

McDonald’s Values (QSCV) and expectations like Assured Supply, World Class Consistent Quality and Highest Industry Food Safety levels have been tremendously important for increasingly improved business alignment.

Our well-balanced Global Manufacturing and Distribution network reflects our commitment to ensure supply chain resilience, our aim to always improve quality and our willingness to invest in support of McDonald’s business.

All the best to McDonald’s.

mccain-foodservice.me

Deliver Better TOGETHER LET’S

OUR DELIVERY RANGE Here at McCain Foodservice solutions we are passionate about bringing customers together over the food they love, wherever they are.

We are experts in creating solutions for delivery as well as on premise, and we are a proud partner to many global restaurant brands.

We use our expertise and insight to help brands future-proof their operations with next-level delivery product solutions. We work strategically with them to understand their customers’ needs, and developing bespoke solutions using cutting-edge tech and global resource from our team of development chefs.

SureCrisp 3 Unique coating to keep fries crispy in delivery for up to 20 minutes 3 Improve customer satisfaction 3 Opportunity to extend delivery radius Cheese appetisers 3 Strong customer favourite 3 Opportunity to upsell 3 Expand menu offering Crispers 3 Deliver the wow factor 3 Extend menu offering 3 Drive revenue

McCain not only provide key menu solutions but guarantee you security and trust of the supply chain.

For more information please contact mena@mccain.com @mccainme

mccain-foodservice.me

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

Reza Hygiene Reza Hygiene was established in 1997 and is a one-stop provider of Hygiene & Cleaning solutions for all industries. In particular: throughout the Food chain from Farm to Fork, Healthcare, Institutional and Hospitality Industries. Our solutions are wide-ranging, innovative and sustainable. We take a highly responsible approach to chemical production and the solutions we provide.

As a Saudi company with full GCC coverage, Reza Hygiene are fully committed to the Kingdoms strategic framework of Vision 2030, investing in a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant producing in excess of 40,000 tonnes p.a. of hygiene chemical products under licence from leading international partners.

“WE BELIEVE OUR OWN PEOPLE ARE OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET... WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, WHETHER IT IS MANAGEMENT IN OUR HEAD OFFICE OR OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE EMPLOYEES IN OUR RESTAURANTS” But what really holds the company together, and what the primary aspect of operations that the company is investing in, is the many hard-working employees that keep REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. functioning in all areas of its business.

“We believe our own people are our most important asset,” Mohamed tells us. “Our people are what makes us stand out in the industry. We have a great team from top to bottom, whether it is management in our head office or our customer service employees in our restaurants.

“It’s in our DNA. We make sure to support all levels of the business and we have training programmes and development sessions that take 42 | EME Outlook issue 41

place across the whole system for the betterment of the individual through to the company as a whole. At REZA Food Services Co. Ltd., we always maintain rewards and recognition towards employees across all business levels and functions, whether it be in operations, marketing, supply chain or any other. We create incentives to motivate our staff because their effort makes all the difference.”

“We encourage people to make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. In this way people grow from their experiences, and it’s really important to prevent micromanagement across the organisation in order for individual benefit and the various teams to flourish.”

Our GuardPro range of chemicals and specifically Kitchen GuardPro were launched in 2019 and designed with modern cleaning techniques, safety and ease of use in mind.

Reza Hygiene worked with Mcdonald’s in the development of the Kitchen GuardPro range to establish a range that meets the highest standards for any kitchen, QSR or Retail establishment world-wide.

The key criteria for the range included; • Meets all international and regional standards; EN/NSF/SFDA/SASO • Colour coded • Numerical system • Correct product for each area • Super concentrates The Kitchen GuardPro range is designed around 3 core products that cover almost 95% of all cleaning needs. All of the main use chemical products come are suitable for autodosing and come complete with a complete hygiene support/training system including; PDS, MSDS, SOP’s, Point of use signage and wall charts.

Further information can be found on our interactive Hygiene Support Site www.rezacity.com.

www.rezahygiene.com

The most cost effective solution for Kitchen.

Super-concentrate, auto-dosed chemical cleaning product offer.

www.rezahygiene.com

COLOR CODED

INNOVATIVE

SUPER CONCENTRATED

TRAINING & SUPPORT

Saudi Arabia

Bahrain

United Emirates

Qatar

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

“ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO AND ALWAYS AIM FOR IS TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND THAT’S WHAT WE HAVE STRIVED TOWARDS ACROSS THE PAST FEW YEARS” SUPPLY CHAIN The supply chain is a critical part of the company’s business model. As a global brand, McDonald’s supplier partners play an exceptionally important role in the support of the company’s system.

“REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. develops longstanding and reliable partnerships with the best suppliers in the industry,” Mohamed assures us. “The supply chain is vital and evidently proven by the recent cargo freight blockage of the Suez Canal which had caused many disruptions.

However, we still managed to ensure supply through our strong network and reliable supply chain partners.

44 | EME Outlook issue 41

Price, quality and assured supply are the key pillars of our supply chain.”

In the same way that REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. places a high importance on business partnerships, the company also ensures that it acts with the community in mind. Fayrouz Hassounah, Public Relations and Communications Consultant at the company, elaborates further.

“Especially when it comes to CSR, at McDonald’s we take our role very seriously and we know we have a role to play in helping the community and being a valuable contributing member of society,” she assures us.

“One of the things that we do and always aim for is to have a positive

SUSTAINABILITY The company’s founders believed that REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. had a direct responsibility to give back; to make its communities better places in which to live and work for everyone. That philosophy still holds true for REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. today. The company remains committed to safeguarding not only its employees and customers, but also the communities in which it operates.

Tyson Foods (Malaysia) Tyson Foods, founded in 1935, is one of the world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein.

We innovate continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it’s available and raise the world’s expectations for how much good food can do.

Since the founding of our Malaysia facility in 1987, the business has produced safe, high-quality and Halal certified products.

Facility Compliance • Certified Halal by JAKIM • Employee Safety (OSHAS 18001) • Food safety (VHM, HACCP, BRC, DVS, GMP, MeSTI) • Quality System (ISO 9001) • Environment (ISO 14001)

We are recognized in the region as a leader in the Halal food and beverage industry. We follow strict certification standards throughout our local manufacturing process and only distribute products which have been Halal certified.

Tyson Malaysia is proud to offer brands and products to satisfy a variety of palettes and priorities in different QSR chains, food service outlets and supermarkets across 20 different countries around the region

Tyson Foods (Malaysia) Trading As: MacFood Services (M) Sdn Bhd No. 7, Jalan SS13/5, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia T: +603 5633 0222

www.tysonfoods.com.my

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

Specialized Warehousing & Delivery Services We at Specialized Warehousing and Delivery Services take pride in our partnership with the world’s leading QSR brand – McDonald’s.

McDonald’s Saudi Arabia has the highest international standards in the QSR industry and Specialized Warehousing and Delivery Services is designed and operating under these high standards and never compromise the safety and quality when it comes to serving McDonald’s Saudi Arabia.

We regularly undertake the highest and the toughest McDonald’s unannounced audits & certifications to ensure meeting McDonald’s standards (DQMP – Distribution Quality Management Process) and has been independently verified and always met the criteria laid down by McDonald’s with Grade ‘A’.

“WE TAKE PRIDE IN THE WORK THAT WE DO. IT’S A PHENOMENAL BRAND AND COMPANY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH AND IT’S A BADGE OF HONOUR FOR EVERYBODY INVOLVED” impact in our community, and that’s what we have strived towards across the past few years. Being a responsible corporate citizen and community support is part of who we are as people and a brand, and our values align with the integration of the community that we hold very dear. We have made a pledge to spread joy, happiness and wellbeing to our community through our Share the Goodness CSR programme and have several initiatives through which we provide support to the local community that we serve.”

An example of REZA Food Services Co. Ltd.’ community efforts can be seen in its support of frontline heroes such as doctors, nurses, quarantine centre staff and medical services during the trying pandemic period, as well as the support of police officers, security, and traffic patrol.

The company ensured that free meals were delivered to all these 46 | EME Outlook issue 41

services including quarantine centres and hospitals but also to families that have been affected economically by the pandemic.

“From March and June, we were under lockdown and the Kingdom was quite unstable, but at the same time we knew that we had to reach out and support the people and the community,” Hassounah tells us.

This goes along with the company’s consistent efforts that they have endeavoured in to support families in need. These efforts were brought to life with the distribution of boxes of primary food supplies in multiple cities in the Western and Southern region of Saudi Arabia on a yearly basis but, has now become a quarterly initiative that McDonald’s strives for.

For the rest of 2021 and beyond, REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. will continue to proudly represent the McDonald’s brand in the western region of Saudi Arabia with plans to

McDonald’s Saudi Arabia is a socially accountable company and we at Specialized Warehousing and Delivery Services are fully compliant and proud to be part of this program.

expand its café culture to answer the growing demand from its youthful population. Mohamed ends on a positive note.

“We take pride in the work that we do. It’s a phenomenal brand and company to be associated with and it’s a badge of honour for everybody involved, felt throughout all levels of the company. This sense of pride really drives our performance, excellence and we are excited to see what the future holds for REZA Food Services Co. Ltd.”

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD Tel: (+966-12) 420-8000 mcd@rezagroup.com www.mcdonalds.com/sa/ar-sa/ jeddah.html

FOOD & DRINK

Specialized Warehousing and Delivery Services is a pioneer in the warehousing and distribution business, we are providing the highest quality services which is accredited by international auditing companies.

Head office: +966138147440 Ext. 150 or 240

SWDS’ network of warehousing facilities and transportation provides its customers with flexible solutions tailored to meet their business needs.

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YOUR PARTNER TO SUCCESS

EME Outlook issue 41 | 47

LAHTI ENERGY

Nordic ENERGY Providing sustainable district heating in Finland, we speak to Jouni Haikarainen, CEO of Lahti Energy, about the company’s progressively green mission for carbon neutrality

become completely carbon neutral in the next few years but has already implemented its greener mission across the board. This ranges from industrial scale sustainable methods to individual CO2 budgets amongst inhabitants to help reduce carbon emissions and increase greener and healthier forms of travel, all the way to Writer: Marcus Kääpä domestic green energy usage.

Project Manager: Nicholas Kernan And Lahti Energy is one of urope is a leading continental the fundamental elements to the provision of the latter. Lahti player in the global sustainability sphere.

Energy is a subsidiary of the City From cities such as Copenhagen of Lahti and acts as a versatile and environmentally responsible energy (Denmark), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), company, with its main products Helsinki (Finland), Berlin (Germany) being generating and supplying and Vienna (Austria), that are electricity and district heating that each some of the most sustainable are produced at its two power plants within the area, which are almost destinations in the world, to industry developments such as green steel, 100 percent based on renewable promoting environmentally friendly energy. In its heat production practices is at the forefront of processes, the company uses small European development. power plants located in different parts of the Finland stands out as one country that distribution network, is a key promoter as well as peak and of such practices. backup district As well as having heating centres predominantly been deemed the happiest nation in during the winter season. the world, its city of Lahti has also been Over 90 percent awarded as Europe’s of people within Jouni Haikarainen, the Lahti area live Green Capital 2021.

CEO, Lahti Energy Lahti not only aims to in housing connected

E

48 | EME Outlook issue 41

ENERGY & UTILITIES

LAHTI ENERGY to the district network allowing the company to supply the vast majority of people with domestic green energy.

“The industry in Finland as well as globally is quite exciting and interesting. There are a lot of things going on in the energy industry at present,” begins Jouni Haikarainen, CEO of Lahti Energia.

“When you look back 10 years a lot has changed. The energy efficiency business is growing fast and this goes alongside heavy investments within the space.”

LAHTI ENERGY AT A GLANCE Through its associated company Oomi, Lahti Energy sells electricity throughout Finland. The company supplies district heating to its own network in Lahti, Hollola and Asikkala. In addition to Lahti and Hollola, the company’s electricity

Haikarainen’s path into the energy sector began at university, where he graduated in Energy Engineering in 1990. Afterwards he took up the position of Consulting Engineer becoming part of a variety of projects for energy companies as well as heavy industrial firms.

As part of his consulting career Haikarainen spent time working in Portugal before moving back to Finland and becoming a Production Director for energy company E.ON Finland. From here he was given the opportunity of becoming Vice

transmission network also extends in part to the municipalities of Iitti and Asikkala. Lahti Energy’s subsidiary LE-Sähköverkko Oy takes care of matters related to electricity transmission.

• The length of the company’s electricity network is 4,801 kilometres.

• The length of its district heating network is 710 kilometres.

Lahti Energy supplies its customers with high-quality and competitive energy as well as various energyrelated services. It invests in producing environmentally friendly, renewable energy. Among other things, the company has built the world’s first gasification power plant using energy waste as fuel.

Lahti Energy’s own production uses recycled fuel, certified wood, biogas and, in severe frosts, natural gas. Through its associated companies, it has shares in hydropower, wind power and nuclear power. The amounts and ratios of the use of different fuels vary from year to year.

Lahti Energy employs approximately 200 employees on a permanent basis.

50 | EME Outlook issue 41

Radscan World-leading flue gas condensation: “Makes CHP plants 25 % more efficient” As much as 1 GW of heat - 1000 MW – supplied by the around 80 reference plants that have installed Swedish company Radscan’s world-leading fluegas condensation since the 90s.

– The energy yield from the CHP plant is increasing by 25 % while the investment amounts to less than five percent of the total investment cost, says Helena Roos, CEO of Radscan in Sweden. She continues: – The repayment period is only a few years, and Radscan’s plants have a normal lifespan of at least 30 years.

Radscan has been developing flue gas condensing since 1999, and today they have about 80 reference plants.

- Radscan’s flue gas condensation means that the CHP plants yield more heat from the same amount of fuel. The temperature of the flue gases emitted is decreased from 160 to 50 degrees. The difference is emitted as heat and used in central-heating networks.

Värtaverket in Stockholm is Radscan’s largest plant, producing up to 100 MW, but Radscan also prioritizes smaller plants.

Each flue gas condensation is tailored to the specific CHP plant.

Radscan has unique specialist knowledge. The company’s experts have actively developed the technology since it was first introduced in the 80s.

- We know that poor quality is expensive, and we receive numerous requests to replace other suppliers’ “cheaper” variants that didn’t last as expected.

Radscan’s plants are sustainable. We take no shortcuts at the expense of quality, Helena Roos concludes.

Flue gas condensation reduces the total payoff time on the entire cogeneration plant, says Helena Roos, CEO of Radscan in Sweden.

No plant is too big or too small for a Flue Gas Condensation from Radscan.

In Lahti KYV03 Radscan has delivered equipment for cleaning the condensate from flue gas condensation to fully de-ionized make-up water and utilized for high pressure steam generators.

Radscan always takes full functional responsibility of the delivered plant.

Proud supplier of Flue Gas Condensation Since 1999, Radscan has delivered “Turn-key” projects with Flue Gas Condensation, Combustion Air Humidification, Heat pumps, Waste Water Treatment and Makeup Water Treatment to Power Plants and other industries in Nordic and Europe.

To Lahti Energia Oy KYV03 project, Radscan’s delivered plant contributed with an additional 25% energy recovery on top of Boiler output.

Never hesitate to contact us if you want to learn more about what can be done at Your plant.

w w w.radscan.se.

LAHTI ENERGY President at Fortum, before becoming Senior Vice President of Gasum Oy, both positions totalling over 14 years in the energy sector.

“In 2020 I joined Lahti Energia as CEO,” Haikarainen tells us. “I started in the energy industry and it has interested me ever since.”

Lahti Energy prides itself on providing CO2-free energy on a mass scale. In 2020, the company commissioned a biomass boiler that has enabled Lahti Energy to provide CO2-free heat to the city.

“We are also continuing our investments into wind power as a part of increasing our power portfolio,” Haikarainen informs us. “There are actually two other companies through which we are partnering to develop wind power plants for the increasing development of sustainable energy.”

What keeps these progressive projects moving forward is Lahti Energy’s many suppliers and employees.

“It would not be possible to run our business without reliable partners and suppliers,” Haikarainen affirms. “Our service stems from well-known and reliable partners.

“In Finland during winter months the temperature can often drop to –25 degrees. This means that everything has to work reliably, and if something goes wrong then we and our partners have to be able to react swiftly. This encompasses the whole region and is the number one priority for us and our customers.”

It is the highly professional company staff who ensure that risks and problems are limited throughout the company’s operation. Lahti Energy continuously develops in every aspect of its operations and recognises that its employees are the ones keeping the company moving forward, with clear management targets to guide each individual in their important work.

ROXON ROXON has a longtime partnership with Lahti Energia, providing maintenance services to their systems.

We have ample experience managing the lifecycle of the equipment of our customers to provide higher occupancy rate. This comprises the supply of equipment, components, spare parts, modernization and condition monitoring.

ROXON is a valued supplier in the bulk material handling industry. We offer a wide array of equipment, project work, conveyor components and customer services. With professionality, experience, and innovative technology we deliver the best results, keeping the systems of our customers running and competitive.

www.roxon.com

Recion DEMANDING ENERGY SOLUTIONS High pressure power piping solutions have been Recion Ltd’s core business for several decades.

Recion can provide complete turnkey high pressure piping deliveries consisting of detail design, materials, prefabrication and installation to modern combined cycle and nuclear power plants.

Nordic location in Finland requires solutions to bear extreme circumstances. There is need to take extra measures to ensure high standards of the products and work.

Therefore safety, sustainability and quality are the the main values that Recion promotes.

Recion – Niche expertise in highpressure piping solutions

Recion.com

52 | EME Outlook issue 41

ENERGY & UTILITIES

EME Outlook issue 41 | 53

LAHTI ENERGY

LAHTI ENERGY’S CORE VALUES Lahti Energy is committed to providing high quality service to its customers and recognises its responsibilities. It adheres to its company values and adheres to ethical principles in all its activities, such as accountability, transparency and fairness.

The company’s commonly agreed goals contribute to the well-being and sustainable development of both people and the environment.

54 | EME Outlook issue 41

OUR VISION In 2025, Lahti Energy will be a profitable and progressive energy group. It aims for carbon neutrality.

OUR STRATEGY The company’s goal is profitable growth, which it achieves with satisfied customers, efficient processes and quality products, even outside its traditional business area.

Lahti Energy’s strengths are optimised cogeneration and motivated professional staff. The

company takes advantage of networking and prepares for the future with a diverse range of fuels and reliable distribution networks.

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Alongside the quality management of company employees, which includes celebrating meeting company targets, safety is paramount for Lahti Energy.

“All our activities strive to create a completely safe work environment from which all parties involved return home healthy and with positive wellbeing,” Haikarainen tells us. “This is a vital aspect of our company.”

Lahti Energy promotes a sustainable modern world above all else. Yet as a people centric company

it also ensures that it gives back to the local community.

The company provides sponsorship to a variety of youth sports clubs and events. It also supports local schools and educational institutions by promoting entrepreneurship with pupils and students.

Into the future, Lahti Energy aims to develop and introduce new products for the district heating customer, on top of improving its service so that the company can better respond to the heating market competition.

Spearheading the sustainable energy frontier in Finland, Lahti Energy is well worth keeping an eye on in this increasingly progressive, innovative and green decade.

Tel: 029 000 8000 viestinta@lahtienergia.fi www.lahtienergia.fi

EME Outlook issue 41 | 55

TENNET

DRIVING THE

ENERGY TRANSITION TenneT, one of Europe’s major investors in national and crossborder grid connections on land and at sea, is set to play a pivotal role in the energy transition Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Nicholas Kernan

ENERGY & UTILITIES

T

enneT is ready to play a pivotal role in the rapidly changing energy market.

As a leading European electricity transmission system operator (TSO) with over 5,500 employees and a turnover of EUR 4.5 billion ($5.4 billion), the company wants to drive the energy transition through huge investments over the next 10 years, which will make it the biggest investor in energy in Germany and the Netherlands.

Having been formed in 1998, TenneT was formally appointed by the Dutch government to operate the country’s national high-voltage transmission grid. In 2010, TenneT acquired the German high-voltage grid from E.ON, making the company Europe’s first cross-border transmission system operator.

DOUBLE EXECUTING CAPACITY TenneT’s investment level is necessary to support the most fundamental change in the energy transition, which is the growing supply of renewable energy into the EU energy system.

Today, TenneT has 14 offshore grid connections in operation, two in the Dutch North Sea and 12 in the German, including the 12th offshore grid connection BorWin3. This brings the total connection capacity in the German part of the North Sea to over seven gigawatts (GW), exceeding the German government’s sustainability target of six and a half GW by the end of 2020.

By 2030, the EU wants at least 32 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges TenneT is facing, is doubling the executing capacity. In the next decade, TenneT is set to invest around five to six billion euros annually in the energy transition within the next three to five years.

With the adjusted climate targets down to 55 percent less C02, with six GW expected to be added to this, this will probably lead to an even bigger investment agenda by 2030.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 57

TENNET

Dragados Offshore Dragados Offshore is a leading international offshore contractor for the Oil & Gas and Renewable industries and has for five decades successfully delivered over 90 projects worldwide, covering Europe, USA, Africa and Central and South America in a responsible and safe manner, applying quality, schedule compliance and economic result.

Dragados Offshore provides optimal and innovate solutions within engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance.

We are proud to be selected by TenneT to develop, build and deliver in partnership with Siemens the HVDC converter platforms of the DolWin6 HVDC grid connection and the BorWin5 HVDC grid connection Projects. While DolWin6 was a major milestone, being our first complete Renewable platform project, BorWin5 provides a perfect fit of workload and continuity.

SEVEN LARGE POWER PLANTS, EVERY YEAR Manon van Beek is the CEO of TenneT. She harbours high ambitions for her firm and believes it is imperative to act now to meet the target of decarbonising the European economy by 2050.

“There is simply no time to lose,” affirms van Beek. “Today, only three GW of renewable energies are built and connected offshore in Europe each year, reaching 27 GW connections of offshore wind in the North Sea until 2030. After 2030, connections of GW have to be multiplied to an annual offshore generation capacity in the magnitude of seven large power plants.”

Alongside its partners, TenneT is working towards a first internationally connected offshore wind power hub in the North Sea. The firm is set to build a first cross-border 12 GW hub by 2035 and to connect two GW to Denmark, four GW to The Netherlands and six GW to Germany, an effort recently financially supported by the EC through its Connecting Europe Facility. The consortium of North Sea Wind Power Hub programme will also work on the challenge to be innovative on other parts of the 58 | EME Outlook issue 41

Manon van Beek, CEO offshore energy infrastructure.

“For example, this is done by continuously investigating on how artificial islands can contribute to cost efficiency when offshore wind areas become bigger in size; like the three to ten GW ‘energy island’ recently announced in Denmark,” explains van Beek. “From a certain size it might be more efficient to consider multi-purpose island solutions. Island solutions can also provide a role from a system integration perspective. A part of the energy from offshore wind can be transmitted to the shore in the form of electricity, but another part can be converted to hydrogen.”

New challenges are present throughout the value chain of renewable energies; from conceptual design and feasibility studies, manufacturing, construction and commissioning, to the subsequent operation and maintenance. Dragados Offshore faces these challenges and ensures “Building Excellence Worldwide” thanks to the fusion of our solid experience, our highly qualified and specialized team and our innovative designs.

Dragados Offshore will continue to foster innovation and attract the best talent to maintain the excellence of its services, remain a trusted partner and participate through its services in the creation of a more sustainable world.

COMPANY LOCATIONS AT A GLANCE • Cádiz Yard and Headquarters, Spain • Tampico Yard, México • Altamira Yard, México • Logistics, Ciudad del Carmen, México • Business and commercial, Houston, TX USA

www.dragadosoffshore.com

Oil & Gas

Renewables

Onshore Modular

info-dossa@dragadosoffshore.es | www.dragadosoffshore.com

A reference for the Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy sectors

TENNET

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY These changes are all part of a revolutionary development of the energy grids - the backbone of the energy system – that are being used in completely different ways.

“Our energy network - one of the safest and most reliable in the world - was once built to meet the demand for energy. Now it is changing into a multifunctional connector of electricity supply, demand and storage,” discusses van Beek. “That’s why the electricity sector has a special responsibility to achieve the European climate goals. The grid becomes a multifunctional connector and at the same time electricity is the fastest 60 | EME Outlook issue 41

growing consumer energy; basis for decarbonising transport, building and industrial sectors. All that electricity must be transported to conurbations and economic centres, places where citizens, local and regional government decide on new routes, new wind turbines, the purchase of e-cars, the installation of heat pumps and structural changes in industry.”

In the transition to renewable energy, sustainability is not the only prime objective. The electricity supply must also be secure and affordable.

Last year, TenneT’s security of supply was 99.9999 percent.

“This is not going to be taken for granted in a system that is weather

dependant,” adds van Beek. “We want security, we want to grow renewables, and - last but not least - do it in an affordable way. The task of changing the entire energy system from a certain to a sustainable and weatherdependent system is as big as the famous Delta Works.”

INTERNATIONALLY COORDINATED Upscaling – in both speed and capacity - of renewables in the system, and at the same time changing grids functions under strict conditions, needs to be an internationally coordinated process.

Based on a strategy to introduce the

ENERGY & UTILITIES simultaneously functioning to transport offshore wind to an onshore grid, and to connect countries and markets. This is set to lead to the optimisation of connections between supply and demand of sustainable electricity.

Electrolysis, turning electricity into hydrogen, becomes part of the new energy system. Green hydrogen is needed for sectors that are difficult to electrify: aviation, heavy transshipment, shipping, industry.

“It’s also needed for storage. In certain situations, using the existing gas grid for hydrogen can reduce the need for investment in new electricity infrastructure,” explains van Beek.

“Ideally, factories with electrolysers should be located as close as possible to the landfall of offshore wind and as close as possible to the location where green hydrogen will be used, i.e. as close as possible to industry.”

NEW WORLD STANDARD TenneT is constantly working on smart, efficient and company-wide standardised strategies, solutions and processes, needed in order to live up to the European climate goals.

René Postulart, Associate Director of Large Projects Offshore believes that an innovation that will help upscaling growth in renewable energies is the two gigawatts cable connection.

right technologies at the right time, with a flexible cross-border regulatory framework to achieve CO2-reductions at the lowest possible cost and the greatest possible social acceptance.

To stabilise the grid and secure the hours when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow, flexibility at decentralised and centralised levels is needed. TenneT is building electricity highways that connect countries and electricity markets (interconnectors). Modern high-voltage infrastructure is internationally connected: NorNed, BritNed, COBRAcable, NordLink, as well as the WindConnector in the coming years, which is a cable EME Outlook issue 41 | 61

TENNET

“TenneT, together with HVDC and cable manufacturers, is currently developing this new world standard 2GW system for connecting offshore wind farms,” says Postulart. “A 525 kV HVDC cable system allows to transport up to two gigawatt per connection. This innovation contributes to the lowest cost of energy for bigger wind farms further offshore, with minimal impact on the environment.

“At this very moment, invitations to tender go out for the first projects, IJmuiden Ver in the Dutch North Sea. With a minimum of five offshore projects in the portfolio until 2030, and surely many more to come after 62 | EME Outlook issue 41

that, the two GW Programme is a major challenge for TenneT.”

PAN-EUROPEAN FLEXIBILITY To accommodate the new energy sources and match them with society’s growing need for electricity, requires a high degree of flexibility to ensure that the grid remains in balance. A new cross-border blockchain platform – Equigy – does exactly that. Jointly developed by four of the largest European transmission system operators: Swissgrid (Switzerland), Terna (Italy), APG (Austria) and TenneT (Germany and the Netherlands), Equigy will enable millions of European households

and owners of electric vehicles to actively offer the flexible capacity of their cars, house batteries and heat pumps on the energy markets for the stabilisation of the electricity system and thus gain financial benefits from the energy transition. Equigy starts with four countries, and the idea is to make this a pan-European platform. A highly ambitious task, but technologywise, it is already happening.

LOVE ME - TENDER For TenneT, the race to a renewable energy system is to be seen in all business activities. For example, in a tender-procedure: innovative and rigorous solutions are needed

ENERGY & UTILITIES

working method: ‘translate the clearly formulated challenges into robust and effective solutions,’” says van Beek.

“That’s how TenneT reaches out to as many parties as possible, because there is just a huge amount of work.”

PRO-ACTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

to renew, adapt or expand the 360 high-voltage substations in the Netherlands within 10 years.

Especially since the job is also being done under exceptional circumstances: time pressure and a ‘moving playing field’, caused by the energy transition. TenneT deliberately did not operate as a traditional customer, however, asked its existing partners about their experiences.

“What would they like to do differently? How can we organise better cooperation? TenneT also talked to automation companies and engineering firms and asked: how are we going to approach this in the future? Our motto for this

Even in supply chain management, a programme has been launched to prepare TenneT for the future.

Sjouke Bootsma, Associate Director of Supply Chain Management at TenneT, believes that the integrated SCM (iSCM) significantly contributes to the expansion and modernisation of TenneT’s grid infrastructure by ensuring that materials and services for projects are available in the right quality and quantity at the right time. “iSCM establishes a forward-looking and pro-active supply chain risk management and develops innovative sourcing strategies to position TenneT as a ‘customer of choice’ in a highly competitive supplier market,” says Bootsma. “To accelerate the growth, iSCM also leverages digitalisation capabilities. As an integrated and agile programme, iSCM unifies processes and employees of different departments to optimally leverage synergies.”

CONNECTING PEOPLE With TenneT looking to hire over 1,100 people in the next three years from a wide a spectrum of professions both in the Netherlands and Germany, Richard Gort, Director, Grid Field Operations at TenneT, confirms that his firm is doing its part to support its growing role in the energy market.

“These will be not only technicians and IT experts, but also communications specialists to participate in driving the energy transition,” says Gort.

“While COVID-19 has impacted the Netherlands just like any other country, it has also helped to shift the focus to new ways forwards. In a way, COVID-19 is an opportunity to get the talent we need in the next few years.

“Now, maybe even more that before, people are looking for a purpose at work, and TenneT can offer that. We are connecting people to a brighter energy future, to lighten the way ahead together.”

Nederland Tel: 0800 836 63 88 Germany Tel: +49 (0)921 50740-0 www.tennet.eu

EME Outlook issue 41 | 63

thebigword

The Power of

LANGUAGE 64 | EME Outlook issue 41

E

TECHNOLOGY

D

reaming of working at the top of the concrete jungle that is Wall Street isn’t uncommon.

However, very few UK-based young adults that harbour such a dream make that a reality. Joshua Gould was different.

Having been born in Leeds, England, Gould had always dreamed of working in the heart of New York City and at the age of 22, did just that. He stepped foot on US soil in 2006, just in time for a global recession to hit a year later.

“I won’t forget what it was like during the 2007 financial crisis and housing collapse. You could actually get a taxi and if you went to an after-work bar, you could even get a seat.”

For many, it was a difficult time.

However, Gould was adamant that he wouldn’t let an uncontrollable event stop him, and he understood the importance of adapting and pivoting quickly. “We focused on manufacturers who would trade with developing nations and the plan came off,” he recounts. “We also went after Government contracts as we didn’t believe the US Government was about to slow spending, at least not with George Bush’s plan to inject money into infrastructure, businesses and the military.”

And today, he serves as CEO of thebigword Group.

Joshua Gould, CEO at thebigword, discusses the evolution of the language technology industry and his company’s goal of making the world smaller by giving everyone the power to communicate without the language barrier Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki

Joshua Gould, CEO, thebigword

EME Outlook issue 41 | 65

thebigword

thebigword Elite Values EXCELLENCE - As professionals we strive for excellence in everything that we do.

LEADERSHIP - We encourage a working environment that inspires people to take ownership and lead from the front. Pioneers of AI language technology, we create trends and inspire.

INNOVATION - Our collaboration and ‘can do’ attitude make us innovative.

Through our ongoing investment in cutting edge thinking and AI technology, we create and deliver market ready solutions and value for our customers.

TRUSTWORTHY - Our integrity and determination to ‘do what’s right’ has led to 40 years of experience in delivering successful solutions for the world’s most demanding brands.

EMPOWERMENT - We believe in our people and support their growth, helping them to realise their full potential. We recognise them as our greatest source of opportunity.

thebigword helps make the world a smaller place by breaking down language barriers, supporting global trade and empowering people to access goods, commerce and services in their own languages.

The company provides the best translation, interpretation, localisation and language technology solutions for businesses, the Public Sector and individuals while handling around 50,000 worldwide assignments every day.

Previously known as the Link Up Group, thebigword was originally founded in 1980 by Chairman, Larry Gould, and established itself as a leading recruitment and Language Service Provider. Upon the sale of its recruitment division in 1996, the company were solely focused on becoming a world-class LSP. Since then, the organisation has evolved into a truly global name and operates with 12 offices globally and has over 600 staff.

Having worked in the industry for over two decades, Gould has witnessed first-hand how the industry has changed throughout the years.

“The language technology industry is growing in spite of global challenges and for those companies that invested in workflow automation and artificial intelligence as well as machine learning, the language technology

Techwave Techwave and thebigword Completes Two Years of Strategic Partnership Techwave is delighted to share that its strategic partnership with thebigword has grown stronger as it enters the third year of its collaboration. During this partnership, Techwave successfully enabled thebigword to deliver nextgeneration services in an efficient and timely manner. Techwave continues to empower this alliance with its technological prowess by introducing cutting-edge solutions to the thebigword ecosystem.

We provided thebigword with strategic support across applications, data, and infrastructure landscapes as per industry standards. Our collaborative One Team approach helped in migrating to Microsoft Azure cloud and developing application platforms across interpretation, translation, and localization services.

Commenting on the occasion, the Chief Information Officer of thebigword, Mark Rice, said, “I truly believe that we now understand each other, and we exhibited all of the necessary criteria to truly define us all as ONE TEAM. It gives me great confidence in our growing partnership.”

Murthy Maddali, Head of Western Europe Region, said, “The WordSynk tool build for thebigword has revolutionized how linguist communities interact in real-time.

As a global leader in consulting technology, Techwave has helped thebigword leverage sophisticated cloud-based services to drive its digital transformation initiatives.”

Moving forward, Techwave will continue to commit to its superior standard of performance while being agile in a dynamic marketplace.

www.techwave.net

66 | EME Outlook issue 41

Accelerate Your Digital Transformation Journey with Techwave

www.techwave.net

NETHERLANDS Eindhoven

UNITED KINGDOM London

GERMANY Düsseldorf

Techwave Consulting B.V., High Tech Campus 9,5656 AE, Eindhoven, Netherlands, infoEU@techwave.net

Techwave Consulting UK Limited, 2 Eastbourne Terrace, W2 6LG Paddington, London, United Kingdom, infoEU@techwave.net

Techwave Consulting GmbH, Stadttor Medienhafen,Stadttor 1, 17. Floor, 40219 Düsseldorf, Germany, infoEU@techwave.net

thebigword industry is phenomenally exciting,” says Gould. “As a result, our industry attracts billions of dollars’ worth of investment each year. thebigword through our WordSynk platform utilises the latest advancements in machine learning and AI making us a significant force to be reckoned with in an already exciting industry.”

Gould is well aware of his organisation’s competitive advantage. thebigword’s WordSynk platform bridges the spoken and written world through an all-in-one language platform that makes professional language services easy. The platform combines all services, from translation through to transcription and interpreting within

Inside the WordSynk platform Through WordSynk, clients have instant access 24/7/365 to both interpreters and translators in over 250 languages, making interpreting and translation easier than ever before.

From emergency and time sensitive telephone interpreting through to managing the end-to-end translation and localisation process, WordSynk provides clients with a world of languages at their fingertips.

WordSynk provides language-software solutions for some of the world’s biggest companies and brands, including well-known Silicon Valley tech firms, as well as British and US Government Departments. WordSynk is a market-leading sourcing platform that works behind the scenes in order to find a linguist in seconds. The app connects users with a database of more than 20,000 linguists globally and uses set criteria to find the right linguist for a client’s needs.

The platform was developed through microservices architecture. The application service code is independent, and allows for faster scaling and future maintenance, improved productivity, fault tolerance and business alignment. Through its collaboration with Microsoft, WordSynk provides a multi-layered approach to security with Azure while leveraging a team of 3,500 cybersecurity experts globally.

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one language technology platform.

“We’ve invested tens of millions of pounds in our WordSynk Platform and have adopted the latest in AI based technologies,” explains Gould.

“WordSynk is an industry first allin-one platform that combines all services into one platform to provide instant access to both translators and interpreters 24 hours a day and in over 250 language combinations.

“Through the WordSynk platform our clients have access to over 1.4 billion machine translation combinations and through deployed AI our system will select the best combination of these machine translation engines to provide our customers with superior machine translation when compared with available free machine translation.” thebigword Group believes that language is the ‘last barrier to peace and prosperity’ and the firm makes it their mission to break down the communication barriers wherever they are. Gould points to the company’s work in providing language services that supported the COVID-19 Testing Programme in the UK as a particularly important project. “It is essential for public health that important information about coronavirus testing is available to everyone no matter what language they speak,” affirms Gould.

TECHNOLOGY

Worldwide Languages Ltd Interpreting and Translation Services

Northern Baptist College, Luther King House, 29 Brighton Grove, Manchester, M14 5JP

“Another example is where we recently worked with a law enforcement agency to assist them with a modern-day slavery case,” he adds. “They required over three million rows of chat data recovered from twenty digital devices seized from suspects translating from Mandarin and Italian to English across a variety of language settings.”

The expediency of the process was key in order to manage risk, identify potential victims of trafficking and highlight vital strands of evidence. thebigword deployed WordSynk’s machine translation and were able to deliver this extremely quickly, enabling the law enforcement agency to safeguard vulnerable victims of modern slavery.

“I am especially proud of the work we have done to support the US, and UK Army in the Middle East in their nation rebuilding missions,” explains Gould. “We have played a small part in enhancing human rights and fostering

good relations across Afghani and Iraqi communities. I am extremely proud of our team.”

With partnerships an essential component to all companies globally, Gould stresses the importance of key, strategic partnerships to thebigword.

“We have some really great partnerships that are vital to our success as a business and underpin our WordSynk Platform,” he says.

“Microsoft is a phenomenal partner who provide us with the means to bring some of the greatest technology and apply it to our services. Without technology we can’t exist, which makes Microsoft a critical partner of thebigword Group.

“We have also partnered with Vodafone to transform our global connectivity and communications to be faster, and more intelligent to the benefit of our clients globally.”

To Gould, employees remain central to the company’s strategy.

“Our employees have a voice in the

07884472618 worldwidelanguages.ltd@gmail.com www.worldwidelanguages.co.uk

workplace. We make it our business to listen to the strategies of the people who are doing the work and have the relationships with our clients.

“We develop our management and leaders to be top notch communicators and we appreciate that their success is our success.”

With the next few years in mind, Gould affirms that his focus remains on expanding the company’s primary platform. “We’re rapidly growing, and we will continue to support the ongoing growth of the WordSynk Platform.”

Leeds, London, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, India info@thebigword.com thebigword.com +44 113 210 7108

EME Outlook issue 41 | 69

QUALITEST

70 | EME Outlook issue 41

TECHNOLOGY

Revolutionising Quality Engineering Aviram Shotten, Chief Information Officer at Qualitest Group, discusses the emergence of AI within quality assurance Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki It’s important to have fun in what you do. Being good at it will follow,” stresses Aviram Shotten, Chief Information Officer at Qualitest Group. “For me, it’s about making sure people get what they want from their software - that’s what got me into quality engineering.”

After chatting with Shotten for just a few minutes, it’s clear that he has an abundance of passion for quality engineering. Shotten is an experienced c-level executive and has a global track record of working in the aerospace and defence, information technology and services industries.

However, by his own admission, he actually ‘stumbled’ into the organisation to begin with.

“Like all good things in life, I fell into it,” he admits. “When I started my career, I got sucked into the industry based on previous knowledge I had.

It was so exciting to be in a position where you could influence the technology that people will be using from how the user gets benefits from the system.”

To Shotten, he understands the true value of technology and believes he is empowered to work in the industry as a result of his passion for the sector.

“If you do a good job, people will know and recognise that,” he explains.

“If the industry is growing and it’s something that you can influence, then it is very exciting. Technology has always been important to me, so it’s only natural for me to work in this space.”

With the industry growing at an exponential rate, Shotten is keen to point out that automation is only half the battle. “Innovation is endless,” he

Aviram Shotten, Chief Information Officer, Qualitest Group

explains. “We are all trying to be as automatic as possible, but we also need to recognise that automation can only take you so far. You have to invest in advanced technologies like AI, and make sure you have a resilient approach to software development.”

Qualitest is an AI-powered, scaled and independent global specialist.

The firm provides precise, scalable quality engineering solutions to bring real value to its partner clients and unparalleled end-to-end quality delivered more efficiently at lower costs. For the past six years, Qualitest has been recognised as the only visionary pure play QA and Testing Services company within the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

Shotten is clear about his company’s competitive advantage and what makes his organisation stand out from its competitors.

“Qualitest is a unique company because we’re focused on quality engineering, but there isn’t a company in the world that does just one thing,” he affirms. “I believe that what makes us stand out from the crowd is our culture. I cannot agree more with the famous saying, ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, and to be the first to admit that keeping such culture is EME Outlook issue 41 | 71

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QUALITEST very much focus consuming, hence needs sponsorship from the top.”

For many in the industry, AI is a game-changer. The technology is revolutionary and has scaled efficiency and productivity by eliminating low-impact tasks and providing coverage to risks as they happen. As such, Qualitest has introduced Qualisense — a new AI-powered tool that improves risk-based testing strategies while considerably speeding up release velocity. And in Shotten’s mind, the testing sector progress has previously been linear.

QUALITEST – AT A GLANCE Qualitest is a world-leading Quality Engineering company that strives to meet today’s testing challenges and deliver tomorrow’s quality solutions.

To Qualitest, quality is at the centre of operations. The company is an AI-powered, scaled and independent global specialist and guarantees the quality of its customers’ technologies and initiatives at all times to ensure businesses can offer the best-in-class products and services and provide an unparalleled customer experience.

Qualitest serves a range of different industries and places its customers at the forefront of decision-making.

These include: aerospace and defence, banking and financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, media and entertainment, retail, telecom and utilities sectors.

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“The promise of automation has been lingering for years and there have always been incremental improvements, we made it more accessible, connected and better integrated so automation can run across more platforms in more processes,” he explains.

“I think AI, given the amount of data that we have, can boost value add exponentially and optimise the way we work.

“It can help us mitigate the number one problem that the industry faces today - scaling up teams in a consistent and timely manner. It is doable to build excellence in small portions, but systematically doing so in large operations, over time, is hard to do. AI can be that competitive advantage that bridges the gap.

The amount of testing done in the digital age is significantly bigger than before and application abandonment is ruthless. We used to test web applications on certain desktops, now, we need to test sophisticated applications for continuous customer experience, making the number and magnitude of tests to execute to ensure a digital product is well performing, a very large one. AI can streamline this bottleneck and find failures first so we can get digital applications to market quicker, with

confidence.”

To Shotten, he believes in the value of the technological and business partnerships and sees them as a key component to the success that Qualitest achieves. “Ultimately, they’re an essential part of what we do,” he tells us. “If we focus solely on providing optimised services then this will lead this company to nowhere.

What our customers are after is solutions which are billed from the right commercial model and from the right team and technology.”

However, Shotten is adamant that keeping your circle small and filled with trustworthy partners is central to success. “Business is done between people. We have to make sure that any relationship we have is mutually beneficial,” he explains. “I don’t want suppliers and I don’t want to be anyone’s suppliers. I want a partner that will have the same hunger for growth and innovation – you can’t have that with a long list of partners.

You need to have a precise list of good partners, and you have to love them to death.”

Qualitest has a talented team at its disposal. However, in order to succeed, Shotten affirms that employees must be passionate about the industry.

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T

ricentis has been at the forefront of the enterprise software testing evolution from script-based, to model-based, and now AI-based test automation. This new era of test automation, powered by artificial intelligence, enables organisations to deliver innovation faster and at lower costs, while also rapidly modernising and transforming their application landscape to bring more value to the business.

Tricentis AI-based test automation strategy aligns with that of Qualitest and their AI-powered, engineering-driven approach to technology assurance to enable faster time-to-market. Tricentis and Qualitest are partnering to deliver end to end enterprise testing solutions leveraging AI, DevOps, and automation to accelerate digital transformation.

The use of AI enables agile and DevOps teams to build automated test cases much earlier in the development process. For the first time, test-driven development can now be achieved end-to-end at the business process level. Tricentis’ advanced AIbased test design and automation technology allows organisations to address the needs brought about by the increasing prevalence of cloud-native and enterprise application platforms.

Tricentis’ AI-based test automation technology uses AI and ML to teach the organisation’s automation tool to think and act like a human would. Using machine learning, to see and steer a UI just like a

human user would makes your automation future proof and as adaptable as the human brain. If you can see it, AI can automate it. This includes anything from an app using now-deprecated technologies, to an app using emerging technologies, to apps you access remotely. You can even start building test automation from mockups or whiteboard drawings.

Using AI driven test automation also enhances other areas of testing including risk-based testing. One of the main challenges organizations face is running hundreds, if not thousands of test scripts, which in effect, cover only about 20-40% of their business risk. Through a built-in algorithm, organisations can reduce business risk with autogenerated tests using custom designed scenarios based on business logic.

With this approach, organisations can boost test resiliency as well as business risk coverage by testing the most critical requirements first.

The new era of AI-based test automation allows enterprises to truly shift UI testing to the left, enabling testing much earlier in the development lifecycle, reducing business risk, future proofing the business, and accelerating innovation and digital transformation.

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Discover how industry leaders test the software that their business (and the world) relies on in our report;

‘How the world’s top organizations test’

QUALITEST “If you’re as enthusiastic as me about quality engineering, then your home is Qualitest,” he affirms. “I can’t stress enough about the importance of our retaining and nurturing our talent. It is people that drive excellence, innovation and culture, all the things that are important to any organisation. Our President used to be an engineer and ran an engineering team. More than half of our Managing Directors within the

QUALITEST’S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE QUALITY ENGINEERING FOCUS Qualitest is independent and tool-agnostic, without any conflicts or distractions. Its primary focus is quality, which is viewed through a business lens and from end customer’s perspective.

COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE As experts on regulatory compliance, Qualitest has helped its clients in a range of industries to keep its users safe and avoid fines, fees and daunting work disruptions.

RIGHT-SHORING OPTIONS Leveraging its testing rightshoring strategies to optimise on expertise, outcomes and costs.

AI-POWERED QUALITY ENGINEERING Highest degree of testing that is focused on assuring the company’s brand, augmented by different AI solutions to significantly increase testing accuracy, efficiency and speed to market.

76 | EME Outlook issue 41

company are ex-testers. Qualitest was built on winning against old-school approaches, that has become our DNA – Innovation that is all-focused on Quality Engineering.”

With the future in mind, Shotten has a clear drive to continue to lead and set the trends. He understands the importance of being agile and having a finger on the pulse to pivot quickly based on market demands.

“A company that doesn’t constantly look to the future and prepare for it, will decline,” he affirms.

“The need for remote working due to COVID-19 didn’t take us by surprise.

Of course, we didn’t know that the pandemic was coming, but Qualitest went fully into cloud in 2018 because we saw the value in it, making our business continuity challenge more accommodatable during those stressful times.

As a company we’re extremely passionate about Application Security, as a cyber testing company, we are probably the first to see what threats are out there, and help our customers to be better prepared than others to potential attacks on vulnerabilities. Cyber is no longer just an experts topic, today we can remove most of the risks associated with Cyber and AppSec with simple, repeatable steps and development process discipline.”

While the future is indeed difficult to predict, AI is set to continue to play a significant role, not only to Qualitest but the industry in general.

“We believe that AI will be in everything in the future, hence it is something that we’re preparing for,” discusses Shotten. “We believe that our growth will come from having the best teams, delivering the right solutions, powered by the right technology, which is a representation of accurate ecosystems of partners and bespoke technology and industry-related solutions. My belief is that AI will be the easiest, quickest way to provide the scale and velocity

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that strategic digital initiatives require.”

However, Shotten is adamant that his company doesn’t rest on its laurels and is constantly monitoring its strategy. “We are continuously revisiting our plans, as things change quickly. We don’t see quality dissolves or disappearing anytime soon, and it will only get more important.

“There are no second chances for a first impression. The cost of no quality is almost too big to deal with.

Quality engineering isn’t going away like most people thought when agile was introduced. We see growth in how technical testing will be and see the value of AI-powered Quality Engineering.”

www.qualitestgroup.com

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A brief history of web and mobile app testing.

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ep-sales@keysight.com info.eggplantsoftware.com www.keysight.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 77

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

THE FUTURE FROM FINLAND

A key player in the European automotive manufacturing industry, we spoke to Valmet Automotive about the company’s multiple business lines and its roots and growth into the up-and-coming EV manufacturing space Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

78 | EME Outlook issue 41

MANUFACTURING

E

urope is home to a substantial vehicle and automotive industry.

Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Saab are just a few of the well-known and respected brands that come to mind. And throughout Europe it is the many manufacturers that keep the wheels of the industry turning.

Valmet Automotive is one such company and a key driving force of automotive production in the European space. Having been founded in 1968, the Finnish company employs approximately 4,500 people across Finland, Germany and Poland, and has been providing quality automotive manufacturing services for over 50 years.

Valmet Automotive’s core is made up of three primary business lines; at the heart of this is the manufacturing business line. Within this area the company provides contract manufacturing from its headquarters in Uusikaupunki (Finland) as Olaf Bongwald, CEO of Valmet Automotive, explains.

“Here we produce cars for all kinds of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive industry,” he tells us. “We started with Saab and then we produced Porsche, and since around 2012 we began producing cars for Mercedes-Benz.

“Our second line of business we took over in 2010, and this consists of roofing and kinematic systems for convertible cars, cabriolets, and in doing so have expanded our portfolio to include things such as adjustable spoiler systems that are designed to perform the important task of reducing energy consumption while driving.”

On top of this, Valmet Automotive’s third business line concerns electric vehicles (EVs). Having been started up at the beginning of 2019, the company’s movement to increase its focus on EV manufacturing was aimed to answer the growing demand EME Outlook issue 41 | 79

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

DSV One of Valmet Automotive’s main LSPs since 2013 DSV was founded in 1976 when ten owner-operated hauliers joined forces and established DSV. Since then DSV has executed several acquisitions: DFDS Dan Transport, Frans Maas, ABX Logistics, UTi Worldwide, Panalpina, becoming the world’s fourth largest logistics company.

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE AT THE CORE Since the founding of Valmet Automotive in 1968, the company has stood for holistic vehicle manufacturing on behalf of renowned OEMs. More than 1.7 million vehicles - such as for Mercedes-Benz, Saab and Porsche – have left its production lines to date in Uusikaupunki, Finland. Flexibility and agility, paired with an economical mindset, are what this business line is all about, and it is what makes Valmet Automotive a coveted partner to the automotive industry.

Contract manufacturing is the root of the company; the area that gave it a name in the industry, yet not a thing of the past. On the contrary, ongoing innovation and increasing quality and productivity are an integral part of Valmet Automotive’s contract manufacturing process that remains a key component of company operations.

80 | EME Outlook issue 41

of the EV market; a space that has only kept growing since, with many regional and global automotive producers investing in the sector.

“In this area we manufacture everything involving battery systems for the electrification of the cars,” Bongwald says. “We started with 48-volt systems produced in a former Nokia plant and we then extended our portfolio to higher voltage systems for hybrid EVs as well as full battery EVs. Valmet Automotive manufactures and offers the full range of modern battery systems that are supporting the industry transformation into automotive electrification.”

Bongwald had always held an affinity for machines. In his youth Bongwald’s interest in vehicles and technical innovation led him through education and all the way to studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Dortmund.

“Of course, this topic automatically leads you to the manufacturing industry somewhat,” he points out. “My focus at the time lay in organisation and management as well as technologies. So, I ended up in the automotive industry that I have remained in for 26 years.”

Bongwald has witnessed the automotive manufacturing industry change during a revolutionary

Our annual turnover is approx. 15 Billion euros and we employ about 56.000 logistics professionals world-wide, of which 350 in Finland.

DSV have own offices in more than 90 countries and together with our network of partners we operate in over 120 countries.

+358 (0)20 738 8388 info@fi.dsv.com www.dsv.com/fi

Finnlines Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay.

The Company is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.

finnlines.com

MANUFACTURING

Tel: +358 (0)20 738 8388 Email: info@fi.dsv.com Web: www.dsv.com

In 2020 we transported

723,000 cargo units

Finland’s seaway to the world Finnlines’ eco-friendly and modern fleet transports both cargo and passengers safely to their destinations.

Finnlines plays a very significant role in the transport of medicines, food supplies and other consumer goods important to Finland. Finnlines is also a major operator in the transport of industrial products, spare parts, machinery and equipment. Finnlines provides the main sea bridges from Finland to Europe.

New energy efficient vessels Finnlines will invest EUR 0.5 billion to growing its environmentally friendly fleet and to ensuring Finland’s security of supply. The most efficient tonnage in the industry serves societies and customers responsibly.

1,107,000 tons of non-unitised freight

154,000 cars

501,000 passengers

Contact us at finnlines.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 81

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

EME Outlook: How important are suppliers and partners to Valmet Automotive?

Olaf Bongwald: “We have a successful business because of the flexibility of our partnerships.

This flexibility is necessary in the industry because volumes can vary from high to low very quickly, and being able to answer this demand is critical – this is where our suppliers come in.

“We are dependent on our partners to have this flexibility as to offer our customers what they need. All the suppliers that are producing cars are absolutely key to the overall manufacturing process, as if even one piece is missing or wrong you cannot have the car finalised and must rework, or even halt production if the component with the error is major.

“In order for an operation to be successful the handling of the supply chain is both very complex and very important. Our logistic partners are essential to the company.”

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period of time. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and shaped every industry in its own way, and alongside the increasing focus on sustainability, Bongwald has been able to become a part of the latest innovations in the space.

“For a couple of years now we are undergoing the most exciting period of the automotive industry that has occurred for decades,” he reflects. “We are seeing a big transformation from combustion engines to electrified vehicles and this is a substantial challenge for all the key players in the automotive industry to adapt to.

“But at the same time, it is very stimulating. The company has been presented with many new opportunities in the field and will give us a real chance to show what we can do.”

Valmet Automotive is incredibly customer-orientated in its services.

Flexibility is a core aspect of the company’s operation and helps maintain its reliable and effective reputation in automotive manufacturing. This flexible approach to business allows Valmet Automotive to serve the unique and varied demands of its customers to the highest standards.

“Contract manufacturing is by nature a volatile business,” Bongwald informs us. “We have been able to show for over 50 years now that we as a company are committed to supplying our customers with all kinds of car variants, and volume changes required, and being able to react to these changes with great speed and efficiency.

“This is only possible due to our dedicated work staff throughout the entire company, and our flexible partners and suppliers that are key to our fluid operation. This was great to see when I was allowed to take over as CEO during 2018. It was a very positive experience to find that I was in charge of a wonderful workforce that produce high-quality products.”

GTG Gummitechnik Achieving the best together. This is the focus of both companies and the cornerstone for an outstanding partnership that has lasted over 10 years. The successful relationship between GTG and VALMET is based on an open, honest and critical implementation of projects at a top professional level.

GTG is very happy to have sealed the common path for further years by fixing the latest projects in 2020 and VALMET can continue to fully rely on GTG’s more than 40 years of expertise in the design and manufacture of high quality sealing systems for the automotive sector.

www.gummitechnik.de

This people-centric focus is perfectly exemplified by Valmet Automotive’s in-house Culture Change Programme that was started up in early 2019. In this programme the company outlined its five commitments that defined its culture so that everybody involved, from employees to management and partners, feels appreciated and at home when working in association with Valmet Automotive.

The company commitments are as follows: always learn, show entrepreneurial spirit, deliver, lead at all levels, and lastly respect throughout the organisation.

It is Valmet Automotive’s aim to maintain and continue implementing these commitments into the future to for the benefit of company members, partners and customers, so that they can each work together to achieve success or learn and build upon any failings that may occur.

MANUFACTURING

Leading Manufactuer in Customised Sealing Systems

Automotive seals for doors, flaps, covers, glass run as well as window shafts GTG Gummitechnik Wolfgang Bartelt GmbH & Co. KG 89423 Gundelfingen a.d. Donau / Germany

Special sealing systems developed for the use in household appliances

High-precision elastic connecting elements for facade and window construction

T +49 9073 9507-0 E info@gtg.eu www.gummitechnik.de

EME Outlook issue 41 | 83

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE

VALMET AUTOMOTIVE ON CSR For Valmet Automotive, sustainability is a very important topic and one that the company keeps in focus throughout its operations. The organisation has recently released its second sustainability report, with the first having been released in 2020.

One of Valmet Automotive’s most challenging goals is to be CO2 neutral in its production plant in Uusikaupunki by the end of 2021. The company has already improved upon CO2 emissions reduction between 2019 and 2020 by a substantial 70 percent, and with neutrality being achieved in total by the end of the year, the company aims towards bringing the same to the entire organisation.

Valmet Automotive also helps support its local environment.

The company supports sports teams and events through sponsorship, such as basketball and football teams. And on top of this it is working alongside the University of Munich to support students and new developments in the electrification space.

Valmet Automotive even supports regional events such as music festivals to improve the social environment as much as possible.

84 | EME Outlook issue 41

“Our focus is on our customers, partners and employees. We have introduced online training and so far have seen approximately 1,500 employees trained in this way,” Bongwald elaborates. “This is aimed to both improve operations and help make the transition of introducing new employees a smoother process.

“We perform an annual check in which we collect data and employee requests or statements so that we can measure and adapt our in-house way of things while comparing it year from year. But Valmet Automotive also makes sure to be open and easy to reach by any one employee across the organisation.

“We have had in place over the past two years an internal online channel called ‘Questions to Olaf’, where each and every person has the ability to ask me company questions personally, and I will reply.

“In this way we have full communication across the varying levels of the company, and everybody has access to management when they need it.”

These employees and company partnerships are vital to operational business, and their combined efforts have culminated in Valmet Automotive achieving incredible projects and results.

One such project involved the use of an old Nokia plant to answer the demand of a customer in the EV space. Around the end of 2018, Valmet Automotive was approached by a customer who required electric battery systems on a large scale, that required both increased physical plant space as well as peoplepower. In a short space of time Valmet Automotive was able to accommodate the space by locating a former Nokia plant, signed contracts in April of the same year, received the necessary components to build assembly lines, and were able to deliver the first electric batteries in the October that followed.

“It was an incredibly fast operation,” Bongwald tells us proudly. “We went from ground zero to hiring around 200 people who went through training to maintain the assemblies of battery systems.

MANUFACTURING

Valmet Automotive now has the necessary assembly line capability to manufacture and deliver electric batteries.

“We had never done this before, but this process was complete in record speed and was really amazing to see come together. The customer was incredibly happy with the result that had stuck exactly to the preplanned timeline, and we did not lose a single day or battery throughout the process.”

After answering such a unique demand, Valmet Automotive had revaluated its investment strategy to best suit the ever-changing and innovative automotive manufacturing industry; it’s primary investments currently concern the EV space.

In the present, the company is investing in an extension to the aforementioned EV battery plant.

After one and a half years in operation this plant was at full capability with regards to producing battery systems and employee numbers. The project includes a 4,000 square-metre building extension as space has become the primary requirement for the company in the EV business line.

This investment project alone shows Valmet Automotive’s commitment to the progressive and up-and-coming EV sphere.

“We are now getting more and more into the manufacturing of high voltage battery systems,” Bongwald elaborates. “And we need more space to expand our production of battery modules and battery packs. This plant will give us the opportunity to do so.

“The ability to produce batteries for EVs or hybrid vehicles has the benefit of sufficiently reducing and promoting the reduction of our CO2 footprint which is an advantage in the German market and better for the environment.”

In addition, Valmet Automotive is currently expanding the Uusikaupunki

car plant with a high-volume battery plant – SOP in second half of 2021 and will be rebuilding a former industrial plant as a battery plant in Kirchardt, Germany. The work will start during the second half of 2021 and will begin production in first half of 2022.

Tel: +358 20 4848111 www.valmet-automotive.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 85

GLUNZ & JENSEN

86 | EME Outlook issue 41

MANUFACTURING

Delivering Quality at Affordable Prices Martin Overgaard Hansen, CEO of Glunz & Jensen, discusses his company’s transformation and previews its place in the market post-COVID-19 Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

We pride ourselves on delivering prime quality at decent prices,” explains Martin Overgaard Hansen, CEO of Glunz & Jensen.

To Glunz & Jensen, it’s a mantra that it follows closely.

The firm harbours aims of being regarded as one of the most innovative hardware and services providers in the prepress product areas. At the same time, Glunz & Jensen has aims of strengthening and solidifying its earnings through optimisation of sourcing, prices, production, logistics and capacity utilisation over the coming years.

“We are not the cheapest in the industry, but we believe we offer the best price/quality ratio,” he explains.

“We have a long history of more than 45 years, so we know what we’re talking about. Our prime goal is to

deliver value for money.”

Glunz & Jensen is the world’s most renowned supplier of innovative, highquality plate making solutions for the global prepress industry. In addition to developing and producing processors for the offset and flexo printing industry, Glunz & Jensen also offers aftersales service.

The organisation has been a recognised leader in prepress for over 45 years and operates sustainable relations with major customers such as Agfa, Asahi, DuPont, Flint, Fujifilm, Heidelberg, Kodak and MacDermid, the world’s largest suppliers of printing solutions. Glunz & Jensen markets its products through a comprehensive and worldwide network of distributors and dealers and operates with 100 employees in our facilities in Denmark, Slovakia and the United States.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 87

GLUNZ & JENSEN Hansen joined Glunz & Jensen in September 2019 with the world in a very different state than it is today in May 2021, something Hansen acknowledges. “It’s a different job than the one I signed up to initially,” he admits. “This is because of the pandemic and the changes we’ve undergone during the last 18 months – it’s been quite the ride. We’ve gone through some difficult changes, but we made the best of it and I believe we’ve come out stronger as a result of the way we have navigated through the COVID-19 period.”

The organisation has undergone significant transformation over the years and has transitioned from solely being an offset supplier to now serving both the offset and flexo segments.

“Offset is mainly delivering into traditional printing such as magazines and newspaper, whereas flexo is primarily packaging,” notes

Hansen. “If you look at offset, it has significantly reduced because of the influence that digital media has had during the past decade. On the other hand, the packaging market has slightly increased year on year because of a higher consumption of goods and the development in certain parts of the world.

“We’ve seen that some flexo customers have increased volumes during the pandemic because a lot of products have been pressed through the consumer channels. Our prime goal has been to stay strong and stay focused on the offset while further building our capabilities in flexo.”

However, Hansen has acknowledged the hurdles Glunz & Jensen have had to overcome during his tenure. “There have been challenges,” he admits. “In the past, we were solely an offset company, and we made some acquisitions in the flexo industry some years ago; we

MARTIN OVERGAARD HANSEN Hansen is a vastly experienced executive with a proven track record of driving revenue and growth in a myriad of different countries and industries, including oil and gas, mechanical engineering and equipment manufacturing.

He is a driven professional who is capable of delivering efficiencies across the entire global value chain while improving the performance of any business through their ability to generate new business, eliminate waste and motivate all employees through maximum capability.

Hansen is an individual who possesses lots of experience in successfully directing the execution of tactical operating plans as a senior executive for a range of renowned organisations.

“Since 2000, I’ve worked in a wide range of manufacturing organisations, anything from semiconductors, mechanical engineering, oil & gas to machinery,” he explains. “I’ve also worked and lived abroad so I’ve had a pretty broad career in many different industries, which has provided me with a good understanding of all aspects of manufacturing.”

88 | EME Outlook issue 41

RTOX s.r.o.

RTOX engineering production focuses on the production of gears, racks, sprockets and timing pulleys made from stainlees steel, steel, plastic and aluminium. We also offer surface and heat treatment.

The company was founded in 2011 and since 2015, it has housed its own production facilities in the Slavičín Industrial Zone. RTOX’s motto is to constructively participate in the design and manufacturing solutions of our existing and future customers’ projects. With an emphasis on technical and time flexibility and reliability.

Toothed Segments Surface Treatment RTOX s.r.o.

Divnice 139 (průmyslová zóna) 763 21 Slavičín Česká republika M: +420 774 973 320 M: +420 775 218 933 E: info@rtox.cz

CNC Milling Heat Treatment

GLUNZ & JENSEN acquired a company in Italy and one in Denmark that we brought into the Glunz & Jensen family.

“It’s a different mindset in the industry and it’s definitely a faster pace on the print side and a little less focused on the quality of the print.

It’s not that flexo doesn’t strive for quality but it’s safe to say that if you print a glossy magazine, quality is more important than if you print a cardboard box for television. This is something that we’ve learned along the way.

“Ultimately, price becomes more important in flexo whereas quality is more important in offset.”

The company’s supply chain is largely outsourced to Slovakia, with some research and development plus prototyping takes place in Denmark. “We have now centralised our assembly in Slovakia,” notes Hansen. “In the past, we delivered hundreds of similar offset machines annually, whereas now it’s much more customised. This suits the model of an outsourced supply chain, where we can basically buy what we need when we need it.

“On the technical side, we’ve worked on transitioning knowledge from the acquired companies into the Glunz & Jensen family. We’ve also consolidated our manufacturing from several locations. In the past, we’ve had manufacturing in Denmark, Italy, The United States and in Slovakia.

This is now all consolidated in one optimised facility in Slovakia.”

To Hansen, he believes in the true value of partnerships and strives to establish long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships.

“We look for long-term partnerships — we don’t treat our suppliers and customers as a one-off gig,” he stresses. “This mentality serves both parties well because it’s important that we help each other out when there is a need to do so. We have a long-lasting partnership both in Denmark, Slovakia and Italy on the 90 | EME Outlook issue 41

MANUFACTURING

HANSEN ON STAFF “Staff are extremely valuable.

Unfortunately, we had to reduce staff because of our reduced volume and need for efficiency improvements, however, without the competence of our staff, there is no Glunz & Jensen.

Recruiting and retaining our employees is vital.”

- Martin Overgaard Hansen, CEO, Glunz & Jensen

supplier side and on the customer side, we have OEM partners and distributors that we have worked with for decades. I strongly believe these relationships have been of great value for us and also hopefully for our partners too.”

And Hansen believes there are two key characteristics that any potential partner must display. “Trust is a key driver; because having that faith in each other is essential,” he affirms.

“Flexibility is also extremely important to us because of how dynamic the market is. Ultimately, we need to feel that they care for us in our time of need.”

Hansen believes that although the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging, Glunz & Jensen made the most of it. “In the beginning, it hit us like a hurricane, and it was difficult at first to understand the best way forward,” he explains. “We saw a prompt and heavy reaction from some of our customers, particularly our North American customers, where we saw a rapid decline in orders.

“We had some tough discussions internally and decided to fight it out – never waste a good crisis. Thus, we used the low order intake to do some housekeeping ourselves, so this was where we transferred the last part of our manufacturing from Denmark to Slovakia. This was stressful but I think it ultimately made us a stronger company.”

“I believe our partnerships come out winning because both on the customer and supplier side, we’ve worked well with them to overcome this terrible pandemic.”

With the future in mind, Hansen is optimistic that Glunz & Jensen will be a stronger company postCOVID than in March 2020 before lockdowns became the norm. “We are quite confident that when the dust has settled that we will be in a much better position to the one we started

the pandemic in,” he explains. “We’re on the way to growing our top line and profitability and are eager to get back on the road and visit customers again when we’re allowed to do so.

“It’s a little bit comparable to a circus – it’s a tough, long winter when you can’t get out and perform. This is the feeling I’m sitting with and we can’t wait to get back out there.”

Tel: +4557 688 181 GJ@Glunz-Jensen.com www.glunz-jensen.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 91

SUZUKI GARPHYTTAN

Swedish Steel A key player in the steel manufacturing industry, we speak to Suzuki Garphyttan’s CEO Ad Raatgeep about the company’s provision of steel wire for pan-industrial purposes Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

M

anufacturing has changed the face of the industrial world.

From the man-powered production line to automation and AI-led robotics, manufacturing has allowed the vast accommodation of the latest and most necessary parts and products to reach every corner of the market and maximise societal development across the board.

Across Europe, the manufacturing industry is vital to the continuation of product lines in every sector, from industrial building materials to automotives and technology. At 92 | EME Outlook issue 41

present, Sweden is one of the few at the forefront of the hybrid and green steel industry.

“Sweden is definitely leading the development in such areas and is undertaking an industrial initiative to produce the world’s first large-scale fossil-free steel plant,” explains Ad Raatgeep, CEO of Suzuki Garphyttan.

“The industry is currently very exciting. A lot of things are happening and there is a continuous level of innovation that always makes it interesting.”

Founded in 1906 and with roots

‘WE MAKE IT STRONGER’ Through Suzuki Garphyttan, customers can easily access all products manufactured by the Suzuki Garphyttan group globally, as well as a wide range of products from Nippon Steel Corporation’s other production sites.

Suzuki Garphyttan’s steel grades: • Oil tempered wire • Stainless steel wire • Carbon steel wire • Flat and shaped wire • Traded products by Suzuki Garphyttan

MANUFACTURING

stretching back to 1554, Suzuki Garphyttan Group is a world-leading supplier of advanced spring wire and is a part of the Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation. The company works globally and its Swedish production facility in Garphyttan is the centre of its global functions and research and development within the organisation.

“We produce wires for industrial purposes with 85 percent of these going to the automotive industry; our main products including the critically important valve springs in cars,” Ad informs us.

Originally from the Netherlands, Ad started to work for Sandvik Materials Technology in 1984 and moved to Sweden in 1989. He worked in a multitude of roles (Marketing and Sales Manager, Site Manager, Tube Division Manager, EVP SMT and

several board positions) that spanned in excess of three decades.

Ad then went on to become Managing Director and Owner of CIMTIC AB, a position he holds to this day, alongside his current role of CEO of Suzuki Garphyttan.

The company’s high level of quality and industry excellence are not the only two things that make it stand apart from its competition within Europe’s manufacturing space. With a long history in the automotive industry, and working alongside German companies and experts, Suzuki Garphyttan prides itself on providing its customers a substantial level of experience within the industry.

This experience ensures the continued reliability of the company’s quality and professional deliverance of its products.

‘TOGETHER FOR A BETTER TOMORROW’ Suzuki Garphyttan’s vision “Together for a better tomorrow” expresses the company’s longterm direction and the decisions it makes. It is a guiding principle that inspires a common approach to the various tasks at Suzuki Garphyttan.

The company is a professional long-term partner and a caring employer driven by a responsible mindset regarding everything it does. Suzuki Garphyttan cares about giving everyone in the company the best possible chance to develop, to grow and to love their jobs.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 93

SUZUKI GARPHYTTAN

SUZUKI GARPHYTTAN ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY It is safe to say that Suzuki Garphyttan is a positively people-centric company. On top of recognising the importance of its supply chain partners, employees and leadership teams, the company also places its local communities at the front of external company care.

Every year, Suzuki Garphyttan allows its employees and management members to vote for approximately 10 different charities, with the organisation with the most votes receiving the most money from the company.

On top of this Suzuki Garphyttan supports local youth sports clubs, sustainability training for school kids and collaborates with local universities to ensure to inspire the future generations to promote the company.

Ad Raatgeep, CEO 94 | EME Outlook issue 41

Suzuki Garphyttan services “There is a very high level of competence in our company,” Ad assures us. “We are a global company but despite this we are still very localised by nature through the locations of our production facilities.

These are close to our customers, and over the years Suzuki Garphyttan has expanded to follow our customers to where they are based.

“We built our second plant in the US 25 years ago because our customers expanded out there, and 15 years ago we expanded into China, because we ensure that we can accommodate our customers around the globe.

Our newest facility was established a couple of years ago in Mexico.”

This people centric business and service can be seen in the multiple company projects that Suzuki Garphyttan are undertaking.

“One of the most important things that we are shifting towards in the steel industry is the idea of sustainability,” Ad elaborates. “This is critical to our company and the wider industry, not only because of the want and need to be good citizens and do our part for the environment, but also because it is demanded by our customers.

“This echoes throughout our locations and partnerships. Take China for example, many people

complain about the nation’s lack of sustainability, however China today is one of the most rigorous countries when it comes to following and implementing environmental rules and regulations. And in China we of course follow suit.”

In the next five years, Suzuki Garphyttan aims to eliminate all environmentally damaging elements from its facilities – a promising and progressive goal in line with an increasingly sustainable and innovative decade.

“Everything from fuels and oils we are going to try and change in our processes. That which has been seen as normal and unavoidable for the last century will make way for newer and greener methods,” Ad assures.

And the Suzuki Garphyttan’s innovative push also involves the implementation of a completely new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Utilising this across each of the company’s facilities will revolutionise inter-communication throughout the organisation.

As Suzuki Garphyttan is made up of a number of independent global locations, this new level of communication will increase internal business development as well as allow a higher level of organisation and competency across the company.

MANUFACTURING

We do more than design and implement Security and IT infrastructure solutions.

At Conscia we are a network of knowledge and the backbone of your business’ success. We are conscious of your potential and are committed to secure your IT infrastructure.

We’re proud to supply Suzuki Garphyttan with our IOT Device Portal https://conscia.com/cases/manufacturing-iot-suzuki/

“We work with the values of caring, sharing and daring about our customers, our shareholders, ourselves and the environment,” Ad explains. “And we work with suppliers all around the world that produce the materials for our products.”

This sums up the deeply rooted and vital connection between Suzuki Garphyttan, its customers, its people and its business partnerships. As an internationally spanning company, Suzuki Garphyttan does not solely rely on a single supplier but rather is supported by a wide network of supply chain partners critical to the overall functionality and operation of the company.

“In light of this, we are aiming to set up a cloud-optimised system to keep us up to date with any potential changes,” Ad affirms. “This will lead to improving our flexibility to address any issue that would potentially arise from the supply chain.”

As we have seen from the last year, the world can change radically in just a few months. With systems in place to maximise communication and organisation, Suzuki Garphyttan aims to react to any issue or challenge well before it has arrived. And behind operations are Suzuki Garphyttan’s dedicated and driven personnel.

“Our business is about the people,” Ad elaborates. “Getting everybody involved to understand the answers to questions such as where the company is going, why and how we are doing what we do, and what does it mean for each person, is a fundamental part of us as a company. This transparency is key to ensuring that our employees are on the same level as management.”

For Suzuki Garphyttan, every person is very much aware that they each contribute to the company.

Senior and management staff carry out performance dialogues with

every employee on a regular basis to best acknowledge every good job, and to work upon any failing that may have occurred. On top of this the company offers education and training courses to help improve employee knowledge and skills.

“It is really important for us to place a lot of focus on engaging our employees, but also on our leadership teams and experienced managers,” Ad tells us. “This includes focusing on our methods of working to help us develop the company and drive it in a positive and progressive direction.”

Tel: +46 (0)19 295 100 info.se@sg-wire.com www.suzuki-garphyttan.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 95

FACI S.p.A

Quality Chemistry

A family-owned enterprise of Italian origin, Faci S.p.A have been a mainstay in the chemical manufacturing sector since 1943. We discuss geographical expansion, circular production, and implementing a culture of quality Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

MANUFACTURING

Chemical manufacturing has always fascinated mankind, from both a scientifictechnical point of view, and from a business perspective,” opens Massimo Bricarelli, Managing Director at Faci.

Harnessing science and technology, Faci have been at the forefront of delivering industry-spanning solutions through their manufactured additives since 1943. The appeal of the industry for Bricarelli revokes back to that initial sense of childhood wonder at the endless possibilities and underexplored potential of how science can be leveraged to further society.

“I was always attracted by Chemistry since I was at elementary school...Coherently, I got my master’s degree in Chemistry, and I spent my 30-year professional career in the chemical business covering different functions,” he explains.

A family-owned enterprise bolstered with years of experience, in 2013, Faci celebrated 70 years of operation.

The Group’s established longevity in the sector creates a reliability and dependability that Faci continue to fulfil.

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FACI S.p.A “The Faci Group still retain its family-owned status with a long-term view which goes beyond generation.

This assures focus and commitment on cost competitiveness, prompt decisions, resiliency to economic cycles and allows flexibility in adapting a business model that

FACI S.p.A PRODUCTS • Occupying the ‘Oleochemical Industry’ Faci products derive from renewable, non-oil related feedstock. This requires raw materials including animal fats and greases (tallow, lard) and vegetable oils (palm, soia and olive).

• The products are used as additives across a wide range of industries and applications, from plastic to pharmaceuticals, from buildings to paper and from rubber to cosmetics. As ‘quality enhancers’, Faci’s products greatly impact the performance and quality of the end product.

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follows the evolving markets needs without compromising on quality and the fundamental values of business sustainability,” Bricarelli comments.

Although based in Carasco, near Genoa, in its current incarnation Faci has evolved into a truly global enterprise, with reach spanning Europe, Asia and America.

“The Group headquartered in Italy can count on a fully-owned multiproduction platform with seven manufacturing companies – four of these are in Europe (the UK, Spain, and Italy), two are in Asia (Singapore and China), and one in the US at Lufkin, Texas,” Bricarelli outlines.

Faci direct expansion efforts towards countries enjoying strong economic development where outlet markets continue to grow and there is a greater availability of raw materials.

“The Group has above 550 direct employees well distributed on an international basis. Among our top customers, we can count on the largest global multinational players in the chemical sector as well as plastics, rubber, building, paper, pharma and personal care,” he continues.

Geographical expansion aids the Group’s development through

exposure to the international market.

An organisation that refuses to rest on its laurels thanks to their established position as something of a veteran in the industry, Faci are ever-developing – both the Group as a whole and the individual players within it. As Bricarelli concurs,“The exposure to the international dynamics of the chemical business is a great opportunity for personal growth, coming into contact with different cultures that ultimately all speak the same language: chemistry.

“Our growth has always been driven by a forwarding thinking attitude, backed up by a strong technical, marketing and development ethos which is associated with a close cooperation with the customers.”

It is this dynamism that creates an exciting industry that naturally encourages talent retention within the sector. “This is a process industry where scientific and technological knowledge are a prerequisite.

MANUFACTURING

Manufacturer of High-Grade Zinc Oxide (99.9% purity)

Valencia, SPAIN | +34 963 393 270 mpb@mariopilato.com | mariopilato.com

On the market side, the numbers of molecules and products available is huge. The chemical business is highly interconnected and in continuous evolution, which makes the sector an exciting sphere to work in,” Bricarelli comments.

In terms of Faci’s own product output, the Group has progressed significantly from the early days of operation. In the context of postwar Italy, as the country’s nascent chemicals industry began to flourish, Faci were mainly preoccupied with the production of hydrogenated stearic acid - a saturated fatty acid derived from either animal or vegetable fats that can be used as a lubricant for plastics amongst other uses. Currently, Faci’s range of products primarily consists of nontoxic stearates that are applied as additives spanning a wide spectrum of industries.

“Faci Group is a market leader in the production of non-toxic

metallic stearates (like calcium, zinc, magnesium, aluminium, potassium and sodium stearate) which find application as additives in many industrial sectors, from plastics to pharma manufacturing industries passing through the paper industry, rubber industry, building industry and personal care,” he outlines.

To this day, the Group’s specialities continue to be deeply rooted in the bio-based economy, leading the way in the production of oleochemicals.

Alongside non-toxic metal stearates, the Group also manufacture fatty acid esters (FAEs), that are applied as additives within plastic lubricants, antistatic agents and emulsifiers, alongside other uses in different sectors.

The Group’s geographical expansion has developed simultaneously with the diversification of their product range.

“Faci’s ‘main chemistry’ has traditionally been focused on products derived from stearic acid, both of animal and vegetable origin.

AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE Faci’s defining feature is strong internationalisation. This has led to significant geographical expansion which has seen the company expand across the globe with five fully owned manufacturing units: • Carasco (Italy) • Zaragoza (Spain) • Knowsley (UK) • Leeds (UK) • Lufkin (Texas - USA) • Jurong Island (Singapore) • Zhanjiagang (China)

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FACI S.p.A

While this business continues to be the core activity of the Group, the acquisition of existing production units in Europe and USA has considerably increased the portfolio of both our chemicals and our customers.”

Of course, at the crux of expansion and diversification is distribution, as the Group relies on an efficient and robust supply chain to deliver their products across international markets. Distributors are instrumental in identifying the market needs that vary depending on the region.

“Faci can count on highly professional and dedicated distributors with capillary infrastructures and competences.

However, the largest portion of sales are directly managed by the Faci organisation itself,” he comments.

Due to the nature of their products and their beliefs as a responsible 100 | EME Outlook issue 41

corporate citizen, sustainability is a key pillar of operation for Faci.

“Our industry has always been based on renewable feedstock. The oleochemical business is ‘bio based’, since its feedstock are based on vegetable oils or animal fats,” Bricarelli comments.

Primarily, sustainability for Faci entails an industrial system of sustainable value creation to maximise the total value captured and guarantee underlying capital for future added value.

“Since the inception of the business, the circularity of the economy was a critical factor of success. The circularity comes from the fact that this sector has based its success on the ability to process and add value to by-products, residue and/ or off-specs products coming from the production of vegetable oils and

animal fats destined to the food and feed industry.”

Running adjacent to sustainability as a key attribute driving Faci’s success are the people behind the organisation. In a technological sector reliant on the machinery that drives manufacturing, Bricarelli acknowledges, “the human element is definitely a key factor of our success,” running true to Faci’s origins and status as a family-run enterprise.

In a working environment that Bricarelli describes as, ‘creative and pragmatic’, each staff member within the medium-sized organisation is valued for their contribution. Faci makes a concerted effort towards employee empowerment.

“Often the organisation may have procedural barriers which create a distance between people and their contribution, which ultimately

MANUFACTURING undermines their empowerment. It is therefore important that we minimise such barriers and create a direct and tangible connection between human resources and our results and achievements.

“By doing this, we allow everyone to be able to feel in person the contribution provided to the company success, obtaining gratification in return and pride in their job ownership,” Bricarelli comments.

Above all, the central tenet behind Faci’s output is quality. The concept is strictly embedded into all aspects of operation, in order to avoid a compromise in quality that can often result from an expansion of products and production facilities.

“We deal with additives, which means that a very small portion of our products goes into a large and massive production to enhance the performance of the final product or to improve the processability. The responsibility and liability involved are high and consequently the ‘culture of quality’ permeates the whole organisation and is an intrinsic part of the company culture,” Bricarelli elaborates.

Faci propose a uniform solution with regards to their sites of operation to guarantee consistency.

$20 million,” Bricarelli explains.

Faci’s five-year forecast will primarily consist of growing and stabilising the North American side of business, yet Bricarelli hints at other areas of company expansion.

“Geographical expansion has been always faster and deeper than diversification. The next area of potential interest for investments might be India or South America.”

“This industrial setup can grant a solid business continuity plant to Faci partners, since all production facilities can produce the same items with the same technology, quality standard and feedstock,” he explains.

Next on Faci’s agenda is to develop their presence in North America as a reputed chemical manufacturer of quality. The Group are currently preoccupied with a major investment into a new production facility to implement this goal.

“Faci is at the final stage of completion of a major investment in a new green field production plant based in its 16.2 hectares site in Texas (Lufkin).

The commissioning of the new metal stearates production plant is scheduled for the end of 2021 and will provide the Group with an additional turnover increase of approximately

Closing on a note of optimism, Bricarelli reaffirms the fact that Faci’s continual evolution and adaption whilst maintaining their position as a market leader attests to their guaranteed future.

“In Faci we are used to saying that values beyond products make difference tangible. Our almost 80-year journey has offered us the opportunity to learn from different cultures around the world.

“The consistent growth during this period of time is surely proof of Faci’s business longevity and sustainable value creation, building a positive platform of experience from which we can build and evolve.”

FACI S.p.A Tel: +39 0185 36141 faci@faci.it www.faci.it

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GARBUIO

MACHINERY AT THE FORE We take a look at Garbuio and the company’s development and innovative operations within the European tobacco machinery and equipment manufacturing sector Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

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MANUFACTURING

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urope is well-known for its manufacturing industry.

From automotive production and laser-cut machine pieces to innovative technological designs and automation, European companies have shaped the future of manufacturing and consequently each international industry that the sector serves.

Garbuio is the primary specialist of the German company Hauni

Group and is the global market leader in the development and manufacturing of machinery and equipment for tobacco processing.

Being at the forefront of industry, it is Garbuio’s purpose to provide and develop integrated, innovative and reliable solutions in tobacco machinery manufacturing.

The company operates with its customers at heart and focuses on long-lasting and reliable business

relationships to promote and grow their machinery solutions in the industry, with its headquarters based in Paese, Treviso (Italy).

Garbuio develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of green leaf processing machinery and equipment for the tobacco industry.

Many of these machines are used in production lines around the world and are capable of processing up to 12 tonnes of leaf tobacco per hour.

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GARBUIO Garbuio’s purpose is being at the forefront of industry by providing and developing integrated, innovative and reliable solutions. Focusing on customers is the company’s way to generate added value. It is Garbuio’s mission building long-lasting trust through market leading products, proven quality and unrivalled customer care.

Embracing and promoting innovation is Garbuio’s guideline to anticipate market requirements and challenge industry transformation.

The company entrusting employees’ ideas and entrepreneurship to develop tailor-made solutions for its customers across the globe.

And these solutions are a key part to the efficiency of tobacco operations. After tobacco plants have been harvested, the tobacco must be dried. Drying brings about certain chemical processes that make the leaves aromatic and pliable. Once the tobacco leaves have been cured, the

farmers bring them into the factory, either tied in bundles or packed in bales, for further processing. There are around 150 green-leaf processing factories worldwide. There is a complete and complex process behind tobacco manufacturing and Garbuio’s plays a vital part in it.

INDUSTRY 4.0 As the world develops and rapidly grows into an expanding digital age, Garbuio ensures that it keeps up with the latest in order to stay above and apart from its industry competition.

In the present, proven experience in software, automation and control for tobacco industry result in integrated, bespoke and reliable solutions when it comes to all-round industrial processing applications.

Alongside another member of the Hauni Group, Garbuio is able to facilitate the latest in the digital environment to best suit and support its customer base.

HAUNI GROUP Hauni Maschinenbau GmbH, with its headquarters in Hamburg, is the leading brand of the Hauni Group and synonymous with first class mechanical engineering from Germany. Its product portfolio includes machinery and equipment for the production of cigarettes and filters, of which Garbuio is representative. In addition, Hauni offers tailor-made technical and consultancy services.

‘Challenging and innovating the tobacco industry.’

Hauni proudly employs: • 4,500 employees • Covering 11 skilled occupations • Across 20 locations around the world First-class mechanical engineering is what the name Hauni stands for in the international tobacco industry. The group are innovative and progressive and are proud of its long tradition and achievements. Hauni sets the highest standards: it continuously develops new solutions and services that inspire its customers. The experience and know-how of its long-standing employees, coupled with the expertise and imagination of young talent, are the key to the company’s success. Hauni takes responsibility, including the success of its customers.

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Habasit Habasit is a leading provider of high-quality conveyor and power transmission belts to customers in 70 countries worldwide. In 2021, the family-owned firm celebrates the 75th anniversary of its foundation in Switzerland.

Habasit’s success is built on its innovative solutions that cut maintenance costs, raise productivity and cost-efficiency, and save water, energy and resources in numerous industries, including tobacco.

Habasit’s industry specialists have a profound understanding of each customer’s application needs, ensuring the right products, technologies, and know-how, and backed by expert local service support around the globe.

www.habasit.com

MANUFACTURING

Looking to reduce waste and increase productivity?

Habasit’s innovative belting solution for the tobacco industry meets all the challenges of sticky applications involving hot steam and high temperatures.

The new belt compound provides: • The lowest total cost of ownership on the market • No discoloration – the belt stays transparent • Very good chemical resistance, even to clove oil • No product build-up • Significant waste reduction • At least 2 x longer lifetime than other tobacco processing belts

Habasit AG info@habasit.com www.habasit.com

Kodis is the leading industrial software company, part of Hauni Group, with well-known knowledge and expertise in the tobacco primary processing. Kodis also provides PLC and SCADA tailored software design and commissioning.

The company joined the Hauni Group in 2014 and is a specialist in industrial software solutions, including customised manufacturing operations management solutions following the ISA-95 standard for various industries.

Thanks to the cooperation with Kodis, Garbuio is at the forefront in boosting a broader concept of a smart factory, providing a wide set of innovative digital solutions for customers’ manufacturing systems.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE SMART FACTORY The first of these is MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management) and MES (Manufacturing Execution System).

Habasit – Solutions in motion

It is the entire, modular and seamless vertical and horizontal integration suite for operations management.

Production, intralogistics, quality, maintenance and warehouse processes throughout the entire plant, are constantly and always under control, as well as ensuring the full integration from shopfloor control modules up to any enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Kodis ensures that its solutions are designed, scaled, customised and delivered both for mobile devices and for management dashboards, as well as being ISA-95 and OPC-UA compliant.

Another is BMS (Building Management System) and EMS (Energy Management System) solutions for the green and smart factory. This includes the total cost of ownership real-time monitoring down to one-piece cost analysis, through the efficient management of energy consumption and

utilities. On top of this the solutions encompass harmonised sets of KPIs for environmental awareness and responsible optimisation of supplies.

Lastly there is HMI (Human Machine Interface), SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), and UltiMI (proprietary Ultimate Machine Interface); process and equipment controls based on situation awareness holistic framework.

Conventional HMI and SCADA are offered in state-of-art modules, according to customer requirements.

UltiMI brings additional features compared to any standard human machine interface.

UltiMI also guarantees an intuitive and reliable user experience and simplified machine and plant controls, thanks to a multi-touch gesture-based interface. It provides configurable, modular and scalable approach, with embedded problem solving and training features, as well as being ISA101 compliant.

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GARBUIO

RECON TOBACCO Heated Tobacco Products (HTP) solutions are part of Garbuio’s operations.

Within this area, recon tobacco is a true all-rounder – it is already in use today as conventional cigarettes filler, as cigar wrappers and is the base component in the production of HTP. Recon foils containing hemp components, or enriched with cloves for kretek, even offer opportunities for completely new products.

Garbuio offers various processes for the reconstituted tobacco used in HTP. The various recon products have very different properties in terms of their chemical and physical consistency and their smoke profile. The choice of process depends on the product characteristics required by the customer. Garbuio can provide its customers with the appropriate primary machines and services for all variants. Its recon production technology supports conventional recon as well as HTP applications.

For example, Garbuio has developed a pilot plant for recon, based on extrusion and rolling technology that aims for exceptionally gentle drying and a very firm product.

PEOPLE-CENTRIC BUSINESS Customers are Garbuio’s top priority.

The company’s team of Sales Experts, Project Managers and Technical Engineers, work alongside customers’ teams for the whole duration of the project lifecycle and beyond, actively supporting them and ensuring fast responses at every point, committing to exceeding customer expectations.

Garbuio cares about its clients’ production performances and promotes the highest level of services with its care teams and spare parts centre, aiming to extend product lifetime. Garbuio Sales team members are in direct and constant touch with the company’s clients during the whole customer journey. The team is committed to developing

MANUFACTURING creative solutions designed to go beyond customer’s expectations and needs within budget. On top of this, technology is in Garbuio’s DNA; research and development activities are the beating heart of the business.

With a history of successful track records regarding innovations and products development, the Garbuio team is continuously expanding the company’s capabilities to create innovative machines and develop new industrial processes in an increasingly digital world.

Garbuio’s Project Managers guarantee smooth project deliveries and executions ensuring a unique and competent interface with the customer, preventing issues and providing flexible solutions to achieve expected targets in terms of time, quality and process needs.

The company’s Installation and Commissioning team consists of experienced multi-skilled supervisors and fitters who take full responsibility of the site activities, carrying out equipment installation in total safety, precisely and efficiently, and according to the project plan.

For Garbuio, a well-maintained plant is an essential condition to deliver a high-quality final product.

OEM spare parts are a key factor to reach and maintain the highest performance of the equipment, ensure safety and reliability, and minimise down time while maximising productivity. Garbuio’s Service Team is always ready to support and plan with customers any maintenance and overhaul activity in order to avoid or reduce unscheduled breakdowns and unpredicted incidents, keep costs down and extend equipment and plant’s lifetime.

Garbuio ensures that training modules are undertaken for operational personnel, mechanical, electrical and software engineers to cover all of the factory’s needs.

Cross-discipline topics such as Health

and Safety or Quality Assurance are included in all modules. And the company’s customers can always trust on its Technical Support team.

Garbuio’s wide range of solutions are designed to cover any specific need for remote process optimisation and troubleshooting after project completion.

Within the industry Garbuio stands as a provider of high-quality tobacco machinery manufacturing that tailors its solutions specifically to each and every individual customer, alongside the broader and innovative facilitation of Hauni Group’s subsidiaries.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 107

UMEX

Empowering Romania’s Port Operations Cristian Taranu, Managing Director at UMEX, discusses his company’s position at the helm of Romania’s port operation Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

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volution. Today, it’s everywhere.

For UMEX, a major player of Romania’s Constanta port community, the company has evolved from a port operator specialised in handling project cargo into a versatile and dynamic entity, capable

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of handling successfully any type of unitised and bulk cargo.

The firm asserts the increased competitiveness of its customers through efficient and modern services of handling and storage of the operated goods.

Founded in 1978, UMEX was dimensioned and equipped using a terminal that includes heavy duty cranes, concrete open storage platforms, covered flat warehouses and specific equipment for project cargo handling. As the world cycles and markets continue to change, Romania’s exports of such industrial equipment decreases, leaving UMEX to adapt in order to survive. This is done by diversifying the services and operated cargoes, which has meant that today UMEX is capable of operating any type of dry and break bulk cargoes.

SUPPLY CHAIN

EME Outlook issue 41 | 109

UMEX Cristian Taranu is the Managing Director at UMEX. He is an experienced industry leader with a demonstrated history of working in the maritime industry and has been with the organisation since June 2018.

“In the past three years, we have focused our actions to organise a structure oriented to superior quality of services, respecting our every customer’s particular needs,” explains Taranu. “Our 350 workers are permanent employees, specialised, skilled and well trained; we can state that we have crafted a motivated and dynamic collective, respecting the working protocols, the safety procedures, the environment protection.”

In 2011, the majority stake of UMEX was acquired by an Agricultural Developer strongly present in the Romanian market, naturally, bulk

cereals and fertilizers have become a key part of its activity range, which is among one of the most important port operators within the segment.

For Taranu, he is clear about what sets his organisation apart from competitors and he believes that one of UMEX’s main advantages is its ability to be versatile and handle different cargo types, while performing different services to meet the company’s client’s entire logistics demands within the port. “This way, we have avoided to be restricted and interconnected to limited cargo flows, that may vary significantly and affect drastically our activity.”

Another advantage is the quality of service which is linked to the pricing policy. “A major focus of UMEX management is oriented towards the service performance, and such actions are meant to consolidate

THE FUTURE UMEX FERTILIZER TERMINAL UMEX is constantly investing in modern technology and facilities because it aims to increase the competitiveness of its customers through increasing the standards of port operations. A vital investment of UMEX is the construction of a multifunctional warehouse for handling or storage of bulk fertilizers with a total storage of around 66,000 tonnes, divided into 10 equal compartments, two symmetrical rows of five compartments per row.

The warehouse is set to be made of reinforced concrete and will have a completely automated filling system at the upper part, with an unloading capacity from vessels of 1,200 tons/hour (2x600 tons/hour), consisting of two reversible belt conveyors with trippers, as well as an emptying system at the bottom. Each of the 10 compartments of the warehouse will have five-by-five metre access doors.

For the delivery of the cargo stored in the warehouse there will be three circuits respectively: - The transfer of bulk cargo to ship loading bin on berth 44 to be loaded on the ship or barge with a crane equipped with grab.

- Loading of bulk cargo on the truck or train.

Elica ELICA Sweep Chain Conveyor UNCOMPROMISING GRAIN REMOVAL ELICA is a leading European producer of grain, seed and food handling and processing equipment.

Also, it is the first manufacturer of sweep chain conveyors in Europe.

What differentiates the sweep chain conveyor from the sweep auger is that there is practically no grain left in the silo after the equipment cycle is finished. The process of emptying a silo does not require any additional manpower to shovel the grain towards the centre as it is with conventional equipment like the sweep augers.

ELICA has developed its automation, which shows the actual position of the conveyor in real-time. It helps the operators to supervise the process of emptying the bin directly from the control room. Most importantly, this proprietary software also controls the movement and the speed of both chain’s and tractor’s motors.

Staging different scenarios, the automation engineers successfully built up an algorithm to automatically stop, restart or change the direction from forward to backwards if the equipment gets stuck or the pile collapsed over it.

All features of this solution now are a result of more than 10 years of research and development in that field.

ELICA’s team has more than 30 years of experience in the field of food production, seed preparation and grain processing. The company’s mission is to provide customised solutions for their clients and support them through the process - from setting up the requirements, designing the project, installing, and training to finding the right markets and solutions for managing the business.

- Transfers of bulk cargo to cargo bagging facilities in bigbags.

The total cost of the investment is around €18 million and is set to be completed at the end of this year. www.elica-elevator.com

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UMEX

Amspec Amspec is the fastest growing independent Testing, Inspection and Certification provider, headquartered in Cranbury, NJ, USA has serviced the Petroleum, Chemical, Gas, Bitumen & Agricultural industries since 1986.

We have expanded to over 170 locations throughout the Continental United States, Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Central & South America and Australia to provide the highest level of service, wherever you, the customer require it.

With more than 35 years of experience in the industry, we have the best tools to assist your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

the quality protocols,” he explains.

“The training of our operational and administrative staff is essential, as is the constant modernisation of the port handling equipment and storage facilities.”

One of the biggest challenges is maintaining the balance between the service quality and the pricing policy, which is influenced not only by the internal costs, but also by the volatility of the cargo flows.

“This volatility creates a competitive environment in our port activity, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to progress,” says Taranu. “Under these circumstances, our ability to balance these elements can also be considered as a strong feature of UMEX.” UMEX possesses a diversified network of suppliers, stretching across all aspects of its activity.

The company works with local and international suppliers, leading companies in their fields, capable to 112 | EME Outlook issue 41

integrate their expertise in UMEX’s specialised environment.

“From the providers of equipment, tools, materials needed to secure our operations to builders that are shaping our vision, from maintenance specialists to survey companies that complete our services range, we seek in our partners the same values as the ones that guide our actions,” explains Taranu. “And since the supply chain performance translates into our performance, into our service quality which we value so, we are not only using some suppliers, but we are forming strong partnerships with these companies.”

UMEX operates different cargo types with different operational and storage demands. “We are in the process of equipping one of our warehouses in order to propped accommodate (intake, storage and outtake) one specific bulk cargo – soda ash for import,” says Taranu.

“This is a new activity in our port,

Cimbria Cimbria is a global brand of AGCO and one of the world’s leaders in industrial processing, handling and storage of grain, seed and food, as well as animal feed, foodstuffs and other bulk products.

Cimbria works side-by-side with their customers to turn their vision into reality and beyond.

We maintain a deep connection throughout the entire process of design, engineering, manufacture, installation and service of individual machines, customized systems and complete turnkey installations.

Cimbria is a solution provider and manufacturer of custom-built products for agricultural and industrial processing within conveying, drying, processing, optical sorting and storage solutions, reflecting our customer-focus and industry expertise.

www.cimbria.com

SUPPLY CHAIN

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UMEX

THE FUTURE UMEX GRAIN TERMINAL UMEX’s priority is to scale the competitiveness of its customers through increasing the standards of port operations that it constantly invests in modern technology and facilities.

One of the most vital UMEX investments in the Port of Constanta is the construction of a specialised silo for the storage of bulk grains, which will improve the quality of the processes specific to the handling and storage of grains. The project is under development and is thought to be completed by the end of 2021.

The new capacity of 80,000 tonnes will consist in the construction of eight bins in the berth 38, which, together with the existing warehouse, will be able to store up to around 100,000 tonnes of bulk grain simultaneously.

The new terminal is flexible and facilitates the discharging of grain arriving in the port by any means of transport simultaneously through four independent transport lines to any of the eight storage bins. In tandem, from any bin, the cargo can be transferred at a rate of 1,500 tonnes per hour to the ship-loader that will be places on berth 38.

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because as markets change, some cargo flow dies, while others are born.

We have seized, together with our client that proposed the cargo to us, this opportunity, forming a strong partnership which is the foundation of this particular investment.

“Another warehouse will be authorised this year in order to store Ammonium Nitrate. This particular fertilizer is classified for physicochemical hazards and specified as dangerous in the IMDG Code. In order to be allowed to store it, an exclusively dedicated warehouse must be prepared and authorised as per the regulations in order. Following the fertilizers market tendency, in the past years the presence in our port is growing. After consulting our major clients in this segment, we are confident to have started this year the procedures for the warehouse authorisation, procedures that will take up to six months, as we estimate now.”

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EME Outlook issue 41 | 115

UMEX

SUPPLY CHAIN

UMEX works hard to create a positive, energetic work environment for its employees, which is based on recognising and rewarding performance

In terms of talent management, Taranu understands the importance of building a diversified and specialised business line that is based on personnel capability and performance.

“We’re involved in a highly specialised industry, to create a foundation of employees that delivers the high performance aimed is not an easy task,” he says. “Especially considering that our region suffers from lack of workforce in the specialised segments: operators of equipment, equipment maintenance specialists.

“That is why we are involved in several programmes that support the professional education system, allowing the future specialists to form a practice knowledge of port working environment. And of course, within our organisation, we are supporting the evolution of each employee,

providing schooling and training opportunities.”

In order to deliver the best level of service to its customers, UMEX works hard to create a positive, energetic work environment for its employees, which is based on recognising and rewarding performance. “We have generated consistent and objective methods for evaluating the employee’s performance, in order to determine the strengths, weaknesses and potential managerial gaps in the organisation. This way we’re able to determine the performance levels for each employee and act accordingly.”

With the future in mind, Taranu is clear about his plans for the coming years.

“The goals in hand are the usual ones, which we aim for every year: to secure the existing cargo flows,

to attract new flows, increasing the cargo volumes handled through our terminal and expanding the turnover.

“All our actions are directed in this respect, and the quality of service is the main tool to benefit from. Referring to specific targets, we will finalise the ongoing modernisations and adaptation works for the soda warehouse, we intend to obtain the authorisation for the AN storage warehouse, we’ll advance with the construction works for the fertilizers warehouse.”

Tel: +4024 1512 493 umex@umex.ro www.umex.ro

EME Outlook issue 41 | 117

ARCHEA ASSOCIATI

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI, DAMIANO VERDIANI, BENEDETTA GORI

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CONSTRUCTION

Expert Italian Architecture Executives at Archea Associati reflect on their organisation’s journey and the significant evolution since the studio’s founding in 1988 Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Sam Love

F

lorence is a city renowned for its culture.

It is often regarded as a living, breathing museum and boasts a plethora of historic architecture. Famous for the Duomo, inside Florence’s cathedral and its Renaissance art, Florence attracts millions of tourists every year.

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ARCHEA ASSOCIATI

KEY PROJECT FOCUS: NEW NATIONAL STADIUM OF ALBANIA One of Archea Associati’s most important projects has been the development of New National Stadium of Albania.

The ambition was to create a contemporary monument that, through an infrastructure dedicated to sports, can enhance and scale the image and role of the Albanian capital. It is a building replacement project due to its location in the same spot where the original sports complex dedicated to athletics and football once stood, designed in the late 1930s by Florentine architect Gherardo Bosio.

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI, DAMIANO VERDIANI, BENEDETTA GORI

The building, with the exception of the monumental entrance structure of the VIP gallery, was fully demolished and rebuilt with the aim of constructing a system able to satisfy UEFA standards to create a completely covered football complex with attached services, functions and activities which can bring the building to life every day.

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However, also born in Florence is Archea Associati. Founded in 1988 by Laura Andreini, Marco Casamonti and Giovanni Polazzi, Archea has become an international architecture and design office, specialising in urban planning, architecture, design, interior design and graphic design. In 2001, the founders were joined by Silvia Fabi, coordinator of the firm’s project activities.

As co-founder of the Archea studio and Associate Professor of Architectural and Urban Composition at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Florence, Andreini has witnessed and played an influential role in the company’s success over the past 30 years.

“From the very beginning, the studio has associated an intense work of in-depth analysis and critical reflection in the field of architectural design and on the themes of architecture and industrial design,” she discusses.

Archea is located on the banks of the Arno. Over the past 30 years, Archea has created or designed hundreds of projects all over the world, on almost every continent, excluding Oceania, where the company harbours ambitions to measure itself.

“This marked international trait of our work has led us to open foreign offices to be closer to customers,” says Andreini. “We work with more than 160 freelancers per assignment, and we have a large workforce for specialist investigations and technical expertise. In addition to Italy - where we have three studios, in Florence, Milan and Rome - we are also present in Sao Paulo (Brazil), Tirana (Albania), Dubai (UAE), Beijing (China).”

And Archea isn’t finished there. The company is set to open another studio in Moscow, Russia while the studio was also confirmed as the winner of the international competition for the planning and development of the new urban expansion area in the SouthEast area of Moscow.

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ARCHEA ASSOCIATI

Dedalus Dedalus and Archea combine their experience with the creation of a housing concept in which the comfort, wellbeing and health of the public is supported in a pervasive, non-invasive way, through advanced digital solutions.

This is the ‘House of the Future’, where Dedalus will integrate within the living environment sensory devices, components, and applications capable of supporting the comfort and wellbeing of residents and monitoring their state of health.

Antinori Winery in the Chianti Classico, Bargino, Italy

“We are proud that the Archea Associati studio from the 1980s to today, and with the same verve as then, represents the operation of Italian architecture in the world, through the creation of works that mitigate the experience of the past in the projection of the present that it is at the same time future.”

But, Andreini is adamant that Archea isn’t just an international architecture studio. She is clear about what sets her organisation apart from competitors.

“Our studio is a bearer in the world of Italian style, of the mastery of Tuscan artisans, of the brilliant Florentine acumen. Our works are permeated by all this, this spirit is manifested in the choice of materials, in the care of the colours, in the search for artistic solutions for carpenters, furniture makers, potters, bronze workers and upholsterers.

“All our work is based on the union between tradition and innovation, 122 | EME Outlook issue 41

between the renaissance and the future,” she adds. “When we opened the studio in 1988, we hadn’t graduated. At the time, we did everything in parallel and almost unconsciously, our path was defined by simultaneously ranging between research and work in a completely natural way; we have never felt a transition between the ‘before’ linked to university life and the ‘after’ of the profession.

“There was rather a ‘continuation’ that started at university and exploded out of there. Ultimately, we could say that Archea’s profile is structured over the years through the intertwining of people and fundamental issues in which research, professional activity and theoretical reflection appear as the founding elements of a methodology in constant balance.”

Over the years, Archea has worked on a number of memorable projects, however, Andreini believes there

www.dedalus.eu

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

Solutions that will facilitate a healthy living environment which is adaptive and integrated with social services, healthcare provision, and personal care.

are a few that stand out and she can remember well. “The Antinori Winery, in the heart of Tuscany, best expresses our style and our creative audacity,” she affirms. “Our signature is in the green of Chianti, which is inspired by the cuts of the Italian master of the 20th century Lucio Fontana, and illuminated by the entrepreneurial coherence of the Marquis Piero Antinori who brought his winery back to the land.”

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

© PH. PIETRO SAVORELLI

CONSTRUCTION

LIFE FLOWS THROUGH OUR SOFTWARE.

www.dedalus.eu

EME Outlook issue 41 | 123

ARCHEA ASSOCIATI

The Veil, multi-use complex

this new project will be an example of environmental sustainability.”

While sustainability is one important pillar, another is the ability to innovate and be proactive in the market. In recent years, the studio has developed a digital transformation of its offices and successfully initiated the ‘Cad to Bim’ evolution of its design techniques.

Massimo Sabatini is the General Manager of Archea Associati and over the course of his tenure at Archea, the company has started to see more of its collaborators – architects, designer,

“WE BELIEVE THAT ARCHITECTURE IS A SOCIAL ART THAT MUST NECESSARILY EXPRESS ITS IDENTITY THROUGH THE ABILITY TO RESTORE A SENSE OF BELONGING TO THE PLACES AND TERRITORIES IN WHICH IT WILL BE BUILT”

engineers, graphic designers and surveyors – invest an increasing amount in their technical specialist training by organising courses and continuous updating of programs.

“This mental dynamism has allowed us to face prepared changes forced by the COVID-19 situation, starting the obligations of smart working with agility, without ever interrupting any collaboration,” explains Sabatini. “Indeed, we have also invested further in the health safety of all, creating and conducting an impressive screening activity for anyone who collaborates with us.”

Andreini believes that partnerships are vital to long-term success at Archea Associati and believes they act as a source of ‘enrichment’.

Equally important are Archea’s collaborators. When the firm began to exceed the number of dozens of collaborators, Archea decided to equip itself with a manager who came from very different realities to better manage human and organisational resources. And as a result of the studio’s exponential growth, it has been a necessity.

© PH. DAMIR OTEGEN

It’s clear that Archea Associati isn’t a company to rest on its laurels and is displaying no signs of slowing down. The studio is developing the Viola Park, the Training Centre of ACF Fiorentina which will become the largest sports centre in Europe. The training centre will showcase 10 sports fields, heated and with lighting as well as two mini-stadiums with 3,000 and 1,500 spectators. In addition, there will be several buildings including guesthouses, fitness areas, restaurants that are useful for hosting all teams, both male and female, as well as youth teams.

Sustainability is a key driver to Andreini and she strives to embrace a greener approach wherever possible. “A large construction of 22 hectares that unites ‘genders and generations’ in a single place, with 90 percent of the area remaining green with the autonomous ability to produce energy,” says Andreini. “The roofs will be in the valley, to collect rainwater, and will be covered with green photovoltaic panels, and inside it will be possible to circulate only with electric vehicles. It is clear that

© PH. DAMIR OTEGEN

© ANATOLIY POBIYAKHO

© PH. DAMIR OTEGEN

© ANATOLIY POBIYAKHO

CONSTRUCTION

“In the last 15 months alone, we have doubled the number of collaborators and won new orders,” adds Sabatini.

“We are open to foreign professionals by vocation and in addition to the many Italian collaborators we also work with American, Indian, Albanian, Iranian, Brazilian, Czech, Croatian, Peruvian, Spanish, Belgian, Chinese, Russian, Sinhalese, Vietnamese, Moldovan and Serbian professionals.

The internal international front can only increase further.”

With the future in mind, Andreini is clear about what the next few years

hold at Archea Associati and for architecture in general.

“The opening of the Russian headquarters and the expansion of the Chinese and Brazilian ones are at the top of our thoughts,” says Andreini.

“However, we are keen to invest in research and culture and we intend to create a new centre of artistic and cultural contamination in Florence.

“We believe that architecture is a social art that must necessarily express its identity through the ability to restore a sense of belonging to the places and territories in which it

will be built. Alongside this, there are other important issues that will come into play; real invention techniques expressed in the constant desire to seek a link with the figurative arts, through ever-changing forms and uses of materials.”

Tel: +39 055 538851 staff@archea.it www.archea.it/en

EME Outlook issue 41 | 125

EMIRATES BETON

Constant CHANGE With an agile approach a necessity in the market today, Osama Hamad, General Manager of Emirates Beton, discusses evolution and how his firm is embracing change at scale Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Ryan Gray

126 | EME Outlook issue 41

CONSTRUCTION

The only constant is change.”

A transformation journey is never finished. The reason being is that change is ongoing and achieving success in 2021 is largely accomplished by pivoting quickly and responding to the demands of the market at will. Without embracing change, you risk remaining stagnant.

And in the construction industry, you can’t afford to let this happen.

Enter Emirates Beton. As one of

the leading suppliers of ready-mix concrete in UAE, the company aims to create a robust work culture that embraces innovation, change, failure, and success.

“Any successful company not only in UAE but all over the world must adapt to its environment in order to survive especially with our current market situation,” says Osama Hamad, General Manager of Emirates Beton.

“It demands constant change and

adaptation to the latest innovation.”

Hamad is an experienced industry professional and has worked at the organisation since February 2016. He points the influence of his family that helped him to become the person of today. “I am where I am right now because of the influence of my family, most especially my father who was into the construction field,” he explains. “He inspired me to become the person I am today.”

EME Outlook issue 41 | 127

EMIRATES BETON Prior to opting to join Emirates Beton, Hamad was at a crossroads and had a decision to make. Having met with Mr. Bashar Abou Mayaleh, the previous Managing Director of Emirates Beton, Hamad was offered the position of Operations Manager while also being offered a General Manager role for another ready-mix firm within the United Arab Emirates.

“Despite confusion because of two brilliant offers, I decided to join Emirates Beton without much hesitation,” recalls Hamad. “I clearly remember the words of Mr. Bashar because he asked if I am ready to take the challenge. I signed my offer letter within 30 minutes because I was aware that I could develop and grow

both professional and personal skills within the company.

“I knew it was going to be challenging because the firm was struggling. However, with the support of my higher management and guidance of the ASGC President and the rest of ASGC Board of Directors, 128 | EME Outlook issue 41

EMIRATES BETON: AT A GLANCE Emirates Beton ReadyMix is a ready-mix concrete company that leads the industry in the design, production and supply of ready-mix concrete.

Founded in 2008, the company is fast growing and is renowned for delivering excellent products and outstanding services.

Emirates Beton operates four batching plants in total, with two commercial plants located in Dubai. Both plants leverage the latest German technology and are fully computerised, manufactured by Liebherr and Lintec, which have a combined capacity of 480 metres per hour. Emirates Beton employs the most technologically advanced equipment and state-of-the-art machinery and fleet, which are equipped with the manufacture of a complete range of ready-mix concrete building components. All the ready-mix and aggregate trucks are equipped with a GPS tracking and quality control system.

we work hard to boost the production, both in quantity and quality, to put the company’s name on top of the list of ready-mix suppliers.”

“I knew I had made the right decision when I was promoted to be the General Manager within a year and recently another opportunity to be

appointed as the CIC Group General Manager (EB, HPBS,HBF). Hard work, persistence and perseverance have become my guiding principles in life.”

Hamad is adamant that Emirates Beton stands out as the ready-mix company of choice in the UAE and believes the firm’s attributes act as its competitive advantage.

CONSTRUCTION

“Most ready-mix companies within UAE are the same,” he notes. “Most customers want value, sustainability, stability and transparency. Wherein, we ensure that we only deliver a ready-mix concrete having a value creation with a high quality of service perceived as high compared to their cost and offer stability on day-today operations. We put greater value on veracity and excellence in all our commitment, including our unparalleled dedication to service.

These qualities truly define the magnitude of our company.”

Emirates Beton is actively adopting the latest trends in terms of machineries, equipment and other resources in order to progress and improve the process.

“We are proud that our company has the best and most modern system with the use of ERP and mobile applications which help our customers to have live access to their concrete order and delivery, as well as

our modern GPS system for accurate tracking of our vehicles and fleets.”

Supply chain plays a prominent role in the success of most companies.

Without strong and mutually beneficial supplier relationships, achieving long-term success is difficult.

Osama Hamad, General Manager

“When it comes to managing our supply chain, we take the whole process with utmost importance, from supplier onboarding until delivery at customer site,” explains Hamad.

“We take pride in partnering with the best in our business. All of our strategic suppliers are aware of our business strategy, and that always ensures compliance. We engage in high-level agreements with suppliers by providing them precise, and wellplanned long-term requirements. Our data is very accurate and is extracted from our operations schedules which reflects our excellent coordination and collaboration between our departments. We have categorised all our requirements based on importance and nature. We are running multiple supply chain strategies and doing all these activities help us achieve high level of efficiency, with the right requirements being fulfilled.”

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EMIRATES BETON

VISION Emirates Beton aims to be the most value-creating, most specialised and advanced total concrete solutions provider within the UAE. The firm aims to have a particular emphasis on exceptional quality control, up-to-date technology and practices, and most importantly integrity in all aspects of the project, while keeping the interest of its employees and clients at heart.

MISSION Emirates Beton has a vision to be the leader in the market by efficiently and effectively providing a comprehensive range of the highest quality concrete products, services and solutions at competitive prices while focusing on its clients’ needs and continuously enhancing products and services via safe, sustainable and innovative manufacturing practices.

130 | EME Outlook issue 41

To Hamad, he stresses that his organisation is more than just profit. With sustainability playing an increasingly important role in how businesses operate, Emirates Beton is committed to green.

“We are actively embracing CSR within Emirates Beton and we are proud that the company is more than just making a profit and not just simply focusing on generating revenue,” he explains. “We are socially responsible which takes into consideration the impact of our decision on the profit, our people and the planet.

“One of the ways our company has fulfilled this is by maintaining our commitment, while implementing programme-focused on the

well-being of our employees, a safe work environment and participating in various activities in the UAE, while producing environmentally friendly ready-mix concrete.”

Staff are at the heart of companies across the world. For Hamad, he acknowledges how much of an influential role employees play and believes that empowering staff leads to uncapped potential of what can be achieved.

“Our employees are important assets and the backbone of the company,” he stresses. “We invest in young talented employees and really our team is back with good attitude and are autonomous – trusted to have ownership over their work and

CONSTRUCTION

“WE INVEST IN YOUNG TALENTED EMPLOYEES...

I ALWAYS ENSURE THAT ALL WILL BE EMPOWERED

BY SETTING A GOAL, AS THIS WILL HELP AND PUSH THEM GO OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE AND REALISE THEIR OWN POTENTIAL” an individual capability to improve works. I always ensure that all will be empowered by setting a goal, as this will help and push them go out of their comfort zone and realise their own potential.”

Hamad believes in an ‘open door policy’ which allows for open dialogue and communication to take place to ensure all employees enjoy a healthy work/life balance, while operating with an employee development plan.

“This helps mould future leaders and provide suitable opportunities for them to shine on their field of work and appreciation to build a great company culture as well as maintaining a consistent performance of each employees,” he says. “I try to always ensure I am a friend of all employees and ensure that we will learn from each other while I create leaders for the new generation of this company.”

Looking to the future, Hamad doesn’t believe in boundaries and strives to reach unprecedented levels of success. “We will continue to reach a new high and for us the sky is the limit if there is a limit,” he sums up.

“Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people and that’s why I am very grateful to have the Concrete Industries Complex (CIC) family.”

EMIRATES BETON Tel: 04 885 6365 info@ebrm.ae www.emiratesbeton.com

EME Outlook issue 41 | 131

OMAN CEMENT COMPANY

Professional Cement Production Construction in the Middle East is a large industry. We take a look at Oman Cement Company, a key player within the cement production sector within Oman Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Ryan Gray

F

rom a large bulk and metals mining industry that backs the region with substantial raw materials, to manufacturers and multiple internationally leading architecture firms, Middle Eastern construction is a vast sector.

Within Oman especially, the bulk mining industry is impressive, with the country’s exports including gypsum, limestone, and dolomite. Oman is currently the world’s largest exporter of gypsum - approximately nine megatons (Mt) annually.

For Oman Cement Company, the procurement of these natural resources, such as limestone and gypsum, are vital to company products.

Oman Cement was established in 1978 as part of the renaissance initiated by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and since 1983, Oman Cement has symbolised the country’s drive for self-reliance in core industries. On top of this, the company continues to be ISO 9001-2008 and ISO 140012004 certified. The company is one of many who have given a new strength to the nation’s construction industry, consolidated its efforts for infrastructure development 132 | EME Outlook issue 41

and created resources to achieve self-sufficiency.

With a manufacturing facility operating on world class ISO 9001 certified quality management system and ISO 14001 for environment, Oman Cement’s products meet global standards in performance and quality that reflect its enduring commitment to customer satisfaction and a stronger foundation for the future.

For Oman Cement, all the raw materials required for its production are native to the land. Limestone deposits, additives, quartzophylites and ferrogenous quartzophylites are located adjacent to the plant site.

Gypsum, which is used for retarding the setting of the company’s cement, is obtained from mines at Ghaba in Wilayat Adam.

Oman Cement’s three kilns and four cement grinding mills allows the flexible production of various types of cement. The process control is fully computerised and handled by highly qualified and experienced company personnel, and this total current production capacity of the company is approximately 2.4 million Mt of cement per year.

Each and every one of Oman Cement’s customers can expect a full range of professional and topquality products to meet specific requirements unique to the buyer.

Oman Cement’s products conform to the national and international standard specifications because of its centralised goal to maintain its customers’ satisfaction domestically and external to the Sultanate through

CONSTRUCTION

OMAN CEMENT COMPANY OPERATIONS AT A GLANCE CENTRAL LABORATORY Oman Cement’s quality control is supported by its own central laboratory consisting of robotics, X-ray spectrometers, laser particle size analysers and computerised physical properties testing equipment providing high-tech and contemporary services across the board.

COMPUTERISED MANUFACTURING The company’s cement manufacturing process is fully computerised. This avoids major hazards in manufacturing and requires less manpower increasing fluidity and embracing the efficiencies of automation.

POLLUTION CONTROL Oman Cement’s manufacturing operations are environmentfriendly, as promoting the environment, especially within the company’s localised areas, is an important part of a more sustainable Oman.

producing different cement products.

Quality control within Oman Cement is guaranteed under strict control throughout the production process, and the completed product is quality checked thoroughly and to the highest standards the company can carry out. The company’s production lines control system is operated on the hour.

Oman Cement firmly believes that customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of its business success.

The company is committed to providing different types of cement products with superior quality and services. As part of the company’s ongoing efforts to provide the best possible service to its customers, Oman Cement also offers technical consultations whenever required.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Oman Cement’s Quality Management System are in accordance with the Quality Assurance Procedures of ISO 9001: 2000 certification, ensuring the high-quality production and distribution of the best products the company can possibly provide.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 133

OMAN CEMENT COMPANY

CSR VISION • To actively contribute to the sustainable development of the localised and national society.

• As a part of CSR culture, the company is also playing a pivotal role in infrastructural development of surrounding areas, as well as reducing its emissions. Recently Oman Cement has invested more than six million Omani rial (OR) in projects related to sustainability and the environment.

• To develop sustainable technologies and products to better the wider environment.

• Ensuring a safe and secure work environment for all of its employees and management teams, both on-site and within offices.

• To conduct its business in an environmentally responsible manner and to protect the environment.

• Ensuring the support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s), female empowerment and the support of entrepreneurs local to the company’s operations.

• Always honouring the commitments made between the business, customers and partners.

• To support the communities in which Oman Cement operates.

CSR MISSION • Providing the best possible service to its customers.

• Delivering the highest quality product possible and to deliver on time.

• Maintaining the company’s faculties and equipment in a safe, clean, and orderly manner.

• Maintaining legal compliance and fostering an ethical work culture.

• Oman Cement continuously seek ways to improve what it does.

134 | EME Outlook issue 41

Oman Cement also holds key company values that are core components to its operations from start to end result. Within these core values the company has aims and goals that reflect its optimism; Oman Cement aspires to become the number one cement manufacturing company in the nation and amongst the company of elite cement manufacturers in the Middle Eastern region.

Oman Cement is committed to meeting the needs of its customers by providing high quality products and services in an environmentally friendly manner, through a competent, inspired and motivated team whilst enriching local community and creating sustainable value to its stakeholders.

Oman Cement’s culture is born out of Omani society and culture in which employees work in a collaborative environment with management focusing on the human capital and providing

CONSTRUCTION

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‘BEING A PART OF THE OMAN CEMENT TEAM ENABLES EMPLOYEES TO EXPERIENCE AN EXCITING AND CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT THROUGH WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL CAN ENRICH THEIR SKILLS AND INCREASE THEIR KNOWLEDGE’ the utmost support and care.

Oman Cement stands as one of the leading companies in the Gulf that contributes to the development of Oman’s society, all the while ensuring that it is committed to operating and growing its business in a socially responsible way for the betterment of all involved.

Oman Cement has remained socially responsible and has been voluntarily undertaken various corporate social responsibility initiatives despite there not having been any legal and statutory requirements to do so. In its commitment to CSR initiatives, Oman Cement has been making available

charitable donations to Omani society though its philanthropic culture; an aspect of the company that resonates throughout every level. In addition, Oman Cement has repeatedly supported the local NGO’s initiatives in the areas of education, healthcare and environment in which it actively involves the local community in sustainable missions and activities.

Oman Cement is committed to operating and growing its business in a socially responsible way. Its vision is to grow its business whilst reducing the environmental impact of company operations and increasing its positive social impact.

On top of this, working for Oman

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Cement provides great opportunities for learning and development, career progression and acquiring new skills in multiple fields of industry. The company is people focused and passionate in what it does, trusting in its values of innovation, safety, integrity and collaboration.

The company believes that its employees are its main assets and in light of this offers its employees healthcare insurance and life insurance coverage, alongside individual and team educational training.

Being a part of the Oman Cement team enables employees to experience an exciting and challenging environment through which each individual can enrich their skills and increase their knowledge. Oman Cement is proud to be a member of the country that contributes to the construction of infrastructure in Oman.

EME Outlook issue 41 | 135

EVERGAS

Shipping Sustainabi I ndustrial shipping is not commonly associated with sustainability.

On a mass scale the shipping logistics sector is responsible for a large amount of varying environmental issues including air pollution and the release of greenhouse gas emissions.

Although not as polluting as airfreight, with the average plane emitting 500 grammes of CO2 per metric tonne of freight every kilometre of transportation, transport ships are still responsible for between 10 and 40 grammes of CO2 per kilometre.

Despite this, within the European region there sails a company that sits at the prow of the green shipping space.

Evergas is a Danish shipping company with roots back to 1883, wholly-owned by Greenship Gas and Jaccar Holdings. It is one of the world’s leading seaborne transporters of petrochemical gases and natural gas liquids, with a fleet of ships running on sustainable ethane gas unique in the shipping sector.

The company’s focus is to make gas transports simple and safe, and to set new standards for efficient and sustainable gas transport at sea.

Evergas provides innovative and sustainable design solutions for the transportation and distribution of LNG, LPG and ethane commodities across the major areas of trade and emerging markets. With a head office in Copenhagen, Evergas also boasts offices in Singapore and Shanghai, and approximately employs more than 400 highly experienced and dedicated employees.

“The European shipping industry is definitely an exciting space to be involved within,” begins Steffen 136 | EME Outlook issue 41

We speak to Evergas and discuss the company’s progressive environmental and people-centric mission within the European shipping sector Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Nicholas Kernan

OIL & GAS

ility

EME Outlook issue 41 | 137

EVERGAS Jacobsen, CEO of Evergas. “Several Danish gas shipping companies have been in the process of being integrated into other companies, and that of course will impact the industry.

“Companies are shifting towards zero-emissions, and in Copenhagen there are several zero carbon shipping initiatives that are pushing this forward. We have joined forces with competitors in the industry to make the world a greener place.”

Jacobsen has worked in the shipping industry for his entire career.

Much of this has been spent with the well-known international shipping firm Maersk, with which he has had the privilege of working in multiple roles spanning various divisions of the company. This includes having been the Director FPSO Commercial for Maersk Contractors, in excess of seven years in the position of Vice President of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, and also having been the Director of Asset

Management for Maersk Drilling.

Today, Jacobsen sits at the fore of Evergas during this period of increasingly exciting and progressive change; a shift that is being met at a national level.

The Danish government has set an aggressive target to reduce emissions by 70 percent by 2030. In light of this aim, Evergas have focused their development plans in three strategic areas: ethane, small scale LNG and CO2 shipping.

Evergas is the world’s leading transporter of ethane with an average market share of 34 percent. The company commenced its seaborne transportation of Ethane in 2016 and have year to date carried more than three million tonnes, and with demand expecting to boom on the back of rising US shale gas production then Evergas, with eight dragon class vessels and two VLECs, is solidifying its position as leader in the sector.

EVERGAS: COMMERCIAL & OPERATIONAL TEAMS The Commercial Team’s primary focus is securing of business for its 5,000 cubic-metre pressurised LPG vessels trading in the spot market, as well as: • Identifying long-term time charter opportunities in the market • Ensure that the LPG vessels are trading in the most optimal way • Negotiating and concluding time charter contracts • Market analysis and competitor intelligence • Voyage calculations • Strategy development The Operations Team is dealing with the day-to-day operations of the entire fleet. The team makes sure that the vessels are clearly instructed on when and where to go, and that everything is being coordinated with stakeholders. The team ensures that all the operational aspects of the voyages are optimised and finalised in a correct manner. They take care of: • Fuel optimisation • Appointing agents • Post fixture work • Client interaction and customer service

138 | EME Outlook issue 41

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The global megatrend towards reduced CO2 and particulate emissions makes LNG an attractive energy source for many economies, and with Evergas’ 27,500 cubic metre dragon class vessels being capable of carrying LNG, a dedicated effort is being undertaken to employ the gas carriers in the small-scale LNG sector with island economies demanding small and flexible vessels. The latest sector the company has ventured into is CO2 transportation, part of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) process.

“CCS is vital to reduce emissions to net-zero by mid-century and achieve global climate change targets,” Jacobsen states. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C has clearly underlined that it is no longer possible to mitigate dangerous climate change by focusing only on reducing emissions; we must eliminate emissions to get to net-zero by 2050.”

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CCS projects have become front and centre of methods that can best bring this aim to fruition.

“There are centralised locations where you can capture CO2 emissions,” Jacobsen says. “Once captured, you can transport and store the CO2, and we have found a partner specifically for this purpose.

“We have partnered with the Icelandic company CarbFix who

specialise in injecting CO2 into subterranean reservoirs, and through natural chemical reaction the CO2 turns into stone within two years. It actually makes CO2 vanish; it’s almost like magic,” he muses.

This revolutionary method of carbon capture and storage (CCS) holds the potential to drastically improve the environment and increase sustainability globally. On

top of this, the method is scalable as has the potential for industry-wide application.

“Here we actually have a scenario where you don’t need to monitor the CO2 in the long term because it disappears; it is phenomenal,” Jacobsen states. “Many people believe that you can simply inject CO2 into old oil or store it using other standard methods, but you will have to continue to monitor the CO2 stored in these ways and that adds a lot of time, effort and cost to the process in the long term.

Whereas this new method, as practiced by our partner CarbFix, it is gone within just two years.

“Therefore, Evergas and our partners Ultragas have joined hands in Dan-Unity CO2 offering seaborne transport solutions from end clients with CO2 capture facilities to our Icelandic partners Carbfix who will store the liquid CO2 in the volcanic rock bed, hence offering a measurable reduction of CO2 at a very low cost.”

EME Outlook issue 41 | 139

EVERGAS

SHIP MANAGEMENT The Ship Management Team in Singapore has the full responsibility for the safe operation of the fleet. The team monitors and maintains a close dialogue with the vessels, implements cost efficient and environmental sound operation standards, and ensures compliance with all international standards.

THE SHIP MANAGEMENT TEAM ON THEIR ROLE AT EVERGAS The Ship Management Team: • Follow up on class and statutory certification status, and condition of class.

• Arrange for the necessary surveys, and inspections to ensure compliance.

• Manage budgets allocated to vessels, and produce regular reports.

• Monitor the vessels’ performance trends, and take necessary remedial actions.

Evergas is strongly focused on reducing the carbon impact from its vessel operations. It has successfully implemented many measures in this regard which yielded the desired results. And yet, the company continues to challenge itself to explore new frontiers for optimisation.

“We use both industry standards like EEOI as well as our own internal KPIs to benchmark our operational performances and identify the areas for continuous improvement,” Jacobsen elaborates. “Broadly, our optimisation efforts are based on three pillars.

“Firstly, adopting innovative technologies. Evergas has the distinction of being the first ship owner in the world to use ethane as a marine fuel.

Our eight dragon class vessels and two VLECs use this fuel for the majority of their operations. Compared to traditional fuel oils, ethane has a 20 percent lower CO2 emission. The use of ethane fuel instead of conventional LSFO resulted in over 34,000 metric tons (MT) of reduced CO2 emissions in 2020 alone.”

The second pillar is the focus on converting to an energy efficient infrastructure. Evergas continuously studies technologies that can reduce

fuel consumption. It has changed the paint scheme of its vessels from traditional silyl acrylate paint to silicon paint (Hempel X7/X8) which is much smoother over the five-year docking cycle. The reduced hull resistance is expected to save 2000 MT of CO2 emissions per vessel per year.

“We are installing variable frequency drives (VFDs) on continuously running fans and motors. The reduced electrical consumption is expected to reduce further 150 MT of CO2 emissions per vessel per year,” Jacobsen says.

“The lighting system on board has additionally been replaced with energy efficient LED technology, expected to reduce 20 MT of CO2 emissions per vessel per year.

“The last pillar is the drive to change behavior throughout the organisation.

Our seafarers are the ones operating the machinery and systems.

Technology can only optimise up to a point; its full potential can only be harvested by the active collaboration of the vessel operators on scene.

We focus on this aspect by running optimisation campaigns, technical instructions, energy metrics in scorecards, the list goes on. The use of KPI scorecards creates an atmosphere where staff take pride in being the

OIL & GAS best in class. This friendly competition results in only one winner: optimised, energy efficient operations.”

EVERGAS ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY As one of the world’s leading seaborne transporters of petrochemical gases and natural gas liquids, Evergas recognises its social and environmental responsibility. The company is committed to sustainable thinking as it believes this will unlock growth to the benefit of both Evergas and society. Evergas’ efforts in sustainable

development are particularly focused on, but not limited to innovative technology and the environment, health, safety and security (HSS) and the development of human resources, and governance standards.

It is Evergas policy to recycle ships in a responsible manner, so as not to pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. At the end of its operational life, Evergas ships shall only be sent to yards for recycling, which have been certified by any of the IACS member to meet the

EVERGAS: PROJECT AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FLEET TEAMS The Project and Business Development Team at Evergas is heading for new major projects. The team ensures that new projects are managed properly, and that all projects bring a high level of value to Evergas and all stakeholders.

The team’s primary focus is developing and securing the ideal long-term projects for Evergas within the Ethane, small scale LNG and CO2 segments.

Their responsibilities include: • Market analysis and competitor intelligence • Investment and voyage calculations • Strategy development • Contract evaluation and negotiation • Contract development and execution • Continuous follow-up • Best practice development The Fleet Team has the technical responsibility and ensures that the entire Evergas fleet is functional at all times. The Fleet Team coordinates technical activities with third party operators and are therefore a keystone in the company’s mission to transport gas worldwide.

THE FLEET TEAM ON THEIR ROLE AT EVERGAS Some of the team’s key responsibilities are:

requirements of the IMO’s Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. The chosen yard shall be audited by Evergas to verify HSSEQ compliance standards before and during recycling process.

Evergas not only strives to promote coexisting environmental and industrial business practices, but it also places people’s safety and welfare at the forefront company operations. Ajay Arora, Vice President of Operations, Strategy and Shipmanagement at the company, elaborates. “Empowerment is what defines our organisation,” he tells us proudly. “There are hierarchies within the company of course, but we ensure each employee the freedom to do what they think is best under the umbrella of their departments.

“We achieve this by carrying out things such as appraisals and discussions regarding career development, weekly talks between employees and our CEO, and discussions amongst the management team to address any necessary adjustments that our employees have brought forward.”

For the rest of 2021 and the years beyond, Evergas has set fairly aggressive targets to increase its performance and deliver on a continuous basis.

“I believe the key to success is setting the correct company missions, and the constant monitoring of those missions to make sure they stay on track,” Jacobsen tells us. “Above all, we will ensure that we retain our company transparency between management, employees, partners and customers.”

• To maintain and develop the owners’ standards in respect to quality control, and vessel performance.

• To keep abreast with new rules and regulations, ensure that technical managers are aware, and prepare the fleet for compliance.

• Assist in annual budget preparations, ensure compliance with agreed budgets, and actual spending.

Tel: +45 3997 0350 www.evergas.net

EME Outlook issue 41 | 141

SYNSAM GROUP

SUSTAINABLE A brick-and-mortar business dominating the Nordic’s optical retail sphere, Synsam Group are synonymous with constant innovation. We speak with Chief Innovation Officer Martin Daniels to discuss consumer-led improvements and forging a brand identity with sustainability at the fore Writer: Phoebe Harper Project Manager: Ben Weaver

142 | EME Outlook issue 41

VISION

RETAIL We have built a culture of innovation into everything we do.”

As Chief Innovation Officer at the Synsam Group, Martin Daniels has been at the helm of their development since joining the visionary eyewear retail chain back in 2014.

With an extensive network of stores covering Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, Synsam are an established name within optics retail, spanning both Eye Health and Eye Fashion. In Sweden, Synsam have a strong number one position in the market which accounts for half of the Group’s business.

“We offer eye exams in all of our stores and prescription glasses are the majority of our sales. We also offer contact lenses, sunglasses, and some additional eye health related medical services in some outlets,” Daniels outlines.

“We’re a brick-and-mortar business, although many of our customers also engage with us via online channels.

You can book an eye exam, virtually try on frames, and even complete the purchase online, but most of our customers will come into the store at some point. With our second banner Ai Eyewear, customers can even perform an eye test online – albeit with certain limitation,” he continues.

Prior to joining Synsam, Daniels found his feet in the world of business with a working background in consulting at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Reflecting on his journey into the optical sphere, he comments, “I was looking for a company with ambition to grow, to do something, to transform. I wanted to go into an industry that had growth potential and a product I could relate to, such as retail. It was more of a coincidence that it became optical retail.”

Daniels’ hope for transformation was soon fulfilled, as he joined the company at a defining time of renewal. When Synsam Group was EME Outlook issue 41 | 143

SYNSAM GROUP

OVERVIEW: SYNSAM GROUP • 480 stores across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland • Also offer e-commerce and omnichannel • In excess of 3,500 employees • Four billion SEK Revenue (approx 400 million Euro) • Operate under Synsam brand in Sweden, Norway and Finland • Operates under ‘ProfilOptik’ brand in Denmark • Operates a second banner (Ai Eyewear) in three stores in Sweden • Franchise operations in Iceland and Faroe Islands • Eye exams, prescription glasses, contact lenses, sunglasses plus additional eye health related medical services

Martin Daniels, Chief Innovation Officer

144 | EME Outlook issue 41

acquired by CVC Capital Partners in 2014, Daniels’ name was put forward by a contact at BCG. “An opening came along at Synsam taking part in the planned transformation and that was the role that I went into. It was a mixture between business development, strategy and product management.

Over time, that evolved into something new, more innovation focussed,” he comments.

After identifying a drop in business, Synsam undertook an extensive period of fact-finding to lead a company-wide transformation.

During this time, every detail of the stores was reviewed and reconsidered, using the figure of the consumer as the point of departure.

“What we did was to think about how we can build a differentiated offering in the market, so we’re not only competing with price and the physical locations of our stores. We reviewed the entire business from the store layout, the logo, the look and feel of the marketing, and the products, to the way that we present our assortment. We redesigned the stores and did things across the board,” Daniels adds.

Although a significant undertaking, the invaluable findings from this time continue to define Synsam as a market leader.

“Before starting the transformation in 2015, we found a lot of alarming insights regarding the way that Synsam was seen in the eyes of the consumer. In essence, most Synsam customers – 20 percent - said that next time they were going to go somewhere else to buy their glasses.”

From this disconcerting starting point, Synsam’s business proposal was renewed and updated.

Recognising the somewhat unique position that optics occupy within the retail sector as a relatively niche product serving a medical purpose, Synsam looked to other retail segments that championed a more

Johnson & Johnson Vision ACUVUE® is the no.1 selling contact lens brand worldwide* and part of Johnson & Johnson Vision. Our goal is to change the trajectory of eye health by helping people see better, connect better and live better. At the heart of this is scientific innovation and collaboration – the foundation for all our products and services.

In collaborating with our partners, and by gaining insights from our patients and clinicians we’re able to design and develop contact lenses that meet our patients’ lifestyle needs. It’s all part of our ongoing commitment to bring clear and comfortable vision to you, so you can focus on your life, not your lenses.

Johnson & Johnson Vision and ACUVUE® are committed to driving meaningful action on sustainability tackling key issues that affect us all - from recycling and reducing our carbon footprint, to optimising our packaging.

“We are proud to be working in partnership with Synsam to bring innovative contact lens products to the Nordic market, and improving the contact lens experience for new and existing wearers. Our partnership with Synsam is also reflected in our shared values of innovation and a focus on sustainability.“ Jonas Dinnesen, General Manager, Johnson & Johnson Vision Nordics * Source: Euromonitor International; Eyewear 2021 edition; value sales at rsp, all retail channels, 2019 data; “ACUVUE® family of brands” represents aggregated sales of following brands: 1-DAY ACUVUE®, ACUVUE® OASYS, ACUVUE® ADVANCE, ACUVUE®, and ACUVUE® 2.

For more information on proper wear, care and safety, talk to your Eye Care Professional and read the Instructions for Use available on the ACUVUE® website www.acuvue.se. © Johnson &Johnson AB. 2021. ACUVUE® is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson. PP2021AMB4847.

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“We are very proud to be working in partnership with Synsam to bring innovative contact lens products to the Nordic market and to improve the contact lens experience for new and existing wearers together.“ Jonas Dinnesen, General Manager, Johnson & Johnson Vision Nordics

*Source Euromonitor International Limited; Eyewear 2021 edition; value sales at rsp, all retail channels, 2019 data; “ACUVUE® family of brands” represents aggregated sales of the following brands: 1-DAY ACUVUE®, ACUVUE® OASYS, ACUVUE® ADVANCE, ACUVUE®, and ACUVUE®2. **Enhanced optical design compared to our other lenses.

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SYNSAM GROUP developed, ‘customer-oriented’ structure and business model.

“Optical retail comes from a medically focused heritage,” he explains.

“Compared to a lot of other retail

OUR VISION We are the leading and most sustainable lifestyle company in optics and eye health.

OUR MISSION We give every customer the best service and the most sustainable solutions to look good and look good.

OUR BUSINESS CONCEPT We are a customer-driven and sustainable lifestyle company that offers affordable solutions for vision, appearance and eye health for the whole family through unique and innovative concepts for every occasion in life.

OUR VALUES Our values “Customer first”, “Innovation” and “Responsibility” must permeate the entire company’s operations, priorities, decision-making and how employees should act.

WE CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABILITY Our ambition is to continue to strengthen our position as an industry leader in both eye health and eye fashion, with a clearly integrated sustainability perspective throughout the value chain. We aim to be a long-term sustainable company.

146 | EME Outlook issue 41

sectors, optical retail has been relatively immature in the sense of looking at it from a customer perspective. Other areas are more developed in terms of online penetration, the way stores are constructed, products are presented, and the way that customers are met in the stores,” Daniels adds.

This functional, basic model of fulfilling a customer’s medical prescription whilst accommodating their most basic need for vision, allowed some room for differentiation and a relatively underexplored creative potential in terms of store designs and the display of products – not to mention the range of products that were on offer.

Indeed, this was the state of the industry across Europe in general just a few years ago when competitive pricing was the primary means of differentiation for market players.

“Over the past few decades in the Nordics, pre-2015, there was not a lot of innovation going on in the industry. The only major thing that had happened was the entrance of low-cost players around the millennium, then one or two smaller chains emerged. Other than that, the industry was very traditional and there was a lot of copying between competitors in terms of campaigns... the only differentiating aspect was price,” Daniels concurs.

This key shift from a medical focus towards a more personalised consumer approach entailed a renewed concern for aesthetics that applied to both the product and the stores themselves.

Most significantly, the Group launched Synsam Lifestyle – a pioneering glasses leasing service that further distinguishes the brand from competitors. Through this subscription service, consumers are offered the variety of three pairs of glasses minimum with no high upfront cost, rather a fixed monthly fee. Allowing for greater variety

Vasuma Born in Stockholm in 2005 from the vision of three friends, Vasuma has grown to become Sweden’s leading eyewear company.

An indie brand with personality, their cutting-edge designs fashioned from sustainable materials celebrate vintage influences and modernity, complimenting the individuality of the wearer.

Their products can be found in over 1,000 high-end opticians worldwide and for the past fifteen years, Vasuma have been a trusted supplier of the prestigious Synsam Group.

Vasuma has from the start focused on producing quality products that last.

Offered repairs and not least, pushed for the use of sustainable materials in both production of eyewear and packaging. With their efforts Vasuma hope to contribute to a more ecologically conscious eyewear industry.

depending on style, customers are also able to exchange one of these pairs every year with new lenses, in sync with the wearer’s changing vision. By tackling the customer problem of variety and cost, the Lifestyle Subscription effectively overcomes a pain point, in line with Daniels’ definition of what makes a ‘good innovation.’

“We started with the customer problem that we are trying to solve.

Equally important is something that suits your style and fits your needs.”

Effectively, this translates into a subscription to perfect vision, rather than the products themselves.

“Across our stores the products were presented either on the brand, frame, price point or sex, and that didn’t really make a lot of sense from a customer perspective. So, we redesigned the stores and the way the products were presented – we went from Him/Her to more of a lifestyle or style grouping of products,” Daniels explains.

RETAIL

Fittingly, Synsam also turned their attention to building their own labels, developing a portfolio of House Brands alongside their attractive offering of designer frames and sunglasses.

“We also found out that the brand of the frame was not as important for end consumers as you would think,

so that’s when we started building our own portfolio.

We curated the assortment and picked frames so that we could have more of an offering to the consumer – including a strong focus on sustainable materials and designs.”

Taking greater agency over their products, Synsam introduced their Recycling Outlet concept – a separate retail banner that combines sustainable eyewear choices with low prices. The concept dispels the myth that sustainable choices come at a greater cost. As Daniels explains, “We make this possible by re-selling old glasses in the recycling outlet store. It may be glasses the subscribers hand back to us when they do their yearly swap, or old collections that are removed from ‘standard Synsam stores’.”

In an increasingly digitalised world, Synsam values the power of face-to-face consumer contact and places great importance on this first physical point of interaction.

“We invested a lot of time money and effort into training our staff to become more EME Outlook issue 41 | 147

SYNSAM GROUP proactive and really engage with and understand the customer’s needs before recommending products.

“Rather than just a transaction, we really try to understand who you are and what your needs are. That goes into building more of a relationship business,” Daniels comments.

Sysnam Group continue to develop their physical presence, using their increasing network of stores to embody the concept of their modern lifestyle brand.

“We are pushing our digital channel, but inherently the eye exam is still

‘ALLA SKA SE!’ ‘EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO SEE!’ This charitable initiative from Synsam focuses on children with vision correction needs.

The initiative was launched after scientific research identified a link between childhood obesity and children that wear glasses, due to extended periods of ‘screen time’ and a reluctance to partake in physical activities where they may risk losing or damaging an expensive pair of glasses.

By pairing with various organisations, Synsam implemented a programme whereby children aged five to twelve can enter any Synsam store and receive a pair of sports glasses and prescription lenses completely free of charge.

“Although this comes at cost, these initiatives build a lot of goodwill with customers and employees. We want to be a brand that’s doing something to better people’s lives.”

148 | EME Outlook issue 41

physical and so are the products.

There’s a strong preference for customers to try on the product, to see if it suits your face etc, so we believe strongly in the physical store network.”

The stores themselves are a constantly shifting phenomenon.

“We launched an early version and then we refine from that. We are now at version 12 or 13 of our store concepts. There are always new improvements. That’s the culture of the business that we’re now running, it’s constant innovation,” Daniels surmises.

Of course, the Group recognise the synergy that can exist between both digital and physical concepts, leveraging the possibilities of technology in-store to maximise user interaction and improve the consumer experience.

“We invested a lot in the digital side when reworking the entire business.

Organisation wise, IT, HR, Logistics we did a complete rebuild.”

Synsam Group are far from short-sighted when it comes to their responsibility as a corporate citizen.

Sustainability is embedded into operations and Synsam strictly adheres to the UN’s sustainability goals as outlined in Agenda 2030. In both 2019 and 2020, the Group was voted Sweden’s most sustainable optician in the Sustainable Brand Index.

The aforementioned house labels that Synsam built whilst undergoing transformation are instrumental in establishing the brand’s sustainable identity.

In Spring 2019, Synsam launched the “Fellepini x Sea2See collection – which is a spectacle collection made entirely from recycled ocean plastics collected by fishermen and transformed to glasses together with the Spanish partner company Sea2See. “We built these brands as standalone brands and invested a lot in those frames and building a sustainable identity through products and collections. This now represents over 50 percent of our volume.”

In a region that is reputed as a global leader in terms of sustainability and eco-innovation, most

RETAIL

“We are growing significantly - we are already one of the leading players worldwide in terms of organic growth and profitability. We’re strong performers in that sense” significantly, Synsam are leading the way in reclaiming their manufacturing and relocating the production of their private label brands from Asia to Sweden. The move to localised manufacturing has been a significant one and will occupy the Group for the year ahead.

“Previously, we had partners in Asian factories producing our frames.

Now, to become a more sustainable business, we’re opening a factory in the north of Sweden. It’s being built as we speak and the plan is to get access to the building this year and open production in the first half of next year.”

Synsam pioneers a circular collection, whereby all old frames are recycled, after being collected in-store. By championing a means of circular consumption, Synsam

collaborate with recycling centres across Sweden to sort materials.

“We also have collections made out of old frames that are being shred down into material that we can build new frames from,” Daniels adds.

The Group’s ethos of sustainability connotes a wider understanding of the term that extends beyond environmental concerns, as evidenced by the launch of their pioneering subscription model and charitable initiatives. Championing a 360 perspective of sustainability, Synsam are mitigating transport emissions by bringing the product closer to the end consumer and shifting towards sustainable production materials.

“We believe that sustainability is not an option, it’s a requirement for employees and for the customers,” Daniels states.

Looking ahead, the future is promising for Synsam Group.

“We are growing significantly we are already one of the leading players worldwide in terms of organic growth and profitability. We’re strong performers in that sense,” Daniels concludes.

Nevertheless, Synsam will continue to develop and grow through the lens of physical expansion, innovation, and sustainability.

SYNSAM GROUP info@synsam.com www.synsam.se

EME Outlook issue 41 | 149

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150 | EME Outlook issue 41

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Gulf Sustainability Awards 2021 September 20 | Dubai | www.gulfsustainabilityawards.com

The home of sustainability innovation in the GCC region ON S EPTEMBER 20, 2021, the Gulf Sustainability Awards will be back for a LIVE contest and ceremony in Dubai, rewarding all those organisations leading the way in Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance. This year, organisations can apply and compete in a brand-new set of 14 categories.

The updated categories will allow every participant to showcase their best results and get a chance to be recognised for their achievements.

Each entry is carefully scored (7.5 hours is our average scoring time per entry). All the judges are selected with particular attention to their experience, expertise and reputation, so that each entrant gets a fair chance of being shortlisted for the Awards Finals.

On September 20, the finalists will 152 | EME Outlook issue 41

present their initiatives live before the judging panel, after which the judges will score all the entries. The category winners and the Overall Winner for 2021 will be announced during a gala ceremony in the evening.

The Gulf Sustainability Awards is also a proud holder of the highest honour available from the Independent Awards Standards Council - the Gold Trust Mark. Awards International is pleased that this awards programme is the recipient of such an honour because we know how much it means to be recognised and appreciated for your efforts.

Year after year, we organise awards events to celebrate top achievements across various industries, and we see how happy and excited our finalists are

for being a part of the whole awards journey.

GSA21 will be much more than a business event; it will be an experience that allows like-minded people to share practices, gain knowledge and develop professionally by getting peer recognition for their outstanding contributions and using new insights to improve their organisations.

Visit www.gulfsustainabilityawards. com to find out more and sign up today!

THE FINAL WORD To round off each issue, we ask our contributing business leaders for their views on the same question

WHAT OR WHO HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR YOU DURING YOUR CAREER?

Jouni Haikarainen CEO, Lahti Energy “There is one incident that really had an impact on me.

Back in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred during my first year of university and it made me far more interested in energy than I already had been; I had selected to study energy already at the time.

“What the event did was make me become far more interested in energy efficiency and usage of resources in general. Nuclear energy had shown its clear challenges, this was quite obvious, and as we had two nuclear power projects here in Finland as well, it made me think about and become more focused around alternatives and the energy sector as a whole.”

Cristian Taranu Managing Director, UMEX “The port is a fascinating working environment, where most occupational fields converge: from engineers to accountants, from dockers and equipment drivers to IT specialists, from seamen to office and commercial occupations, the list is endless and we have it all.

“I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to be inspired by so many along the way, to meet and learn from old-fashion foremen who used to carry their Thomas Stowage with them all 154 | EME Outlook issue 41

Lahti Energy plant in Lahti, Finland. The city was awarded Europe’s Green Capital 2021

the time, or elderly logistics specialists, from times when mobile phones, computers and Excel sheets were only in Sci-Fi movies, or visionary managers willing to take the necessary risks to succeed.

“An honorable mention to a brilliant surveyor in Constanta Port, and a good friend, who inspired me to always aim above the regular standards of quality in services. ”

Olaf Bongwald CEO, Valmet Automotive “I really can say that there is not one or two people or events that made me who I am. I have had the honour and the luck that in areas and periods of my life where I have had people who I have been able to look up to.

At school for example, I had a couple of teachers that I really thought were motivating and inspiring, and it is the same with university where there was one or two professors that drove my inspiration and thought.

“Within my industrial career, I can say that I have been very lucky to have worked alongside and known people from within the company and externally, such as competitors, who have inspired me throughout my profession. All of these individuals have helped me develop into the person I am today.”

Ad Raatgeep CEO, Suzuki Garphyttan “I have been in this world for 37 years and yet I do not have a single specific person in mind.

“I will mention however that I have always believed that having the right team that you work with well and involve at all levels helps inspire and direct your work, and most importantly helps you enjoy it.”

Are you a CEO or a Director with a company story to tell?

Contact EME Outlook now!

The Saudi food and beverage industry during COVID-19...

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

FOOD & DRINK

THE KINGDOM’S KITCHEN

See page

34 36

Saudi Arabian food and beverage is an up-and-coming industry.

We spoke to REZA Food Services Co. Ltd. about its operations across the Kingdom’s western and southern regions representing the McDonald’s brand Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Turnbull

REZA FOOD SERVICES CO. LTD

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES The first McDonald’s restaurant in the region was opened in 1994, in the Hamra store on the Jeddah Corniche. Today, there are over 50 McDonald’s restaurants in Jeddah and across the Western and Southern regions of KSA, including in other major centres such as Medina, Mecca, Yanbu, Tabuk and Jizan. Further expansion will follow soon.

O

ver the past year, the pandemic has changed lives and shaped how the world has developed towards operating in a new Mohamed Alireza, Senior Director - Corporate Affairs environment.

Alongside this, the pandemic has and we are very grateful for their One ofdigital the industries hit begins hardest ushered forward the growing concerted efforts,” Mohamed age with substantial speed and Alireza, Senior Director of Corporate globally isand that of food and beverage. necessity, and the realm of food Affairs for REZA Food Services Co. beverage has adapted to this reality.

Ltd. With mass efforts to reduce the Deliveries have boomed due to a year Created in 1994, REZA Food of a relatively house-bound public.

Services Co. Ltd. exclusively owns and spread of the COVID-19 virus, bars, In the Middle East, the pandemic operates all McDonald’s restaurants in andthe other has not sparedrestaurants the food and beverage westernhospitality and southern regions of industry, however as the sector has Saudi Arabia. It is a 100 percent Saudi recently seeing taken the time institutions to adapt to its new are only and family-owned company that reality over the course of the past prides itself on being locally managed some level of recovery and revival. year, it is on the road to recovery. in all aspects, as well as reinvesting its

THE SAUDI FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY DURING COVID-19

“The government of Saudi Arabia has done a phenomenal job managing this pandemic, protecting the people and minimising its economic impact

2 | EME Outlook issue 41

revenue into the local economy.

“Despite its challenges, in every crisis there are opportunities that present EME Mohamed Outlook issue 41 themselves,” explains.

McDonald’s is now a household name in the region, and actively supports the community in a number of ways: charity organisations such as The Help Center, Friends Association Charitable Society, and Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing, as well as many more that are supported through the company’s “Share the Goodness” CSR programme and also their employment initiatives.

Al Rashed Food is a company associated with the mighty Rashed A. Al Rashed & Sons Co, one of the leading industrial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia and with operations spanning the Gulf countries and the Middle East.

The Group, through its financial and strategic support, has helped Al Rashed Food to quickly become a successful business within its own right. So much so, in fact, that Al Rashed Food is now a household name in Saudi Arabia, trusted by hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses to provide a premium quality products. Our unswerving commitment to build international quality standards is helping us to continue that success. From selecting only premium ingredients to building state-of-the-art production facilities to the look of the packed product on shelf, we strive to be the best and set the benchmark in bread and confectionery products.

The food and beverage are 100 percent Halal, and of the highest quality, with the majority of ingredients sourced locally, regionally and internationally. All suppliers must adhere to strict global official benchmarks as well as McDonald’s internal standards, product specification and farm biosecurity policies. In addition, they must also conform to social responsibility policies.

Al Rashed Food Company Ltd P.O. Box 312, Riyadh, 11383 Saudi Arabia

T: +966-11-2651394 F: +966-11-2651392 E: info@alrashedfood.com

| 3

5 | EME Outlook issue 41

EME Outlook issue 40 | 13

2 | EME Outlook issue 40

EME Outlook issue 40 | 3

programme,” Ewald tells us proudly.

“We have our own in-house training experience and learning from within. actively encourages additional qualifications, but the company and others towards gaining higher drive aspiring technicians, engineers prospect of employment with Pfiffner as a company. Not only does the important role in Pfiffner’s operation Additionally, education plays an proficiency in problem-solving.” made, maximising our learning and employees to learn from any mistakes culture of open exchange allows our the apprenticeships, and our in-house highly qualified individuals through and engineering schools produce very “Our universities, technical schools, explains. to a successful company,” Ewald another very important ingredient highly qualified personnel, which is loyal employees that are excellent “Pfiffner has very hard-working and

On top of this, while 2021 sees autonomous driving sector. of battery parts and projects for the applications within the manufacture vehicles, Pfiffner is turning to new towards electrical and autonomous the automotive sector moving With the latest technologies in

www.pfiffner.com info@pfiffner.com Tel: +41 (0)32 666 35 35 KR PFIFFNER GROUP

REZA Food Services has told its story.

MANUFACTURING PRECISION AND FLEXIBLE

Pfiffner GmbH Zimmern o.R Frank Offenburg joins to K.R. Unit Multispindle and Witzig & 2018 Foundation of Business Group joins the international FFG 2015 10th June Pfiffner Group

Japan Co., Ltd., Japan 2014 Establishment of Pfiffner

product line PT 2013 Market introduction of the product lines RT / AT 2007 Market introduction of the

2021 AND BEYOND

that we can achieve.” achieve this highest quality standards on these qualified people to help us the latest talent to the field. We rely this apprenticeship model and bring industry by helping also to support “Pfiffner contributes to the national after the course is over. them continuing employment with us from the company, with plenty of learn and gain experience directly years during which the apprentices apprenticeships last three or four we have 30 apprentices. These “Currently of our 250 staff

people to move this forward.” footprint in China with hiring more are in the middle of increasing our focus being China and Taiwan. We environment, with our major project the coming years, given the current the best market development in “It’s also where we expect to have the most,” Ewald tells us.

Asia which is where the market grows “We will increase our presence in Korea and China. introduce its advanced RT machine in sights on the east, including aiming to vaccines over Europe, Pfiffner sets its the widescale rollout of COVID-19

s a l e s @ k l o p f e r - t o o l i n g.d e DE – 71272 Renningen

ALBERT KLOPFER

GMBH

Now, why not tell yours? Our bi-monthly magazine EME Outlook is essential reading for Machine Hydromat - Rotary Transfer 2005 Delivery of the 2‘000th

devices Special welding

cylinders Series and special devices Special clamping

business executives wanting to keep up with the latest in global news and trends affecting GmbH (Germany) 1989 Foundation of K.R. Pfiffner

Power chucks

Hirth-Gearing

Machine Hydromat - Rotary Transfer 1977 Delivery of the 1st

European and Middle Eastern businesses across all industries.

Machines Hydromat - Rotary Transfer 1976 Development of the

KR PFIFFNERZurich GROUP incorporates K.R. Pfiffner AG in 1970 Karl Richard Pfiffner

KLOPFER

MANUFACTURING

Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Matthew Taylor

forward-thinking place within the sector GROUP HISTORY Reaching an audience of over 395,000 readers, your Pfiffner Group, about the company’s innovativecompany and KR PFIFFNER can take advantage of spoke to Andreas Ewald, CEO of Swiss firm KR

Machinery to further digital and print-based marketing tools that could transform your business.

Making AT A GLANCE:

exposure in EME Outlook with a FREE article and FREE digital brochure, as well as access Revolutionising the manufacturing industry, we

of KR Pfiffner Group. industry,” begins Andreas Ewald, CEO place to work in the manufacturing “Switzerland is still an excellent fore of such a sphere. in the field pushes the country to the the latest technologies and knowhow we see that incorporating and utilising progressive manufacturing industry, Turning to Switzerland and its beyond. function in Europe and a key element of industry achinery manufacturing is

M project managers today!

To share in this unrivalled opportunity, contact one of our KR PFIFFNER GROUP

MANUFACTURING

MARELLI | TRUMPF GROUP

w w w. e m e o u t l o o k m a g . c o m

Issue 40

ANT YAPI GROUP

www.emeoutlookmag.com/work-with-us Construction, development and people-centric operation

KAOLIN EAD

The oldest operating mining firm in Bulgaria

New brand. ÅF and Pöyry come together as AFRY. #makingfuture