Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: Peter Feldhaus has been appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the Industrial Solutions business division of ThyssenKrupp. Feldhaus, aged 50 years, succeeds Stefan Gesing, who was the acting CEO of the division. Gesing remains as the chief financial officer of the group. The new CEO of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems will be Rolf Wirtz, currently CEO of Atlas Elektronik. Jens Bodo Koch, member of the management board of Atlas Elektronik, is to take over as acting CEO.

Germany: Susanne Fuchs has been elected to the supervisory board of Fuchs Petrolub in place of her father Manfred Fuchs. Manfred Fuchs, aged 78 years, resigned as deputy chairman of the board at the end of the group’s annual general meeting. The company’s chairman of the executive board is Manfred Fuchs’s son, Stefan Fuchs. Susanne Fuchs holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and successfully completed her MBA at the Open University in the UK in 2016.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has suffered from poor sales in Asian and African markets as it continues to integrate assets from Italcementi into the group. Its pro forma sales revenue remained stagnant on a like-for-like basis at Euro3.78bn in the first quarter of 2017. Its cement sales volumes also remained static on a like-for-like basis at 27.8Mt. Although the group described its fortunes as ‘mixed’ in its emerging markets it reported sales declines in Thailand, Bangladesh and Egypt.

“We were able to almost offset the effect of higher energy costs, bad weather conditions and increased competition in some emerging countries in the most seasonally weak quarter of the year,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board. He added that the overall outlook for the global economy is positive despite ‘major’ macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. The group derives about 60% of its revenue from the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, countries in Northern Europe and Australia. As such it relies on the ‘good and stable economic development’ of these territories.

Overall the group’s cement sales volumes grew by 58% to 27.8Mt from 17.6Mt due to the acquisition of Italcementi in mid-2016. Its sales revenue from its cement business grew by 49% to Euro1.9bn from Euro1.3bn.

By region, sales in Europe and North America rose in the reporting period despite a strong comparison quarter in 2016 and poor weather. Falling prices in Indonesia and Ghana were described as the main cause for falling revenue in Asia and Africa. Results in Western and Southern Europe were also damaged by higher maintenance costs year-on-year.

Germany: Klaus Paul has been appointed as the Technical Managing Director of Schade Lagertechnik. His appointment is in response to the impending retirement of Karl-Heinz Fiegenbaum on 30 June 2017. Fiegenbaum has been Managing Director of the company since July 2011. He will be replaced by Christoph Seifert, who moves across to this position after having started with Schade as Technical Managing Director in February 2015.

Paul started his career in 1977 with Friedrich Uhde where he started working as a draughtsman at the age of 16. Following the competition of an engineering degree he stayed with the company, which eventually became part of ThyssenKrupp Group. From 2012, he was with Uhde OOO, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp in Russia, first as Director of Project and Site Management, and later as one of the Managing Directors of Uhde / OOO ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions Russia.

Germany: Loesche has merged its activities in the combustion systems and drying systems sector into a central location at their main centre under the name Loesche Thermal Applications. Alongside the established hot gas generators, the business incorporates combustion systems for solid, liquid and gaseous fuels as well as complete drying systems for a wide variety of industrial applications, including the cement industry.

By uniting the core competencies in the thermal applications sector, the Loesche group seeks to strengthen its market position. Pooling marketing, project management, purchasing, processing technology and proactive development together with an individual burner test facility at the in-house test centre are also intended to raise efficiency. The business reorganisation will also see the merger of Loesche with A Tec Greco Combustion Systems Europe, a subsidiary that is currently based in Austria.

Germany: Currax is promoting its Integrated Drive System for use by conveyor belt systems in the raw material sector. The complete drive train uses components made by Siemens that are then tailored for a conveyor’s particular requirements. Parts of the system include: the Simotics FD Motor, a conveyor belt drive with a power range of 200 – 1800kW; the Flender B3SH Gear units that are avaialble in various sizes; and the Rupex Bolt coupling, an additonal element for conveyor belt drives that are use as elastic compensating couplings and that provides a torque range of 200 – 130,000Nm. Currax is an enginering company based in Hamburg that provides and distributes products for the drive chain.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim and employee representatives in Europe have established a new European Works Council (EWC). The forum for consultation and dialogue at a transnational level will bring together worker representatives from 19 countries with senior leaders from LafargeHolcim.

“People are essential to the success of LafargeHolcim and our commitment to social dialogue through the new European Works Council is testament to this. During a period of transformation, we recognise that ensuring the full commitment, mobilisation, and engagement of our employees is a key building block for success,” said Eric Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.

The EWC was established based on an agreement signed by Olsen and Executive Committee members Caroline Luscombe, responsible for Organisation and Human Resources and Roland Köhler, responsible for Europe, Australia / New Zealand and Trading as well as Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers EFBWW, among other management and employee representatives. Chaired by Köhler, the EWC replaces the previous European Works Councils. Countries represented in the EWC include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Germany: Haver & Boecker is promoting its Roto-Packer RVT, a new model in its Roto-Packer series that was launched in mid-2016. The machine is designed for packing fine and ultra-fine cement at up to 6000 bags/hr. Key features and options include a Roto-Lock dosing unit, a MEC weighing system, Seal technology, LED lighting for a simplified user experience and Haver Quattro technology.

“Our team spent lots of time analysing the customer needs, brainstorming ideas and finding best solutions, which led us, beside other issues, to redesign the dosing system and inventing the Roto-Lock,” said Wolfgang Bednarz, manager of the Cement Business Unit at Haver & Boecker.

Following customer feedback the dosing system was redesigned in the series and the Roto-Lock replaced the slide gate dosing and shut-off valves (slide plates) to allow clean filling without spillage. Many older models can also be refurbished with the new system. The MEC weighing system serves as a scale and a configurable control system for the entire packing system providing ideal bag weight and helping to eliminate product waste.

Burkina Faso: Intercem has reported that it replaced the main transformer at the Cimfaso Cement plant in 10 days in February 2017 from the initial order to the resumption of production at the unit. Following a problem with the local power grid the transformer was damaged and production stopped. Intercem dismantled and flew the transformer from Germany to Burkina Faso and then supervised its reassembly, connection and commissioning including customs and visa clearance.

Germany: BHS-Sonthofen and MSW Mineralstoffwerke Südwest have been awarded the German Resources Efficiency Award 2016 for their Combimix process. The German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy awarded the prize to the two companies in mid-February 2017. The process uses lime to improve raw materials yields in quarries contaminated with clay.

BHS developed the Combimix process based on their twin-shaft batch mixers and implemented it together with MSW. It uses lime to mix with clay that then undergoes a chemical reaction and this allows it to be separated from the rock in a subsequent processing step. The process allows more materials, such as limestone, to be extracted from quarries and extends the usable lifespans of such sites. In addition, previously dumped materials considered unprofitable can now be reassessed.

MSW introduced the process at its Mönsheim quarry in the summer of 2016. It allowed the company to increase its repository’s yield by 25%. To produce the same volume of the final product, it was previously necessary to extract about 620,000t/yr of limestone. At present the total is around 188,000t less, which corresponds to a relative reduction of around 30%. It helped to increase raw material efficiency from the previous level of 65 – 70% to around 93%.

“Our Combimix process holds a vast potential as it enables companies across the globe and throughout various industries to utilise resources more efficiently. In the context of rehabilitating contaminated soil, Combimix can be used to remove oil and other harmful substances. As a result, only a small fraction of the feed material needs to be dumped in hazardous waste landfills. The process is also viable for the cement industry. Here, it can be applied to processing limestone, a key ingredient that improves the burning process in rotary kilns and thus contributes to reducing fuel consumption,” said Dennis Kemmann, the managing director of BHS-Sonthofen.