TI_2011_04

investmenttrade€ 6,90 | www.trade-investment.euIV/2011

“People tend to think chemistry is something dirty or unpleasant, yet, chemistry is very much part of our lives,” says Mr. Andrej Tokarev, the financial director

of JSC Shchekinoazot

JSC Kazremenergo

Schenker

Pilot Plant Neman

JSC BAAZ

JSC Shchekinoazot

Goldbeck

ABB

GN Netcom

MAZ-MAN

Kirov Non-Ferrous Plant

Pozzoli

WTT Expo Karlsruhe

Amper 2012

Energy – what do we want, and what will we need?

When cars talk to each otherMembrane structures for stadiums

DHL UniCredit export awards

go to manufacturing companies

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu IV/20113

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ation from the publisher is prohibited. The publication contains illustrations and photographs of Stock Photography and Dreamstime. These pictures are used in accordance with the licence.

Trade&Investment is a business magazine published by Smart Publications, s.r.o., Radniční 231/4, 787 01 Šumperk, Czech Republic, registered withthe commercial register in Ostrava, Czech Republic, registration number C 44339, business number 28606795.

Editor in Chief : Kateřina UrbanováEditor: Gabrielle BrownWriters: Silke Humphrys, Gabrielle Brown, Stanislav Slabeycius, Jude Bowdler, Andrii Degeler, Romana Moares, Dave Foxall, Ing. Ivan Jemelka Produc tion D irec tor: Mgr. Lukáš ŠevčíkBusiness Development Manager: Marek RottenbornMarketing Depar tment: Andrea Hetmánková, Ing. Monika Keňová, Ing. Jana Vojtková, Ing. Barbora Světlíková, Michaela Smrčková,Lucie KoňarikováS ec tor Managers: Dmitrij Nogaj, Bc. Lucie Vrtková, Marcela Hložková

Proofreading: Dave FoxallPrice of one issue: €6.90Graphic design, t ypesetting and design layout, prepress: Smart Publications s.r.o. – Ing. Zdeněk Březina, Mgr. Hana Uhráková; Printo, spol. s r.o. S ubscription: Handled by SEND Předplatné spol. s r. o., Ve Žlíbku 1800/77, 193 00 Prague 9 - Horní Počernice, www.send.czWebsite: www.trade-investment.eu, www.for-power.com, www.for-manufacturer.com, www.for-builder.com

In Europe today the issue of energy cannot be discussed without considering both the environmental hopes for the region and the practical need for energy demands to be met, amidst increasingly limited fossil fuel reserves. There is a will to do good, and a need to be effi cient. This meeting of attitudes is in many ways an “energy revolution” fuelled by the desire to have safe, clean and secure power and the recognition that energy demands will continue to rise.

Renewable energy is one solution to meet both the will to generate power without detrimental eff ect on the environment and the need to fi nd a practicable alter-native to fossil fuels. For example, wind energy has the potential to be the cheapest power source in Europe, but its emergence in the market has only been made possible by heavy subsidies. The European Commission’s 2006 Green Paper A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy highlighted the need for renewables to be carefully managed in such a way for them to become competitive: “For renewable energy to fulfi ll its potential, the policy framework needs to be supportive and in particular to stimulate increasing competitiveness of such energy sources.” In its predictions for the global future demand for energy BP stated that renewables, including biofuels, will account for 18% of the growth in energy to 2030.

ExxonMobil expects that global energy demand in 2030 will be almost 35% higher than in 2005, with growth being led by rapid expansion in countries such as China and India. It is without question that en-ergy demand in Europe will increase sig-nifi cantly over the next twenty years. This will be caused not only by population growth but also comparative income growth; the two combined guarantee that the consumption of energy will rise exponentially, and along-side this will be a demand for more effi cient, cleaner and convenient power. Fossil fuels will still have to play a part in meeting demand, and for Europe, this means work-ing with Russia to ensure the country’s comparatively abundant natural gas reserves are skillfully distributed to benefi t Russia’s economy fairly and ensure Europe’s countries receive competitively priced energy.

Lastly, the role nuclear power will play in Europe’s energy revolution remains unclear. It has the potential to meet all needs, yet remains a somewhat unknown quantity in terms of its safety. Regardless, it remains a key factor in the balancing act that Europe faces: to meet demand, ensure safety and act responsibly.

Gabrielle Brown

Energy – what do we want,

and what will we need?


Content

/ Editorial

Energy – what do we want, and what will we need? ..................................................................... 3

/ Events, news & reports

Energy ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Automotive

Civil engineering...................................................................................................................... 10

/ Stories

Trade Fair for Industrial Heating & Cooling Technology ............................................................... 12

News from Electrotechnics at the ELECTRON, FOR ENERGO and FOR AUTOMATION Trade Fairs ...... 14

International Trade Fair of Low-Energy Building FOR ARCH

The 20th annual AMPER Trade Fair .................................................................................................. 18

/ Companies

JSC Shchekinoazot | Changing the Perceptions of Chemistry ................................................ 20

JSC Kazremenergo | We’ve boosted our production volume .................................................. 26

Kirov Non-Ferrous Plant | Self-sufficiency as a cushion against economic upheavals ........ 30

ABB Schweiz AG | Power and Productivity ............................................................................... 32

GOLDBECK Solar GmbH | Celebrating 10 Years of Sunshine Power

MAZ-MAN | Tailor-made Machinery ............................................................................................ 36

Pilot Plant Neman | Relevant Automotive Solutions .............................................................. 38

JSC “BAAZ” | From a repair plant to CIS-leader in automobile assemblies production ............. 40

SCHENKER spol. s r. o. | Rail Freight Increases Five Times .................................................... 42

GN NETCOM | Proven Technological Leadership ........................................................................ 46

POZZOLI S.p.A. | Good things come in beautiful packages ...................................................... 48

/ Logistic news

DHL UniCredit export awards go to manufacturing companies .................................................... 50

CONFIDENTIAL / Interview

Miroslav Bičiště enjoys seeking out anonymity


TECHART shows its latest indivi-

dualization options at the Dubai

International Motor Show from

the 10th to the 14th of Novem-

ber 2011. Equipped with the new

TECHART power kits the TECHART

GTStreet R based on the Porsche

911 Turbo, the Cayenne-based TE-

CHART MAGNUM and Aerodynamic

Kit I as well as the TECHART...

TECHART at the Dubai International

Motor Show 2011

p.8

In October of this year, Ger-

man commercial construction

company Goldbeck celebrated

ten years in the solar power

business, having founded its

subsidiary GOLDBECK Solar

back in 2001. Since then the

company has undertaken more

than 350 projects, combining

its expertise in building and

construction with harnessing

the cheap...

GOLDBECK Solar GmbH – Celebrating

10 Years of Sunshine Power

The FOR ARCH 2011 trade fair recep-

tion is now over but the next event

is already approaching. The 23rd

International Building Trade Fair

FOR ARCH, will be held on 18–19

September 2012 at PVA EXPO PRA-

GUE, and its main topic will be low

energy building again.

First of all, it is important to expre-

ss thanks to the exhibitors visitors,

media partners and all cooperating

companies...

International Trade Fair of Low-Energy

Building FOR ARCH

Miroslav Bičiště is the CEO and Vi-

ce-Chairman of the Board of TOS

VARNSDORF a.s., a leading world

machine tool manufacturer, 58

years old and born in Jablonec

nad Nisou. His destiny in life has

been at the helm of various large

industrial corporations...

Miroslav Bičiště

enjoys seeking out anonymity

p.16

p.52p.34CONFIDENTIAL

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/20116Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/20116Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu IV/20116

Energy

Albasolar GmbH provides 2MW for the largest photovoltaic power plant in AustriaAlbasolar GmbH, a company dedicated exclusively to the distribution of photo-voltaic (PV) material, provides, has col-laborated with REC Solar Spain on the largest solar project in Austria, which at 1900m above sea level will also be the highest in Europe. The power plant has a power output of 2MW and will be located in the Niedere Tauern massif in the state of Steirermark, very near to the wind power plant built on the same peak. The REC 240PE modules will have to stand winds of up to 140 km/h and snow weigh-ing 9 kN/m2. The location and conditions have made this project of particular inter-est to the scientifi c community.

This project means a huge step in the positioning of Albasolar GmbH in Austria, where, until now, the development of re-newable energies was limited to hydraulic installations. The current commitment of the government to photovoltaics is con-solidating the geographical extension of the distributor in the German–Austrian–Switzerland axis, where for two years now they have had offi ces in principal Euro-pean markets. “We are convinced that this is a great project to show the quality of European products and the fl exibility of our company to deliver, counting on our

almost 20 years of experience in the PV sector,” says Alberto Sanro-man, Global Man-aging Director of Albasolar. With an investment of near to 5 mil. €, the de-veloper, who is also responsible for the wind project in the same location, has made the Niedere Tauern massif into the benchmark mountain range in Europe in terms of renewable energy plants. The use of the infrastructure of the wind park, the

leveling of the ground and the light East/West slope of the surface of 400×150 meters was built with local workers, and most parts of the photovoltaic equipment are European. “Austria is a challenging market because the photovoltaic sector hasn’t quite taken off , however we believe strongly in their potential,” says Amparo Peralta, Managing Director of Albasolar GmbH. “Our customer believed in PV, and his choice has led him to create a strong reference project for photovoltaic ground systems, a segment which last year made up only 6,3 % to the 86 % of roof top installations” – added Peralta. The special location of the plant requires strong and reliable equipment. REC modules, pro-duced with the most demanding manu-facturing standards, guarantee a robust and long lasting design, together with a reliable power output. The high perfor-mance REC 240PE modules, manufactured by the Scandinavian company REC, and supplied by Albasolar GmbH, will have to face the climate of this region with strong winds and snow. However, these conditions will not mean a handicap for capturing energy, on the contrary, particu-larly high performance is expected due to the leading performance of REC modules, which are optimized for all sunlight and meteorological conditions. (Proven data as per the latest Photon results, place REC in fi rst position in every month of 2011.) Low ambient temperature, extra cooling by the strong winds, as well as low pollution at this height will also be positive for the installation. As a result, the installation will produce 2.5 mil. kW/h a year, which is the same as the electrical

consumption of 700 families. The annual reduction of CO2 will be 2,000 tons, which means a save of 825 t/year of fossil fuel. REC group, in their commitment to the environment, guarantees, according to of-fi cial analysis (Life Cycle Analysis), leading energy payback time, as well as a minimal carbon footprint in all its modules, thanks to the effi cient use of clean energy during all the manufacturing process. “In REC we work continuously for the sustainability of our products in order to off er to our customers the best performance with the lowest environmental impact.” – explains Ivano Zanni, General Manager of REC Solar in Spain.

ABB to automate generation at iconic Aswan hydropower plants in EgyptABB, the leading power and automa-tion technology group, will upgrade the automation of the Aswan hydropower plants. The latest generation of automa-tion systems will be used to improve per-formance, making the power generation more reliable and effi cient.

The order was booked in the third quarter of 2011, is worth over $ 20 million and was awarded by the Hydro Plants Generation Company (HPGC) to provide extensive plant automation and control solutions for the Aswan hydropower complex in Egypt as part of a major plant rehabilita-tion program.

The hydropower complex which is lo-cated at the Aswan dam, is the largest in Africa and the third-largest in the world by water reservoir volume. Located some 900 kilometers south of the capital, Cairo, the plants were built between 1960 and 1986 to harness the fl ood waters of the river Nile for irrigation and power genera-tion purposes.

“We are proud to be associated with the comprehensive upgrade of one of the world’s largest hydropower complexes,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “The benefi ts of the re-furbishment should be seen in the form of optimized performance and reliability, improved operator eff ectiveness and en-ergy effi ciency.”


The complex comprises three hydropower plants with a generation capacity of more than 2,600 megawatt and provides 10 per-cent of Egypt’s power generation capacity.

As part of the turnkey project, ABB will supply a new integrated plant automation solution including the latest Symphony Plus technology, instrumentation, trans-former and generator protection systems, turbine governor systems and electro-hydraulic equipment at one of the plants. ABB will also upgrade selected control and excitation systems, automatic voltage regulators, turbine governor systems and electro-hydraulic equipment.

The electrical protection systems for the 132 kilovolt substation that connects the power generated at the plant to the trans-mission grid will also be upgraded. ABB is responsible for engineering, supply, installation, and commissioning.

ABB wins $ 270 million order from Statoil for world’s largest offshore gas platformABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth an estimated $ 270 million from the international energy company Sta-toil to supply an electric drive system for two new pre-compression units to improve production capacity and extend the lifespan of the world’s largest natural gas platform in the North Sea.

The Troll A concrete deep water structure is located 70 kilometers from the west coast of Norway. It is the tallest structure ever to be moved by mankind. As gas is extracted from the fi eld, reservoir pres-sure falls and production declines. ABB’s delivery provides a clean and energy effi -cient source of power to help the platform improve production capacity.

“ABB has the oil and gas industry exper-tise, project execution resources and leading automation and power technol-ogies that ensure effi cient and reliable operations, no matter where they are located,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “This complements our successful his-tory of delivering complex deep sea and off shore projects, and our long standing relationship with Statoil.”

The scope of supply for the project includes two compressor drive sys-tems, each consisting of one 50 mega-watt/66 kilovolt high-voltage motor, which will be used to boost the gas pipeline fl ow. ABB will also deliver two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission systems, including HVDC converters and subsea direct current cables to provide reliable power to the off shore equipment from the shore.

“Our HVDC Light technology is ideally suited to connect the platform to the mainland electrical grid, enabling it to receive clean emission free power-from-shore through undersea cables,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power system divi-sion. “We are pleased to follow up on the success of the fi rst phase of this project when we provided a similar solution to Statoil.”

In 2005, Statoil inaugurated the fi rst HVDC Light power-from-shore system for the fi rst phase of the pre-compression pro-gram on the Troll A platform, connect-ing it with the converter station at the onshore facility.

This is ABB’s sixth order for off shore ap-plications of HVDC Light, showing that the technology is robust and withstands the harsh environment off shore. Besides power-from-shore installations, HVDC Light is also used to connect remote off -shore wind generation to the mainland grid.

Wind energy & Wind potential in IranAlongside the highly controversial Ira-nian nuclear program an aspiring wind industry has developed in Iran almost unnoticed by other states, as Dr. Carsten Ropeter, managing director of Ge:Net, could determine during his business trip to the country.

Iran’s economy is still based on the coun-try’s substantial oil and natural gas depos-its. With a share of more than 70 % of the entire export volume, oil and natural gas are Iran’s most important export goods and therefore the key sources for for-eign exchange. However, the economy’s remaining sectors are growing and with them the country’s own demand for en-ergy.

To meet this demand without having to reduce oil and natural gas export, i.e. the amount of foreign exchange, the Ira-nian government emphatically promotes the development of alternative energy

sources. The aspect of renewable energy is dealt with by a special state agency, the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran (SUNA). Founded in 1995, SUNA became the sole responsible institution for renew-able energies in Iran in 2003. SUNA sets the goals ambitiously: 7,000 MW electrical power is supposed to be generated from wind energy by 2016!

The development of the wind energy sector is well under way. Two wind farms are operating in Manjil and Binalood pro-ducing an overall amount of ca. 130 MW, a wind atlas has been compiled to identify further sites suitable for the installation of wind farms, and feed-in remuneration is settled – the prices vary between 9 and 13 U.S.-Cent. Moreover, SUNA has already issued licences for a further 600 MW.

In the course of his business trip Dr. Carsten Ropeter, managing director of Ge:Net GmbH had the opportunity to talk to representatives of SUNA and various Iranian companies who obtained licences for wind farms. With SBS Energy, Ge:Net agreed on a partnership for the supply of meteo towers and measure-ment systems as well as for schooling and training qualifi ed personnel on site.


TECHART at the Dubai International Motor Show 2011TECHART shows its latest individualiza-tion options at the Dubai International Motor Show from the 10th to the 14th of November 2011. Equipped with the new TECHART power kits the TECHART GT-Street R based on the Porsche 911 Turbo, the Cayenne-based TECHART MAGNUM and Aerodynamic Kit I as well as the TECHART GrandGT program for the Por-sche Panamera Turbo will be presented with a total of impressive 2,650 hp in the exhibition halls at the Persian Gulf.

The largest and most established motor-ing event in the Middle East, located in the Dubai World Trade Center, attracts every year thousands of visitors of the Arabian and Asian region. TECHART shows its unique individualization program for the sporty SUV and the dynamic sedan in combination with an interior individu-alization of the highest quality and the new TECHART power kits up to 486 kW (660 hp) and 464 kW (630 hp) respectively and in each case a maximum torque of 880 Nm.

Furthermore TECHART presents the world premiere of the all-new power kit TA 097/T3 in the TECHART GTStreet R based on the Porsche 911 Turbo. Equipped with a plus of 174 kW (200 hp) and 230 Nm torque compared to the series model the super sports car off ers an impressive 515 kW (700 hp) and a maximum torque of 880 Nm. The new Aerodynamic Kit I for the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, presented a few weeks ago in Frankfurt for the fi rst time, completes the TECHART performance in Dubai. The power kit TA 058/T2 increases its total output to 486 kW (660 hp) and 880 Nm.

Emission-free, sustainable and environmentally friendly: Vossloh Kiepe and Hess deliver twelve battery-powered trolleybuses to Switzerland

Automotive


Zurich Public Transport (VBZ) has ordered twelve Ligh Tram 24-metre double-artic-ulated trolleybuses from Vossloh Kiepe GmbH and Hess AG.

The special feature of these buses lies not only in their unusually large transport-ing capacity but also in their completely emission-free operation. The electric drive developed by Vossloh Kiepe facilitates this: the new feature here is the use of a modern Li-ion battery (Li battery) as a substitute for the usual diesel genera-tor aggregate. By combining overhead-line operation and energy storage via Li traction batteries, the buses run without using any fossil combustibles. Thus the Ligh Trams are sustainable and environ-mentally friendly as well as ultra-silent.

The batteries are charged while the vehi-cles are in operation using the overhead lines. They are designed to meet Zurich’s special requirements and can thus be operated over stretches as far as 1.5 km without the need for overhead-line opera-tion. It is possible to fully operate the new vehicles electrically, especially in areas with building sites and blockage of the bus lane. This also facilitates exhaust-free and low-noise manoeuvring and parking in the bus depot. The performance elec-tronics are supported by a high-power battery chargers which are also able to charge the batteries with energy released during braking. It is integrated in the roof-mounted equipment enclosure and can recharge the traction battery within one complete line cycle. Delivery of the new 24-metre vehicles to the VBZ will begin as early as autumn of 2012.

In addition to Supercaps supplying energy to applications with high cycle loads, the lithium ion batteries off er an additional possibility of environmentally friendly energy storage. With this innovative equipment, Vossloh Kiepe has created yet another alternative feature for buses used in public transport services.

When cars talk to each otherThe key to intelligent driving, which is syn-onymous with energy-effi cient and safe driving, is forward thinking. To help drivers plan ahead, vehicles from the BMW Group are already fi tted with a large number of sensors designed to improve safety, com-fort and effi ciency. Often, however, these sensors have only a limited predictive capability or “horizon”. “Car-to-x” commu-nication extends this horizon signifi cantly, and will in future allow drivers to “see”

long distances ahead, into areas currently hidden from view, and even around not just one but many corners.

Car-to-x communication means electronic networking of vehicles and roadside in-frastructure, with the aim of exchanging information directly both between road users and between road users and road-side infrastructure such as traffi c lights. Car-to-x communication is a comprehen-sive communication network which any road user can take part in.

Car-to-x communication usually operates via WLAN or mobile phone connections. For standard automotive application, car-to-x communication at present uses high-speed WLAN networking based on the high-frequency WLAN IEEE802.11p/ G5A standard, which is designed to allow real-time communication. The protocol allows large numbers of participants to communicate simultaneously without interference. At the same time the per-formance of mobile phone networks is improving steadily, with an increase in bandwidth and a reduction in data lag – the so-called latency times. Therefore, this type of medium, too, is becoming increasingly important for car-to-car com-munication, for example as a complement to direct communication via WLAN.

Integrated and connected vehicle functions are nothing new within the BMW Group. Connectivity for infotain-ment applications already made its debut in the 1990s with BMW ConnectedDrive. For some years, the focus of development work in the BMW Group has been shifting increasingly towards integrated and con-nected comfort and, in particular, safety functions. Here, car-to-x communication opens up completely new potential. In

the event of a hazard, extensive con-nectivity between vehicles allows on-coming and following traffi c to be given advance warning of potential dangers, and therefore to react appropriately and in good time. But warnings are only one possible use of this communication plat-form. Since infrastructure data, too – for example about traffi c light phases – can be integrated into this communication system, information is available which allows drivers to easily adapt their driving style for even greater effi ciency, thereby signifi cantly reducing vehicle emissions. This technology therefore off ers new solu-tions not only for proactive safety and ac-cident prevention but also for intelligent energy management.

“The more information I have about the rest of my journey – for example, if I know in advance when traffi c lights will change, or if I know that an accident has just hap-pened further along the route – the more promptly I can react, which means I have less stress and can either avoid hazardous situations altogether or at least reduce the risk.” (Karl-Ernst Steinberg, Head of Infor-mation and Communication Technologies at BMW Group Research and Technology).

In combination with existing vehicle sen-sors, car-to-x communication provides a valuable starting point or enhancement for a wide range of BMW ConnectedDrive driver assistance and information sys-tems of the future. These technologies, combined with the driver’s own input, create an extremely high-performance macrosystem capable of ensuring a safe and effi cient journey from start to fi nish.

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/201110Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/201110Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu IV/201110

ThyssenKrupp Elevator presents two space-saving innovationsThyssenKrupp Elevator has two revolu-tionary new products for its customers – the iwalk moving walkway and the Velino Compact escalator. Both combine for-ward-looking technology with optimum passenger comfort and environmental compatibility. With their reduced external dimensions, the installations are neat in appearance – and their space-saving design makes them equally suitable for both new installation and modernization projects. Wider steps and pallets not only provide more space and comfort for pas-sengers but also signifi cantly increase the transport capacity of the installations.

The modular design of the iwalk provides outstanding versatility and fl exibility. Un-like conventional moving walkways, the horizontal model can be installed directly on existing fl oors – with no additional construction work required. Thanks to this unusual concept, individual segments can be added or removed whenever neces-sary in the shortest possible time – the entire installation can even be moved to a new location. That makes the iwalk

especially suitable for metro stations, train stations, airports and exhibition grounds. “With these two new products, Thyssen-Krupp Elevator is responding to increasing demands from customers for fl exibility and sustainability,” says Dr. Olaf Berlien, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG. “We have added two outstanding innovations to our portfolio which set new standards in the industry, and not just because of their compact design and environmental benefi ts.”

For example, both the iwalk and the Velino Compact can be fi tted with a new energy saving system. Depending on the num-ber of passengers, the system optimizes power consumption without reducing operating speed. As well as cutting energy requirements this also extends the life time of the drive system. Further savings are achieved by using modern compo-nents and effi cient LED lighting. And the compact size of the systems also adds to their green credentials.

Membrane structures for stadiumsWhen building stadiums, planners are increasingly taking advantage of the ben-

efi ts off ered by membrane architecture, enabling the creation of new and modern forms. Two well-known examples are the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

The framework conditions for the new roof of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin placed considerable demands on the ar-chitects, as the roof had to remain within the footprint of the existing grandstand structure, which is listed as a building of major historic interest. At the same time, supports and masts should restrict the view of the spectators as little as possible. More diffi cult still: the new roof had to be installed without the need to cease operation of the stadium. A light steel cantilever arm construction was selected for the roofi ng around the circumference of the stands, with an opening above the historic Marathon Gate. This also means that the line of sight to the green of the Maifeld and to the bell tower – so important to the conservationists – is preserved. 132 external supports and 20 slim boom supports in the upper stand area, with a diameter of 250 mm at their base, bear the majority of the weight of the steel structure of the apparently “fl oating” roof. The company Hightex GmbH in Rimsting – a specialist in the

Civil engineering


area of textile architecture – covered the upper side of the support structure with 27,000 m² of woven glass fi ber membrane distributed over 77 individual sectors. The membranes consist of woven glass fi ber fabric coated with 3M Dyneon PTFE and 3M Dyneon Fluorothermoplastic, which exhibits tensile strength of up to several tonnes per square meter whilst weighing only one to one and a half kilograms per square meter.

The Green Point Stadium in Cape Town was newly built for the 2010 Football World Cup. In this case, a multifunctional arena was created with a spectator ca-pacity of 68,000 seats, all off ering the best-possible view. The fl owing facade of the stadium consists of an abstract, light membrane structure consisting of extensive concave elements. The trans-lucent surface absorbs and refl ects day-light in a unique fashion: at sunset the stadium shimmers with a reddish light, which turns blue on summer days and gray during unfavorable weather condi-tions. The wave-form roof was clad with composite safety glass and covered on the interior with a translucent mem-brane skin. Technical elements such as sound equipment and lighting could be integrated between the glass cladding and the membrane. Verseidag Indutex GmbH in Krefeld, a company specializing in textile architecture, supplied the textile load-bearing structures made of duraskin® membranes. Various coating processes on diff erent carrier and coating materi-als result in optimum protection, similar to a second skin. Like those used in the Berlin stadium, the duraskin® membranes also consist of glass fi ber textile material

coated with Dyneon PTFE and Dyneon Fluorothermoplastic.

The coating provides the membrane with the features that are decisive for robust use in stadium construction: the surface of the coating is very smooth and is per-manently resistant even to extremes of weather – as long years of experience in diff erent climatic zones testify. In addition, Dyneon PTFE is resistant to virtually all chemicals and exhibits good mechanical characteristics. A major advantage of PTFE coatings is that they do not require sof-teners or stabilizers, which can evaporate over time, leading to embrittlement of the coating. Membranes coated with Dyneon PTFE and Dyneon fl uorothermoplastic remain smooth and elastic, off ering no cracks where bacteria or molds can gain a foothold, and even after many years in position, a shower of rain is generally suffi cient in order to clean the roofs. The translucency of the fabric guarantees op-timum lighting conditions for spectators and players during daylight.

Plenty of light for a modern working environmentA new example of great architecture has stood since September 2009 directly on the River Elbe, in the harbor district of “HafenCity” in the Hanseatic City of Ham-burg: the new, state-of-the-art Unilever Headquarters for Germany, Austria and Switzerland can well be described as an offi ce block of the new era.

The Unilever building combines open-ness, vitality and quality of life in a quite unique way. The individual departments within the building are linked by means of stairs, bridges or ramps. From their so-called “open space workstations”, employees can enjoy the view over the HafenCity and the Elbe or look out on the central atrium, which forms the core of the building. It was therefore no accident that the building was honored with the World Architecture Festival Award at the end of 2009 as the “Best Offi ce Building in the World”. Around 6,400 m2 of high-perfor-mance fi lm of the fl uoropolymer material Dyneon(TM) ETFE are incorporated in the facade of the offi ce complex, making it one of the largest single-layer fi lm facades in the world. Ever greater numbers of architects are taking advantage of the benefi ts of these light fi lm structures, which combine the possibilities of great freedom of design with very favorable properties as regards light.

The innovative facade was executed by the company Vector Foiltec in Bremen, a worldwide technological leader in the fi eld of innovative building with ETFE. The membrane casing consists of indi-vidual TEXLON® facade elements, with NOWOFLON ET® high-performance fi lm stretched over, which were placed in front of the insulating glass of the building. The fi lm was manufactured by NOWO-FOL Kunststoff produkte GmbH & Co. KG from Siegsdorf. NOWOFLON ET® high-performance fi lms made of Dyneon ETFE exhibit tensile strength of much more than one tonne per meter while weigh-ing themselves only half a kilogram per square meter. They are also character-ized by very high tear and puncture re-sistance, resistance to hail and excellent transparency in visible light – which has a very positive eff ect on the atrium of the Unilever headquarters. Because of their low-energy surface, which does not off er any opportunity for molds and bacteria to adhere, a simple shower of rain is suf-fi cient to clean the facade. A particular benefi t for large-scale buildings, such as this, is that the highly-transparent fi lms of Dyneon ETFE are fi re-classifi ed according to Class B1. The lifetime of the fi lms also fulfi lls expectations, as the material has demonstrated its worth in architectural applications for more than 20 years and has proven extremely hard wearing. This means that these fi lms are virtually main-tenance-free – an important factor when calculating costs over the entire life cycle.


Trade Fair for Industrial

Heating & Cooling

TechnologyWTT Expo 2011

(27th – 29th September 2011,Karlsruhe) maintains its position as an important

platform for the industry of industrial heatingand cooling technology

With 140 exhibitors from 16 countries and 1,800 trade visitors from ten countries, the WTT Expo performed quite well as an exclusive platform for the industry. The WTT Expo, which for the fi rst time did not take place as part of a trade fair combination, thus proved its importance for the user industries. The Trade Fair for Industrial Heating and Cooling Technol-ogy opened its doors under the patron-age of Parliamentary Secretary of State Katherina Reiche, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety, for the forth time at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center.

“We are proud that the WTT Expo has as a further specialised trade fair found a permanent place within our portfolios. We are very pleased about our record number of exhibitors this year and about the fact that according to the survey every 3rd visitor uses the WTT Expo as the only exhibition for obtaining information,” ex-plained Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH.

The exhibitors appreciate the WTT Expo as a platform for the industry with a very high quality of trade visitors. 80 per cent of the exhibitors support the pro-duct-related trade fair concept of the WTT Expo.

Every 4th visitor travelled more than 300 km to come to the WTT Expo. 70 per cent of the visitors were satisfi ed with the visit to the exhibition. Their aims were above all to establish and keep contacts, to obtain information on innovations as well as the products and services. 91 per cent of the visitors participate in the procurement decision-making process. About 72 per cent of the trade visitors


intend to make an investment after the exhibition on the basis of the information obtained.

Extraordinary response to the specialist supporting programThe market leaders of the industry presented themselves at the special “Hall Heating Systems” exhibition, tak-ing place for the fi rst time on occasion of the WTT Expo. “We are proud that we succeeded in convincing eleven companies for our very first special exhibition. The thematic integration into the WTT Expo was unanimously considered to be coherent and appropri-ate. We would like to expand this area for the next event, since especially the topic of heat recovery is the common denominator for the core topics of the WTT Expo, the heat exchanger and heat carrier technology as well as for the hall heating systems,” explained Harald Krüss-mann, initiator and project manager of the WTT Expo.

The supporting program turned out to be highly popular. 37 per cent of the trade visitors used the opportunity to obtain detailed information through the special-ist program.

A great success was the lecture series “Modern hall buildings – an important

market for energy-effi cient systems” in the framework of which Prof. Dr. Ing. Bert Oschatz, ITG Institute for Building Systems Engineering Research and Application Dresden, presented fi rst results of the studies on decentralised hall heating sys-tems, providing the basics for a correct energetic assessment of hall buildings and their heating systems. Concretely, the results are to be integrated into the revision of the DIN V 18599 standard and thus into the update of the German En-ergy Conservation Regulation announced for 2012.

The “Heat Exchanger Forum” of energie-cluster.ch, which was represented on the WTT Expo with a Swiss Pavillon, was very well received by the trade visitors: “We were surprised and very pleased about the great acceptance of the ‘Heat Exchanger’ forum. More than 60 partici-pants, more than we had expected, came to our specialised presentations,” sum-marised Jürg Kärle, Managing Director of energie-cluster.ch.

Exhibitor statements to the WTT Expo:“We have reached our goals: The interest of the visitors was great. We had promis-ing contacts and many new contacts on our booth.” Lars Dörge, Product Manager of G.A.M. Heat GmbH.

“For us, the WTT Expo went very well. We had many interesting new contacts on our

booth, who were already well informed. Here we are at the right place; the WTT Expo is our platform.” Marcel Schieskow, HTA. WärmeRückgewinnung.

“We had interesting talks with dealers, exhibitors, staff members from research & development and suppliers. The sup-porting program, in which interesting aspects were highlighted, has made a very good impression on us.” Katharina Schmelzer, Account Manager, Siemens AG – Industry Sector.

“We had high-quality and interesting contacts on our booth. The organisation of the exhibition was perfect.” Udo Blume, PTD Business Developement Manager, Alfa Laval Mid Europe GmbH

“We are glad to have the WTT Expo as a presentation platform between the ACHEMA. The range of exhibitors and the qualifi ed specialist audience make the WTT Expo an interesting exhibition.” Martin Kessler, Ingenieurbüro für Kor-rosionsschutz im Chemieapparatebau (Engineering Company for Corrosion Protection in the Chemical Equipment Industry) and working for Mersen France Py s.a.s.

The next WTT Expo will take place in September 2013 in the Karlsruhe Trade Fair.

Further information under:www.wtt-expo.com

Contact for the WTT EXPO:

PP PUBLICO Publications Harald Krüssmann Tel.: +49 160 17 91 233 Fax: +49 201 79 88 278 E-mail: [email protected]


News from Electrotechnics

at the ELECTRON,

FOR ENERGO and

FOR AUTOMATION

Trade Fairs

Companies from the sectors ofelectrotechnics, power enginee-

ring, automation, electronicsand other areas will present their

news in Prague again, this timeat the second edition of the Ele-ctrotechnical Trade Fair known

as ELECTRON which is to be heldalready on 13–16 March 2012 at the ExhibitionCentre Prague Letnany (“PVA EXPO PRAHA”).

The organisers have prepared several important changes for exhibitors and visitors. The fi rst of them is the shift of the timing of this event to the month of March, which means that ELECTRON will become for many companies the place where they will present their news and innovations from the sector. A positive change, for both the ELECTRON Trade Fair and for the entire Prague exhibition activities, is construction of new halls in the place of the former halls 3 and 4, which can provide the exhibitors with a better quality of background facilities, lecture premises as well as a wider range of services off ered.

One of the positive changes is without any doubt also the simultaneous organisation of the ELECTRON trade fair with the tradi-tional trade fairs FOR INDUSTRY – the 11th International Trade Fair of Engineering Technologies and FOR LOGISTIC – the 3rd International Trade Fair of Transport, Lo-gistics, Storage and Handling. This means that all exhibitors can address a wider group of visitors and potential customers.

Likewise, exhibitors also have the pos-sibility of presenting themselves at spe-cialised trade fairs FOR ENERGO – the 1st International Trade Fair of Electricity Generation and Distribution and FOR AUTOMATION – the 1st International Trade Fair of Automation, Control Technology and Measuring Equipment. Firms from


all these sectors can now present their products and services to their traditional as well as new customers for the fi rst time in the Czech Republic and focus their presentations on their target groups. The simultaneous trade fairs have a strong media campaign in relevant specialised media and are supported by professional organisations from individual areas of activities.

The trade fairs are held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Eco-nomic Chamber of the Czech Republic, Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Czech Electrotechnical Association, Czech Technical University, Czech Association of Telecommunications, Brno University of Technology and others.

Already now, such companies as ABB s.r.o., Helukabel CZ s.r.o., Rittal Czech, s.r.o., GHV Trading spol. s r.o., HEIRU CZ s.r.o., Lapp Kabel s.r.o., Turck s.r.o., SMA Czech Repub-lic, Pražská energetika a.s., ELEMAN s.r.o., Elsaco – Ing. Jindřich Franc and many others have fi led their registration forms for participation. “We assess the ELEC-TRON Trade Fair positively. Our aim – to meet our partners and customers, and to present our innovations – was fulfi lled by us 100 %. We were highly surprised by the large number of visitors, which was very good for the 1st edition, and most visitors were professionals in the fi eld of electrical installations, which is our target group. It has been defi nitely confi rmed that an electrotechnical trade fair has its traditional place and justifi ca-tion in Prague – the centre of the Czech Republic,” states Jiří Kubeš, Marketing Department Manager of ABB s.r.o., org. unit “Elektro-Praga”, in his comments on the company’s participation at the fi rst edition of the trade fair.

Trade fair visitorsThe number of visitors coming to the trade fair is supported by a strong media campaign focused on professionals in the fi elds of electrotechnics, electronics and power engineering, which has started in professional periodicals and on spe-cialised Internet servers already at the beginning of June 2011. The campaign will take place not only in the Czech Re-public, but also abroad. Before the term of the trade fair, the media promotion will be extended with billboards, radio, daily press, professional magazines and Internet portals focused on the general public. The trade fair media campaign will cover the Slovak Republic as well for

2012. Outputs in a number of professional periodicals and web facilities are planned. The number of visitors is supported by the actual exhibitors as well. For this reason, the ELECTRON trade fair off ers the chance of free return tickets, chosen randomly and electronically. Besides this, the trade fair promotion will be focused, in a tar-geted manner, besides the electrotechni-cal industry, also on other industrial areas, such as engineering, building industry and many other fi elds.

Accompanying programmesOf course, the entire trade fair will be ac-companied by lectures, conferences and seminars aimed at current topics, which are prepared in cooperation with leading experts and important organisations of individual sectors. The event known as ENERGO SUMMIT 2011 is planned on the fi rst day of the trade fair and its main top-ics will be renewable energy resources, energy eff ectiveness and savings, strat-egies for competitiveness, sustainable and safe energy and new technologies as a support for energy supply stability and security. Another interesting workshop will be focused on the current topic of electromobility.

An integral part of the event will be vari-ous competitions for exhibitors and visi-tors. One of the competitions prepared is the GRAND PRIX of the ELECTRON 2012 Trade Fair and of the simultaneously held trade fairs. Any exhibitor can register its product in this competition and registered products will be assessed by a profession jury consisting of leading experts in the various disciplines. The announcement of

the competition winners will take place at the Festive Evening Party of exhibitors. Another opportunity for exhibitors is the competition TOP EXPO of the ELECTRON 2012, FOR ENERGO 2012 and FOR AUTO-MATION 2012 Trade Fairs – competition for the best arrangement of the Trade Fair exposition. The evaluation will cover the aesthetic design and originality, as well as the approach of business staff and hostesses towards customers.

Media partners of the trade fair A great emphasis is placed by the organis-ers on the media support of the trade fair in a number of professional magazines, Internet servers and periodicals. These are, for example AZ Elektro, Energie apeníze, Elektroinstalatér, Praktická elektronika, A radio, Elektrotechnika v praxi, Radio-amatér, Automa, Elektro, Světlo, Energe-tika, JMO, Interiér veřejných budov, Energy,Pro energy, Svět průmyslu, Energie kolem nás, New Energy, Sdělovací technika, TZB info and many others.

It is still possible to register at the Trade Fair and to become one of the exhibiting companies presenting their innovations at PVA EXPO PRAHA. For more informa-tion please contact the Trade Fair team or visit www.electroncz.cz, www.forenergo.cz, www.forautomation.cz.

ABF, a.s.Mimoňská 645190 00 Praha 9tel.: +420 225 291 136e-mail: [email protected]


International Trade Fair of

Low-Energy Building

FOR ARCH The FOR ARCH 2011 trade fair reception is now over but the next event is already approach-

ing. The 23rd International BuildingTrade Fair FOR ARCH, will be held on

18–19 September 2012 at PVA EXPO PRAGUE, and its main topic will be

low energy building again.

First of all, it is important to express thanks to the exhibitors, visi-tors, media partners and all cooperating companies for their participation, support and cooperation within the framework of FOR ARCH 2011.

We believe that each of the 78,645 visi-tors found at the trade fair what he or she was looking for and that the exhibitors presenting their off ers at a net exhibi-tion area exceeding 17,000 m2 achieved the expected results. We hope that the trade fair was a pleasant and commer-cially successful event. This year there was a mass TV campaign thanks to which we have achieved a larger number of visitors coming to the trade fair, in comparison with the last year’s event. Also for the 22nd edition of the trade fair we prepared a rich accompanying programme which was complemented with a special com-petition with the trade fair partner, BEST, a.s., a leading concrete paving system manufacturer, for prizes of a total value of CZK 500,000.-.

The complete Trade Fair overview was published in FOR ARCH 2011 Final Report and can be found on our web-pages but still it is useful to mention some impor-tant facts:

Number of exhibitors: 769Number of countries: 15


Net exhibition area (in m2): 17,076Number of Trade Fair visitors: 78,645 Number of journalists accredited: 234

FOR ARCH trade fair characteristics:• The largest building trade fair in Bo-

hemia with participation of foreign exhibitors.

• Building trade fair with the longest tradi-tion in the Czech Republic.

• Representation of investors, developers, manufacturers, suppliers, craftsmen and others from the fi elds connected with the building industry.

• Practical presentations of building crafts and trades.

• Professional accompanying pro-gramme – conferences, exhibitions, seminars, workshops.

• Extensive media campaign in the Czech Republic as well as abroad.

• Professional nationwide competitions.

The fact that the FOR ARCH trade fair is perceived by the professional public as a prestigious and at present already tra-ditional presentation of the best products and services in the sector is confi rmed also by the auspices of nine leading institu-tions, chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and the Association of Building Entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic.

As far as the next year’s edition is con-cerned, we have prepared an innovation for all visitors. Simultaneously with the FOR ARCH 2012 trade fair, also the SWIM-MING POOLS, SAUNAS & SPA trade fair will be held and will complement the existing sections. All the news and information for next year’s preparations can be found online at www.forarch.cz.

The upcoming year of this most visited trade fair in the Czech Republic in 2011, will see a return to the Tuesday-till-Satur-day timetable in accordance with requests from both exhibitors and attending pro-fessionals.

On behalf of the team of the organising company, ABF, a.s., we are looking forward to meeting you during preparation and in the course of the next year’s Interna-tional Building Trade Fair FOR ARCH 2012 in Prague.


The 20th annual AMPER

Trade FairThe preparations for the jubilee 20th an-nual international trade fair of electro-technics, electronics, automation and communication technologies AMPER 2012 are fully underway. The traditional festival of all specialists and fans from the fi eld of electric technology, electronics, automation and modern communica-tion technologies will be held between 20th and 23rd March 2012 at the BRNO EXHIBITION CENTER.

Over 20 years of AMPERThe AMPER trade fair has been develop-ing for 20 years. Contemporaries might remember the start of the trade fair in 1993 in the Prague Palace of Culture or the AMPER of 1996 held in the exhibi-tion center in Strahov. With an increas-ing number of exhibitors and increasing requirements on the quality of trade fair services, AMPER moved to the Prague- Holešovice Exhibition Center and then to PVA Letňany Prague. In 2011 AMPER was held at the Brno Exhibition Center for the fi rst time. The connection of one of the most signifi cant and most functional exhibition centers in Central Europe and the largest electric technology trade fair in the Czech Republic and Slovakia al-lowed the trade fair quality in this fi eld to reach a brand new dimension. The Brno Exhibition Center off ers exhibitors the most modern halls with a total net exhibition area of up to 130,000 m2 and a world-class service quality.

Looking back at the previous trade fair580 companies from 24 countries partici-pated in AMPER 2011, which was held in the completely fi lled halls P, F and G1. A total of 42,300 specialists visited the trade fair. Exhibitors presented their new prod-

ucts, entered deals and discussed cur-rent subjects in the fi eld at 27 specialized conferences and seminars visited by 1,230 registered participants. All of this was happening over the course of four days.

Preparations for the 20th year are fully underway

The positive evaluation by exhibitors and visitors of AMPER 2011 predicts its further development. In November the number of registered exhibitors at AMPER 2012 exceeded a signifi cant limit, and over 420 companies from traditional as well as new fi elds have confi rmed their participa-tion in the trade fair. The global electric technology concern SIEMENS will again be presenting itself at AMPER, as well as OEZ, the leader in the fi eld of circuit and low-voltage device protection, and

The preparations for the jubilee 20th annual interna-tional trade fair of electrotechnics, electronics, auto-

mation and communication technologies AMPER 2012 are fully underway. The traditional festival of all spe-

cialists and fans from the field of electric technology, electronics, automation and modern communication

technologies will be held between 20th and 23rd March 2012 at the BRNO EXHIBITION CENTER.


the fi eld of industrial automation will be represented by companies such as TURCK, PHOENIX CONTACT, BLUMENBECKER, OM-RON, B+R AUTOMATIZACE, FESTO and AUTOCONT CONTROL SYSTEMS. New products from its divisions will also be presented by the world leader in auto-mation and energy technologies – ABB.

New products from the fi eld of electric energy will be presented by e.g. KOČÍ-VALÁŠEK, LABARA, Power – Energo, Synfl ex Elektro, ZPA Smart Energy, Delta Energy Systems, DRIBO, EEIKA Brno, EGE, ELBA, ELPRO – ENERGO, IBC SOLAR and others.

The section of conductors and cables will include the world-class producer and sup-plier of cable technology – LAPP KABEL, the signifi cant German company HELUKA-BEL as well as for instance Tyco Electronics Czech and KABELOVNA Děčín Podmokly.

The traditional fi eld of electric installation technology will contain the presentation of the pure Czech company KOPOS KOLÍN producing mostly electric underground material, as well as ENIKA.CZ, ELEMAN, KLAUKE z. NITSCH, SILENT – CZECH, OB-ZOR v.d. and others.

News from the fi eld of intelligence, secu-rity, camera and identifi cation systems and devices will be presented by JABLO-TRON ALARMS, ABBAS, KOUKAAM, ELKO EP, BRADY, ESTELAR and others.

The section on electronic parts and modules will let visit, among others, the stands of Fischer elektronik součástkový distributor, Quittner & Schimek, OFFI-CIAL ELECTRONIC, HARTING, SENO, GM electronic. The area of measurement and testing technology will be represented by the stands of ROHDE & SCHWARZ – Praha, “TMV SS”, BLUE PANTHER, GHV Trading and others. The section of light-ing technology will also be interesting, with presentations of companies such as VYRTYCH, NEDELKO, GREENLUX, ELE-KTROSVIT Svatobořice, ELKOVO Čepelík and many others.

The jubilee 20th year will be held in the modern halls P (15 000 m2), F (7 300 m2), G1 (5 000 m2) and for the fi rst time the prestigious hall V (12 000 m2). In coopera-tion with our specialist partners we are again preparing a range of conferences, seminars, training sessions in the confer-ence halls of the entry hall P, in the Busi-ness Center and in the Holiday Inn hotel.

Special attention will again be given to e-mobility. Visitors will have the option of inspecting electromobiles and taking them for test drives.

We are also preparing a ceremonial formal event for the celebration of the jubilee 20th year of AMPER, on the fi rst day of the trade fair, i.e. 20th March 2012 at 8pm at the representation areas of the New City Hall of Brno.

New – AMPER CAREER DAYAMPER 2012 will not only allow the pres-entation of new products and establish-ment of new business contracts, but also the option of meeting and addressing young talented people from the fi eld and fi nding suitable potential employees.

This meeting with the representatives of companies, specialized schools/uni-versities and students – AMPER CAREER DAY – will occur on Friday 23rd March 2012 directly at AMPER. It allows the unique opportunity to establish communication with potential future employees educated in the fi eld and the option to directly address the requirements and opinions of participants from the fi eld of electric technology, electronics, automation and communication.

Registration for AMPER 2012 is still openAll parties interested in participating in AMPER 2012 may still register. More information is available at www.am-per.cz or contact the AMPER trade fair team ([email protected], tel.: +420 221 992 144).

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu IV/201120 IV/201120

Located on a major railway between

the Russian hubs of Tula and Moscow,

Shchekinoazot is a booming chemical

enterprise with a history of innovation.

With 70 % of its products exported out

of the country, mainly to Central and

Eastern Europe, the company continues

to introduce new products to its range

(electrodialysis units are the latest,

high-tech introduction), while working

consistently, for decades, to mitigate

the environmental impact of its opera-

tions and build a strong community in

the small town where it provides the

majority of jobs and sponsors a range of

social projects.

Jude Bowdler talks to Andrej Tokarev, the fi nancial director of Shchekinoazot, about the company’s long and varied history and its responses to the challenges of the last few decades.

The OriginsThe company’s origins date back to 1946, when the Soviet government decided to build a coal gas manufacturing plant to meet the growing demand for gas in the postwar Moscow and the nearby Tula. The plant, situated in a small village of Shchekino, took nearly a decade to complete, and the gasworks did not start operating until May 1955. Four years later the facility was renamed the Shchekino Chemical Plant and started producing

JSC Shchekinoazot

Changing the Perceptions of Chemistry


caprolactam, methanol, ammonia, urea, formaldehyde, and several other, related, compounds.

In the following years, the name of the plant became syn-onymous with the management method that it pioneered in the late 1960’s. The method, which enabled the plant to boost its production fi gures while signifi cantly reducing the number of employees, was widely discussed and applied throughout the Soviet bloc. With time, it became clear that Shchekino management techniques had their limitations, at least in the context of the 1970’s Soviet economy, and the initial enthusiasm waned.

In the wake of its nationwide fame, which was slowly fad-ing, the plant’s management suddenly found itself facing a challenge that was very local and yet had potentially global implications.

Shchekino, the administrative area where the chemical plant quickly became a focal point by creating new jobs and sponsoring a range of social projects, is also the site of Yasnaya Polyana (literally, “Clear Glade”), the ravishingly beautiful estate of Leo Tolstoy, which is now a museum and a national heritage object. In the 1980’s environmental activists started voicing concerns that emissions from the plant may have an adverse eff ect on the heritage site. The chemical facility responded by closing several of its produc-tion lines. No longer able to manufacture ammonia, urea, and formaldehyde, the plant saw its production fi gures dwindle. Operating at about 50 % of its previous capacity, it

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JSC Shchekinoazot

Changing the Perceptions of Chemistry

continued to produce methanol and cap-rolactam throughout the turbulent 1990’s, when it was privatised and renamed as Shchekinoazot.

By 1998, the company acquired the Efre-movo Chemical Plant, a producer of sul-furic acid and oleum. Since caprolactam requires sulfur for production – and sulfur was a rare commodity at the time – this was an important strategic move.

Modernising for the EnvironmentThe role of Russia’s oldest company in its sector had its downsides: the production process was often ineffi cient and energy-intensive. It was clear that Shchekinoazot could no longer remain competitive un-less all of its facilities underwent a major upgrade.

Rather than following the lead of its col-leagues and doing a simple overhaul of

its equipment, the plant decided to do a full technology replacement, seeking out the newest and the most effi cient to implement at its facilities.

By 2006, it launched its new production facility for methanol processing. A metha-nol production line was the next to un-dergo renewal, and a contract was signed with the legendary Danish company, Hal-dor Topsoe. A 173million Euro project was due to launch in late September. The vision was to construct a state-of-the-art facility that is bound to become the best in Europe.

This project helped the facility reduce its energy consumption by a whopping 95 %, while cutting in half the amount of its emissions.

According to the company’s fi nancial di-rector, Mr. Andrej Tokarev, the environ-ment has been a longstanding concern for the company, particularly since it has been under the watchful eye of environ-mentalists for several decades. Over 200 million, in all, has been spent on projects to reduce Shchekinoazot’s environmental

footprint, and the company achieved a tangible reduction of its CO2 emissions.

Toward Clean Chemical Production“People tend to think that chemistry is something dirty or unpleasant,” refl ects Mr. Tokarev. “Yet, chemistry is increas-ingly very much part of our lives.” With the ever-growing demand for its products, Shchekinoazot is looking confi dently into the future. Since its production process relies heavily on petroleum and gas prod-ucts, it considers itself fortunate to be based in Russia, with its booming oil and gas industry. As Russia transitions from its position as an exporter of raw materi-als to a bigger emphasis on processing, Shchekinoazot can certainly play a part in the process.

Jude Bowdler


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ALVIGO participated in the project Methanol producing plant M-450 for JSC “Shchekinoazot” as Authority Engineering and Detail Engineering Contractor who developed the design documentation as per Russian codes and standards. We have turned an area saving idea into reality to reduce the capital and operating costs for Customer even today.


“Whilst the world crisis came to reach

its peak, we have boosted our produc-

tion volume gradually,” – says Valentin

Zarubin, General Director of Kazremen-

ergo JSC.

With its more than 700 employees and corporate history dating back as far as

1958, the “Kazremenergo” JSC now fi gu-res amidst the top ten companies of Ka-zakhstan. Its products/services pipeline encompasses the repair, reconstruction and modernization of diverse energy equipment, such as steam boilers, en-gines, turbines, generators, transformers, reactors, automatized switchers, control systems, construction and consulting.

To keep in pace with contemporary qual-ity requirements and sustain the ma-nagement’s qualifi cation maturity, the company has recently adopted the ISO 9001-2009 standard, regarding quality management survey and require-ments, which is being implemented into the overall business process together with presidential guidelines and specifi c laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As

Mr. Zarubin himself testifi es: “During the last years, an average of approximately 50 % of the company’s net profi t has been systematically invested into the amorti-zation and modernization of our equip-ment in order to increase productivity and profi ciency parameters.“ Together with their main production plant in Almaty headquarters, the company sustains an impressive automotive fl eet, weight lifting and construction equipment, as well as mobile laboratories, enabling the perfor-mance of maintenance and monitoring survey services at distant energy plants.

The main business lines of Kazremenergo are repair and maintenance of energy equipment, construction and monitor-ing. Although present business trends in global production favor complete

JSC Kazremenergo

We’ve boosted our production volume


replacement of used industrial capacities, the frequent reality in the CIS and nearby region is that numerous energy plants and substations prefer their equipment to be continuously modernized, updated and meticulously monitored, due to unaff ord-able procurement costs of new equip-ment. Often such an approach requires more intelligence and technology skills than in the case of standardized imple-mentation of new infrastructure. That’s where Kazremenergo comes into play.

“We are currently executing a state-commissioned order for the installation of equipment ot the Shebulak energy plant. Three energy blocks are being de-veloped, with the fi rst having been put to service in September. In order to keep to scheduled deadlines, we are cooperat-ing with partners from Russia, as well as the Japanese Hitachi, which supplied the main turbines, and ABB having delivered generators.” The company cooperates with leading Kazakh companies, such as “KEGOC”, “SC Almaty Electric Stations”, “AES Ekibastuz”, “Kazzink”, “Kaztransoil”,

“Kazchrom”, “Kazakhmys” and others. Fur-thermore, Kazremenergo’s engagement reaches out well beyond Kazakhstan itself, encompassing Kirgyzstan, Tajikistan with its Dushanbe and Yavan thermoelectric plant having been put to service after 20 years of frozen activity; commission-ers from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Vietnam, India and Ethiopia complete the client list.

The European vector of Kazremenergo’s activity equally deserves attention – “We are fond of enhancing further our Euro-pean partnerships. In past times European companies played a vital role in supplying our repair plants with modern metalwork-ing equipment; for instance, Lincoln Elec-tric has delivered us key welding layouts. Nowadays Kazremenergo itself is a highly sought-after intermediary between major suppliers of engines like ABB or Siemens on one hand, and their Kazakh end cus-tomers on the other, such as Petra Ka-zakhstan or Kazgermunay. On this stage Kazremenergo, in its quality of long-term service partner for ABB, is responsible for

the installation of engines, troubleshooting,maintenance and monitoring during guarantee period” – states Mr. Zarubin. Kazremenergo does, in the end, sustain solid demand for technologically ad-vanced industrial components, such as seismically-adapted pumps (Almaty lies amidst a seismically highly active region), the latter provided by Lentimex from Slo-vakia, and cranes, furnished by Klinger from Austria.

One may think that in such circumstances, where the company’s role is reduced to providing services upon request, there may be little space left for individual initia-tive to be implied on the client’s behalf. To a certain point that may be so, yet the company’s advisory and consulting importance ought not to be neglected. Thus, Kazremenergo disposes of a num-ber of mobile laboratories, that are per-manently patrolling industry plants and issuing judgements on their operational capabilities. “As far as HR policy is con-cerned, we take pride in the fact that in times when the world is distressed by the


economic crisis, we have been able to create new job op-portunities. During the fi rst half of 2011 we’ve welcomed as many as 65 new employees” – Mr. Zarubin reveals. “Moreover, we sustain close partnership with educational institutes and the academic community, such as the Almaty Institute of Power Engineering and Telecommunications. Between two and fi ve study grants are awarded each year at the company’s expense, safeguarding the awardees’ en-rollment at Kazremenergo once they’ve graduated, with a loyalty period settled for 5 years. The majority of those who have passed are likely to stay for good.” – he further adds.

The company was actively engaged in developing and supporting the newest ecology projects and legislation guidelines, together with state legislative bodies. Worth mentioning is the project of modernization of the Almaty thermoelectric plant’s burner devices. Kazremenergo, in cooperation with the Pavlodar Research Center and academics from Novosibirsk, have enabled the plant to reduce substantially the blowout of nitric oxide into the atmosphere. Moreover, Kazremenergo has realized, upon the initiative of SC “Almaty Electric Stations”, several pro-jects of purifi cation of fl ue gases, using instead of elec-trofi lters emulgators only. The purifi cation ratio averages some 99.5 %, depending on the quality and homogene-ity of fuels utilized. “Considering the severe ecological

JSC Kazremenergo

We’ve boosted our production volume


restrictions on environment pollution, and huge fi nes put on behalf of legislation violation, most companies apprehend the advantages of keeping to the rules and are motivated to safeguard them.” This applies even to the development of nuclear plants, of which Kazakhstan as yet has none.

In a period where the outer world is per-manently troubled by uncertainty, mar-ket volatility and overall economic crisis, Kazremenergo constantly increases its production volume and turnover. Nor has the company acquired any dubious funds in any way, neither has it speculated with versatile market assets. The only trouble-some issue might have arisen from the somewhat restrained payment ability of several clients, but, nonetheless, as Mr. Zarubin concludes – “with the major-ity of our clients being energy suppliers, they forcibly are likely to sustain a certain minimal output level… During any times, people need heating, electricity and gas, lighting, which are primary needs. This is the main reason why we haven’t been damaged by the crisis. And even as it reached its peak, we have boosted our production volume gradually.”

Stanislav Slabeycius


Kirov Non-Ferrous Plant – Self-Sufficiency

as a Cushion Against Economic Upheavals

The Ural region of Russia is known for its

rich mineral resources, so it is unsurpris-

ing that it became home to some of the

country ’s largest mining and metal-

lurgical companies. One of these is the

Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company

(UMMC), a large holding with a focus on

mining, non-ferrous metal processing,

and machine building. The company ’s

operations cover the entire process

chain – from mining to the manufac-

turing of copper cathodes, rods, rolled

non-ferrous metal products, and wiring

to the production of high-end products,

such as radiators for automobiles and

railway locomotives.

Jude Bowdler interviewed Aleksey Shcherbakov, Sales and Marketing Di-

rector of the holding’s Non-Ferrous Metal Division to learn about its position in the global market and its responses to recent economic developments.

Four Companies Under One RoofThe Non-Ferrous Metal Division of UMMC (UMMC – NFMP) was formed in 2007, bringing together several large metal-lurgy facilities including Kirov Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant, a producer of plates, sheets and wires from copper and copper alloys for a wide range of indus-tries. In addition to managing this major enterprise, the Non-Ferrous Metal Division

oversees the operations of another Rus-sian non-ferrous metal processing facil-ity located at Kolchugino. Both plants are consistently listed among Russia’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of rolled metal products, with the Kirov Plant ranking fi rst and the Kolchugino facility coming third, countrywide.

The Non-Ferrous Metal Division is also responsible for streamlining the sales operations of two other plants: Revda Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant, and FBC Majdanpek – a copper tube producer in Serbia. Taken together, the four above-mentioned plants manufacture a wide range of items from copper, brass, copper-nickel alloys, and bronze. Needless to say, all of these four companies are major taxpayers in their regions, forming the


backbone of local economies and creating thousands of jobs.

Kirov Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant, A Russian GiantWith its monthly output of up to 2,500 tonnes of rolled metal products, Kirov Non-Ferrous Metal Processing Plant, re-mains the holding’s largest production facility. The plant was established in 1956 in the historic city of Kirov, approximately 900 kilometres from Moscow. Kirov Plant uses fl at and ring rolling technologies to produce a wide range of products, from general-purpose sheets used in construc-tion and machine-building to thin radiator strips. Its products also include ribbons of complex alloys used for minting coins, which the plant started to produce in 1996, along with sheets and ribbons used in the defence industry.

Today, Kirov Plant is a regular supplier to several major companies outside of Russia, including the international giant Phillips. Most of the plant’s export is deliv-ered to the UK, India, and the Middle East, along with many European countries: the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland.

This year, Kirov Plant fi nished a major overhaul that took approximately fi ve years and over €30 million to complete. Improvements included new, state-of-the-art equipment for each segment of the production line. The new technol-ogy enables production of high-precision strips of up to 25 microns in thickness, making it Russia’s and Eastern Europe’s only facility capable of doing so.

Modernisation enabled the plant to sig-nifi cantly increase the quality of its prod-ucts, while reducing production time. Inevitably, Kirov Plant experienced an un-precedented growth in production: over the nine months of 2011, its output was 8 % greater as compared with the same period of the preceding year, which is all the more striking as so many companies are experiencing stunted growth in the wake of the fi nancial crisis.

Upgrading Production and Moving ForwardIn order to meet market requirements the company needs continuous improve-ment of its equipment. Hence moderniza-tion – a permanent process which goes on all the plants of The Non-Ferrous Metal Division. ”Despite these fi gures, we must

continue to move forward,” says Aleksey Shcherbakov, Sales and Marketing Direc-tor. “During the three – fi ve years, starting next year, the program of reconstruc-tion of equipment at our facilities will be aimed at achieving compliance quality of products with the highest international standards, as well as maintaining our competitive advantage in the European and Asian markets.”

UMMC – NFMP is the most dynamic com-pany in the market of rolled copper and its alloys. Its development was supported by the resource base of its holding com-pany, UMMC. In addition, it helps its Non-Ferrous Division to work realising that the company’s future is to improve the production and ongoing training of staff .

Today, many rolled copper consumers in Western and Eastern Europe think-ing of tomorrow, have signed long-term agreements with The UMMC – NFMP with transparent terms of pricing. That’s why the UMMC – NFMP is steady on its feet and looks ahead confi dently. The UMMC – NFMP is the leader of Russian copper industry, which is proud of its partners and each consumer of its products.

Jude Bowdler

Our products are:

Through Hardened Rolls

Surface Hardened Rolls

Special Rolls

Cast Iron Rolls for Ferrous Metallurgy

Special Machined Spare Parts

Rehardering of Used Roll

Spare parts for rolling mills

Kolding d.o.o.Nicina 12c

2391 Prevalje, Slovenia

ww

w.k

oldin

g.si

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ABB is a world leader in energy and

automation technologies. The company

enables its customers in the energy

supply business to improve their

services whilst reducing environmental

impact at the same time. ABB employs

approximately 130,000 staff in over 100

countries.

In Switzerland ABB employs around 6,600 people, and focuses mainly on energy and automation technologies as well as delive-ring systems and complete solutions for organisations within the industrial and supply segments.

The Swiss sales offi ce looks after its local customers through regional offi ces and key account teams. It provides its custom-ers directly with services and solutions from its portfolio and enables effi cient communications to all parts within ABB Switzerland.

The Swiss service team ensures that the customers’ investments achieve optimal results – from spare parts to consulting and optimisation through to outsourcing certain services. ABB’s service packages and products contribute greatly to maxi-mising the return on investment and the availability of products and investments.

ABB operates one of its seven R&D centres in Baden-Dättwil, employing around 170 staff from up to 25 countries; around two thirds of those are scientists.

Power ProductsPower Products are the key components to transmit and distribute electricity. The division incorporates ABB’s manufactur-ing network for transformers, switchgear, circuit breakers, cables and associated equipment. It also off ers all the services needed to ensure products’ performance and extend their lifespan. The division is subdivided into three business units.

Power SystemsPower Systems off ers turnkey systems and services for power transmission and distri-bution grids, and for power plants. Substa-tions and substation automation systems are key areas. Additional highlights in-clude fl exible alternating current trans-mission systems (FACTS), high-voltage

ABB Schweiz AG

Power and Productivity


direct current (HVDC) systems and network management systems. In power genera-tion, Power Systems off ers the instrumen-tation, control and electrifi cation of power plants. The division is subdivided into four business units.

Discrete Automation and MotionThis division provides products, solutions and related services that increase industrial productivity and energy effi ciency. Its motors, generators, drives, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), power electro-nics and robotics provide power, motion and control for a wide range of automa-tion applications.The leading position in wind generators and a growing off ering in solar complement the industrial focus, leveraging joint technology, channels and operations platforms.

Low Voltage ProductsThe Low Voltage Products division manu-factures low-voltage circuit breakers, switches, control products, wiring ac-cessories, enclosures and cable systems to protect people, installations and elec

tronic equipment from electrical overload. The division further makes KNX systems that integrate and automate a building’s electrical installations, ventilation sys-tems, and security and data communica-tion networks.

Process AutomationThe main focus of this ABB business is to provide customers with products and

solutions for instrumentation, automation and optimization of industrial processes. The industries served include oil and gas, power, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, metals and minerals, marine and turbocharging. Key customer benefi ts include improved asset produc-tivity and energy savings.

Silke Humphrys

Simple adaptation of the management variables

Highest security of supply through system-based management

Cost savings through optimised inventory levels and increased rotation

Wireless system for the highest possible flexibility

Permits automatic inventory

Maintenance-free

weightLOG – Fully-automatic order systemC-parts procurement without manual intervention thanks to sensor-controlled load cells SFS unimarket AG

C-Teile Management Nefenstrasse 30CH-9435 HeerbruggT +41 71 727 52 02F +41 71 727 53 [email protected]

SFS unimarket AGC-Teile Management Nefenstrasse 30CH-9435 HeerbruggT +41 71 727 52 02F +41 71 727 53 [email protected]


In October of this year, German com-mercial construction company Goldbeck celebrated ten years in the solar power business, having founded its subsidiary GOLDBECK Solar back in 2001. Since then the company has undertaken more than 350 projects, combining its expertise in building and construction with harness-ing the cheap and readily available power of the sun.

MilestonesThe fi rst project realised by the new com-pany was a 272 kW installation in Rott-weil, Germany, in 2002. The success of this fi rst project boosted the fl edgeling fi rm’s confi dence and paved the way for

further successful installations, such as the construction of a 50,000 sqm roof installation on a BMW warehouse – at the time the largest such installation in the world, with an output capacity of 3.2 MW. A further crucial milestone was the company’s fi rst project in Spain in 2007/2008 in Murcia.

Think ‘Project’In a recent interview, founder and manag-ing director of GOLDBECK Solar, Joachim Goldbeck, refl ected on what makes the company an ideal partner for solar power projects: “I think one of the key factors that makes us perhaps a bit diff erent from a lot of our competitors is that we always

think ‘project’. We see the installation in its entirety, the unit of building and solar installation, as well as the construction phase and life cycle of the project. This enables us to deliver a very high qual-ity product and ensures a much closer customer relationship. We off er excellent guarantee conditions as we very closely audit the quality of our output and work only with long-term established compo-nent manufacturers. “

The future of solar energyMr Goldbeck believes that the share of solar power in the energy mix will rise sig-

GOLDBECK Solar GmbH

Celebrating 10 Years of Sunshine Power


nifi cantly by 2020 to perhaps nine or 10 % from the current two to three per cent, making solar power a standard element within each home and business building. It will become embedded within the grid allowing accurate adjustment according to current requirements. An important area for solar power will be electric mo-

bility, creating solar ‘petrol’ stations for charging electric vehicles. And what role will GOLDBECK Solar be playing in all of this? “It is our goal to become successful on an international platform,” explains Mr. Goldbeck. “Advising customers as to how to achieve the maximum benefi ts from their installations will be a strong fo-

cus for us, as well as off ering maintenance for third-party systems. It is my personal belief that solar equipment will become more intelligent and controllable, and we intend to play an integral part in this development.”

Silke Humphrys

IV/201135

SPAETERWe work for your success

... for more than 20 years we have been supporting the prospering progress of the GOLDBECK Company, supplying beams and sections from our own stock as well as third-party delivery.

A further focus of our delivery program are hollow sections and heavy plates in different types of qualities.

We are an independent and privately owned steel-stockist and will work for your success.

Carl Spaeter GmbH Alleestraße 5-27 D-46049 Oberhausen Tel.: +49 208 822 0 Fax: +49 208 822 222 [email protected]


The best ideas and engineering solu-

tions are often products of an incorpo-

ration of people and companies with

different background and experience,

but with common goals and ambitions.

This is exactly what happened with

MAZ-MAN, a joint venture that has been

created by the Belorussian MAZ plant

and the MAN concern from Germany.

The joint plant was founded in 1998 by automotive concern MAN, which is well-known in Europe, and one of the larg-est heavy truck vendors in the CIS, MAZ (Minsk Automotive Plant). The idea behind the creation was to combine innovative engine technologies by the German com-pany with MAZ’s more than 50 years of experience on the ex-USSR market.

Despite the recession of 1998 that began months after the creation of MAZ-MAN, the plant never stopped its work, con-

stantly increasing both staff count and production fi gures. It started with one tractor unit model with 4x2 axle confi gu-ration. Now the plant’s lineup consists of some 10 tractor units and dump trucks, as well as front loaders.

MAZ-MAN employs some 300 people. In 2011, the plant will produce about 150 trucks and 170 loaders, while the maximum production capacity is 2000 one-type 4x2 tractor units and 250 front loaders.

The joint venture is located in Minsk, not far from its “parent” MAZ plant. Basically, at MAZ-MAN there are only R&D and as-sembling facilities, while all the metal-working is done by contractors, including MAZ. Also, MAZ supplies the plant with components, such as axles and engines for front loaders. Trucks produced by the plant are based on MAN D08 and D20 engines.

LineupAt a fi rst glance, the plant seems to be a rival to both of its “parents,” MAZ and MAN, which also produce trucks and ship them all over the world. But the key diff er-ence is that MAZ-MAN has its own niche of highly adjustable vehicles that can be customized to fi t the client’s needs per-fectly thanks to relatively small production capacity of the plant. Global automotive vendors generally lack this ability, focus-ing on the mass-market.

Currently, MAZ-MAN off ers a wide variety of vehicles with axle confi gurations 4x2 and 6x4. These formulas mean, respec-tively, the total number of wheels and the number of driven wheels. The vehicles are traction units and dump trucks, which may be additionally equipped to work in extreme conditions.

MAZ-MAN

Tailor-made Machinery


For instance, the plant ships traction units to Northern regions with minimal work-ing temperature of -50 °C. They are fi tted with additional thermal insulating and independent cabin heating units, as well as reinforced suspension and radiator and headlamp guards.

Apart from trucks, the plant produces front loaders under the BME trademark that are fi tted with engines made in Be-larus. They can serve diff erent purposes depending on attached implements, such as logging blade, fork, open-side grapple, milling cutter for road surface repairs, etc.

“Having diff erent kinds of production allows the company to diversify its busi-ness, making it sustainable and strong,” said Dmitriy Pershtuk, CFO at MAZ-MAN, adding that “during recession times in-vestments in the construction industry shrink, while the agricultural sector con-tinues to grow.”

ClientsMAZ-MAN trucks gained popularity not only on CIS markets, but also in Asia, North Africa, and Latin America. However, ac-cording to Mr. Pershtuk, the main markets for the plant at the moment are Belarus and Russia. MAZ-MAN benefi ted a lot from the creation of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia in 2010, which allows the plant to off er competi-tive prices for customers abroad.

BME front loaders still remain a product for the local market with plans on debut-ing in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, where the plant has already established a service network. The loaders comply with European emission and noise stand-ards, as well as non-written requirements to ergonomics, comfort, and overall quality.

Industry and MarketMarking the main trends in the global heavy automotive industry development, which MAZ-MAN as a modern innovative plant has to match with, Mr. Pershtuk spoke of emission control, comfort for drivers, and fuel effi ciency. These tenden-cies remain carved in stone during last several years, as the industry itself is pretty stable and relatively slow to move in terms of changing its vectors for development. The reason is the high price that has to be paid for any mistake, particularly in the fi eld of security.

In turn, both local and global markets of heavy automotive production are grow-ing steadily, Mr. Pershtuk said. Despite some fl uctuations on the CIS market dur-ing last years related to instability in the construction industry, the overall trend doesn’t seem to change in the near future, while the speed of growth may diff er signifi cantly between countries.

PlansFollowing the development plans, MAZ-MAN is establishing its partner and service network inside and outside CIS, off ering tailor-made solutions to customers all over the world. In the near future the plant is going to debut on the Western European market, adding one more re-gion to its distribution map.

Also, the plant is raising private invest-ments from CIS countries in order to move on. According to Mr. Pershtuk, MAZ-MAN is going to create a network of assembling plants in diff erent countries that would make logistic operations more simple and effi cient. This qualitative shift will make a signifi cant milestone in the company’s development.

Andrii Degeler

GIANETTI RUOTE has manufactured wheels since the beginning of its activity in 1923.

Today GIANETTI RUOTE plays an important role in the steel wheel market of medium-heavy trucks, buses and trailers, especially in Europe.

GIANETTI RUOTE belongs to the Wheel Division of Magnetto Group, which manufactures steel passenger car and truck wheels for the most prestigious European OEM.

GIANETTI RUOTE S.p.A.

VIA STABILIMENTI 3120816 CERIANO LAGHETTOITALY

Tel. +39 02 9612.1


Like the vast majority of plants in the

former Soviet Union that have a history

of more than 25 years Neman Pilot Plant

initially specialized in products for the

defense industry. Until 1988 all the

plant’s production was being exported

outside Belarus, but after the country

gained independence the plant started

its development as a manufacturer of

buses for urban and suburban routes for

domestic and foreign markets.

At this moment, experimental plant Neman located in Lida, Belarus, is fulfi lling orders from the local market and export-ing its products to several CIS countries, such as Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It has about 420 employees, and an area of 1,500 m². The lineup consists of two types of chassis (for large- and middle-sized buses) and several coach modifi cations for diff er-ent purposes. The chassis suppliers are Russian vendor GAZ and Italian Iveco. Coaches are being made at the plant un-der a license by a world famous Italian design atelier Cacciamali.

Working at the local market, the plant faces a challenge of competition with

MAZ, the major Belorussian automotive vendor. As Neman’s marketing director Dmitriy Virshilo says, the only way to suc-cessfully rival this giant is to provide the market with solutions which are not pre-sented in the competitor’s lineup. In this case, the key machines for the Belorus-sian customers are large-sized suburban buses.

HistoryIn the past, experimental plant Neman passed through many obstacles on the way to what it is now. In the early 90s the facilities had been converted from military production into manufacturing LIAZ city buses, designed by a Russian factory with the same name. In the next several years many other Belorussian vendors started to produce components for these buses as part of a governmental program, the objective of which was to minimize the reliance on foreign partners.

The recession of 1998 put the plant in very diffi cult circumstances. The economical in-stability and decline in demand eventually led to suspension of all the manufacturing

lines; it happened twice during the year, and both pauses lasted for about a month. Afterwards the plant also experimented with Gazelle buses from another Russian manufacturer, GAZ, but the production has since been canceled.

In 2001 the plant turned over a new leaf with the beginning of delivery of Neman buses for urban and suburban routes. The new models quickly became rather popu-lar, and the plant survived the recession of 2008 thanks to the governmental pro-gram of municipal vehicle fl eet renewal. Later on the plant’s production was in good demand, and at the moment the manufacturing facilities produce about 250–300 buses every year.

Foreign PerspectivesDespite the success at the CIS market, it is still rather diffi cult for Neman buses to debut in Western Europe due to strict emission policies. For the time being the plant’s production complies to Euro 3 standard, and the transitioning process to Euro 4 has been started recently, while the EU has already introduced Euro 5. At the

Pilot Plant Neman

Relevant Automotive Solutions


same time many of the CIS countries are still stalled with older standards that had been applied in Europe 10–15 years ago.

In this situation the best course of action for Neman is to focus its eff orts on ex-USSR markets. It does not mean though that the manufacturer has no plans to upgrade its facilities in order to jump into EU space. According to Mr. Virshilo, the primary objective in the EU for the com-pany are the Baltic states, where there are no local manufacturers, which makes the competition easier and more transparent.

Catching TrendsIn order to be a successful player on the market it is crucial to see the major incipi-ent trends and to plan the business devel-opment accordingly. As explained by Mr. Virshilo, now in the CIS and particularly in the Russian Federation there is an increase in small private passenger carriers, which are willing to build their vehicle fl eet with durable and comfortable machines. That is why the key product in coming years for this market would be a small-sized bus with a carrying capacity of 3.5 t or 18 pas-sengers, and Neman is already planning to introduce such a product to the market.

Another plan is to localize the production of the existing vehicles. It means adapta-tion of the chassis imported from Russia and Italy for Belorussian components, which will allow the plant to buy more parts locally and make the production even more effi cient. Another opportunity for the plant would be catching up with global vendors in the areas of alternative fuel, such as methane and hydrogen, and vehicles with hybrid engines.

As Mr. Virshilo explains, the only encum-brances on the way are fi nancial mat-ters that can be explained by general problems with attracting investments to Belarus. One of the main issues is that the experimental plant Neman is still a state-owned facility, and the fl ow of funds is being controlled by the subject ministry. However, there is a strong tendency to-wards privatization of such enterprises, and Mr. Virshilo is sure it will happen in the next 5 years.

United We StandIn the meanwhile the plant is in a nego-tiation process about forming a holding company with one of the major Belorus-sian transport manufacturers BelKom-munMash. The deal that might be closed

in the beginning of 2012 would bring new orders for Neman, particularly for bodies for machinery and the new buses lineup.

In addition to this, in the new holding company Neman may face a challenge of adopting a completely new kind of production, electric trains. It would mean signifi cant extension of the plant, and

the beginning of a new era of its devel-opment. The company’s huge expertise, high ambitions, and great results have shown even in diffi cult recession times its high potential both in the local and global markets.

Andrii Degeler


In the town of Baranovichi, Belarus, lies one of the oldest and most successful automobile machinery plants in the country. Its almost 60-year history com-prises nearly every aspect of what the country itself was going through and one wouldn’t exaggerate in assuming that the company’s time-proven viability and its broad production pipeline is, alongside automotive giants like BelavtoMAZ, one of the main industry assets present-day Belarus can rely on. Contemplating the chronology of the company’s develop-ment one is subconsciously reminded of thrilling stories of business-making from the very bottom up a la Horatio Alger. (A popular American novelist of the early 20th century, Alger’s books were fi ctions of self-made men, who through hard work and conscious planning built up prosper-ous businesses, contributing to what is widely regarded as the “American Dream”.) The company’s history reaches back to the heroic wartime days of the “Bagra-tion” operation. Fierce fi ghting against the Nazis was still going on, when in Au-gust 1944 the recently liberated town of Baranovichi was chosen to house a newly

created manufacturing repair plant for truck engines. Slowly people returned home and started rebuilding the ravaged national economy. The modest repair plant, whose capacity accounted for sev-eral dozen repaired engines a month and 190 employees in 1945, placed under new management, whose leadership and ambitious development strategy gradu-ally increased production output. Thus, the 1950s witnessed the introduction of the unit fl ow-line production method, broadening of the items range to en-compass engines to ZIS – and GAZ-lorries, creation of a engineering division aiming to sustain professional maturity of the staff and improved production quality parameters, and fi nally the overall output amounting to as much as 2500 engines units a month. From the 1960s on, the plant became specialized in manufactur-ing automobile assemblies and became known as Baranovichi Automobile Units Plant.

Over the following thirty years the factory adopted more sophisticated production methods and steadily increased output range to massive volumes, focusing on

“trade-mark” automobile components, such as:

• lever shock absorbers for MAZ-210 (1956)

• steering gears for truck for MAZ-200 (1961)

• power pulleys for tractor Belarus (1961);

• hydraulic lift jacks, capacity 25 ton (1961)

• worm screws, steering box cases and steering shafts for tractor Belarus (1962)

• steering boxes for MAZ-500 truck (1964)

JSC “BAAZ” – From a repair plant to CIS-

leader in automobile assemblies production


• telescopic shock absorbers for MAZ-500 (1964)

• hydraulic lift jacks, capacity 12 ton (1956)

Apparently the most important and cru-cial milestone in the company’s history was its fusion with the 1975-created au-tomobile holding BelavtoMAZ, one of the biggest of its kind in the former Soviet Union. “BAAZ” undisputedly became Be-lavtoMAZ’s leading supplier of automotive components, with supply numbers reach-ing for each item respectively:

• lever shock absorbers - 498000 pc/year

• steering boxes - 70300 pc/year

• lift jacks with capacity 12т - 174400 pc/year

• shock absorbers 500А - 221437 pc/year

New circumstances often forcibly bring about new requirements – such was the case with „BAAZ“ within the BelavtoMAZ holding – not only are European stand-ards and quality certifi cation applied by BelavtoMAZ binding per se, they strictly apply to each single BelavtoMAZ sup-plier as well. Since the 1975 fusion BAAZ has greatly improved quality parameters, enhanced its engineering division, taken up cooperation with scientifi c institutes and introduced sophisticated manufac-turing methods, such as - ceramic-metal parts, metal saving sections, press welded shock-absorber heads, advanced pro-cesses of galvanic plating, etc. The plant itself has had its production facilities widely increased, comissioning several compartmentalized sections like the company shop with the fl oorspace of 1182 m2, a shipping department (now the production station of torque members) of the area of 517 m2, in 1987 and the press department (1996 m2). The year 1988 marked the completion of the ma-chine assembly shop, where telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers were produced, of a total area of 7.3 thousand m2. It was equipped with new, highly effi cient ma-chinery and advanced technologies which enabled smooth production and timely dispatch of shock absorbers to custom-ers. Thus, nowadays the total fl oorspace of the plant is an impressive 2 square kilometers, constituting an utterly func-tional infrastructure sub-unit of the town of Baranovichi.

During the 1990s, in diffi cult times of transition to a market economy, „BAAZ“ was severely hit by the destructive pro-cesses that accompanied the downfall of the USSR, namely losing ties to former suppliers and clients, which resulted in production decrease and halting of fl aw-

less business planning. The relaxation of fi xed prices for metals, gas and oil, as well as other supply commodities, transition to free prices balance, an overall insuf-fi ciency of reliable reserve currency and partners demanding monthly cash pay-ment in advance – all this led the compa-ny’s management to reassess the business strategy. The product pipeline was nar-rowed, new realization niches were found (i.e. – railway and metro rolling stock, sockets and mixers for new gas stoves, and bicycle treadles), and many com-missions were taken up on order leading to batch-scale production. The range of items manufactured therefore gradually grew, encompassing by 2000 some 200 products, most of them certifi ed. These, coupled with Belarus‘ stable comission-ing of 30% of the company’s production, and the “BAAZ“ ability to adapt to new demands and circumstances, became cornerstones of the company’s viability and the main reason why no shortages of staff or major production cuts were necessary.

Nowadays, „BAAZ“ is the major producer of automobile assemblies in the CIS, with as much as 30% of production exported abroad to supplement conveyor belts of MAZ, GAZ, MZKT, BelAZ, GAZ, KamAZ, Ural, PAZ, LAZ, LiAZ, LLC Likinsky Bus, VPA Volzhanin, and markets of Ukraine and the Baltic States. Special attention was paid to gaining modern quality certifi ca-tion – the ISO 1690049 standard (in line with Russia adopting its Development strategy for Automobile Industry 2020). The latter has been acquired after two internationally respected audit compa-nies – the United Registration of Systems Ltd and ITF have carried out a meticulous survey of BAAZ‘s production pipeline, manufacturing processes, technological maturity and management profi ciency. Presently the main business focus os-cillates between modernization tasks, increasing production profi ciency, and adapting the pipeline to the diff erenti-ated market environment. Amortization and reequipment are constantly being enhanced, whereby an approximate production breakdown is as follows – 18% pertaining to shock absorbers and dampers, 19% to damper piston rods, the balance to steering gears, hydraulic lift jacks and traction mechanisms, apart from customized batch productions.

The multi-dimensional variety of manu-factured items has put the company’s management in need of creating a proper experimental scientifi c facility, that is cur-rently being developed, and to coop-erate with academic institutions, such

as the Academy of Sciences (Belarus) or the Kiev Papon Institute. The company is constantly in need of qualifi ed staff and skilled personnel, hiring employess from near and far, thus being an essential employment provider and a steadying infl uence on the country’s economy.

Speaking of the crisis, note should be taken that thanks to the company’s ac-cented attachment to Belarus‘ inner mar-ket it suff ered losses but its drop in export volumes, which, although considerable (from $10,800,000 of net turnover in 2008 to $5,500,000 in 2009), is expected to be fully overcome by the company reach-ing the pre-crisis turnover level this year. Having as much as 70% of its stocks pack-age owned by BelavtoMAZ, the company nonetheless proves to be a self-governed body, with its management safeguarding unquestionable competency in issues of market selection, targeting clients and partners, production volumes and pipe-line planning, budget etc. The company‘s attachment to BelavtoMAZ, on the con-trary, enables it to have most of the supply commodities procured at a reduced price, with BelavtoMAZ serving as an intermedi-ary wholesale retailer.

During recent years eff orts have been made to expand to European markets – by now „BAAZ“ has its European partnerships functioning on the principle of develop-ing components (mainly shock absorbers) for imported machinery from companies like Mavro and Saxx. Although the Euro-pean dimension of the company’s activity hasn’t yet gone beyond markets of the Baltic States, Romania and Serbia, it still represents a very attractive opportunity. In its future ambition to conquer Euro-pean horizons the company can rely on its principal assets, i.e. impressive currency reserves, positive trade balance, growing production volume, a highly favorable correlation of production quality, reli-ability and price, trademark and reputa-tion, and fi nally – modern management philosophy, appropriate response and adaptability.

Stanislav Slabeycius


The

“SCHENKER” brand has been a synonym

for stability, reliability and profession-

alism in the area of freight and logistics

services for almost 140 years. Over this

time, the small family firm of Swiss

entrepreneur and founder of groupage

service, Gottfried Schenker, has become

the second largest logistics group in the

world, DB Schenker, which today works

as one team to fulfil its fundamental

commitment, “Supporting firms on their

way to success” in 130 countries around

the world. In the Czech Republic too, it

stands at the fore of the logistics field.

The work of DB Schenker was described

to us in more detail by Tomáš Holo-

moucký, CEO of SCHENKER spol. s r.o.,

based in Rudná, just outside Prague.

“Our company is part of the global lo-gistics network, DB Schenker, one of the top providers of integrated logistics,” says Ing. Tomáš Holomoucký. “Our services include provision of road, rail, air and sea freight and contractual logistics. We are professionals in management of com-prehensive supply chains with long-term experience and strong back-up. Our cus-tomers can rely on us in more than 130

countries around the world, including the Czech Republic, where we have 18 branches in all regions.”

You are a member of the DB Schenker

group. What is your status within the

group?

We represent the global logistics network in this country; our task is not only to con-tribute to achieving the commercial goals of the DB Schenker group, but primarily to ensure a high quality of services and reliability for the DB Schenker customers within the Czech Republic. This country plays a signifi cant role, because due to its position in the centre of Europe, well-developed transport infrastructure and qualifi ed workforce, it off ers excellent conditions for foreign investors. Many of our multi-national customers are relocat-ing their central distribution warehouses.

SCHENKER spol. s r. o.

Rail Freight Increases Five Times


Kim JohansenOn the road 24 hours a dayKim Johansen Transport Group is specialist and market leader within the transport of timesensitive goods

on the European continent. Our main transports are post and parcels, spare parts, fish and air freight. We

primarily carry full loads with daily departures and at fixed times.

Our core competences are: Preparation of total concepts and

customized solutions

Divisions in several European countries

A consistent fleet management system

that allows us and our customers to see

where a particular transport is located

A fleet of more than 350 lorries and

700 drivers

Professional workshop facilities

Network of drivers’ hubs

A constant movement of lorries

These factors ensure that our lorries are never at standstill. The result is quick and efficient delivery of

customer’s goods. From day to day.

Set-up

Our set-up with network of drivers’ hubs and twice as many drivers as lorries enables us to change

drivers en route. This means that while one driver recovers, another takes over the vehicle, and the

customer’s consignment, and carries on to the final destination non-stop. This way we are able to offer

a transport time from for example Oslo to Paris of 28 hours.

For more information contact our sales department [email protected] and find the right solution for your transports.

Read more about Kim Johansen Transport Group on www.kim-johansen.com

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/201144

SCHENKER spol. s r. o.

Rail Freight Increases Five Times

This year your company celebrated

its 20th anniversary of its establish-

ment in the Czech Republic. Can you

pick out three to fi ve key moments in

your history?

We are very proud that our 20 years of existence on the Czech market has been a success. From one branch and four em-ployees we have expanded to have 18 branches, 10 of which are large logistics centres, with 850 employees. Our an-nual turnover exceeds 3 billion crowns. If I was to name the main milestones in the evolution of our company, it would be the year 1997 when we merged with the Swedish haulage corporation, BTL AB (called Scansped in the Czech Republic) and signifi cantly penetrated the markets in Scandinavia and the Baltic States. Next would be the year 2003, when we became part of the Deutsche Bahn corporation, thereby gaining a strong basis and know-how in the fi eld of rail freight. Another milestone was defi nitely 2004, when the Czech Republic acceded to the European Union. That brought with it a huge eco-nomic boom and expansion of logistics. During the fi rst two years in the EU, the

volumes of freight grew by 80%, and we introduced daily connections to many European countries. The last important milestone which I would mention was integration of the American logistics op-erator, Bax Global in 2006. Thanks to this, we signifi cantly penetrated the North American market and Asia.

You off er a wide range of products

and services: land, rail, air, sea, con-

tractual logistics, oversize transport,

trade fairs and exhibitions, sports

logistics, customs clearance. Which

of these plays “fi rst fi ddle” and which

brings in the largest turnover?

You have named the whole range of our services. Our strong side is the fact that we can off er such a comprehensive ser-vice and our ability to interconnect these services, thereby creating an integrated logistics solution to suit the needs of the customer. In view of the fact that the Czech Republic is a landlocked country, the greatest volume of goods and the greatest turnover is generated by road freight. Immediately after this comes sea transport and contractual logistics.

Rail transport is developing very promis-ingly, increasing by fi ve times in 2010. Air freight, which is used mainly for trans-porting more valuable goods, does not generate such a large volume, but creates high profi ts. Trade fair and sports logistics are mainly prestigious aff airs, revealing the scope of our know-how.

Who ranks among your key but also

long-term customers?

They are players at the forefront of the consumer electronics fi eld, successful suppliers to the automotive industry, companies and manufacturing ventures. Unfortunately we cannot name any of our customers without their consent, but it should be enough to say that our custom-ers include three of the fi ve largest manu-facturers in the consumer electronics fi eld.

Let’s take a look at your economics…

Can you compare your fi nancial re-

sults for 2010 with this year’s?

We have followed up on the successful year 2010, where we showed a return of volumes and for the fi rst time exceeded the 3 billion crown mark in turnover, with

Trade & Investment | www.trade-investment.eu III/201145

an even more successful year 2011. In all economical parameters we have recorded growth of approximately 20 %, in profi t-ability this has been tens of percent. The enormous growth in profi ts is caused by being able to partially reset the prices which fell during the crisis period of 2008 – 2009 to rock bottom. Another factor of the growth in profi ts was increased productivity and continuing economising measures in overheads.

How do you rate the logistics market

in the Czech Republic from a quanti-

tative and quality point of view?

Thousands of entities operate on the Czech logistics market, from small trans-port fi rms to large, multi-national com-panies. The market is therefore not easy to interpret and there is a wide range of price and quality. Although the crisis fl ushed out companies with a weak foun-dation or erratic economic management, even so, a large number of entities remain on the market whose quality fl uctuates. I expect that the market will undergo fur-ther concentration. Customers who need stable and sustainable logistic solutions will sooner or later turn to one of the big market players.

Could you disclose the vision for fur-

ther development of your company,

what you want to pay most attention

to in 2012, where your development

is heading?

If I pass over the continual processes within DB Schenker, such as investment into developing the global network, in-creasing the quality of services, introduc-tion of new technologies and widening the range of “green” logistic solutions, we intend to concentrate on development of our full-trucks and partloads services. We want to concentrate on the network solution of these direct transports so that we are fully loaded in both directions and so able to be more competitive pricewise. Even though our European fl eet intended for direct transports already exceeds the capacity of our competitors, there is still room for improvement in the system solu-tion of this service. That is why we can see great commercial potential for the future. As far as the Czech Republic is concerned, we plan to build a new central tranship-ment station and company headquarters. Investments will be over ½ billion crowns. Thanks to the new terminal we will gain new and modern capacity and be able to continue improving the quality of our cross-docking operations.


The telecommunications industry is

notoriously fast-moving, with innova-

tive technologies constantly entering

the marketplace offering new solutions

for business and consumer clients alike.

GN Netcom’s Chief Technology Officer

Leo Larsen speaks about their award-

winning Jabra hands-free headsets and

the boom in the unified communications

market.

GN Netcom is one of the world’s leading and fastest growing suppliers of hands-free communications solutions. With ap-proximately 875 employees and sales offi ces around the world, GN Netcom de-velops manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets for mobile users and both wireless and corded head-sets for contact centre and offi ce-based users. GN Netcom’s business activities also include its original equipment manufac-turing (OEM) business to a wide range of global customers including mobile phone, PC and PDA manufacturers.

Most popularThe company’s Jabra products have be-come some of the most popular in the

industry including the world’s best sell-ing Bluetooth headsets, the Jabra BT200, the Jabra BT250 and the Jabra BT250v. They have received numerous awards for their pioneering technology and design. “Our products deliver outstanding sound quality but their interoperability is also exceptional. Our headsets work, and work well, with many diff erent systems and applications,” says Mr. Larsen, explaining what it is about his technology that sets it apart from the competition.

The latest recognition came early this year – in January, at the 2011 Interna-tional Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest consumer electronics show, Jabra STONE2 was awarded the CES Innovations Design and Engineering award. But not only that: Jabra STONE2 also received the prestigious “Best ofInno-vations” award, an honor given only to the top product in each category, which in the case of Jabra STONE2 was Wireless Handsets Accessories.

Jabra STONE2 is the second generation of the iconic Jabra STONE, featuring a new voice concept that allows truly hands-free communication. Building on the success of its predecessor, the Jabra STONE2 off ers the same revolutionary design, but with a

twist. The Jabra STONE2 was launched in North America in mid-No-vember and is currently being launched in Europe and the Asia-Pacifi c region. A number of other Jabra mobile products were also announced at CES in January.

Innovations – key to success Pioneering technology is at the heart of the Jabra brand. Maintaining not only a fi rm grasp of the very latest de-velopments in wireless and Bluetooth technologies but also being a part of those developments proves vital to the brand’s continuing success. Importantly, technologies are developed and evolved in-house.

GN Netcom has dedicated resources for tracking emerging and disruptivetechnologies, keeping a firm eye on trends and also predicting – road map-ping – the likely future developments

GN NETCOM

Proven Technological Leadership


in wireless and Bluetooth technologies. Product portfolios are constantly evalu-ated to ensure they are at the forefront of their market.

“Of course we are constantly thinking up new products and new improvements. Nowadays, more and more focus is placed on software. This is a major and increas-ingly important part of the whole product setup,” explains Leo Larsen who adds that although the company sells world-wide, the major markets are those of Europe and the United States.

Unified communications So what does the future hold? Without hesitation, Mr. Larsen asserts that the next big thing be unifi ed communications, where you have only one network which accommodates email, instant messag-ing, video and voice conferencing. “The move towards unifi ed communications is happening right now. We are taking the lead in this area. For instance, we are the fi rst to introduce Microsoft-approved products for their unifi ed communications solutions.”

With unifi ed communications, the PC be-comes the core of all communications activity. The traditional offi ce phone could therefore be rendered useless. Mr. Larsen proposes that as the PC becomes the fo-cus, and as communications technologies continue to be developed around that concept, the phone as we know it will be left behind. This development is the biggest opportunity for Jabra: as the PC keyboard replaces the traditional dialling pad, headsets become the obvious inter-face through which to speak and listen.

A challenge to grasp As one would expect, the Jabra product range is broad, with varying cost options. But being state of the art, Jabra headsets are not a low-cost option for businesses. Mr. Larsen has no reservations about the brand’s status however; he stresses that low-cost headsets will serve a certain purpose, but they will not be of a qual-ity good enough to last, and potentially not suitable for long-term use. Jabra pro-ducts have been designed to improve effi -ciency in the workplace; they are a profes-sional business tool, not just a “telephone headset”.

Leo Larsen says that the company is expe-riencing slight growth compared to last year. With unifi ed communications fi xed fi rmly on the horizon he is positive about the future for Jabra, but he is also aware that the market needs a gentle nudge in order to equip itself for this change. “I hope that businesses come to see that hands-free solutions can have a positive impact on their workplaces. We know and understand the benefi ts that our headsets provide, but in order for this to be recognised, more businesses have to be open to trying them.” A challenge you’ d be foolish to refuse.

Romana Moares


If you own a CD or a DVD then the chances are that you have a Pozzoli prod-uct in your home. Established in 1968, the Pozzoli company has grown to become one of the world leaders in producing and packaging discs with 210 employees and a current worth of €50 million. Highlights and milestones include production of DVDs such as Spiderman, Harry Potter and The Matrix, and in 2002, a Grammy Award for best packaging for Radiohead’s Amne-siac album. Two years ago, Giacomo Rota joined the company as General Manager with a remit to reorganise and streamline operations with an eye to even greater future success in a changing market.

HistoryPozzoli S.p.A. was founded in Inzago on the outskirts of Milan as the 60s were drawing to a close – a boom era for the music industry. Originally focused on lithographic printing, from the very be-ginning they specialised in album covers for the record industry and in 1988 they correctly predicted the future and be-came the fi rst Italian company to set up a compact disc department. Innovative designs and global patents (such as the TwinTray) followed and by the close of the century, sales offi ces were open in London and Frankfurt and, a few years later, Paris also. These international branches have helped consolidate Pozzoli as a truly in-ternational concern and these days, up to three-quarters of its goods are produced for export.

Naturally, Pozzoli’s main customers in-clude the major names of Home Enter-tainment, Music and Games – Warner, Paramount, Universal and Sony – but recent years have seen the application of packaging know-how to other prod-ucts, especially in the cosmetics industry,

including the perfumes of Versace and Ducati, thus creating ever stronger links with a variety of world-famous Italian brands.

Pragmatism + artistic flair = successAny manufacturing process requires a great deal of down-to-earth pragma-tism and common sense and the mass production of CD and DVD is no diff erent. However, given that Pozzoli’s products carry the results of artistic endeavours, the packaging must match the contents and the company therefore places a huge emphasis on its own in-house artistry. As Giacomo Rota says, “One of our strengths is our R&D Department. Creativity and in-novation is a big issue in this market and we have a very good creative team... with expertise in multimedia, graphic design, concept development, use of special ma-terials and fi nishing, etc.”

Pozzoli takes pride in being a creative partner to its clients. Rather than simply

POZZOLI S.p.A.

Good things come in beautiful packages


take a brief and build a product accord-ing to the client’s specifi cations, Pozzoli experts engage with the client and the marketing team to develop exactly the right packaging for the client’s needs – an approach that has been proven eff ective by the number of awards won. In fact, one needs look no further than the picture of the company’s premises on the Poz-zoli website – the sweeping red fascia of the building symbolises an environment dedicated to good design.

An evolving marketplaceNaturally, Pozzoli has seen some big changes during its 40-plus year asso-ciation with the entertainment industry. A major transition – which Pozzoli was able to take full advantage of – was the shift from vinyl records to compact discs. But over the last few years, an even greater shift has been taking place as more and more consumers are downloading music (and fi lms) rather than buying any sort of tangible item. Mr. Rota acknowledges that Pozzoli’s traditional market is shrink-ing but believes that, “there will always be people who want to collect and own a physical product.” and he is right. As the iPod generation moves to buying intangible forms of music via the internet, a specialised niche market has arisen in response, that of the collector. Serious music fans can be very reactionary, and for many people, the packaging is part of the enjoyment of the music (or in other cases, the fi lm), these people like the images on the cover, they like to read the liner notes, and they take pleasure in placing the disc in the player. This phenomenon creates a potential market for luxuriously-packaged collectible versions, including crossovers between media. For example, current collectable Pozzoli projects include a specially-bound book and CD package for a famous musician, and a new games box set with accompanying booklet, both of which will be sought after by fans, often even if they own a previous version.

Of course, producing exquisite box sets and limited editions is not enough to compensate fully for the eff ect of down-loading, so Pozzoli has been busy identify-ing and building new relationships, one of which is with the cosmetics industry. As autumn approaches, the company busies itself preparing various distinctive products for the Christmas period, during which a number of cosmetics manufactur-ers will be relying on Pozzoli packaging to sell their seasonal gift sets.

Change on the insideNew routes to market are not the only strand of Pozzoli’s future strategy. As part of maintaining and furthering its leading position, Giacomo Rota is apply-ing the lean philosophy to its structures and processes – aiming to eliminate any practices which do not add value for the customer – and is in no doubt as to the dif-fi culty of what he is attempting and also the potential rewards: “The challenge is to become faster and more cost-eff ective avoiding compromise to quality. It’s very diffi cult, but if we can optimise this new paradigm, we can survive in the market.”

Of course, there are many different kinds of “value” and Pozzoli includes environmentally-considerate manufac-

turing under that heading leading to the achievement of a number of ‘green’ certifi cations, including ISO 14001 and the Forest Stewardship Council. The most obvious demonstration of the company’s ecological credibility is the Ekoline range: 27 products all 100% eco-friendly with special inks, papers and cardboard from renewable sources, and so on. The aim is to off er the customer a wide choice of products that are both beautiful and sustainable.

Born in a dynamic decade, Pozzoli S.p.A. has moved with the times to become a global market leader and appears to be meeting the challenges of the 21st century with as much spirit as it did those of the 20th.

Dave Foxall


Logistic news

DHL UniCredit export awards go to manufacturing companiesThis year’s DHL UniCredit export award for medium-large companies was given to REALISTIC, a.s., a manufacturer of electric and gas furnaces based in Karlovy Vary. In the small company category, the win-ner was producer of leather and textile machinery Investa Intl s.r.o. Executive Di-rector of the company Miroslav Nový said the company exports all over the world, with only fi ve percent of goods going to European Union countries. He then added that this primarily concerns spare parts and maintenance for machinery pro-duced when the former Czechoslovakia

was an engineering leader, exporting machinery to all continents.“ After export-ing machinery for 37 years, this is the fi rst time I’ve ever received any kind of award,“ quipped Nový.

REALISTIC, a.s., was also the winner in the category of Territorial Exports to CIS coun-tries. For the Regional Exporter category, the Hradec Králové region was selected and the winner was MICRORISC s.r.o., which specializes in the research, devel-opment, import and distribution of the most modern electronic components and modules. The remaining two awards for Most Successful CzechTrade client and the CzechTrade special award for Export Innovation went to Kovobel v.d.,

the largest Czech manufacturer of con-tainers for poultry breeding and galva-nized sheet metal storage containers, and BORCAD cz, s.r.o., supplier of medical equipment and seats and couchettes for passenger trains.

The contest was founded by logistics com-pany DHL Express CZ, and this year’s new general partner is UniCredit Bank. The contest continued to be hosted under the auspices of the CzechTrade agency, which also took part in its beginnings. “The positive news from this year’s DHL UniCredit Export Awards is the strong showing by historically traditional Czech industry – the manufacture of machinery and equipment. While this trend has been evident for the past few years in small businesses, it is a pleasant surprise this year in the medium-large company seg-ment,” said business director and DHL Express CZ executive Luděk Drnec. He went on to say that he would not venture a guess as to how exports would be shap-ing up in the coming year. In his opinion, there is likely to be slow growth in the European Union so that any increase in exports will probably be in the single digits and probably less than this year or last.“ In a word, the future of exports may be seen as uncertain. Large companies have managed to get some contracts, but they don’t know what kind of situation their customers will be in six months,” he noted. He views certain opportuni-ties in the CIS countries, since Czech exporters may have an advantage with similar languages and relatively reason-able geographic distance. On the other hand, it’s a higher risk area with regard to fi nance and legal aspects.“ In China, there


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continues to be problems with protecting intellectual property rights, and South America is relatively far away. Of these three regions, Russia is probably the best for us,” concluded Drnec.

This year, 93 companies made it to the fi nal round of the fourteenth annual DHL UniCredit Export Awards. Total sales of the competing fi rms reached nearly 17 bil-lion crowns, which is nearly twice the sales from last year’s contest. The share of exports in total sales for all compet-ing companies was over half, 54 percent to be exact.

The DHL UniCredit Export Awards date back to 1997, when DHL came up with the idea to hold a contest for domestic exporters to celebrate the most successful and provide others with inspiration and encouragement. The company teamed up with CzechTrade, and thus began the fi rst awards given out to small and medium-large export companies in the Czech Republic, over the years becoming a tra-ditional contest. General Director of the CzechTrade agency Ivan Jukl said that the CzechInvest company is currently being integrated into CzechTrade. This will lead to a single network under the Ministry of Industry and Trade focused on business to business (B2B). This sharing of know-how should make the single integrated structure even more eff ective. Jukl also stated that the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs

(MZV) and industry have concluded an agreement to provide B2B assistance.

“This means that CzechTrade clients will have access to Czech embassies. In ad-dition, both ministries are working on business to government and government to government initiatives,” he noted.

The DHL UniCredit Export Awards are also interesting because they follow annual export growth of Czech fi rms, so smaller companies have a chance to successfully compete in the contest. There are four main categories, Medium-Large Company, Small Company, Territorial Exporter and Regional Exporter. There are also awards for the Most Successful CzechTrade Client and this year, a new special award from CzechTrade for Export Innovation. The evaluation of exporters is based on an index calculated by multiplying the an-nual increase in exports times the share of exports in company sales. Based on the results, the companies are divided into categories and assigned a fi nal contest ranking.

85 % of Czech exports go to European Union countries. Nearly 30 % of exports go to Germany. Some domestic exporters however are sub-contractors for large Eu-ropean fi rms which do business in Central and Eastern Asia. This area has a medium term need to purchase capital equipment to build their new infrastructure.

There is also a chance to benefi t from the growth economies of the CIS countries and the fact that Czech companies and brands historically have a good reputation in these countries. Small and medium businesses may benefi t from linguistic similarities with the Russian language and cultural understanding.

Ing. Ivan Jemelka

CONFIDENTIAL


Miroslav Bičiště

enjoys seeking out anonymity

Miroslav Bičiště is the CEO and

Vice-Chairman of the Board of TOS

VARNSDORF a.s., a leading world

machine tool manufacturer, 58 years

old and born in Jablonec nad Nisou. His

destiny in life has been at the helm of

various large industrial corporations

which meant changing address several

times. In his professional career, from

the position of CEO and Chairman of the

Board, he has also stood at the helm

of companies such as Avir Union a.s.,

Válcovny trub Chomutov a.s., Škoda

Machine Tool s.r.o., Adamovské strojírny

a.s., Metra Blansko a.s., Tos Kuřim a.s.

and, since June 2005, he has worked at

TOS VARNSDORF a.s.

Due to the nature of my work, I have lived in many diff erent regions of the Czech Republic, experienced various corporate cultures and practices and my managerial work has not been bound to a particular branch of business, but I have been in-volved in top management for my whole career. In many cases this has meant crisis management. The most important lesson in my life was my time spent at Avir Un-ion a.s. (owned by one of the largest bot-tle glass producers – the Italian fi rm, Avir). I was chosen in a selection

procedure organised by a multinational personnel organisation and managed personally by the president of the Avir company, Dr. Todisco.

My present lifestyle and how I divide time between my work and hobbiesAt present, I live in Liberec; I am married and have 4 children. Throughout my life my philosophy has been that a person is capable of working intensively for 9 or, at most, 10 hours per day. When I sometimes read articles about managers moulding themselves into the role of a would-be media star and claiming that they work 16 to 20 hours a day, including Saturdays and Sundays, this is complete nonsense. On the other hand, when I say that I work a maximum of 10 hours, I do so inten-sively and do not allow private activities or friendly banter about what I did at the weekend and the like to encroach on the working process. Every morning I get up at 5 a.m., including Saturdays and

Sundays, but then I have been in the habit of going to bed very early throughout my life.

I get to work regularly at 7 a.m. and gen-erally leave work around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. In the course of the working day, I try to communicate as much as possible with my staff , maintaining an objective view of what is going on in the company. All my life, I have been in the habit of verifying information from several sides to ascertain whether it is true and objective.

During the working day, I try to adhere to a certain plan where I have meetings and negotiations. I always spend about 50 % of the working period planning ahead, trying to leave myself room for dealing with newly arisen problems and tasks. This style of work leads to a certain harmony in the workplace and does not create an all-round stressful atmosphere like “…quickly, hurry up, don’t let’s forget that we’re behind time” etc. In my time off , only occasionally do I think through strategic matters and sometimes read some professional articles in the fi eld

of management. In this direction, my most preferred are publications by Prof. Zelený.

As far as hobbies and leisure activities are concerned, I am always very pleased if, when I come home from work, I can take off my suit and become a “normal, anonymous person”. I certainly do not seek out certain social events, would-be high society type company parties and presentations, various managers’ club associations and so on; in fact I fi nd them most unpleasant. Probably because I spend my whole life sur-rounded by lots of people, I look for the kind of relaxation where I can, as they say, “clear my head” and take a rest from people.

As for my hobbies, I have two great hobbies, or rather…loves. The fi rst is wild cats. My second great hobby is the Jizerské Hills, their scenery and history. My wife and I try to spend all our weekends there, weather al-lowing. I make an eff ort to search for places which are rarely visited and really wild.

13. – 16. 3. 2012www.electroncz.cz

2. MEZINÁRODNÍ VELETRH ELEKTROTECHNIKY, ELEKTRONIKY A ENERGETIKY

2nd INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR OF ELECTROTECHNICS, ELECTRONICS AND POWER ENGINEERING

LETŇANY VÁS ZVOU!WELCOME TO THE EXHIBITION CENTRE PRAGUE LETNANY!

Souběžné veletrhy / Simultaneously:

FOR ENERGOFOR AUTOMATION

TH 2

14

-10

13

02

E5

00

01

-G2

10

-F1

64

-X-4

A0

0

Answers for energy.

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