Ebro Armaturen

EBRO ARMATUREN
enhances range for
chemical industry
To complement its solid
portfolio of high quality valves
and actuators, Ebro
Armaturen spent the past two
years developing three new
valves series for the
demanding chemical industry.
With the final series ready to
be launched at the Achema
show in Frankfurt, Germany,
this May, Valve World spoke
to Marketing Manager Peter
Eckhoff and Public Relations
Co-ordinator Mrs Diana Völkel
to find out what makes these
valves unique, and how the
company is expanding into the
chemical and desalination
industries around the globe.
By David Sear and Joanne McIntyre
18
May 2009
E
bro Armaturen is a mid-sized family
business producing top quality, German
engineered valves for a wide range of
applications and industries worldwide.The
business was founded by Peter Bröer who is
still active as CEO, although he is gradually
handing over the reins to his daughter, Mrs
Lydia Bröer.The company also has a strong
team of highly experienced industry
professionals on board and Marketing Manager
Peter Eckhoff was keen to explain some of the
benefits of being a family business. “One of the
most obvious advantages is that operational
decisions can be promptly taken – often a
short phone call is all that’s needed.This
facilitates rapid product development for
example. Similarly, if a customer needs a
specific solution which requires a valve to be
modified, we have the flexibility to rapidly
prepare the design and drawings and then
quickly produce a sample.This makes us highly
responsive to feedback from our customers.”
“This ability and willingness to adapt our valves
to meet customer needs often results in the
development of specialised solutions which are
based on standard product lines,” adds Mrs
Diana Völkel.“The ability to provide such
expansive solutions is an ideal means of
entering into long-term business with a client.
Once they see the integrity of our unique,
customised solutions they will have immediate
confidence in our standard ranges of valves as
well.”
With almost 900 employees world-wide, Ebro
Armaturen still considers itself a medium sized
company although it continues to grow steadily.
“Communication is easier in a family business
regardless of which country our colleagues are
in, because most of the key positions have been
occupied for a very long time,” explains Mr
Eckhoff.“The fact that we all know each other
so well makes it easy to communicate and
work together.”
The acquisition of Stafsjö in 2006 enhanced
Ebro’s presence in the pulp and paper industry,
and strengthened its position in the wastewater and biogas market with Stafsjö knife-gate
valves. Both companies operate independently
while enjoying the synergies of having two
strong brands in-house.
Achema launch
Visitors to the Achema trade show in Frankfurt
in May this year will be the first to see all of
www.valve-world.net
COVER STORY
Mrs Diana Völkel,
Public Relations Coordinator at Ebro
Armaturen.
Ebro Armaturen’s three new ranges of valves
especially designed for the chemical industry.
The company took just two years to develop
valves that fully meet all the rigorous
requirements of this most demanding of
industries.
“These series are based on our existing
product lines which have been specially adapted
for the chemical industry. Requirements here
are among the toughest in the industry, not
only in terms of product quality but also for
documentation and service. Our valves fully
meet all of these requirements and several key
customers have already approved our new
series for their chemical processing facilities.
Noteable chemical companies, such as Bayer for
instance, have qualified the Z600-C, HP-C,
Z011-A, Z 014-A and F012-K1 models.”
The three new lines are valves with rubber
seals; PTFE lined valves; and high performance
(HP) valves.The HP valves are designed to
withstand high pressures up to 40 bar and
temperatures up to 450°C.“The high
performance valves are produced with either
metal to metal seals or reinforced PTFE seals.
Buyers can be confident in the quality of the
valve design because the new series are all
www.valve-world.net
Mr Peter Eckhoff,
Marketing Manager
at Ebro Armaturen.
based on our trusted and proven standard
series,” notes Mr Eckhoff.
The new Ebro Armaturen valves are unique in
that they contain a triple shaft bearing for
perfect alignment. In conjunction with the
specially-shaped liners, which were developed
for the chemical industry, this ensures the valve
has perfect sealing capacity.The rationale behind
the development of the new valves is clear:
Ebro Armaturen plans to gain market share in
the chemical industry.“This is an industry that is
willing to pay a fair price for high quality
products,” explains Mr Eckhoff.“It’s not an area
where purchasers are looking for low cost
valves. Quality is all-important, and we have the
expertise, testing facilities, and contacts in the
business to provide the type of product this
industry demands.”
It is also an important development for Ebro
Armaturen’s image in the global market, adds
Mrs Völkel.“As a supplier for the demanding
chemical industry, people realise we have the
ability to manufacture valves for any other kind
of application as well. Once clients buy our
valves for their chemical applications they will
also be interested in buying from our standard
product lines for their other needs. Our
expertise in working with elastomers – testing
the charge casting, compound selection, material
examination and on-going research – has really
helped to establish our reputation as a
manufacturer you can trust.”
Many chemical concerns also impose their own
standards so Ebro Armaturen has to comply to
both governmental directives and the end user
requirements.“In Germany the chemical
industry regulations have been unified and
clustered together in a system known as PAS
1085. Ebro Armaturen is compliant to all the
important norms and technical guidelines, such
as PED, AD-Regelwerk, etc,” says Mr Eckhoff
proudly.
Recognised quality
Ebro Armaturen is unusual among valve
suppliers in that it also produces its own range
of pneumatic and electric actuators.“The most
immediate benefit for our customers is that we
can provide turn-key units, where valve and
actuator are made by EBRO,” explains Mrs
Völkel.“This gives peace of mind as clients have
just a single point of contact for any issues
regarding the complete unit. By adapting
pneumatic actuators with automation systems
such as switch boxes and ASi Bus systems we
can deliver proven solutions to any challenges a
client may face.”
The chemical industry is known to be
conservative when it comes to selecting
pneumatic and electric actuators, traditionally
relying on just a few suppliers.“Ebro Armaturen
Techonologycally advanced manufacturing of valves and actuators.
May 2009
19
COVER STORY
Resilient-seated butterfly valve
series Z 600-C for semicorrosive
and aggressive media.
High performance lug type
butterfly valve series HP 114
with double-acting actuator.
is keen to let the industry know that our
actuators have passed all of the rigorous tests
which qualify them for use in the chemical
industry.With an established network of
automation technology partners we are in a
strong position to build up long-term
relationships in the chemical industry,” notes Mr
Eckhoff.
Visitors to Ebro’s plants are sometimes
surprised by the extensive testing facilities which
are used to maintain the quality of the
company’s valves and actuators. Comments Mr
Eckhoff:“we have our own pilot plants where
PTFE-lined butterfly valves
series T 200-C for chemically
corrosive and toxic media.
we carry out extensive inspections and various
test procedures. Quality improvement and
control is very important to us and random
samples are taken from every incoming
component delivery to ensure consistent
quality is maintained. In addition to visual,
functional and dimensional inspects, a long list of
additional tests are carried out including liner
hardness, coating thickness, surface roughness of
polished discs, ultrasound, IR spectrometer,
chemical analysis, tensile and compression tests
and helium detector.”
During wear and tear tests, Ebro replicates the
Stafsjö knife gate valve
with manual operation
type MV.
operational temperature and pressure
conditions, opening and closing the valve up to
5,000 times.The shaft and other components
are then thoroughly inspected. Says Mr Eckhoff:
“we sell valves that we know will work for our
clients; we certainly don’t expect them to test
the valves for us!”
Optimism and growth
The Bröer company is steadily expanding its
international sales organisation. Key account
managers oversee large projects (water
desalination, power generation, chemical, etc),
A global overview of
EBRO/Stafsjö sales
offices and subsidiaries.
G EBRO/Stafsjö Sales Offices
G EBRO/Stafsjö Subsidiaries
20
May 2009
www.valve-world.net
COVER STORY
Desalination - a growth industry
Mrs Lydia Bröer, Executive Vice President Ebro
Armaturen.
Headquarters of EBRO ARMATUREN in Hagen,
Germany.
while sales managers regularly back-up and
maintain contact with customers on-site.
“We have identified several areas where we
want to increase our activities,” explains Mr
Eckhoff. “Currently for example our sales in the
USA are around USD 5 million per year, but
given the size of that market there is lots of
potential for growth so we are expanding our
sales force and dealer network. American buyers
also expect faster product delivery, so we are
building up our US stock to meet this demand.
But we are also approved by several leading
chemical companies to supply valves to worldwide projects.”
Ebro Armaturen now has offices in South
America and India and is gaining market share in
those large markets. “Our South American
operations are growing steadily, with offices in
Chile and Brazil and a good representative in
Argentina. This is a very positive market for us,”
notes Mrs Völkel. “Around the world, many
clients really value German engineering, which is
equated with high quality.”
In discussing the current world economic
situation, Mr Eckhoff remains upbeat.” EBRO
Armaturen is looking to the future with
confidence. Countries simply cannot stop
constructing power plants, desalination plants
and other industry, and once trust is restored,
the situation will return to normal. Beside this
the Bröer Group focus on long-term values.
Preserving capital resources is a key factor for
the company’s success. Despite the current
economic situation the group invests in a new
logistics and IT-infrastructure. In addition we
supply many different industries from water
supply to power generation, pneumatic
conveying systems, ship building, chemical
industry, civil engineering, public swimming pools,
bioenergy etc. If one industry is in difficulty, we
are easily able to switch our focus and sell valves
to other industries and applications. This nicely
cushions us from the effects of a downturn in
any given industry. So as a family business, Ebro
Armaturen is committed to providing long-term
service to all our customers.”
Ebro Armaturen recently completed its
largest order ever; supplying over EUR 4
million of valves to a desalination plant in
Sydney, Australia. Comments Mr Eckhoff:
“desalination is an increasingly important
market for us. Our entire range of valves is
used in this industry including our high
performance (HP) valves, which are needed
to transport water at pressure over long
distances. The Sydney plant is very high-tech
and we supplied extensive automation
technology and HP valves.”
The Sydney desalination plant has an initial
capacity of 250,000 m³ / day and is designed
to provide 500,000 m³ in the future. The
project was planned by Veolia Water and is
equipped with 687 Ebro butterfly valves,
resilient-seated wafer type butterfly valves
series Z 011-A and double-flanged series F
012-A. High performance butterfly valves,
especially fitted with body and shafts made
of Super Duplex were
also supplied. The
valves ordered ranged
from 100 -2200 mm in
diameter. With about
200 desalination plants
due to be built
worldwide in the
coming years, the
industry looks
promising indeed.
Facts & Figures
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EBRO ARMATUREN Gebr. Bröer GmbH and Stafsjö Valves AB (BRÖER GROUP)
Hagen, Germany
Germany, China, Italy, Sweden, Thailand
26 subsidiaries, more than 50 agents worldwide
Produced to order, valves are normally delivered within 2-4 weeks. 24-hour supply for MRO needs
can also be met through trading houses / dealers.
- High performance, PTFE and rubber lined butterfly valves (lug & wafer type)
- Stafsjö knife gate valves
- Electric and pneumatic actuators, automatic technology (ASI)
Desalination plants, chemical industry, ship-building, power plants, food & beverage, automotive,
water and wastewater, public swimming pools, powder & bulk solids handling, civil engineering, pulp
and paper, bio-energy, mining
Over 500,000 valves, 100,000 pneumatic actuators, 15,000 electric actuators, modular accessories
(switchboxes, bus system interfaces, etc)
approx 900
EUR 160 million (2008)
May 2009
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