Hamon, a hundred years engineering for nature (PDF 2Mo)

h a m o n, a hundred years engineering for nat u r e

Dear reader,
It has been and is still an immense honor and privilege to be the
President of Hamon, and this for the last 20 years.
In the middle of the 1980s, I found a company that was well established and
enjoyed a good reputation worldwide. Even though we were quite focused on
just one market, the basics were already there: wonderful people and a group of
technicians and engineers who were already experienced in delivering the best
solutions to their clients anywhere in the world. We were a group with passion
so big we could move mountains, and sometimes we did.
With that team, we were able to build a diversified group that is now present
all over Europe, North America and South America, and in parts of Africa and
Asia. Of course there have been difficult times, but we have overcome them
together, and have given the Hamon Group both profits and a future in the
service of the environment.
The people who are with me today have, I believe, that same passion that we
had 20 years ago, “the Hamon bug”, I hear them say. Well, I dearly hope that
this continues for many more generations to come.
Francis Lambilliotte, CEO, Hamon & Co

The Board of Directors of the Hamon Group in 1985: in the center, Mrs. Louisette Hamon, on the left Mr. Francis Lambilliotte and on the right Mr. Jacques Lambilliotte.
Standing, from left to right, Mr. Michel Vauzanges, Mr. Georges Degavre, Mr. André Brosius, Mr. André Pâquet, and Mr. Michel Derclaye

Achille & Fernand Hamon
“Achille Hamon, my great grand-uncle, and his brother, Fernand, my
great grandfather, were both from Brittany in France. Both were engineers
and they owned a company that worked and assembled projects in wood.
In 1904, Achille created a company in France, and in 1906, Fernand
did the same in Belgium. Both companies produced the cooling towers
required for the new industrial processes.
As it turned out, this was perfect timing as the industrial revolution
needed ways to treat the water that came from the mines, the steel works,
and the new electric power stations.” Francis Lambilliotte, CEO, Hamon & Co
Creation of Hamon France,
and then Hamon Belgium
The Hamon
Brothers, inventors
in a century
of inventors
1889
1904 & 1906
1914
Participation in the construction
of the Eiffel Tower
“A passion for towers must be in the family genes
because I’ve always heard that members of
the Hamon family participated in the construction
of the Eiffel Tower.” Francis Lambilliotte
Contribution to the war effort
“Business was on stand-by during the war. Fernand came
back to Paris to be with his brother, and they decided to do
what they could to help. At that time, the cooling towers
were still being built in wood, and they had lots of reserves
available in the workshop as well as the skills necessary. They
put their expertise to work for the French army and built both
the structure and the huts for trenches.” Francis Lambilliotte
“They also built a series of pre-fabricated homes for
families that had lost theirs. These were named ‘The houses
of King Albert’. And while they were meant to be temporary,
they lasted until the end of the Second World War!”
Georges Degavre, ex-CFO, Hamon

1927 1935
Participation at the World Fair
in Brussels
Creation of Sobelco
Maurice, the son of Fernand and therefore my grandfather,
did his studies in Paris and then later settled in Belgium.
He was young, independent and wanted to create a
business for himself, without the help of the family.
He started Sobelco, a company focused on the development
and production of condensers and cooling towers for
electric power plants.” Francis Lambilliotte
“Sobelco, like Hamon before it, was created with perfect
timing. Condensers were essential for the electric power
stations, more and more of which were being built to
meet the energy needs of growing industry.” Georges Degavre
Maurice Hamon, engineer,
creator, explorer.

1958
Participation at the World Fair
in Brussels
The United States, the first step in the
internationalization of the cooling tower business
“When both Fernand and Achille died, and my grandfather found himself
at the head of Hamon France and Belgium, one of his first big decisions
was to try and get new business from the US market. After a relatively slow
start, a first order was received and others soon followed. This gave rise to a
problem that nobody had foreseen, namely that the company was too small
for its success. The ideal situation was to build over there, but that meant
bank guarantees that they didn’t have. Maurice chose for the only option
possible at the time: he gave a license to an American partner, the company
Research-Cottrell. A license and a company that, as it turned out,
I would buy 30 and 40 years later respectively!” Francis Lambilliotte
“The company Cottrell, originally established at the same time as Hamon, was
a world leader in the provision of dedusting systems. Most notably it developed
electrostatic precipitators, using a technology invented by Frederick Gardner
Cottrell in 1909.” Philippe Delvaux, Managing Director, Hamon Research-Cottrell
“The American adventure turns sour, and quickly becomes a liability. For 5 years
there was not a single order. In Brussels, those close to the “boss” wanted only
one thing: to stop the investment! In 1963, Maurice brings all the directors into
his office, and they discuss the US venture. He asks the assembled group for their
opinion. One of the colleagues takes the floor and speaks on behalf of the others,
‘We’re all in agreement, it’s not working and we’re losing too much money…’.
The conclusion from Maurice, ‘Thank you for your advice, but we’re continuing.’
He was as stubborn as a Breton!” Jean Gilbert, Corporate Vice President, Hamon & Co
“At the end of the 1950s, Hamon enters the Spanish market. This was based on
an agreement between Maurice Hamon and my father, founder of the company
Esindus. 50 years later, Esindus is the leader in cooling towers. Our relationship
with Hamon is both healthy and friendly, so much so that it led to Esindus
taking a stake in Hamon.” Martin Gonzalez del Valle, President, Esindus
Visit by Baudouin, King of the Belgians at that time

1964 1968
First order from the US brought
by Research-Cottrell
“Between 1960 and 1983, Hamon Research-Cottrell built
66 cooling towers out of a total of 110 across the country, giving it
more than 60% of the American market.” Francis Lambilliotte
Fusion of the companies Hamon and Sobelco,
under the name Hamon Sobelco
“Maurice was right across the line. First by introducing a concept
that was up until that point unknown, namely cooling towers that
used natural draft, and secondly by believing in his product.”
George Degavre
Sights set for
the new world

1970
1973
Contracts in Germany,
South Africa and Australia
“After the USA, Maurice turned his sights towards the German market,
and despite facing an important national competitor, he wins his first piece
of business. This victory was due to the fact that on the technological side
Hamon was some distance ahead of the competition, this thanks to the years
of experience gained with their main French client, the EDF.” Jean Gilbert
“The industrialization of South Africa also brings major orders for cooling
towers, condensers and heaters: 12 x 600 MW. An order that represented
60 million dollars at the time.” Francis Lambilliotte
Death of Maurice Hamon. The management
of the company is handled on an interim basis
by his widow, Louisette Hamon
“The day she arrived in the company, she sat at the desk of her
late husband. Her first words: ‘what problems need to be solved
today, and who is responsible? We’ll ask that question every day
from now on.’ And she did, until Francis took over in 1985.”
Georges Degavre
The history of
a company,
or the life of a family

Francis Lambilliotte receives from Prince Albert, the prize for best Belgian exporter
(Prince Albert is the current King of the Belgians
1974
1980
1985
Creation of Hamon Kühltürme
und Apparatebau GmbH Bochum
“The protection of the environment has
become one of the major challenges for the
modern industrial world. We began working
in this direction by complementing our product
offer with services, in particular the renovation
and control of existing towers.”
Rodica Exner, President BU-Cooling-Systems Hamon
Arrival of Francis Lambilliotte
and progressive taking over of
the reins at the top
“During 5 years, I learned on the job and
only took over the management of Hamon
in 1985. Fortunately I had the help and
advice of my father, Jacques Lambilliotte,
who became Chairman of the board.”
Francis Lambiliotte
Purchase of the original license
sold to Research-Cottrell
“I believed that the work being done at the
time by Research-Cottrell in the United States
was insufficient. I believed it was important
to recover the worldwide rights to our
technology. So I bought back the license that
my grandfather had sold in the late 1950s.”
Francis Lambiliotte

1985
1987
The beginning of diversification:
the purchase of Spiro-Gills and the Company,
Ateliers François d’Hondt
“I had the feeling that our company was too mono product focused, as
at that time we were just producing wet cooling towers. So I decided
to diversify our activities. I made sure that we chose companies and
products that were complementary to our field of expertise, namely in
the thermodynamics and heat exchange business.” Francis Lambilliotte
“So Hamon bought Spiro-Gills, a French company, and the Ateliers
François d’Hondt, in Belgium. Both were specialists in heat exchange,
and air coolers for the petro-chemical industry. Both technologies
demand an excellent understanding of dimensioning. In short, this
technique consists of working out the exchange surface area necessary to
cool a gas, water or any other liquid between point A and point B.”
René Robert, General Manager, Hamon d’Hondt
Purchase of Air Industrie Thermique
and a partnership in Korea
“As the price of oil increased, it soon became evident
that it would be useful to have at our disposal a heat
recovery system, thus allowing us to recuperate energy
in the gas and steam to heat water and other fluids.
That’s when we decided to buy Air Industrie Thermique
as well as a number of other smaller companies, who
together, gave us a good position on the French market
for everything that had to do with thermal exchange.”
Francis Lambilliotte
“In all the countries where we go, we always try to
have a local partner, someone from the country who
knows the language and the culture. Together we make
the ideal team towards prospective clients: our partner
brings their understanding of the local way of working,
while we, we bring that extra something that they were
looking for in the first place, namely an extraordinary
made to order technical solution.
The ‘secret’ of our international success is just that,
Hamon first aims to understand the country and the
people we’re going to deal with. We really don’t propose
pre-cooked solutions, instead we listen and work out the
best options for them. In this manner we created Hamon
Korea in partnership with Ken Chun.” Jean Gilbert
10

The importance
of the respect
of cultures
1992 1995
1997
Sale of Sobelco, and the
purchase of several smaller
companies as well as the start
of dry cooling systems
“Following several mergers in the turbine
business, the number of clients for Sobelco
was getting smaller and smaller, so did a deal
with the Alstom Group. We sold them Sobelco
and bought from them the company Scam,
who like us was focused on cooling. This move
consolidated our position as industry leader.”
Jean Gilbert
“At the same time, I wanted us to diversify even
more, so we entered into a joint venture with
ABB-Lummus, a specialist in dry cooling.”
Francis Lambilliotte
New ventures in China,
Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia
“The reputation of Hamon helps us in
our search for international business. Our
name is well known and associated with a
specific technological know-how. On top of
that we have considerable experience in the
management of international projects, both
on the business side of things as well as on
the relational aspects. When we arrive in a
country, while we do know what’s going on,
we never act as arrogant conquerors who
know it all!” Eric Binard, Sales Director
BU-Cooling Systems Hamon
Quoted on the
stock exchange
“It was an important year and
an exciting one too, in particular
because the operation was such a
success. We received 6 times more
requests for shares than we had
on offer. The result meant that
we were able to raise capital of
about 680 million BEF, (roughly
$17 million). Apart from giving us
more means at our disposal, it also
raised our profile considerably.”
Francis Lambilliotte
11

1998
2002
Purchase of a series of companies in the USA:
Research-Cottrell, Custodis
and Thermal Transfer Corporation
“Between the moment when Francis’ grandfather sold the
Hamon license to Research-Cottrell and when Francis bought
the 3 companies, much water had flowed under the bridge.
Among other things, we’ve added air pollution control and
heat recovery to our portfolio, as well as the building of
industrial chimneys.” Philippe Delvaux
Slow down of our business
“We went through a difficult period, and this
essentially due to 3 factors: our very rapid
growth, the virtual stop of new power plant
builds in the USA following the Enron affair,
and the liberalization of the energy market
in Europe. All this at a time when we needed
the orders to pay for our new acquisitions.”
Francis Lambilliotte
“Just like Hamon, Research-Cottrell also has a century of
tradition behind it. It was one of the leading innovators in
its industry. And as with Hamon, it had its fair share of
highs and lows, but that didn’t stop it from being a major
success story. That’s rare for a company, and I think much
credit should go to those people who were part of it during
those times.” Ollie Acheson, CFO Hamon Corporation USA
“Custodis, founded in 1898, has been part of Research-Cottrell
since 1968. The complementarity of both companies’ respective
activities, as well as their excellent reputation as innovators in
both chimneys and silos, made the purchase a logical one.
To give just one example of our pioneering spirit, when the
cooling towers arrived in the USA, it was us who built the
hyperbolic shells!” John Boone, President, Hamon Custodis Inc.
“These different acquisitions led to the creation of the 4 current
main activities of business. The cooling towers still represent
a 1/3rd of our activity, alongside the heat exchangers, and
air pollution control as well as chimneys. Together, under the
name Hamon, there is quite some knowledge and experience,
as each of the 3 companies - d’Hondt, Research-Cottrell and
Custodis - have more than 100 years of history.” Jean Gilbert
12

On the way
to being both
a larger and
stronger group
2003
2007
A recovery with the help of an audacious plan
“With the support of our new finance director, Bernard Van Diest, I decided
that we had to do the right thing, and do it properly. We opted for a series of
measures: concentrate on our core businesses; reduce overheads by 25%; and sell
those businesses that were less profitable. We also decided to sell the dry cooling
business (co-directed at the time by Aart Nobel), and for this we received a good
price. Finally we also chose for a new business model for the American market.
Our strategy consisted of out-sourcing to countries where production costs were
lower. Thanks to these steps, we were able to operate on a sounder basis, starting
first in the USA with Aart as the managing director.” Francis Lambilliotte
“In the United States, the tighter legislation as it relates to the protection of
the environment gave us the perfect opportunity to increase our order book.
Both internally and externally with partners, we intensified our efforts in
research and development so as to provide better solutions for our clients.
This helped enormously in raising our profile, and our commercial success.
This approach also forced us to develop a portfolio of products that were
needed and wanted by the market.” Aart Nobel, CEO, Hamon Corporation USA
“In 2005, it was the Division Research-Cottrell that maintained the financial
health of the group. This seemed fair, and part of the swings and roundabouts
that is business. When Francis bought us, it was us that were going
through difficult times. I believe in fact, that had we not been bought at that
time we might not exist at all now!” Philippe Delvaux
Business is booming
“At Research-Cottrell, we are comfortable with
the way we are currently ahead of our previsions.
We’re also intensifying contacts with our key
targets: the electric power plants, the petrochemical
and steel sectors, the cement companies
and the glass industry, as well as the market for
waste incineration. In fact, we’ve just signed an
agreement in Bulgaria. And while we’re talking
about good things, I’ve just received the results
of a new satisfaction survey. We are to sum it up
briefly, perceived as a company with high added
value, working with experts of the highest caliber,
and we are very customer focused.” Philippe Delvaux
“Our success is also due to the fact that we have
been concentrating on 2 high potential sectors:
the electricity producers that represent 50% of
our business, and the oil producers, who make
up another 30%. The demand in both sectors is
growing. In the developed countries, the old power
plants are being replaced with newer and cleaner
installations, while in the emerging markets, we
are building new plants.” Francis Lambilliotte
“From that year on, the situation improved considerably. Helped by the
Walloon region, we increased the capital of the business. This brought fresh
funds to the company, and an injection of cash that allowed us to keep the
business growing. We continued with this financial approach, and in
November 2006, we made a second call for capital. This brought an extra
20 million Euro. During that same year, our share price increased by 352%,
which put us at the top of the Euronext ranking, and Hamon had a profit of
some 13 million Euro. We had succeeded our return to form.” Francis Lambilliotte
13

Do better what we’ve been
doing for the last 100 years:
help our clients produce more
cleanly and produce more
Jean Gilbert,
Corporate Vice President, Hamon & Co
“We are continuing to invest in applied
research, and this in partnership with
both our clients as well as with American
and European universities. With our
clients, the questions are more related
to cooling systems and heat exchangers,
while with the universities, we are
concentrating more on problems related
to air pollution control.”
Aart Nobel,
CEO, Hamon Corporation USA
“We’ve also made a technological partnership
with industrial partners like Exxon, in this way
we’re able to ally their specialist knowledge with
the know-how of our civil engineers. Moreover,
we have concentrated on the standardization of
our designs, engineering and purchasing,
all of which has helped us deliver more quickly
to market and with the lowest error rate in
the whole industry.”
2007...
Ollie Acheson,
CFO, Hamon Corporation USA
“Belgians, Americans, French, Germans and
all the other members of the Group, now enjoy
a position that we’ve not known for 30 years.
For me, it is clear that this healthy position is
the natural outcome of the pertinence of our
products, of the good strategic decisions taken
in the past, and the efforts made by each and
every member of our teams today.”
Michel Monjoie
Head, Research & Development
“For me, wet cooling has a great future ahead
of it, because it allows us to directly reduce the
CO 2
emissions from the power plant, much
more so that with dry cooling. On top of that
we’re able to make it happen with recycled
water or even water from the sea.”
Aart Nobel,
CEO, Hamon Corporation USA
“In short we have attained a level of stability,
maturity and growing confidence that could not
have been anticipated only a few years ago.”
Francis Lambilliotte,
CEO, Hamon & Cie
“Our clients are investing more and more to
counteract pollution and we’re helping them produce
more, and produce more cleanly. For example, by
improving the productivity of 10 power plants by
10%, we’re able to close one down. Or in other words
we can produce 10% more power without building
a new one. That’s less greenhouse gases for everyone.
I think that Hamon will become the partner of an
increasing number of industrial companies who take
the environmental imperative seriously.”
Philippe Delvaux,
Managing Director, Hamon Research-Cottrell
“As our activity is completely in phase with ecology,
we have an enormous market in perspective. And
as our products are good and we have a boss who is
prepared to take risks…”
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h a m o n , a hundred years engineering for nat u r e