E_KM_AHEAD-Magazin_2-12.pdf - Netstal

14 Brand & markets
AHEAD Issue 02.2012
SuCCeSS SToRy
MAjor orDEr FroM
SAUDI ArABIA
SabIC is one of the largest petrochemical companies in
the world. The Saudi arabian company has had a business
relationship with KraussMaffei for several decades. a major
order that was placed in June provided yet more evidence
of the trusting teamwork that has existed between the two
sides for so many years: KraussMaffei and KraussMaffei
berstorff are to set up a fully fledged technological laboratory
at the new SabIC Plastics applications development
Center in Riyadh, the capital of the kingdom of Saudi arabia.
Such packages of orders don’t come along every day: complete extrusion
lines for the PVC pipe, profile, and sheet extrusions as well
as a twin-screw extruder, a few particularly powerful injection
molding machines from the C3 and EX Series – all of this was on the
“wish list” turned in by SABIC Plastics Applications Development
Center. These systems are to be used by the company’s newest development
center to equip the technological laboratory in Riyadh.
The laboratory is eventually supposed to develop and test new materials
and innovative production processes. SABIC currently operates
a total of 17 specialized technological and innovation units of
this nature in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan,
India, and South Korea. More than 8,000 patents bear witness to the
expertise of SABIC’s researchers and developers.
With more than 40,000 employees in 40 different countries, a turnover
equivalent to more than 50 billion US dollars, and profits equivalent
to 7.9 billion dollars, SABIC is in the top tier of the global petrochemical
sector. Founded through a royal decree in 1976, the
corporation (70 percent owned by the government, with the rest held
by private investors from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states) has
grown rapidly. SABIC may be among the most successful companies
that were founded in the Middle East in the 1970s with the goal of not
only producing oil, but also processing it in order to create added
value in their countries.
SABIC has been working with KraussMaffei for several decades,
which is an expression of the trust shared by the two companies
– something that always plays an important role in relationships
with Arabian companies. “We will do everything we can to once
again completely and thoroughly justify this trust,” said Dr. Karlheinz
Bourdon, Vice President Technologies, after the contract was
awarded. “This contract, which has been awarded by a company
whose technological requirements are extremely high, attests to our
overarching expertise with respect to our unique technology.” MB
“CoMPeTeNCe SHoW” IN THe laNd of THe RISING SuN
In just six years, KraussMaffei’s Japanese subsidiary,
which was founded in 2006, has become the market
leader in the Japanese market for reaction process machinery.
This is reason enough to celebrate this success
as part of a “competence show,” whose primary theme
is “Composite Materials & Combined Systems.”
This competence show, which included technical lectures delivered
by international experts as well as a trade show, took
place in July in Okazaki, in Japan. More than 40 practical examples
held the undivided attention of the more than 200 visitors.
The displayed components were grouped according to individual
processes in a theme-oriented manner. The visitors were
especially interested in the fiber composite technology featuring
HP-RTM (high-pressure RTM) and the fiber spray process,
as well as the process combinations like SkinForm and
ColorForm.
KraussMaffei’s employees had their hands full answering visitors’
questions, addressing inquiries, and acquiring projects.
The presentations supplied the listeners with the latest information
regarding the latest developments and trends in fiber
composite technology and the production of premium-quality
surfaces. “For us, the event was a complete success, as evidenced
by the visitors’ reactions and the many new projects
that we acquired during the event,” says Noriyuki Kanoh, Representative
Director of the Krauss-Maffei Japan Corporation.
The Japanese workers and their colleagues from Munich then
celebrated the company’s six-year anniversary with a traditional
Japanese dinner and a visit to a hot spring. On the way
there, they stopped at the “KM26,” a 120-year-old KraussMaffei
locomotive, which is considered to be a tourist attraction in
Japan. The local press and three television channels were
present when Mr. Nishi, chairman of the regional tourism
office, inquired whether this well-preserved locomotive could
be made operational again, and thus fulfill a childhood fantasy
of many Japanese people. MB