VEM-Impulse e-paper 1-2016_keulahütte_engl

March | 2016
E-magazine FOR OUR CUSTOMERS
Impulse
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Engineering
New turning centre shortens
manufacturing times
Valves, hydrants and threaded fittings can now be machined at the
highest technical level – with stabilised workpiece throughput.
At Keulahütte, the turned parts
which are required for valves,
hydrants and threaded fittings are
manufactured in a CNC cell comprising
three individual machines.
One of these turning machines,
the DFS 2/4 for chuck and centre
clamping, has been in use since
1993. Investment in a replacement
for this technically outdated machine
was thus becoming imperative.
The ideal replacement, and
one which meets all aspirations to
manufacturing at the highest technical
level, is a DOOSAN PUMA GT
2600M turning centre.
Factors which sealed this investment
decision were the enormous
performance capabilities of the machine,
the reliability of the manufacturer,
the availability of competent
local support, and the fact that the
machine controls are comparable to
those of the existing CNC systems.
The new turning centre has shortened
the previous manufacturing
times by 20 per cent thanks to its
faster tool changing and increased
rapid traverse rates. All workpieces
The new turning centre and a view into its inner workings (above left)
which were formerly machined on the DFS 2/4 have been
switched to the DOOSAN PUMA GT 2600M. A further positive
effect of this modernisation is realisation of an urgently necessary
cost reduction for the manufacturing and machining of
fittings and valve and hydrant parts at Keulahütte, as response
to the negative developments in current market price levels.
www.keulahuettekrauschwitz.de
March 2016 | VEM Impulse online

Impulse
Cost factor energy
Energy prices as a victim of
state regulation
An analysis of the current situation in the branch – Part 1
The production output of the German
iron and steel foundries has declined
continuously from 4.5 million tonnes
in 2011 to exactly 4.0 million tonnes
in 2015. That represents a total drop
of 11 per cent over the period. The
reduced demand from the machinery
and plant engineering sector,
Composition of energy prices
64 %
Electricity
already shrunk to just 39 per cent in
2016. By contrast, the costs for grid
use and a growing spectrum of levies
and taxes have in the meantime increased
to 61 per cent of the overall
energy price. There seems to be no
limit to political imaginativeness when
it comes to imposing new charges
2007 2012 2016
36 %
51 %
48 %
39 %
61 %
Grid/Concessions/Levies (CHP, renewables, offshore, compensation)/Tax
Fairs
Keulahütte at Ecwatech
2016 in Moscow
One important date on this year‘s international trade
fair calendar is Ecwatech 2016, which will be taking
place in Moscow from 26 th to 28 th April. It goes without
saying that Keulahütte is among the exhibitors
represented at the fair.
Ecwatech is for Keulahütte the most important forum
for water supply technologies and management in
the whole Russian-speaking region. This branch fair
presents a broad spectrum of products and solutions
relating to the use, restoration and conservation of
water resources, water and wastewater treatment
and water supplies, including the construction and
maintenance of piping systems. The opportunity to
present the Keulahütte range of butterfly and gate
valves, and above all its GOST-approved hydrants, is
expected to attract further customers from the region.
Present at the most important
branch meeting in Munich
in particular, has contributed to the
sustained underutilisation of capacities
in the iron and steel foundries.
Under these circumstances, the
foundries find themselves confronted
with customer demands for massive
price reductions. The stagnating purchasing
prices for raw iron and steel
scrap already serve as the principal
argument for necessary adjustments.
But this view completely disregards
a whole host of other significant cost
factors.
The greatest source of risk for the
so-called “hot industries” remains the
problem of energy prices. The real
issue is no longer the price for the
actual electricity. In the meantime, it
is the payments for grid use and a
never-ending variety of new state levies
which make cost calculations an
unpredictable undertaking. While the
actual electricity costs still accounted
for 64 per cent of the overall price
of energy in 2007, this share had
02 March 2016 | VEM Impulse
on energy consumers. In addition to
levies defined in the Renewable Energy
Act (EEG), the Combined Heat
and Power Act (KWKG) and the Grid
Charge Compensation Ordinance
(StromNEV), the latest addition to the
list is an offshore liability levy, which is
intended to spread the compensation
claims of wind farm operators
whose offshore installations cannot
be connected in due time by the
corresponding grid operators. An
energy tax of presently 2.05 ct/kWh
and – last but not least – valueadded
tax on all the aforementioned
price components round off the truly
chaotic picture.
As typically smaller representatives
of the hot industries, the foundries
are following such developments
with great concern, also because
various other cost elements are being
distorted out of all proportion by state
and regional economic regulation.
To be continued …
The world‘s leading trade fair for the water supply,
wastewater, disposal and raw materials branch, IFAT
2016, will be opening its doors in Munich from 30 th
May to 3 rd June. Here, too, Keulahütte will be among
the exhibitors. A review of the last IFAT fair in 2014
shows that all previous records were broken. Over
135,000 visitors from 168 countries flocked to Munich
to catch up with the latest branch trends. The constantly
increasing number of exhibitors also confirms
the prime importance of the fair. Keulahütte will be
using the fair to demonstrate its competence at all
stages of the manufacturing and supply chain, from
initial casting to a ready-to-install final product.
Given the high proportion of international visitors in
Munich, IFAT is seen as a great opportunity to gain
new customers beyond the German market.

Impulse
Company visit
First-hand career peparation
Trainees from LWG Lausitzer Wasser visit Keulahütte
Career preparation of a
very special kind awaited
fourth-year trainees from the
transregional training centre
of water and wastewater utility
company LWG Lausitzer
Wasser GmbH & Co. KG on
19 th January 2016. A few days
before the end of their training,
they visited Keulahütte
in Krauschwitz (Saxony).
Keulahütte produces above
all fittings, butterfly and gate
valves, hydrants and specially
designed custom castings.
Particular importance is
attached to product quality
and sustainability. With
approximately 300 employees,
Keulahütte is one of the most
important employers in the
Lusatian region, and furthermore
a longstanding partner
and supplier of the water and
wastewater branch.
The purpose of the excursion
was to acquaint the future
plant mechanics with the
manufacturing and special
features of those products
which will soon be standing
at the focus of their work. The
visit began with a detailed and
very informative presentation
on commercial processes relating
to sales, marketing and
accounting, and an introduction
to the various production
processes and workpieces.
This was followed by a tour of
the production centre.
The 19-hectare site accommodates
all the relevant
production and machining
processes. There are only a
few plastic and metal parts
which must be purchased
externally, but even they are
A whole new experience: Future plant mechanics during their tour of the production centre at Keulahütte
obtained from regional suppliers wherever possible.
“In our eyes, it is an important contribution
to the quality of our products and the continued
stability of the local economy that we cooperate
primarily with regional partners,” says sales representative
Sigmund Pionty. “We can thus state
proudly that our products are in every respect
‘Quality made in Germany’.”
New experiences gained
The tour organised for the trainees and their
instructors included the pattern workshop, the
melting furnaces, the mouldmaking department
and, of course, the casting process
itself. The visitors were especially impressed
by this striking process, where liquid iron at
a temperature of around 1400 °C is poured
into a specially formed sand mould. In later
everyday use, the various products are exposed
not only to environmental influences,
but also to considerable climatic, chemical
and mechanical stresses, and must thus be
prepared for all coming eventualities. Not least
for this reason, Keulahütte possesses its own
test laboratory for quality testing and assurance.
Along the way, the future specialists
had ample opportunity to ask all manner of
questions on test methods, material compositions
and the special demands applicable in
the individual sales departments, for example
differences between the German and the
European markets.
Another interesting stop on the tour addressed
the mechanical machining of raw castings on
a range of drilling machines, turning lathes and
CNC milling centres, as well as the GSK-compliant
powder coating of fittings, valves and hydrant
parts. Much of the machining is done on
ultramodern computer-assisted robot systems,
though there are still numerous tasks which
require direct manual intervention. The tour of
the production centre ended in the assembly
department and the workshops responsible for
function testing and the tightness of all seals.
All in all, the trainees were treated to an well
organised and structured visit, with a great deal
of valuable information on a topic which was for
most a whole new experience. The feedback
from the visitors was correspondingly positive.
They appreciated, in particular, the closer
insights into the functioning of relevant products
in the run-up to their final practical examinations
in February. Furthermore, they were able to gain
a first-hand impression of the high quality standards
which apply at the foundry stage, and the
special conditions under which Keulahütte is
active for the water industry and other
branches. Paul Zisowsky, LWG trainee
www.keulahuettekrauschwitz.de March 2016 | VEM Impulse 03

Impulse
Water supplies
Traditionally good cooperation with regional utility
ZWAR Rügen has been using
Keulahütte products for
many years
The regional utility association
for water supplies and wastewater
treatment on the Baltic
island of Rügen (ZWAR) is today
an economically successfully
enterprise with firm roots in the
region. It supplies drinking water
to towns and villages throughout
the islands of Rügen, Ummanz
and Hiddensee, and also provides
for treatment and disposal
of their wastewater. A total of
41 communities are members of
ZWAR. Some 4.7 million cubic
metres of groundwater are processed
into high-quality drinking
water in 29 waterworks, and
39 fully biological treatment
plants enable five million cubic
metres of wastewater to be purified
and returned to the natural
water cycle. This purification
capacity represents a major
contribution to the water quality
along the island‘s beaches. The
drinking water and wastewater
networks maintained by ZWAR
each measure 850 kilometres.
Since the founding of the
regional association on 3 rd June
1992, over 250 million has been
invested in plant erection and reconstruction,
as well as in major
overhauls. The goal is to provide
reliable drinking water supplies
and wastewater disposal for the
70,000 local inhabitants, not to
mention the countless tourists
and a broad spectrum of industrial
and commercial consumers.
That has demanded a targeted
and systematic modernisation
programme. As further enterprises
have settled on the island,
and with further development of
the tourist infrastructures, it has
also been necessary to expand
the installations and networks
accordingly.
“Hidden” Keulahütte hydrant in the
dunes near Sellin
ing suppliers, the association has
gradually modernised and expanded
its whole existing network
– including the waterworks and
treatment plants – over the past
years. In 2015, for example, the
waterworks in Sellin was equipped
with 21 Keulahütte gate valves with
Driving network expansion
Ductile fittings, gate valves and
hydrants from Keulahütte GmbH
in Krauschwitz have always been
the components of choice for
ZWAR. Together with predominantly
regional building contractors
and specialist civil engineerelectric
drives. Further construction
projects were realised at the
port of Mukran, where oval-wedge
gate valves in sizes DN 100-300,
Keuladrant underground hydrants
in size DN 80 and an assortment
of ductile fittings from Krauschwitz
were used. In the meantime, the
use of fittings and valves with
epoxy resin powder coatings has
also gained widespread acceptance
on the island of Rügen. Visitors
who explore the sunny holiday
island with an open eye will come
across the most varied models of
overground hydrants manufactured
by Keulahütte, for example “hidden”
hydrants in the dunes by the
Cliff Hotel in Sellin.
In the future, too, the proven
Keulahütte product range will be
helping to guarantee reliable water
supplies to ZWAR customers. The
association‘s modern parts store in
Bergen plays an important role in
this connection. Over 800 different
articles are held in stock and are
ready for delivery to any the five
supply districts on the island of
Rügen at a moment‘s notice.
Fair
Exhibition at the Oldenburg Pipe Forum
Conference at the interface between
study and practice celebrated its 30th
anniversary in 2016
As in previous years, the rooms and
grounds of the Jade University of Applied
Sciences were venue for the traditional
Oldenburg Pipe Forum and its flanking
exhibition on 11 th and 12 th February 2016.
This year‘s event was already the 30 th in
the series. Compared to January 1987,
when no more than 100 participants met
in a lecture hall on the Oldenburg campus
to listen to 12 presentations on the subject
of “Plastic piping in the construction
industry”, the forum has today evolved into
a major platform for intensive exchanges
between leading branch experts. In the
meantime, the number of visitors has risen
to more than 3,000. Keulahütte has been
a regular exhibitor at the forum for over
15 years and has experienced the positive
development at first hand. Interesting presentations
and opportunities for in-depth
discussions with a broad spectrum of
branch representatives are characteristic
for the conference in Oldenburg.
Publisher
Responsible editor
Layout & design
Subscribe/unsubscribe
VEM Holding GmbH
Pirnaer Landstraße 176, 01257 Dresden
Tel.:+49 351 208-0
Fax:+49 351 208-1028
www.keulahuettekrauschwitz.de
04 Dezember 2015 | VEM Impulse
VEM Sachsenwerk GmbH
Sabine Michel
Head of corporate communications
sabine.michel@vem-group.com
Kommunikation Schnell GmbH, Dresden
Photos: Keulahütte Krauschwitz,
Paul Zisowsky
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