Separator's Digest - GEA Westfalia Separator Group

GEA Westfalia Separator
New Structures
INtervIew wIth holger heINrIch, the New DIvISIoN PreSIDeNt
of the geA MechANIcAl SePArAtIoN techNology DIvISIoN.
As the responsible Division President of the geA Mechanical Separation
technology Division, holger heinrich initiated an extensive restructuring
process at geA westfalia Separator at the beginning of April 2008. he has
set himself the target of combining existing components of success and
streamlining inflexible organisational structures.
that this objective is supported by the
parent company, geA group Aktiengesellschaft,
and that holger heinrich enjoys
complete confidence in this respect, is
demonstrated by the fact that the group is
prepared to invest considerable sums in
the Mechanical technology Division of
geA westfalia Separator in the course of
the next three years. Separator‘s Digest
spoke with the new Division President about
his objectives and their implementation.
Separator‘s Digest: Mr. Heinrich, you
have assumed office with the aim
of turning a good company into an
even better company. What specific
measures do you intend to take in
order to achieve this objective?
Quite simple, by concentrating on what is
essential, by occupying market niches and
focusing to an even greater extent on
innovations. this will also have to be
achieved on a global scale. only with this
strategy will we be able to be competitive
on the global market.
As complex as necessary,
as simple as possible
Separator‘s Digest: What do “innovations“
mean for you?
holger heinrich: An innovation is not only
the brilliant idea; an innovation can also
involve a cost reduction or a simplification
of complex processes. however, precisely
that is very difficult, and requires free
thinking and visionary ideas. only in this
way can we for instance achieve a reduction
in the number of parts or a product simplification
combined with higher complexity in
the processes.
for the customer, a system must be as
simple as possible. however, in terms of its
function, it must be as complex and perfect
as necessary.
Separator‘s Digest: Does that require a
stronger modular structure?
without doubt, a machine in production
must be as simple as possible, and it must
be possible for the machine to be manufactured
with a maximum reduction of
components. Modular design is one of the
features which we use for this purpose.
however, the most important aspect is
always that we are able to offer the
customer a perfect individual solution.
High eight-digit investment
in Oelde
Separator‘s Digest: Are you planning
high levels of investment in the location
in Oelde?
holger heinrich: yes, we will invest heavily
in production, and particularly in networked
machine technology at the location for safe­
Separator’s Digest 3 | 2008
GEA Westfalia Separator
guarding jobs and also for boosting competitiveness.
this is applicable particularly
for the production of our know­how parts.
Separator‘s Digest: This is not only a
clear “yes“ to the location in Oelde; it is
also an opportunity to take a major
step in the direction of innovation.
holger heinrich: we need production which
is so flexible that it is able to implement the
innovative ideas for our key components
such as bowls, centripetal pumps and
distributors, simply by programming the
machine tools.
Separator‘s Digest: Will the two other
locations in Niederahr and Château-
Thierry also see investments
holger heinrich: compared with oelde, we
have already invested considerable sums in
château­thierry and in Niederahr. In Niederahr,
there are for instance 14 new machine
tools, and two new cNc machining centres
have just been commissioned in châteauthierry.
this means that there is not the
same high backlog of investments at those
locations as in oelde.
the investments amount to a very high
eight­digit figure at the location; one third
of the investment will consist of building
investments and two thirds will consist of
investments in machines and a test bay –
as well as measures designed to optimise