Separator's Digest - GEA Westfalia Separator Group

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attention to new hr development programmes and use this as the basis for creating individual programmes. we will also focus to an even greater extent on hr development, which already enjoys a very high level. And then everything will become intertwined. Markets of the future Separator‘s Digest: As a result of the global production facilities, the concept of “Made in Germany“ is being increasingly abandoned; in your market segment, is this still the concept which it once was? holger heinrich: No. “Made in germany“ is not the point. the point is rather that we are a company with german management. In many countries, this has a touch which is similar to “Made in germany“. At our company, the focus is on the quality image. If we as a german company supply from India or china, this is accompanied by our engineering and our brand. Separator‘s Digest: Are the markets of the future for GEA Westfalia Separator in India and China? holger heinrich: In the immediate future, the strongest growth market will probably be still to be found in Asia, but europe will also continue to be a very good market. the market in the USA is interesting, as are the markets in central and South America. the political structure of various South American countries is becoming increasingly stable. In particular, Brazil has very good opportunities in this respect. Potential has also been identified in Africa for the medium term. this is an area in which we will also have to prepare ourselves. however, it is still necessary for numerous political and economic conditions to be created in Africa. Separator‘s Digest: And with regard to technology? Where are the main future prospects to be found in this respect? holger heinrich: our products are integrated in extremely modern processes. for instance, the shelf life of fresh milk used to be perhaps three or four days, and it was otherwise necessary to use homogenised milk. with the use of the latest bacteria removing separators, milk nowadays remains as natural as it is for around three weeks, but without bacteria which have a negative impact on the product. It used not to be possible for such processes to be carried out with the previous separator series, although they were perfect in themselves. further technical development was necessary in this respect. A further example is the production of insulin in the pharmaceutical industry. when a new production process with a higher yield is found, this will also require a different separator. or take the wine industry. If we succeed in reducing the loss in the yeast sludge from between 10 and 15 percent to between one and two percent, it is easy to calculate how quickly such an investment will pay for itself. for our product development, the primary consideration is technological progress in the production processes of our customers and not a quantum leap in the functional principle of our separators. Giving life to the philosophy of preventive service Separator‘s Digest: Stringent requirements with regard to product integration also entail stringent requirements regarding the availability of your products. 24 / 7 is a practised or desired objective in many areas. Will you further strengthen and improve your service for this purpose? holger heinrich: yes, we will strengthen our service. And we will of course also give life to the philosophy that we perceive service to be preventive service. Production processes have to run permanently (24 / 7). In order to ensure that this is possible, the machines have to be regularly maintained and spare parts have to be replaced on time. we also offer our customers the possibility of modernising their production process with product upgrades and of achieving greater efficiency in this way. As you can see, the focus is always on the benefit for the customer, that is clear. In order to ensure that this is the case, we have set up a comprehensive programme of initial and further training specifically for our service engineers. Strengthening the training situation Separator‘s Digest: As far as training is concerned. GEA Westfalia Separator is well-known for excellent training and a Separator’s Digest 3 | 2008 GEA Westfalia Separator high percentage of trainees. In Oelde, this is currently running at approx. 10 percent of the overall work force. A huge figure. Do you intend to continue this line? holger heinrich: we intend to improve the quality even further. we intend to go into schools and present ourselves as an extremely attractive company. we want the best to apply to our company. we have to obtain a sound mix by ensuring that approximately one third of our trainees can find optimum deployment in production. the second third must have the potential of becoming master craftsmen, whereas the final third should go on to higher education. If we are to be able to sign up these young people, we have to communicate the attractiveness of our company. And for this purpose, we will establish a very strong presence in various schools, including the technical high schools. Synergy effects Separator‘s Digest: How do you perceive the synergy effects within the GEA Group? holger heinrich: Synergy effects do not result only from a new and uniform image; they result from a common quality philosophy. on the one hand, we are able to operate with the backing of a large group known throughout the world, whereas on the other hand the local work of the individual division is wanted and encouraged. however, this does not mean that we are not able to work closely together in purchasing and in production processes. there are teams responsible for all divisions who ensure that this happens. we also utilise synergy effects in the infrastructure, in the geA presence worldwide. At present for instance, we have established a geA base in Dubai; one division will be responsible for management – in this case the Mechanical Separation technology Division – whereas the other companies are able to use the infrastructures. The fly-wheel is rolling Separator‘s Digest: What does the immediate future of GEA Westfalia Separator look like, and how steep is the slope? holger heinrich: very positive. we have very good product developments. Specifically in
the field of decanters, we will come with a new dimension which will make us more competitive and which will enable us to considerably improve our market shares in this segment. As a result of the variety of our applications, the constant growth in the world population as well as the necessary transport, I consider that there is a good future for our company and I believe that we will also be able to demonstrate very respectable growth in terms of revenues and results. Separator‘s Digest: Despite the current signs of recession in the global economy? holger heinrich: we are not experiencing any signs of recession at present. It is also true that a recession can be talked up quickly. however, because we work in an industry where, fortunately, an investment plan is not changed every month, the effects of the current global economic climate are not being felt so significantly. when a pharmaceutical company has tested a product for many years, production has to follow. this is also applicable for the shipbuilding industry, where shipyard order books are full for many years. It is a large flywheel which is rolling. Culture of openness Separator‘s Digest: … and to which you will give a further boost with the new structures. holger heinrich: geA westfalia Separator has been and will continue to be a reliable partner for its customers. If we see a possibility of improving ourselves, we will immediately take advantage of this opportunity. we are not a rigid body, in sales or in production. Although we are a company with a very long tradition, we have one of the most modern management structures. I am convinced that we will have an extremely optimum structure on the market after the restructuring process. from my point of view, the best structure is always to be found when decisionmaking channels are short, and when responsibility has a clear structure. Under these circumstances, the management body can be managed in an optimum manner although it is so large. Indeed, we have almost 3000 employees, and we operate worldwide New Division President in the Mechanical Separation technology Division Since 1 April, holger heinrich has been the new Division President of the geA Mechanical Separation technology Division. he has now spent a decade in positions of the highest responsibility in the company. In 1998, he joined the Mechanical Separation technology Division as chairman of westfalia Separator Mineraloil Systems. In that position, he was very successful in expanding and refocusing international business. the combination of the product portfolio in machine generations ctype and westfalia Separator dtype which was initiated under his leadership has also proved to be forwardlooking. holger heinrich was appointed to the executive Board of westfalia Separator Ag on 1 october 2002. As chief operating officer, he was responsible for sales, marketing, technology and production. In this position, he not only successfully continued the international focus of the division; with the structuring of production as well as the introduction of a new service strategy, he also created the basis for sustainable success of the company. holger heinrich was appointed to the Division Board of the geA Division Dairy farm Systems on 1 November 2004 – in conjunction with management of westfaliaSurge gmbh in Bönen. he subsequently provided the company with a new organisational structure and identity. Under his leadership, he developed Dairy farm Systems to a successful organisational entity within geA group Aktiengesellschaft. returning to geA westfalia Separator, he is now introducing a comprehensive restructuring process in the division. holger heinrich has set himself the aim of combining existing components of success and streamlining inflexible organisational structures. this objective is actively supported by the parent company geA group Aktiengesellschaft. this is demonstrated not least by the fact that the group will invest considerable sums in the Mechanical Separation technology Division of geA westfalia Separator in the course of the next few years. GEA Westfalia Separator Separator’s Digest 3 | 2008 in more than 100 countries with subsidiaries and agents. Nevertheless, decisions of the executive Board reach the sales representative within hours. we are accordingly able to identify trends at a very early stage. this results in a culture of openness which we are now experiencing and which we intend to maintain. And in the final analysis, this guarantees that we will continue to exist in the long term. this corporate structure will be strengthened and maintained everywhere – top down und bottom up. Separator‘s Digest: Are there any specific sales targets? holger heinrich: when I came to geA westfalia Separator in 1998, the aim was to generate sales of one billion DM. At that time, this aim was still a long way off and was considered to be very ambitious. today, we are able to report the highest level of order intake in our history. we are moving towards a new record. Accordingly, we are rapidly approaching a round figure which in turn is as desirable as it is ambitious. Separator‘s Digest: Thank you for this interview.
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Page 9 and 10: Biodiesel Success Story With the co
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Page 25 and 26: The (dark) Sweet Side of Life DECAn
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Separator's Digest - GEA Westfalia Separator Group

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