Magazine for the customers of ThyssenKrupp Xervon 02 | 07

update. 2
Magazine for the
customers of
ThyssenKrupp Xervon
02 | 07
Maintenance –
A decisive competitive
advantage
Well fertilized
Working with Uhde in Egypt
A difficult job all round
Twenty spherical tanks
overhauled
Offshore in Qatar
Quality breeds customer
loyalty

02 CONTENTS PREFACE 03
04
05
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
TOPIC
Maintenance – A decisive
competitive advantage
ON SITE
Chemical bond
ON SITE
Well fertilized
Another contract for
Uhde in Egypt
ON SITE
Chinese investing in
German quality
ON SITE
A difficult job all round
ON SITE
Precision work
KNOW HOW
Display of discipline from
German service providers
Maintenance knowledge platform
– outcome of the NovaMille project
NOTICES
Full-service maintenance
Five years accident-free
Full steam ahead for Würzburg
The IdeasPark comes to Stuttgart
Ground broken for ThyssenKrupp Quarter
SITE VIEW
Offshore in Qatar
SITE VIEW
A bright future
Imprint
up 2date 02 | 07
Magazine for the customers
of ThyssenKrupp Xervon
Publisher
ThyssenKrupp Xervon GmbH
An der Landwehr 2
D-45883 Gelsenkirchen, Germany
www.thyssenkruppxervon.com
Edited by
Ulrike Grönefeld (editor-in-chief),
Peter Diekmann, Charlotte Platzköster,
Sebastian Wenzel (Dortmund university)
ThyssenKrupp Services AG
Phone: +49 (O)2 11-9 67 57 92
Email: ulrike.groenefeld@thyssenkrupp.com
Photos
Degussa, ThyssenKrupp Xervon,
ThyssenKrupp Werkfotografie, Uhde
Cover: corbis
Design
Xpertise Werbeagentur GmbH,
Langenfeld
Printed by
Makossa Druck und Medien GmbH,
Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Print-run
3,000
ThyssenKrupp
Dear Readers:
German chemical companies are doing fine. This is underlined by the current status report of the Chemical Industry
Association (VCI) in Frankfurt. There has again been a surge of growth in domestic business as well in demand from
abroad. And this is good news for us all, because the chemical industry as the supplier of vital initial products is a key
indicator for the German economy in general. What's more, the many branches of the economy served by the chemical
industry are benefiting from the healthy world economy and keeping the production plants of the chemical industry busy.
When production is running to full capacity, high-quality maintenance is an absolute must. This is a task that is being
handled increasingly in the chemical industry by service providers like ThyssenKrupp Xervon. For the construction of new
plant, the German virtues of quality- and safety-consciousness are in bigger demand than ever and particularly abroad,
as the examples of Bayer in China (page 10) and the cooperation between Uhde and Xervon in Egypt show (page 8).
The key to success of the German chemical industry include Germany's chemical parks whose broad range of services
and advanced infrastructure still rank among the best locations in Europe. The efforts being made by operators and service
providers like ThyssenKrupp Xervon to modernize these installations are illustrated by an example from Cologne (page 14).
Aside from the economy and the choice of location, the subject of training young people has lost none of its urgency. The
chemical industry has just extended its collective agreement focusing on training for the future. In 2007 and 2008, a total
of 16,800 apprenticeships are to be made available for the first year of training. On page 22, we shall explain why we as
a service provider are creating about 200 new apprenticeships across Germany.
I wish you a continuation of your successful year and an enjoyable read.
Best regards,
Dr. Niclas Müller

04 TOPIC
Maintenance –
A decisive competitive
advantage
Outsourcing as an opportunity for the chemical
industry – and what needs to be considered
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT MAINTENANCE
AND OUTSOURCING – ALSO IN THE
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. AND THE LATTER IS
OF EXCEPTIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE
GERMAN ECONOMY.
TOPIC 05
AFTER ALL, IT IS THE FOURTH LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, following automotive engineering,
mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. As it supplies research-intensive
upstream products for other industries, it is moreover a driver of innovation. But it is also an
especially sensitive and complex field, when maintenance and its outsourcing to an external
service-provider are concerned.
More and more companies are faced with the decision of either regarding maintenance as one
of their own core competencies or having these services provided by specialized outside companies.
After all, continuous production processes often make it impossible to shut down the
plants. In addition, maintenance management has changed considerably in recent decades.
Maintenance used to be viewed as a necessary evil, whose share of the fixed costs simply had
to be accepted. Now, however, it is seen as an internally or externally procured service, one
which represents a major share of the company’s added value and thus makes a lasting contribution
to its success. This is reason enough to take a closer look at the topic of maintenance,
outsourcing of this service, and what needs to be considered.
The trends in the chemical field in regard to factors such as the market, cost-effectiveness,
human resources, etc., are clearly recognizable: machines and plants are to run longer and
longer, parallel to increasing productivity and technical complexity. Increasing competitive
pressure as the result of globalization and market consolidations forces plant operators to
reduce or minimize cost. This is often made possible, first of all, in human resources planning,
in reducing the allocation of resources, and in prolonging the service life of plants.
Yet good maintenance and all of its consequences can save cost much more efficiently. What
actually constitutes good maintenance? What can it accomplish? And why does it pay to consider
it in such detail? Here are a few basic informations:
• Approximately €250 billion flow into direct maintenance each year.
• 10 to 30 percent of all downtimes in plants is caused by poor maintenance methods.
• The cost of plant downtime is on average €50,000 per hour.
• High average age and staff reduction characterize the employment structure in the maintenance
sector.
• in the future the safety of necessary technical personnel for the maintenance will be more
important.
Opinions differ as to exactly what constitutes good maintenance. Dr. Hartmut May of
ThyssenKrupp Xervon sees it more or less like this: “It should minimize errors, increase
employees safety, and augment plant availability, while simultaneously minimizing cost in the
long-term.”
➡

06 TOPIC
Factors for success include especially, in addition to the strategy (preventive
and forward-looking, instead of reactive and corrective), the
employees with their know-how and collaboration with the customer
who outsources maintenance to an expert. A further decisive factor
leading to the success of a project like this is establishing rules, fixed
in a carefully prepared contract.
As to the specification of services: The more detailed the services to
be outsourced are put down in writing, the less room there is for differing
interpretations and possible later recriminations. The same
holds true for interface definitions. Who will turn the machine off
before maintenance? And who will put it back online afterwards?
A very significant theme for projects that are as sensitive as the outsourcing
of maintenance services is trust between the parties to the
agreement. This is difficult to settle and record in the form of a contract.
But there are some points that will establish a good starting
basis for a collaboration marked by trust.
In addition to an agreement on liability and a guarantee of the availability
of the plants (if the service provider works in close proximity to
the production process), determination of the time period for which
the outsourcing contract is being granted and handling of employees
(known in legal terminology as transfer of operations) are significant.
A term of five years is certainly usual in this sector. After all, achieving
sustainable savings potentials in a shorter period of time is rather difficult.
Similarly, trust cannot be built that quickly, or the know-how
Machines and plants are meant to run
ever longer, by a good maintenance
thereby costs can be saved.
exchanged, as is necessary for a close relationship between the two
contractual partners.
On the subject of know-how and trust, an agreement on the transfer
of operations is an especially key component in deliberations. During
and subsequent to the term of the contract, how will the employees
passed on from the customer to the service provider be dealt with?
How will both contractual partners take over employees in good time
at the right place in order to not risk destroying the existing trust and
to maintain motivation? What qualifications do the employees need in
order to perform the services, and how can the customer and service
provider learn and profit from each another? These and numerous
other factors need to be considered and kept in mind when preparing
for outsourcing activities.
At ThyssenKrupp Xervon, learning from one another is a high priority.
All the employees can use a knowledge platform in the intranet (see
report on Novamille, Page 17) to exchange ideas and experience and
to give each other support, enabling them to provide customers with
the best possible on-site service.
Aside from the technical resources and other factors involved in good
maintenance, the formula for achieving this can be briefly expressed
as follows:
Good employees + Good processes + Good technology = Good
results = Lower overall cost
Chemical bond
IN THE PORT OF ANTWERP – the world's second biggest chemical
hub after Houston, Texas – is home to a lineup of big-name companies.
So it's no surprise that ThyssenKrupp Xervon also has a branch
here. One of the oldest customers since the inauguration of its
Belgian site in 1970 is Degussa Antwerpen N.V., which in Antwerp
mainly produces hydrogen peroxide (bleach and oxidant), Aerosil
(optimizes the properties of paints, pastes, powders and dyestuffs),
Organosilane (an important additive in the rubber industry) and the
animal feed additive methionine. In the fields of cold/heat insulation
and scaffold erection, master agreements have been in existence for
many years between Xervon and the chemical corporation with its
international operations – both sides swear by long-term cooperation.
Over and above this, exciting one-off projects also come up every
now and then and add variety to the service provider's activities. An
example of this is the construction of a new 1-butene plant from
September 2003 to February 2004. This is where the insulation
experts installed about 8,600 square meters of mineral wool with a
protective jacket of aluminum zinc as thermal insulation and made
over 9,000 cubic meters of scaffolding available.
TOUGH REQUIREMENTS
This was a huge and exacting task that called for extra-high
standards of occupational safety and quality. A precondition for this
contract was that the service provider could furnish certifications to
ISO 9001:2000 and SCC**. Not at all a problem for ThyssenKrupp
Xervon, as the employees are experienced insulators and scaffold
erectors and personally trained in safety (SCC) on top.
But it was not only in this field that the service provider achieved the
superlative – for when it came to manpower flexibility and capacity
adaptation, it satisfied all of the chemical company's requirements.
ThyssenKrupp Xervon has over 300 of its own staff in Antwerp as well
as a workshop for prefab insulation and a large back-up store for
scaffold and insulation materials on the Degussa site.
MULTI-SERVICES
The fact that cooperation has been so smooth and successful for
many years has prompted both sides to renew the contracts for insulation
and scaffold erection until the end of March 2012. The goal is to
maximize synergies by performing and coordinating the two activities
and thus to save expense.
xervon.kapellen@thyssenkrupp.com
ON SITE 07

08 ON SITE
Well fertilized
THE PERFORMANCE CURVE OF THYSSENKRUPP XERVON IN EGYPT RUNS VIRTUALLY PARALLEL TO THAT OF UHDE, ONE
OF THE LARGEST GERMAN PLANT CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES, WITH HEADQUARTERS IN DORTMUND. WITHIN THE PAST
THREE YEARS, UHDE HAS ALREADY SECURED FIVE ORDERS FOR PRACTICALLY IDENTICAL FERTILIZER PLANTS, ONE EACH
IN ALEXANDRIA, HELWAN AND SUEZ AND TWO IN DAMIETTA. ALWAYS ON BOARD AS SPECIALISTS FOR INSULATION,
SCAFFOLDING, AND CORROSION PROTECTION IS A TEAM FROM XERVON EGYPT, WHICH, WITH AS MANY AS 1,600
EMPLOYEES, IS MEANWHILE CONSIDERED THE LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SERVICE PROVIDER IN EGYPT.
EACH OF THE PLANTS in Damietta, as was the case for the previous
fertilizer contracts, will include an ammonia/urea complex with a daily
capacity of 1,200 metric tons of ammonia and 1,925 metric tons of
urea granulate, including all plants and auxiliary equipment. Uhde is
responsible for providing the overall engineering (basic and detail),
Boilers, tanks, columns, containers
or cables – all are equipped with
individual insulation.
equipment, construction and assembly, as well as commissioning.
The complex will be erected in the free trade zone of Damietta, some
200 kilometers east of Alexandria, and is to go on line in the middle of
2008.
The recent contract in Damietta is yet another milestone in the still
young history of Xervon Egypt. For the first time, the North Africans
will now also be supplying the electrical and instrumentation trades,
refractory construction, and synthetic linings from a single source. In
addition to 42,000 square meters of hot and cold insulation, there will
be 130,000 square meters of corrosion protection and 450 tons
(3,500 square meters) of brickwork. At peak periods between January
2006 and May 2007, Xervon had as many as 400 employees at work
on the construction site at the same time.
Building as highly technical and complex a chemical plant as a fertilizer
factory places the highest demands on all domains. Special coatings
and insulations are also necessary for the complex chemical
processes which are later to be conducted here. The boilers, tanks,
columns, containers, cables, and entire plant sections must all be
provided with the correct insulating and surface material by the experienced
insulators of the multi-trade specialists firm.
Uhde’s proprietary ammonia process will be used in the ammonia
plant, while the urea plant will be built for the synthesis process from
Stamicarbon in the Netherlands. All processes that have been
selected are especially environment friendly and comply with the
high Egyptian and European standards.
bodo.hoffmann@thyssenkrupp.com
Megasite: the 350,000-t annual capacity
complex is due to come on stream in 2009.
Scaffolding or roofing, the
Xervon teams working in Egypt
are multi-skilled.
ON SITE 09
Uhde is a company in the Technologies
segment of the ThyssenKrupp
Group and has a workforce of more
than 4,100 employees worldwide.
The company’s activities focus on
the engineering and construction of
chemical and other industrial plants
in the following fields: fertilizers,
electrolysis, gas technologies, oil,
coal and residue gasification,
refining technologies, organic intermediates,
polymers, and synthetic
fibers, as well as coke plant and
high-pressure technologies.
Another contract for Uhde in Egypt
THE EGYPTIAN AGRIUM NITROGEN PRODUCTS CO. SAE (EAgrium) has commissioned Uhde with the turnkey construction of another
fertilizer complex in Damietta, about 160 kilometers northeast of Cairo. EAgrium is a joint venture run by the Canadian fertilizer producer
Agrium, the Egyptian companies EChem, EGAS and GASCO, and the Saudi Arabian Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. The complex consists
of two ammonia plants, each with a production capacity of 1,200 metric tons per day, and two urea plants, each with a capacity of
1,925 tons per day. Completion is scheduled for 2010. Uhde’s proprietary ammonia process will be used in the ammonia plants, while the
urea will be built for the process from Stamicarbon in the Netherlands. All processes that have been selected are especially environment
friendly and comply with the high Egyptian and European standards. Within the past three years, this is the fifth contract for a fertilizer plant
in Egypt.

10 ON SITE ON SITE 11
Chinese investing in German quality
QUALITY PAYS! THIS PRINCIPLE ALSO
APPLIES TO CHINA, A COUNTRY WHERE,
ESPECIALLY AMONG THE BIG COMPANIES,
PRICE IS NO LONGER THE PRIME FACTOR.
No easy job:
cutting-to-size the
steel windings. In
future an automatic
slitting and stamping
machine will
step in.
THIS IS ENDORSED BY EXPERIENCE meanwhile gathered by ThyssenKrupp Xervon Shanghai.
This multitrade specialist has meanwhile made a name for itself in the Chinese market for
coating and insulation work. Insulation has only been part of the services portfolio since 2005;
decisive in the adoption of this service was the good work performed on behalf of Bayer AG
which is building a large chemical complex in Cao Jing, Shanghai. The customer was looking
for a firm able to supply as a complete package several trades from a single source – no problem
in Germany, but in China a question of time.
The most difficult aspect was and still is finding local labor skilled in this particular job. Experienced
insulators are not available on the Chinese market. This, in turn, is reflected in the
quality of the work performed by local insulation contractors. Hence, Michael Schurig, in
charge of insulation projects at Xervon Shanghai, adopted a different approach and recruited
support from Germany. Together with an experienced coworker he assembled a team of 35
insulators who are continuously being trained. Most of the necessary machinery was acquired
locally.
Proof of the quality of the skills supplied in what is for China a new trade, has been delivered
over the past two years in the course of three projects completed on behalf of Bayer. The latter
was most satisfied with the quality of the work (up2date reported in 2005). An especial advantage
was the experience acquired by the team using its own 2-component hot-spraying unit
which can be ideally set for injecting the PU foam needed for the cold insulation.
The next stage at the Bayer plant involves the insulation of 120,000 square meters of pipework,
tanks, and other equipment. This job has begun in July and is scheduled for completion
probably in 2009. It will then be followed by another stage of similar magnitude.
ThyssenKrupp Xervon Shanghai intends to invest in an automatic slitting and stamping
machine capable of doing the work of 15 to 20 experts in cutting-to-size the frequently highly
complex sheet windings. Despite the low-labor cost throughout the country, such a unit is paying
for itself – in terms of quality, consistency and operational speed.
The capacities thus unlocked can now be deployed elsewhere since, thanks to the solid work
performed, Xervon is being engaged in other maintenance projects at Bayer. The initial jobs
have already been completed and, at the same time, a workshop is being set up on the Bayer
premises. In all, another step toward multitrade status. Quality pays!
michael.schurig@thyssenkruppxervon.com.cn
Neat and tidy
wherever you look:
120,000 square
meters of insulation
commissioned by
Bayer.

12 ON SITE
A difficult job all round
OVER TWENTY STEEL SPHERICAL TANKS HAVE BEEN UNDERGOING AN OVERHAUL BY THYSSENKRUPP
XERVON AT THE WESSELING SITE OF BASELL POLYOLEFINE GMBH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
Dirty brown before …
THE INDUSTRIAL SERVICE PROVIDER has been scaffolding the
liquefied gas spheres, removing the old anti-corrosive coatings, priming
the tanks and coating them with a flame-retardant paint. One of
them, however, has a coating contaminated with problematical
chromium (VI), and this calls for a complex removal process.
Basell is the world's biggest producer of polyolefins and catalysts. At
its biggest production plant in Wesseling, south of Cologne, the
chemical company mainly produces plastic granulates. The liquefied
gases required for the production process are stored on the vast company
site in an almost futuristic-looking collection of two dozen spherical
tanks. Because their existing anti-corrosive paint was showing its
age and new official regulations now demanded the application of a
flame-retardant coating, all 24 tanks are gradually being given a new,
dazzlingly white outer skin.
COMPLEX SCAFFOLDING TASK
The raised tanks measuring between thirteen and eighteen meters in
diameter are a good twenty meters tall. For the Xervon scaffold erectors,
the dust-tight enclosure of the spheres in preparation for painting
is an exacting task. So that the complete steel surface (up to
1,250 square meters) can be treated continuously, about 3,000 cubic
meters of scaffold frames have to be erected. Depending on tank
size, this can easily take up to four weeks. This is then followed by
another three weeks for the dust-tight enclosure.
Xervon project manager Wolfgang Oeding, who has been supervising
the tank repair project at Basell for several years, is familiar with the
complexity of the scaffold erection task. "Although the scaffold can be
tied to the tank supports at the bottom and, in isolated cases, to railings,
it is essentially a free-standing structure."
If the spherical tanks are equipped with sun screens, i.e. hemispheres
of insulating plate, the scaffold erectors have to gradually work from
the outside inward. First they erect the enclosing cylinder of scaffolding
and work their way inward spherically until the sun screen panels
can be comfortably removed. Once that has been accomplished, the
scaffold has to be extended further inward and adapted precisely to
the tank's spherical shape until the surface is no more than 30 centimeters
away. Otherwise the distance to the working surface would
be too large for the downstream trades.
Next, all the plant components permanently attached to the tanks
have to be wrapped and protected, e.g. cables, switch cabinets, fittings
and sensors. Then, in preparation for the blasting work, the
entire scaffold has to be given a meticulously dust-tight enclosure.
A TOUGH CASE
… coated to a sparkling
white after.
The tank contaminated with chromium (VI) is subject to the same
strict requirements in terms of occupational safety and environmental
protection as a structure contaminated with lead. During blasting, it is
enclosed virtually air-tight. To this end, the various plastic sheets of
the enclosure are welding together. In a special changing cubicle, the
blasters exchange their street clothes for blast suits, which have an
external air supply and are specially approved for this purpose. The
precautionary measures also include obligatory medical checkups
(G15) for all employees in order to eliminate risks to the health of the
corrosion protectors. During the blasting process, about 35,000 cubic
meters of air per hour are propelled through the enclosed work space
(five-fold air change). This high throughput generates a directional air
current that extracts and collects the environmentally hazardous mix
of used abrasive (slag) and abraded coating.
Blasting continues until the steel surface is stripped of the old anticorrosive
paint and nothing but the shiny bare metal is visible. The
contaminated tank is subjected to a special treatment process. While
ON SITE 13
the other tanks are blasted a segment at a time in the morning and
primed in the afternoon, the contaminated sphere is first blasted in its
entirety. Then a special firm cleans the work space, including the
enclosed scaffold, until no environmentally harmful dusts are
detectable within the enclosure. Then the complete tank is blasted
again and subsequently primed (film thickness 40 to 50 µm) in preparation
for the subsequent several coats of flame-retardant paint.
The entire substructure of the spheres (supports) is also given a
flame-retardant coating. The stairs, railings, walkways and other builton
elements are given a three-coat anti-corrosive finish. Quality control
is strict. Every scaffold structure and every blasted and coated
area is not only scrutinized and checked by Xervon's own inspectors.
Basell's quality assurance experts are also regularly on site to give
their okay for the ongoing process. Film thickness measurements of
the primer and flame-retardant paint are just as routine for the corrosion
protectors as the issuing of inspection records for the Technical
Control Board.
wolfgang.oeding@thyssenkrupp.com

14 ON SITE
Included: re-laying 20,000
meters of jumper wire, 2,000
meters of control and bus cables,
the installation of 50 control
cabinets, a host of terminal
boxes, plus further conversion,
assembly and connection tasks.
Precision work
THYSSENKRUPP XERVON IS CURRENTLY HANDLING A PARTICULARLY DELICATE TASK AT A PVC
PRODUCTION SITE IN COLOGNE-MERKENICH, WHERE THE SOMEWHAT ANTIQUATED PROCESS
INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM IS BEING REPLACED BY A MODERN ONE.
PRE-ASSEMBLY, CONNECTION AND COMMISSIONING of the new
instrumentation and control system have been entrusted to the local
electrical, measurement and control specialist. ThyssenKrupp Xervon
was awarded the maintenance and various other services for the
industrial park on the former site of Wacker-Chemie in Cologne-
Merkenich some years ago.
When the control system of a production plant is fully replaced, maximum
attention is called for. The control system is the life-line of production
and controls all the processes – from the raw material to the
finished product. Without control, production grinds to a halt. If therefore
the PVC production plant is shut down on a predetermined date
so that the new system can be connected up and commissioned,
there's no going back and no more putting it off. All the cables and
lines have to be laid, and all the circuitry ready. A two-week production
shutdown in mid-August is all that the electrical, measurement
and control specialists have in Cologne-Merkenich to detach the various
parts of the plant from the old control system and reconnect
about 4,200 measuring points during the final critical phase. All other
assembly, conversion and installation work has to be completed
beforehand while production is still running. ThyssenKrupp Xervon
therefore got down to work back in November.
“We're re-laying about 20,000 meters of jumper wire, 2,000 meters
of control cables and the same quantity again of bus cables," says
electrical engineer Peter Kujat, quantifying the huge quantity of materials
employed. This is joined by the installation of 50 control cabinets,
a multitude of terminal boxes and further conversion, assembly
and connection tasks. Peter Kujat's team has to convert precisely
2,205 binary and 347 analog measuring points. They run cables and
lines from the control cabinets in the control room to the various production
units and are installing a new bus system that bundles the
data and passes them on to the control room. This is where the
system's nerve center is located. All the data converge here, where
they are processed by computers with the new software and displayed
on monitors.
To as far as possible exclude potential sources of error in the required
multitude of electrical installations in advance, local inspections are
conducted for an early check of the already completed assembly
work. “This way we can largely ensure that nothing can really go
wrong later during connection and commissioning," says Peter Kujat
explaining the quality-assuring procedure. The control specialist has
been working at Cologne-Merkenich site for over twenty years now
and has turned many gifted electricians into electrical, measurement
and control experts. “At an industrial site like this, very special qualities
are called for. It's not enough to just have a wide range of technical
skills. Pronounced safety awareness is also essential." The strict
explosion protection regulations apply to the whole of production.
Access to the plant components, for instance, is only possible with a
previously obtained work permit note. For major projects such as
shutdowns or conversions, it is helpful to have access to a pool of
experienced manpower – either Xervon's own specialists or longstanding
external partner firms.
During the final two-week phase in Merkenich, a Xervon team of
twenty to thirty employees works virtually around the clock in three
shifts. Then another team takes over for commissioning. “For this we
deliberately choose other people, because they are more likely to spot
faulty connections or faulty wiring,” says the experienced electrical
engineer, explaining the team change. “If you've been changing a
system over for weeks, you can lose your neutrality and sometimes
overlook the obvious.”
In fact, however, Kujat expects neither faults nor deadline problems –
the tasks performed so far have all been on or even ahead of time.
Excellent prospects for the trouble-free running of the two following
conversion projects under Xervon's supervision next year and the
year after. The PVC manufacturer has divided the modernization of its
process instrumentation and control system into three segments.
Segment I (polymerization, VC/RVC metering) starts in 2007, Segment
II (waste water & condensation, drying) in 2008 and Segment III
(gasometer, alarm system) in 2009.
peter.kujat@thyssenkrupp.com
ON SITE 15

16 ON SITE
SHUTDOWN AT
ROTTERDAM REFINERY
Display of discipline
from German service
providers
EXTREME FLEXIBILITY, high motivation and safety awareness were
all displayed by the ThyssenKrupp Xervon team during the shutdown
of a Rotterdam refinery. With plenty of determination, the team not
only mastered a totally re-organized shutdown plan, but was also
awarded top marks for safety by the client week after week.
The original plans, however, were entirely different. From March 12
onward, the refinery was to have suspended operation for three and a
half weeks for a routine turnaround. As one of the service providers
contracted to plan the shutdown and handle the turnaround,
ThyssenKrupp Xervon earmarked 120 employees for this project. But
even the best-laid plans go astray. Due to a plant malfunction, the
schedule was turned upside-down. Not only did the shutdown have to
be brought forward at short notice to the beginning of February, but it
was also repeatedly extended to what was ultimately almost ten weeks.
DUPLICATED TASKS
Xervon shutdown project manager Richard Wolfstädter had a tough
challenge facing him. First of all, he had to completely re-organize his
already detailed deadline planning. And then the new work schedule
drawn up at lightning speed was soon overtaken by reality. “We
started work on February 1. It then turned out during the shutdown
that it wouldn't be possible to meet a number of repair deadlines, so
we had to postpone our work several times,” says Wolfstädter looking
back on the huge challenge to his team's flexibility. Xervon had originally
estimated an order volume of 12,000 working hours. However,
due to the delays and extra work, this figure ballooned to 24,000.
The gigantic refinery had been divided into five large segments for the
shutdown. One of these was entrusted to ThyssenKrupp Xervon for
inspection. Multi-trade manager Richard Wolfstädter was not only in
charge of the mechanical treatment of ten installations for this refinery-part.
He was also responsible for the coordination of other trades
such as scaffold erection, insulation and cleaning. His team handled
the dismantling and re-assembly of all the apparatus and equipment
such as tanks, columns, heat exchangers, filters, air coolers, etc. The
project scope also extended to minor welding jobs.
Ten hours a day from Monday to Friday and another six hours on
Saturdays – that was the unusually long working week – by Benelux
standards – of the Xervon shutdown specialists. “Our people are very
disciplined and committed when it comes to handling a shutdown,”
says Wolfstädter in praise of his team. As the project manager in
charge, he takes good care of his men: “If I want motivated people
who take responsibility for their work, I have to offer them a decent
working atmosphere.” This starts with suitable accommodation and
also involves shielding the fitters from unnecessary pressure and
hassles. The refinery expert Wolfstädter also has a keen interest in
harmonious relations with the client. “The key is always good cooperation
and plenty of enthusiasm, otherwise we'd never manage shutdowns
like the one in Rotterdam.”
At any rate, Xervon can now look back on another successfully
handled inspection. All ten installations went smoothly back into operation
without any leakages. The safety verdict was just as spotless:
No accidents, no injuries, and not the slightest incident. This explains
why Xervon was the only service provider involved in this turnaround
to be given an impeccable assessment by the refinery management
week after week.
richard.wolfstaedter@thyssenkrupp.com
THYSSENKRUPP XERVON:
INNOVATION IN INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES IS STIMULATED
ESSENTIALLY BY THE IMPETUS OF TECHNICAL PROGRESS
AND BY THE NETWORKING OF DATA IN THE CONTEXT OF
GLOBALIZATION AND INTER-COMPANY COOPERATION.
THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NOVAMILLE PROJECT organized
by the Universities of Bochum and Dortmund is concerned with
the formation of innovative organizational structures and environments
at the interface between technical service and the
customer. Innovation in the maintenance sector is one of the
main research focuses. The project pursues the goal of identifying
and exploiting market-related and technical innovation
potential. A variety of scientific disciplines and branches of
industry are involved in the NovaMille project. The synergies
from interdisciplinary cooperation make it possible to devise
procedural approaches and technical support for these
approaches and implement them in the participating companies.
At the same time, the interplay of the different interests of
those involved helps to put the results on a sound basis and
convert them into action.
The subject of maintenance is being handled by the Chair of
Factory Organization at the University of Dortmund in cooperation
with ThyssenKrupp Xervon. The goal of this part of the
project is to pool the knowledge of the maintenance of complex
technical installations, which is scattered throughout the customer's
and service provider's organizations, so as to permit
and support the innovation of maintenance processes. The
establishment of a knowledge platform for the maintenance
provider creates and institutionalizes an interdisciplinary communication
nerve center based on an extensive knowledge
database. The maintenance knowledge platform supports the
maintenance specialist, trainee and customer in the same way
to satisfy the growing need for knowledge, the realization of
cross-location maintenance activities, and the promotion of
innovation. As the central knowledge base, it forms the starting
point for the flow of information to and communication with
these target groups, for the standardization and optimization of
the range of services provided, and for the ongoing adaptation
and refinement of core competences to constantly changing
market and customer needs. This is necessary, as existing
organizational structures encourage the regional distribution of
skills and direct communication is not always possible. In particular,
the expertise at the customer/ThyssenKrupp Xervon
interface offers considerable potential for converting knowledge
into a long-term innovation process and thus for a promising
future by bringing new types of maintenance services
onto the market.
wenzel@lfo.uni-dortmund.de
KNOW HOW 17
Maintenance knowledge platform –
outcome of the NovaMille project

18 SITE VIEW
Full-service maintenance
and parts management
TWO NEWLY CONCLUDED SKELETON AGREEMENTS are emphasizing ThyssenKrupp Xervon’s
expertise as an all-in services provider. As of July 1, 2007, the Lingen-based mineral oil refinery has
assigned the Gelsenkirchen-based to take over all materials management including logistics services.
This comprises the administration of around 16,000 items and other technical goods for BP alone.
Initially, the contract has a period of eight years and permits utilization of the related logistics center
on the part of third-parties. The facility comprises a modern high-bay warehouse of 7,200 square
meters as well as a paved outdoor storage area of 20,000 square meters. A total of 24 experienced
employees are in charge of meeting the high quality and safety demands in terms of standardization,
purchase, incoming goods, receiving inspection, order-picking and routing within the refinery.
As of January 1, 2008, ThyssenKrupp Xervon GmbH will also be in charge of maintenance at VESTOLIT
GmbH & Co. KG’s production plant at Chemiepark Marl. The five-year contract comprises planning
and execution of the maintenance and/or repair work, parts purchasing and warehousing as well as
purchasing and coordinating all subcontracted services. Both parties agreed on criteria for measuring
and evaluating the plants’ technical availability as a decisive value-adding contribution of maintenance.
Five years
accidentfree
AT THE STADE SITE of Dow
Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft
mbH, ThyssenKrupp
Xervon has been honored with
the Safety Award 2007. This
commendation pays tribute to
an exemplary record in the
field of occupational safety and the associated achievement of five years of work
in succession without accidents. This applies to all four trades working under a
master agreement at the site: Scaffold erection, industrial services, corrosion
protection, and concrete refurbishment and coating.
The consistently high standard of safety is also illustrated by the fact that the
spring shutdowns in 2007 were accomplished accident-free at a high standard
of quality and right on schedule.
Full steam ahead
for Würzburg
THYSSENKRUPP XERVON ENERGY has been
awarded the contract to build a second gas and
steam turbine system by Heizkraftwerk Würzburg
GmbH, a company of the WVV Group. It covers the
construction, delivery and installation of the waste
heat boiler and the construction activities of the
modernization project. The contract is worth roundabout
€14 million.
Only four years ago, ThyssenKrupp Xervon Energy
successfully led a consortium of several companies
for the building of the first gas and steam turbine
system. Because cooperation then was so successful,
the competitors are this time working together –
at WVV's request – as partners with equal status.
At the beginning of January 2009, after about 18
months for construction, the second gas and steam
turbine unit is scheduled to go into operation with an
electrical output of 50 megawatts. From 2009
onwards, the WVV Group can then generate up to 80
percent of the electricity required in Würzburg in its
own Würzburg combined heat-and-power plants.
The ThyssenKrupp Ideas Park comes to Stuttgart
ThyssenKrupp
CEO Dr. Ekkehard
Schulz, Baden-
Württemberg’s
State Premier
Günter H. Oettinger,
and Ulrich Kromer,
CEO of the Stuttgart
fairgrounds
(from l. to r.)
presenting the
concept for the
Ideas Park 2008
in Stuttgart.
BY STAGING ITS IDEAS PARK from May 17 to 25, 2008,
in Stuttgart, ThyssenKrupp AG hopes to kindle young
people's enthusiasm for technology and stimulate their
interest. "To ensure our companies retain their innovative
Ground broken for
ThyssenKrupp Quarter
CONSTRUCTION WORK on the ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen got underway
on June 12, 2007, with the symbolic ground-breaking by the Executive
Board Chairman of ThyssenKrupp AG, Dr. Ekkehard Schulz.
On an inner-city site measuring over 20 hectares ThyssenKrupp AG is
planning and erecting a building complex for over 2,000 employees. The
ThyssenKrupp Quarter encompasses both the new ThyssenKrupp Headquarters
and further office and administrative buildings of the Group. Also
planned are a multi-functional facility featuring the ThyssenKrupp Academy
and a conference center, as well as a hotel and further supplementary
facilities with a total gross floor area of around 100,000 square meters.
The ThyssenKrupp Academy is a major part of the ThyssenKrupp Quarter.
As a training and communications center, it will provide further training
for the roughly 2,500 top executives of the Group worldwide, with the
support of recognized universities.
The quarter is to be built by 2010 to a design by Chaix & Morel et Associés,
Paris, and JSWD Architekten und Partner, Cologne, and will be marked by
modern architecture. www.thyssenkrupp.com/quartier
NOTICES 19
and competitive edge in the future, the Ideas Park 2008
will aim to encourage young people to take up scientific,
technical and engineering careers," said State Premier
Günther H. Oettinger and the Executive Board Chairman
of ThyssenKrupp AG Dr.-Ing. Ekkehard D. Schulz at the
presentation of the Ideas Park 2008 in Stuttgart.
On the site of the Neue Messe Stuttgart exhibition center,
the technology show covering an exhibition and action
area of some 40,000 square meters and offering more
than 150 interactive exhibits, the Ideas Park 2008 will
give visitors an informative and entertaining insight into
the world of technology. The emphasis will be on opportunities
to meet the people that make technology. In addition,
entertaining stage shows, spectacular presentations
and a wide-ranging workshop program will make the
Ideas Park 2008 a festival of technology and learning.
Over 250,000 visitors are expected next year. This is the
third event of this kind after Gelsenkirchen in 2004 and
Hannover in 2006.
Further details are available at:
www.zukunft-technik-entdecken.de

20 SITE VIEW
Offshore in Qatar
Gas-production
platform North
Field Bravo:
14,000 square
meters of steel
structure to be
coated, from the
bridge to the
splash zone.
SITE VIEW 21
THYSSENKRUPP XERVON QATAR GENERATES ABOUT 70 PERCENT OF ITS SALES WITH
OFFSHORE PROJECTS. THE FACT ALONE THAT ITS BIGGEST CUSTOMER, QATAR
LIQUEFIED GAS COMPANY LTD. (SUBSIDIARY OF QATAR PETROLEUM, THE NATIONAL OIL
AND GAS HOLDING) KEEPS ON COMING BACK SHOWS JUST HOW HIGH THE QUALITY OF
THYSSENKRUPP XERVON'S WORKIS.
ITS LATEST MAINTENANCE contract worth two million Qatari Riyal (about 400,000 euros) for
the gas production platform North Field Bravo is the third offshore contract in succession for
Xervon since 2001. The platform is located 80 kilometers from the Qatar coast and produces
natural gas. This is fed by underwater pipelines to Ras Laffan, where it is processed or
exported.
The new contract runs for 18 months and comprises the replacement of the anti-corrosive
paint and fire-proofing of the entire production platform and its bridge. It involves the coating
of a total of over 14,000 square meters of steel structure on the various decks and in the
splash zone. Essential for work on a working offshore installation is good coordination with the
customer's operations department, because gas production has priority even during the corrosion
protection work. In addition, the tides also have to be taken into account. Since the
splash zone, the area where the underwater structure starts, is subject to extreme corrosion
aggression, it takes a good deal of experience to erect the scaffolding and apply the coating.
Five different coating systems are required on the platform as a whole.
Because of the limited accommodation space for additional staff on the artificial island, Xervon
works with a small multinational crew of twelve selected corrosion protectors, who are specially
trained for offshore assignments. The team works in rotation (60 days offshore, 14 free
days onshore) twelve hours per day, seven days per week. Continuous operations are not
always possible, as coating work is always weather-dependent. This was particularly acute in
Qatar in the months of December and February when serious storms raged and as much rain
fell as in the last 30 years together. During such periods, the team leader's organizational skills
are crucial, so that the waiting periods can be constructively exploited, e.g. for servicing the
compressors and spray guns or refreshing the employees' knowledge. The gas platform
stands in the middle of the sea and can only be accessed by helicopter or ship. The Xervon
teams are also in such demand in the Middle East because they are trained for these extreme
weather phases and keep their cool in any situation.
axel.bub2@thyssenkrupp.com
The North Field in Qatar…
…Qatar is probably the world's biggest gas field that isn't part of an oil deposit. It extends
over an area of 6,000 square kilometers off the Qatar coast and contains 20 percent of the
known nature gas reserves. Qatar Gas's offshore production platform, inclusive of the gas
separation and processing plant, is about 80 kilometers north-east of the coast. Here, twenty
boreholes produce 40 million cubic meters of crude gas from a depth of about 50 meters each
day. The North Field Bravo platform forms the heart of the overall offshore complex. The
three-story platform has a network of several kilometers of pipes and cables as well as
numerous tanks and machines that require regular maintenance.

22 SITE VIEW
THE UPTURN IN THE ECONOMY IS NOW MAKING ITSELF FELT
ON THE LABOR MARKET. FOR THE GROWING MARKET,
A GOOD DEAL OF SKILLED MANPOWER WILL BE REQUIRED
IN THE COMING YEARS – MORE THAN THE LABOR MARKET
IS CURRENTLY YIELDING.
THIS IS WHY ThyssenKrupp Xervon and ThyssenKrupp Xervon
Energy aim to invest more time and money in apprenticeships and
training. For the new apprenticeship year, ThyssenKrupp Xervon
wants to offer 200 apprenticeships across Germany.
"Our expectations of ourselves on the basis of our corporate culture
and our forecasts for the growing market make this an obvious
move," explains Dr. Niclas Müller, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Xervon. "We
want to give about 100 young people access to the trade of scaffold
erector and train a large proportion of them in other industrial trades
such as insulator or industrial mechanic and in commercial professions.
We want to have trained over 400 young people by the year
2010."
To draw the attention of suitable candidates to the apprenticeships, a
number of different avenues are being pursued. Along with PR campaigns
in local daily papers, nationwide campaigns are also taking
place in cooperation with the job information centers of the Agencies
for Labor. Apprentices are also being offered days of practical experience
regionally at selected scaffold erection sites.
At the same time, ThyssenKrupp Xervon Energy is also offering older
job seekers a chance to acquire new skills – for instance, as "welders
for construction work away from home" during the modernization and
construction of power plants. In a six-month training program, up to
Backing today’s up-and-coming talent: Thomas Jahrmarkt (2nd from l.), Management Board
ThyssenKrupp Xervon Energy, talking to trainees.
Scaffolders are
highly sought after.
A foretaste of
scaffolding routine.
eight candidates are introduced to construction processes and specific
activities. They also take part in a welding training scheme (TIG,
TIG-E), which will end with official certification.
The focus is also on young academics. Since the beginning of this
year as part of a two-year trainee program, Xervon Energy has been
training three young engineers in all important fields such as design,
assembly, commissioning and project management. This way, university
graduates gain insight into practical activities after their theo-
A bright
future
SITE VIEW 23
retical college education. In the next few years, Xervon Energy will
thus prepare at least ten graduates on the job for practical tasks.
Xervon Energy will raise its apprenticeship and training quota to
almost ten percent.
Kontakt Xervon: stephan.ringmayer@thyssenkrupp.com
Kontakt Xervon Energy: thomas.jahrmarkt@thyssenkrupp.com