Sales Structure
Closer to the customer
A sign of a successful product is when everybody wants to have it. Ok - perhaps not everybody. Just almost everybody! In any case, the drinking water storage system with stainless steel tanks is one such product. We are currently dealing with enquiries from all over Germany. This has made routes to the customer longer, and has significantly increased the length of time taken up by visits.
The company is now reacting to this new situation with a revised sales structure. Our medium-term aim is to build up a sales network divided up into regions. This means that during the information phase, customers will be dealing with just one contact partner in the company, who will also handle enquiries and compile quotations.
The first step has been taken by setting up the new sales office in Paderborn. This is manned by Maik Hagedorn and is responsible for the North Germany region. South Germany is still covered from our headquarters in Ravensburg. For a transitional period, all existing contact partners will of course still be available in the usual way.
A further planned step will be to network the sales activities of RWT GmbH and Hydro-Elektrik GmbH, and to make use of synergy effects.
All this will make 2009 a time of change. We are convinced that these changes will in future form a basis for us to be able to serve our customers better and more quickly. In any event - recession or no recession - we are looking to the future with optimism.
After all, we have an extremely successful product in the shape of our tank system.
We exposed on WASSER BERLIN 2009
We attended mass WASSER BERLIN 2009 with a lot of success. The mass is a famous place to present our products to a specialised public, to make a lot of new contacts and to care for the existing contacts.
Therfore we were again in Berlin this year on WASSER BERLIN a second time.
Thank you very much for your help to suceed this result 2009.
Experience Report
8 years of experience with stainless steel tanks used für drinking water storage
Drinking water storage in a timber building
Photo: Hydro-Elektrik GmbH
When the first drinking water storage facility with stainless steel tanks was put into operation at the beginning of 2000, hardly anyone foresaw that this storage system would experience extremely successful development. Since then, around 80 plants of various types have been realised throughout Germany, with 140 tanks and a total volume in excess of 50,000 m³.
Drinking water storage facilities are often designed as high-level tank set-ups.
One particularly bothersome subject for system operators is the unavoidable renovation costs associated with concrete tanks, which can add up significantly over their service life. Depending on the damage and the size of the object that needs renovating, these costs are between approximately 200 €/m³ to 1400 €/m³ useful volume.
This is on top of the uncertainty that the extent of the damage often does not become apparent until after work starts, which means that the actual costs are frequently way above the estimated costs.
Encouraged by the fact that many concrete tanks had already been lined with stainless steel plates at the end of the 1990s, the idea came about to use actual stainless steel tanks in place of just linings, and to house them in comparatively simple, low-priced and durable building structures.
An excellent cost/benefits ratio
When investment decisions are made, it is often assumed (without actually looking into it) that structures based on the material „non-corroding stainless steel“ are expensive. In fact, even taking into account higher investment costs, it is often far more economical to use „non-corrosive stainless steel“ because there are hardly any follow-up costs. For example, an average service life of 50 years can be expected for high-level water tanks. However, practice has shown that such a service life can only be achieved with conventional tanks if regular maintenance is performed (maintenance intervals of between 15 and 30 years) with the associated costs (summa summarum higher than the investment costs).
Great hygienic safety
Besides the financial advantages, the stainless steel tank solution
also offers other unbeatable advantages from the user’s point of view. Stainless steel offers no feeding grounds for germs, which makes it hygienically stable. Its smooth surface prevents deposits and can be cleaned easily with high-pressure water jets. „Non-corrosive stainless steel“ is not only durable thanks to its high corrosion resistance - it also requires almost no maintenance. Stainless steel also has a high mechanical load-bearing capacity and it is flexible, which means that later changes are also possible without any major cost and complexity.
Stainless steel drinking-water tank
Photo: Hydro-Elektrik GmbH
Spoiled for choice - which steel?
Non-corrosive steels are alloy steels with a chromium content of at least 10 %. When combined with oxygen, a dense and chemically resistant chromium oxide layer forms on the workpiece surface. This means that the water is to a certain extent isolated from the iron atoms by a separating layer.
To date, V2A steels and V4A steels have been primarily used in the field of drinking water supply. Until a few years ago, so-called duplex steels were still relatively unknown in water management. Due to their much higher chromium content of around 22 %, these steels have excellent corrosion resistance.
Wood, metal or non-combustible construction
The variable system allows planning creativity and optimum adaptation to the prevailing local situation. In all cases, the structures consist of a concreted lower section (flat slab or trough) and a hall built on top.
The hall can be built as a timber-pillar construction, as an industrial hall with insulated metal panels, from prefabricated concrete elements or from in-situ cast concrete/masonry.
The minimal incursion into the ground is advantageous when building on a rocky surface.
The building’s design must be insulated, windproof and secure against insects.
Turnkey construction
Some of the approximately 80 plants were of the turnkey variety, and some were put out to tender to individual trades.
The turnkey construction of a complete tank system offers clear advantages - both for the customer and the contractor.
While the customer is primarily concerned about planning reliability, costs and the schedule, interface problems in particular are reduced as far as the contractor is concerned.
Normally, after most of the building work has been placed in the hands of local companies by the general contractor, the appointed general contractor has the responsibility of overall project management. This also means that the amount of planning work can be significantly reduced. Another advantage is that the project managers of the general contractor have wide-ranging experience of comparable systems, and can thus identify and eliminate problems early.
Basic structure of the storage system
Photo: Hydro-Elektrik GmbH
Positive experience with construction and operation
With good planning and organisation, realisation periods of approx. 3 months are possible in the case of small plants, and approx. 6 months in the case of large projects. These are times that could never be achieved with the construction of concrete tanks.
Besides the comparatively low building costs and the short construction times, as far as operation is concerned it is particularly advantageous that both the inside and the outside of a tank can be checked at all times. A survey of experiences with this system revealed that expectations had, for the most part, been exceeded. The survey covered the structure, the tank system, the ventilation system, the installation and various general questions.
The summary that can be drawn after 8 years is that this system has a great future ahead of it.
About us
Your way to us:
- Hydro-Elektrik GmbH in
Ravensburg
- RWT-GmbH in Gütersloh
Group of companies:
-Folder of Hydro-Elektrik GmbH
Group of companies:
The Hydro-Elektrik GmbH group of companies has experience over many decades in the fields of water treatment and water supply.
The Hydro-Elektrik GmbH company was founded in 1971 in the city of Ravensburg.
Co-founder Bruno Bachhofer and Andrea Strobel are CEOs.
Since 2001, the Gütersloh-based company Ravensberger Wasseraufbereitungstechnik (RWT) GmbH and since 2004, the Hydro-Elektrik AS in Norway have been independently-operated members of the Hydro-Elektrik GmbH group of companies.
Examples:
Certificate:
Since 2003 Hydro-Elektrik GmbH has been certified in accordance with
DIN EN ISO 9001:2000
Awards:
For developing a "specialised procedure for the economical on-site production of cylindrical, spiral-welded large capacity tanks made of stainless steel", Hydro-Elektrik GmbH has been awarded the special prize for innovation by the Finanzverbund der Volksbanken Raiffeisen on November 2003.
On May 2004 Hydro-Elektrik GmbH has been awarded with "WIR-Innovationspreis" 2003/2004.
© Hydro-Elektrik GmbH