Interview with the EWM Hightec Welding GmbH

Windfair: How important is the wind energy sector for your company?

Dieter Kocab: As Germany’s largest welding machine manufacturer and a world leader in arc welding technology, we find the wind energy sector is becoming more and more important. Our complete product portfolio ranges from welding machines and torches to welding consumables and accessories and is ideal for tackling the welding tasks in this dynamic industry. We also adapt our product range to meet the particular needs of our customers in the wind energy sector. Welding is an interdisciplinary technology that is highly relevant to virtually every industry. Sustainability is an important factor everywhere, and that’s particularly the case in the regenerative energy technology sector, of course. This is consistent with our BlueEvolution philosophy, which brings together economic efficiency and eco-friendly techniques.

By developing processes such as forceArc, which is a particularly powerful welding arc with deep penetration, we not only enable our customers to weld faster and save resources, but they can also protect the environment at the same time. As well as being twice as fast compared to a conventional spray arc, forceArc uses up to 40 per cent less gas and welding wire and also substantially reduces power consumption. This results in cost savings of up to 56 per cent. We have also managed to improve working conditions by drastically reducing the emissions of welding fume particles.

As members of various boards, we are actively involved in adapting standards and regulations. We initiate new processes that can be used profitably for our customers in the wind energy industry. We’re pushing firmly ahead with our activities in this field in particular, which also goes to show just how important this forward-looking market is to us.
 

Windfair: How many people does your company employ?

Dieter Kocab: The EWM Group employs around 600 people worldwide. But although we’ve now established ourselves globally, the German market remains hugely important to us. The majority of our staff members are deployed in this market.
 

Windfair: How many of these work in the wind energy field?

Dieter Kocab: As we work with virtually all industries, it’s difficult to give a precise figure. A substantial number of our employees are involved in research and development, which means they also deal with customers from the wind energy industry. They work jointly with customers on the process optimisation of welding technology and draw up individually tailored solutions for them. EWM invests around 10 per cent of its annual turnover in research and development every year. The end result of this investment also includes the provision of customised joining technologies for manufacturers of wind energy plants. Our aim is to achieve the best possible cost efficiency and quality for customers at all times and help to boost their competitiveness.

Windfair: Do you have any new products or services in the wind sector?

Dieter Kocab: EWM has developed and optimised special characteristics for the technical welding requirements in the wind sector. With these preset welding tasks, the user just needs to enter the details of what he wants to weld into the machine. The specified “jobs” include the desired welding consumable, its diameter and the choice of shielding gas. The welder only needs to set the wire feed speed and then he can begin his work immediately. The welding processes developed by EWM, such as forceArc, also make it possible to weld with a much smaller included angle, which offers major advantages especially for manufacturers of wind energy plants. On top of that, we supply equipment that is ideal for use in this industry, such as specially adapted welding torches and narrow-gap gas nozzles, for example.

We offer an extensive array of services for customers in the wind energy sector in addition to our welding technology products. These range from consultations, process optimisation and carrying out process tests to training and instruction. These services ensure we create the optimum conditions for the highest level of efficiency and protect the environment at the same time.

Windfair: Do you train staff as specialists?

Dieter Kocab: We are focusing on improving the qualifications of our own junior members of staff, especially in view of the skills shortage. Our junior employees are trained in all relevant areas, according to their vocational training field. The employees in our application technology department have acquired wide-ranging expertise and the ability to solve specific technical welding challenges for our customers. Our employees also learn the necessary skills for tasks in the wind energy industry in particular. We also train our customers in how to handle innovative EWM technology and hold joint workshops to develop individually tailored solutions.

Windfair: How do you see the future development of your company in relation to the wind energy industry?

Dieter Kocab: This forward-looking industry has lots of extremely interesting potential for our company. Firstly, we intend to develop along with this market, and secondly, in the field of regenerative energy, we see what we regard as the ideal implementation of our own sustainable approach. In the future, EWM will continue to press ahead with developments and new process combinations that are specifically tailored to welding tasks in the wind energy industry.

Thanks for the interview!