The oil industry chooses high-tech from Krohne

The oil industry chooses high-technology products from Krohne, so that not a single drop is lost anywhere in the world: a review of the company by Gero Steiner, Journal fur den Mittelstand

The oil industry chooses high-technology products from Krohne, so that not a single drop is lost anywhere in the world: a review of the company by Gero Steiner, Journal fur den Mittelstand.

One man and his passion for questions.

"Can you afford to write off a Ferrari every day or lose a family home!" Bernard Spilsbury only acts like he wants to hear answers.

The marketing manager of Krohne-Messtechnik GmbH and Co KG likes unusual comparisons.

A completely written-off Ferrari, losing your home - soon you're talking about roughly 200,000 Euros.

Money that the oil industry loses every day.

Spilsbury estimates that the equivalent value in oil disappears daily on the long trip from the production derrick to the filling station round the corner.

Krohne, a medium-sized company based in Duisburg, is regarded as one of the world's leading companies for equipment for measuring liquids and gases.

Shell, Esso and other oil multinationals use Krohne products to monitor the flow of oil and to keep transport losses to a minimum.

These high-tech measuring devices don't miss anything when oil is leaking somewhere or is being siphoned off by thieves, and they accurately guide service personnel to within a few metres of the leak.

This technology is used, for example, by the operators of a new pipeline that runs for more than 1500 kilometres from the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan and through southern Russia to the Black Sea.

"With our ultrasound triple-jet flow meters for the oil and gas industry, we've made a quantum leap", says Spilsbury.

The new equipment works more reliably, is lighter and is cheaper to maintain than its mechanical predecessor.

Krohne has frequently set technical milestones in its 82-year history.

More than 1200 patents bear the name Krohne.

Of the 13 methods currently available in measuring technology, the Duisburg-based company developed and enhanced four of them.

The users of measuring technology appreciate this experience.

Spilsbury: "We're the first company that people approach for difficult applications".

The past has proven that every development step opens up new application possibilities for measuring technology that were hardly conceivable before.

There are now hardly any more industrial areas for which Krohne doesn't have the right solution to hand.

Besides oil and gas producers, its most important customers include chemical and pharmaceutical companies, water suppliers, paper, foodstuffs and beverage producers.

The development departments are already working on the next milestones.

The engineers want to give the measuring units even more intelligence.

They should be able to communicate with each other over long distances and be clever enough to not only detect errors but also remedy them themselves.

"Intelligence, freedom from maintenance and networking are the greatest trends of the future", explained marketing manager Spilsbury.

Yet innovations take time.

The development and also the establishment of a new product take up a lot of time and money.

In the chemicals sector for example, up to 20 years elapse until a new technology is finally used.

Only a healthy company can afford such long testing and introduction phases in the long term.

A look at the company's equity ratio shows how fit Krohne is, not just technologically but also economically.

On average, German mechanical engineering companies only achieve 26 per cent, whereas Krohne reaches 46 per cent.

However, the current economic downturn has not dented the Krohne balance sheet.

Turnover in 2002 was around 210 million Euros.

"That is less than last year, but still a good figure in our industrial area", is Spilsbury's opinion.

This year, turnover should go up again.

The management expects an increase of just under ten per cent.

The reason for its optimism: The American Petroleum Institute (API), the industry association of the American oil and natural gas industry, has now given ultrasound flow meters their blessing.

The API certificate has brought a new boost in demand in the measuring technology industry, from which Krohne intends to particularly profit from its new ultrasound units.

The success of the medium-sized company Krohne, which has been achieved over a number of decades, is based on three pillars: technological leadership, the proverbial quality "made in Germany" and a direct line to the customer.

As early as 1961, the Duisberg-based company began its internationalisation.

At that time the first foreign branches were founded in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Today, Krohne is represented in 21 countries and on all continents with 13 production facilities and its own support points.

"It is crucial for us to be there early when new markers come into being", says Spilsbury.

It was not without reason that in 1990, Krohne was the second German company after VW to receive permission to enter into a joint venture in the People's Republic of China.

The worldwide Krohne network is also a tried-and-tested means of spreading the risk.

For example, if political crises cause business in the orient or South America to founder, orders from other regions of the world help cushion the losses.

Krohne employs around 1400 people worldwide, of whom 500 work in Duisburg.

The personnel at the headquarters are surrounded by works of art.

The complex on the Ludwig-Krohne-Strasse is home to around 1500 pictures - all hanging in offices, in the canteen and even in the factory halls.

Creativity promotes creativity, a philosophy that the Krohne management has followed since the company was founded again after the Second World War.

This article was written by Gero Steiner, and first published in the Journal fur den Mittelstand, on 28 July 2003.

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