Through innovation to success: New solutionsfor construction engineering and management

“Even if various companies offer  identical products, each company is unique. It offers something to its customers and employees, which they will not find anywhere else in the world.” This approach of Dipl.-Kfm. Eckhardt ­Thomas, managing partner of dornburger zement, was encouraging and characterized the 13^th dornburger baustoffthemen. On 29^th January he welcomed more than 100 guests in Weimar who had come to take part in the event with the main topic ‘innovation’ (Fig. 1). In particular in times of the financial crisis and alarming economic forecasts it is necessary to look ahead. Both technical and entrepreneurial innovations are often the key to success if ingrained ways seem to be hopeless.

Managing director Dipl.-Ing. Heiko Theuerkauf moderated the first day of the event, which traditionally addressed topics of building materials practice. In particular the new energy legislation requires new approaches  from the companies as regards the utilization of energy and the handling of resources. The lecturers at dornburger baustoffthemen presented such solutions.

To start off the specialist lectures, Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Münzberg, member of the management of ELBE delcon Spannbetondecken Vertriebs GmbH, informed participants about the use of prestressed concrete as an alternative to reinforced concrete in floor construction. Convincing advantages, such as the lower dead weight (up to 40  %), short construction times and the very large spans seem to indicate that prestressed concrete  will also increasingly gain importance in Germany. In Scandinavian countries already 20 to 30 percent of the concrete floors are made from prestressed concrete. Based on examples from practice, Dipl.-Ing. Münzberg also explained the general technical set-up required for a successful use of prestressed concrete floors. If all requirements have been met, prestressed concrete has proved a success in many large-scale projects. Impressive photos of the application examples of the lecture substantiated this.

Dr.-Ing. Michael Günther, training engineer of Uponor GmbH, started his lecture with the sentence “The interior climate can be influenced very economically by the building material concrete both in summer and in winter”, and explained in a fascinating way how concrete units can be used to heat and cool factory and office buildings. If it  is used in an innovative way, the high heat storage capacity of concrete can be utilized for interior climate purposes. Concrete units with piping systems in their inner structure for heat energy input and output are summarized under the term ‘concrete core activation’. In this case the concrete with its high specific weight  acts as heat accumulator. Dr. Günther explained that early consideration during the planning stage of a building is decisive for successful and economic thermal component activation.

“Either the concrete hardens or it does not” – with this fundamental truth Dipl.-Ing. Hans Böllinger, managing partner of Elementa Betonfertigteile GmbH, started his progress report dealing with product and production advantages due to the use of specific base materials for wall and floor construction. Demonstrated by the example of a CEM II/A-S 52,5 R (ft), he explained the optimum properties for his application case. In addition to a high early strength, an optimally suitable concrete must exhibit a sufficiently high development of intrinsic temperature in order to save heating costs. To achieve excellent surfaces of the exposed concrete, the concrete must have an attractive brightness, a very good water-holding capacity and be self-venting in combination with superplasticizers. The point, however, is the uniformity of all these properties, since only in this way will it be possible to run the computer-controlled production effectively, flexibly and to the customers’ full satisfaction without any malfunctions. CEM II/A-S 52,5 R (ft) offers this uniformity due to a reliable quality control at dornburger zement.

Dipl.-Ing. Pierre Paulin, technical manager of Leonhard Moll Betonwerke GmbH & Co. KG, explained to the guests in Weimar the special demands on concrete and cement when manufacturing railway sleepers. The manufacture of prestressed concrete sleepers is governed by the standard of the Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG), i.  e. the sleeper concrete must meet the increased requirements of DBAG in addition to the requirements according to DIN EN.

A special challenge is the specified connection between the sulphate content of the cement and the admissible sleeper core temperature. By means of maximum sleeper core temperatures quick resetting times, i.  e. high production figures can be achieved. The required adaptation of the sulphate content of the cement must not deteriorate the working properties.

Dipl.-Ing Paulin said that the use of CEM I 52,5 R (ft) S made by dornburger zement meant a quantum leap as regards the production of prestressed concrete sleepers. Together with the building material engineers from Dorndorf-Steudnitz, Leonhard Moll Betonwerke optimized their concrete formulation, improved the surface of the sleepers and achieved a quicker early strength. The compressive strength after 28 days amounts to 76.0 N/mm² on average, the mean flexural strength on the 100-beam is 7.3 N/mm² in compliance with the tight specification of the concrete core temperature.

After a short survey of the different predictions concerning the development of climate change, Dr.-Ing. Thomas Richter from BetonMarketing Ost dealt with the impact on the building industry and, in particular, on the building material concrete. In the opinion of the lecturer, the chances  for the building industry are optimum energy concepts, above all, for new buildings when, for example , the heat storage capacity of the concrete is utilized. He explained in detail how a solid roof can be used in connection with photovoltaic for better energy efficiency.

Prof.-Dr. Ing. habil. Jochen Stark, director of the Institute for Building Material Science at Weimar Bauhaus University, described how damage to structures can be avoided by innovations. In his lecture the scientist linked the current results of research with  specific tips for practicians. In his first example he dealt with freezing and thawing tests as regards the resistance of concrete. Since so far there is no uniformly acknowledged test procedure, they use methods of testing, the results of which prove a failure of the component in the laboratory while no damage is to be expected under real conditions. Prof. Stark recommended that contractors should raise objections to test procedures in writing, if necessary. In his second example he dealt with the formation of thaumasite and  the damage caused by it. Thaumasite is a calcium silicate carbonate sulphate hydrate, which could be detected for the first time only a few years ago and that was often mistaken for the very similar ettringite in the past. Prof. Stark explained the irreparable consequence of the formation of thaumasite.  In order to avoid damage and liability, the contractor has to check exactly the conditions of use and of the environment of the concrete. When calcium silicates (from the CSH phases of cements), sulphate ions (from soil, ground water, aggregates), carbonate ions (from cement and aggregates) and low temperatures (< 10 °C) come together, this may lead to the formation of thaumasite in the hardened concrete.

Prof. Stark mentioned the common responsibility of research and practice to replace the often antiquated generally acknowledged rules of technology by the latest state-of-the-art in science and technology.

The congenial get-together started with a guided tour of the Goethe house. Individual tours in small groups made it possible to gain interesting insights into the life and activities of the poet who lived 50 years in the building at Frauenplan 50. Then the managing director Anett Mysliwiec invited participants to a dinner at the Mövenpick Restaurant (Fig. 2). As always there was still enough time for the professional and personal exchange of ideas.

The second day of the event dornburger baustoffthemen was completely characterized by the topic ‘business culture’. Innovative business culture is a crucial factor for success. In this field, medium-sized companies have many advantages as opposed to anonymous companies because they have developed and practise, deliberately or unconsciously, a special culture, which is determined by the top management. Their reliability imparts continuity to the employees, which is clearly more highly appreciated than the frequent change of CEOs. Their personal example counts and not what is written in glossy brochures, said managing director Eckhardt Thomas. People who assume responsibility make their mark on companies.

Konrad Stadler (Fig. 3), M.A. specialist in philosophy and adult education, from stadler/heine/schott – business culture consultants, clearly showed in his lecture why value orientation is so decisive in today’s companies. Compared to the past, the economic environment has become quicker and more complex.  For a company this means that the criteria for success are no longer standards, tools und lists but flexibility, changes and creativity. To cope with this challenge, the managers of a company must permanently question themselves and regenerate. This is the only way to push through the necessary processes of change.

According to Stadler, the three most important tasks of a manager are to predict, to be a living example and let others go first, i.e. he must have the ability to impart a picture of the future, be a living example for values, trust others and delegate responsibility.

Based on his practical work as a personnel consultant, Dr. Jochen Neese, managing director of Deininger Unternehmensberatung GmbH, analysed the reasons why employees change their employer. Many of the reasons for change are due to the company itself, e.g. a missing strategy, lack of stability, missing options of action and development or the quality of the processes and of the management. From this Dr. Neese derived clear recommendations for the management to retain top performers:

– Keep an eye on good people, face them with challenges and promote them!

– Not only education counts, above all it is confidence and common market targets.

– Be aware of the consequences of staff changes.

– Create a learning organisation and communicate progress – transparency creates respect.

– Make decisions and implement them quickly!

– Be good at sizing things up between chaos and perfection.

– Release the brake!

As a final conclusion he told the medium-sized companies in Weimar: “If good people are leaving the company it is not  because of money but predominantly due to the perceived quality of the management.”

In a very personal report, Dipl.-Ing. Reinhard Quast, managing partner of OTTO QUAST Bau AG, presented to the guests  at the dornburger baustoffthemen his value orientation and the process of clarification leading to this clear system of values. The reason to develop such a system of values for himself was the high professional stress caused by the necessity to make decisions. On the basis of an orderly and fixed system of values it was easier for him to make decisions, which are understandable even at a later time.

The system of values for entrepreneurs is based on the Christian faith. It offers clear instructions for their own actions and makes it easier to resist temptations. “Set up your system of values, the rewards will be manifold,” Dipl.-Ing. Quast appealed to entrepreneurs in Weimar. It is indispensable for any entrepreneur that the same system of values applies to all areas of life, i.e. in the family, the job or during leisure-time activities. A transparent and clear system of values motivates the management as well as the employees or even job applicants. The dependability of this system of values means at the same time that a violation of these values must have consequences. The managing director Quast was able to convince the audience that he lives his personal system of values and vouches for it.

Finally the customers and partners of dornburger zement had the opportunity to experience “live” the business culture of dornburger zement and of the thomas group. Dipl.-Kfm. Eckhardt Thomas talked about his entrepreneurial and personal development, which are closely linked and have marked the company culture of the group of today. In contrast to the business philosophy, which represents an ideal, the business culture consists of the rules of cooperation practised in the company. Various examples from the daily working routine showed, which role “being an example” played for thomas. Values and agreements are binding both for the employees and the management as well as for the managing partner himself. Though the values and attitudes are not visible, the behaviour practised  is based on them and allows conclusions.

The management principles, i.  e. performance, partnership, participation and subsidiarity, ensure that everybody will take responsibility for his actions and that he will act in the sense of the community. A reliable system of values provides security and is the basis for the positive development of the thomas group, which increased its turnover by more than 70 percent from 2002 to 2008. The culture practised today fills Eckhardt Thomas with enthusiasm because the management with a similar fundamental conviction frankly and jointly is struggling for relevant and human solutions. All those who attended the event in Weimar were able to experience the passion with which the owner has devoted himself to his dream to lead the thomas group on the “ way to a valuable future”.

The specialist lectures concerning innovations in building materials technology are available on CD from dornburger zement (phone: 036427 – 861148, fax: 036427 – 861191). The next dornburger baustoffthemen will take place from 28.–29. January 2010 in Weimar/Germany.