tap Hole drilling devices of tHe future - HTI - High Tech Industries AG

HTI FOR YOU: Mister Meisch, TMT has been
developing special products for the pig iron- and
steel industry for more than 100 years. In what way
have the demands of your customers changed over
time?
Mr. Meisch: Due to the increasing competition in the
pig iron production today many furnaces are
operated at their performance limit. This requires
the use of reliable technology as well as increased
process monitoring, which was not really a topic ten
years ago. Beyond that, the dimensions of new
furnaces are increasing in average, so that the
demands towards performance make the requirements
of our tap hole drilling devices become
higher and higher.
HTI FOR YOU: What does that development mean
for your products?
Mr. Meisch: The growing demands of our customers
of course require the continuous further development
of the TMT product portfolio. This development
however is not limited to mechanical engineering
anymore, but also increasingly concerns
electric and hydraulic control concepts as well as
the integration of tap hole machines into the
furnace process.
HTI FOR YOU: In cooperation with your partner
BBG you call yourself the technological leader in
the field of tap hole technology – what in your
opinion did you make better than others?
Mr. Meisch: We acknowledged the importance of an
intensive cooperation for the development of tap
hole machines and drilling devices and in BBG we
found a partner who supported us as best as
possible in our research & development activities.
With the foundation of TMT & BBG Research and
Development GmbH last year we created the
necessary structure in order to optimally use
development capacities in the tap hole industry.
HTI FOR YOU: How can your products support a
company in its further development?
Mr. Meisch: Our products provide furnace users
with the necessary support, for example, in regards
to capacity increases or safety furnace operation.
More than that, many of our customers benefit from
the flexibility of our equipment in order to implement
an optimization of the tap hole process. The
auto operation function of the TMT tap hole
machines is a further example for the vast room for
further development of our customers‘ processes.
HTI FOR YOU: Eco-friendliness and energy
efficiency are essential factors for your company –
how do these factors work influence the development
of tap hole drilling devices?
enquired
HTI FOR YOU talked to Mister Claude Meisch, proxy and development
manager of TMT-BBG Research & Development, about customer
demands, market- and technological leadership as well as about the
tap hole drilling device of the future:
Mr. Meisch: Eco-friendliness and energy efficiency
are two important aspects which we consider
during development of new machines. The further
development of our tamping machines for the use
of new, eco-friendly tap hole tamping material is a
very good example. Optimal use of energy is
generally given with all of our products due the high
technological level. However, this does not keep us
from continuously improving energy efficiency
through intelligent selection of drive components as
well as through optimized control.
HTI FOR YOU: What is the market share for you
and BBG for tap hole drilling devices?
Mr. Meisch: The TMT market share for tap hole
devices depends on the furnace size. Basically our
market share increases, the higher the daily
production of the furnace is, since here the
reliability has an enormous impact on production
efficiency. In short, it can be said that currently we
are market- and technology leader in the field of
tap hole devices.
HTI FOR YOU: How do you visualize the tap hole
device of the future?
Mr. Meisch: High performance, safe, reliable,
automated and highly durable. We are not only
working on the further development of our existing
product range in the tap hole but also we focus on
alternative concepts for the tap hole device of the
future. Due to patents pending I cannot give you any
further information on this topic.
HTI FOR YOU: How do you rate the development of
the pig iron- and steel industry for the next five
years?
Mr. Meisch: Independent of any crises Asia and
South America will remain the growth motors for
the next years for the pig iron- and steel industry.
The global production will keep increasing however
we do not expect a repetition of the order peaks of
the last boom. The increase in production will still
be characterized by substantial regional differences.
HTI FOR YOU: Mister Meisch, I thank you for the
interview and wish you a lot of success with your
future plans!
Claude Meisch