Interview with Managing Director Florian Schneider
Building on tradition and looking towards the future.
Ziemann Holvrieka has been supplying process technology and tanks for the brewing, beverage and liquid food industries for more than 170 years. Despite its success, the company group has never stopped moving forward, and it has now modernized its corporate design. Managing director Florian Schneider, in charge of sales and marketing, explains what this means for the future and how plant operators will benefit.
Mr. Schneider, what changes has the relaunch brought about?
The relaunch expresses our confidence as we look towards the future. In the past, under the names Ziemann and Holvrieka, we always worked together closely, but this was not sufficiently visible. We now want to change this. Our logo formerly consisted of two parts, whereas the new one has a uniform look with a striking design and fresh colors. The icon reflects the shapes of Ziemann Holvrieka’s tanks and vessels and points upwards, representing high tech, change and dynamism. Nothing has changed with our goal of continuing to grow as a group of companies.
What synergies are you leveraging in the group?
We’re working closely with our sister companies and are combining the know-how of all subsidiaries. Together we are implementing major projects, such as tequila distilleries in Mexico and baijiu production in China. This collaboration enables us to offer tailor-made solutions to customers throughout the world – not just for beer, but also for distilled spirits, juice, new food and other products.
And what is Ziemann Holvrieka planning for the future?
We have two items on the agenda. First, we want to be a sustainable company in which people are our primary concern. To this end, we are guided by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. This includes fostering sustainable, environmentally friendly innovations, and it also means treating our employees with respect and promoting their health. This increases our attractiveness as an employer – both for the existing workforce and for new employees. Second, we want to be close to our customers, wherever they are in the world. For this purpose, we are continually expanding our international production locations and regional branches.
In what areas do you anticipate the strongest growth?
We see potential for growth in all sectors with applications for our broad range of process technologies and tanks. Our traditional strength is in the brewing industry, where there is a very strong worldwide demand for our turnkey systems. In this area we have consistently been able to demonstrate our expertise, and we are continuing to improve it. For example, our R&D department is applying its know-how in fermentation and other processes. This is opening up paths to new solutions that we haven’t been aware of. Juice is also a growth market. Together with major players in this industry, we have built a number of juice terminals and juice ships. New food is another area in which many new projects are emerging. A key trend is what is known as precision fermentation. Here we have a lot of experience, which will benefit both startups and existing producers.
Is Ziemann Holvrieka addressing topics of cross-cutting importance?
Our customers very much want to make their plants more flexible and take advantage of digital technology.In the past, their focus was on one-dimensional production lines that were designed for maximum output and low consumption of resources. Nowadays the emphasis is on greater product diversity. This means that producers have to reconfigure their systems must faster, and that is only possible when the systems are flexible. We advise our customers for this purpose and support them with our technologies. When it comes to the adoption of digital technology, we are promoting this with two ideas: “Module Type Packages” and “Digital Twin”. These were presented at Drinktec 2022. We want to provide a standardized approach that gives producers access to data from their systems and enables them to configure their core processes in the value chain more effectively and efficiently.
You’ve already mentioned the importance of sustainability in your company. In what ways do you help customers solve problems like scarce resources and rising energy costs?
Our customers have different priorities depending on their location in the world. Energy issues do not play the same role everywhere. Even the definitions of sustainability are different. For this reason, we always look first at the requirements in the particular case. We then suggest technologies that are matched to the needs at the given location. Sometimes we have to develop them – by ourselves, together with the customer or with partner companies. To sum up, I can say that Ziemann Holvrieka already has good solutions for reducing the consumption of energy and raw materials. The industry is now changing its thinking, and we’re available at all times to offer our customers ideas for a sustainable future.
