Maintenance Technology May 2017 - 10

PLANT PROFILE
Michelle Segrest, Contributing Editor

TRAINING,

Automation
Drive Extrusion
German-based Aquatherm provides reliable, sustainable pipe production as a
result of advanced technology, automation, and in-house design and innovation.

AS ONE OF THE FIRST three companies in the European
market to manufacture under-floor heating systems,
German-based Aquatherm, headquartered in Attendorn,
has come a long way since the company was founded 44
years ago. It now leverages state-of-the-art automation and
innovative energy-saving systems to drive its reliability and
sustainability programs.
"Until a few years ago, maintenance employees needed to
localize and correct a fault indication directly at a machine
if a system error occurred," explained Aquatherm's Maik
Rosenberg, the company's global co-managing director.
"Power converters and frequency converters could only
be parameterized manually or adjusted by potentiometers.
Now, we can access the central control from various places
within the company. If needed, we can access every single
drive of an extrusion line."
Maintenance staff members can correct faults using
smartphones and also receive repair orders directly from
a tablet. They use the handheld technology to recall all the
information needed for order fulfillment in a central folder,
and then take advantage of the ability to choose required
materials from its digitized stock inventory.
"It is possible to operate all our machines online through
our production-activity control system," Rosenberg said.
"The system enables us to monitor the energy consumption
of all the machines and their components."

10 |

MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

The use of automation has enabled Aquatherm to
establish itself as one of the world's leading manufacturers
of plastic piping systems for heating, cooling, domestic
water, industrial, and sanitary applications. The company
was founded in 1973 by Gerhard Rosenberg for the development, production, and installation of warm-water, underfloor heating.
In 1980, the company developed the plastic pipe system
Fusiotherm, which is made of polypropylene-random
(PP-R) for sanitary equipment and heating installations.
This innovation has been the foundation of Aquatherm's
continuous growth. The company has developed into a
global business that is represented in 75 countries and is a
market leader in many sectors and application fields.
Aquatherm employs almost 600 employees within the
group of companies. In 2016, it manufactured more than
40,000 km of pipe and 50-million molded/fabricated
components out of 18,000 ton of raw materials.
In April 2017, Aquatherm opened a state-of-the-art
160,000-sq.-ft. facility in Attendorn that features 19 extrusion lines. The building has been designed and constructed
to offer space for a total of 32 production lines, underscoring
the company's commitment to future growth.
Aquatherm North America (Aquatherm NA) was
established roughly 10 years ago as a sales, marketing, and
support partner and operated independently until late 2015
MAY 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology May 2017