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NEWSLETTER

CONTENTSPage 1:

Positive Development

Page 2:

Haarup Maskinfabrik case story- Counterflow Mixer for the Concrete Índustry

Page 3:

Rubber to MetalBonding at High Temperatures

Rubber Seminar- General Rubber Use

Page 4:

Environmental Audit including Energy Review 30 years at AVK GUMMI

News

• New Purchaser • 3-A Sanitary Standards

Annual Meeting

May 2017The positive development that we experience in the market at the moment reflects a very positive growth at AVK GUMMI which has led to new investments and further employments.

”However, we believe that the present growth in the market is more balanced than the growth that we experienced back in 2008,” says Peter Lorentzen, Managing Director and continues:

“Therefore, we do not believe that we will experience the same turbulence in relation to capacity and lack of employees with the resulting delivery challenges like we did back then.”

The present growth is felt throughout Europe, Asia and the USA – especially within the food and drinking water industry. The general growth and with that the increased demand for raw materials have already led to a significant increase in raw material prices within all areas, and it is too early to predict how the situation will develop throughout the rest of the year.

“The majority of our suppliers do, however, believe that increased demand and thus lack of capacity will lead to further price increases, which would then mean that we have not yet reached the top of the curve,” says Peter Lorentzen.

Apart from the growth at AVK GUMMI and the many positive challenges that follow such a development, we are also met with new challenges in

relation to legislation, especially within the food and drinking water industries.

”Over the last year, many of the national regulations within the drinking water industry have been tightened, which has led to a further development of a number of our rubber compounds,” says Anders Guldbæk Christensen, Sales and R&D Director, and adds: “We welcome this development both in relation to the safety of the consumers but also to the competitive position of AVK GUMMI.”

Within the food industry, the interpretation of EN 1935/2004 in each individual member state and among our customers and the end users has been at the top of the agenda in recent months. Furthermore, the new version of GB4806.1 in China has become effective. However, the underlying test procedures and the implementation process of this regulation have not yet been clearly defined.

We are also aware that BfR XXI – the German recommendation for rubber in contact with food – is about to undergo considerable change. Also here, AVK GUMMI participates in the dialogue together with colleagues in the industry and regulatory bodies.However, these changes are not expected to become effective until 3-4 years from now.

”In general, AVK GUMMI is positive concerning the future and welcomes all the new challenges that will follow,” Peter Lorentzen and Anders Guldbæk Christensen state unanimously.

Erik Cornelius, Technical Manager, celebrates his 30th anniversary at AVK GUMMI - see page 4.

30th Anniversary

customers in North America are serviced from Haarup North America, and wear and spare parts as well as new machinery and equipment are sold to new and existing customers in both the USA and Canada.

One crucial issue in connection with production plants is to avoid production stop, which also applies to the concrete industry. “Several factors are important in order to reduce the risk of production stop, but one vital factor is our wear parts,” says Hans Christensen, CEO at Haarup Maskinfabrik.

The main wear parts are the mixing shovels and the side scrapers in the mixer. These parts must be optimised to withstand hard wear and a number of chemical reactions. ”We have purchased these wear parts from AVK GUMMI since the 1980s, and we have experienced great flexibility and stability of the quality throughout the years – particularly concerning the rubber quality,” Hans Christensen continues.

The rubber quality of the wear parts as well as the rubber to metal bonding has been further developed over the years. “Our product is not a high-tech product, but in the light of the many

optimisations that we have carried out together with AVK GUMMI, the product may be described as a highly optimised wear part that, to the best of our knowledge, cannot be purchased, e.g. in China,” says Hans Christensen and concludes:

“Apart from the fact that AVK GUMMI has helped us develop and optimise the product, AVK GUMMI has always focused on the customer and provided us with professional service and guidance.”

”AVK GUMMI considers Haarup Maskinfabrik a primary customer even though the company does not operate within our three main segments,” says Peter Lorentzen and adds: “We do, however, have several customers in this segment, maybe not for counterflow mixers, but for instance the wind industry has similar demands to wear and bonding properties.”

AVK GUMMIs primary segments are food, drinking water, medico and technical products. The three first segments speak for themselves and are often referred to as the primary segments of AVK GUMMI whereas technical products cover a broad area in which the requirements to the products vary a great deal depending on the field of application.

Having said this, one common feature is the fact that there is always a requirement to either geometry, tolerances, chemical resistance, mechanical properties or bonding, etc. Since the end of the 1980s AVK GUMMI has delivered wear parts to Haarup Maskinfabrik where wear and bonding properties are the most important parameters.

Haarup Maskinfabrik supplies counterflow mixers to the concrete industry and has delivered batching and mixing plants as well as complete plants since 1964. Today, Haarup Maskinfabrik is a worldwide supplier of specially adjusted solutions to the concrete industry, either directly or through agents.

Apart from facilities in Haarup, located centrally in Denmark, Haarup North America opened in 2012. Existing

Haarup Maskinfabrik case story

- Counterflow Mixer for the Concrete Industry

Counterflow mixer with mixing shovels and side scrapers.

In March 2017 AVK GUMMI conducted a rubber seminar for the Danish Technological Institute with the participation of employees from various companies within the rubber industry.

The purpose of the seminar was, among other things, to give the participants an insight into mould construction and methods for extrusion and vulcanisation.

”We have conducted seminars tailored to the internal rubber technology course of the Danish Technological Institute at AVK GUMMI throughout many years,” says Erik Cornelius, Technical Manager at AVK GUMMI.

The participants consist of, among others, industrial supervisors, construction engineers, development

and purchase personnel.

Apart from extrusion and mould casting methods, the participants are introduced to the general use of rubber at the seminar. This includes a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the various production processes. The seminar is completed through a group work session.

”The participants are given a tour of the factory, including the development department and the production area,” says Erik Cornelius and continues:

”Seeing how the rubber compounds are mixed and how the rubber items are moulded gives the participants a much better understanding of the physical properties of rubber and rubber technology in general.

It is important that our customers know that we are here, and that we have the right production techniques. We are always ready to assist with advice based on our many years of experience. “

The participants receive new input and methods that they can use afterwards, and as Erik Cornelius concludes: ”There is no good construction without rubber.”

Rubber Seminar - General Rubber Use

Rubber to Metal Bonding at High TemperaturesSo far, it has been a big challenge to maintain strong rubber to metal bonding at operating temperatures higher than 130 °C (in water). However, in connection with a recent project, we have managed to achieve unique results.

The project concerned an EPDM rubber quality approved for the food industry with metal bonding where the biggest challenge was bonding at high temperatures. We developed a series of rubber compounds, tested a number of bonding agents and reached temperatures of up to 160 °C with good bonding.

“The test results show that good bonding very much depends on the rubber quality used for the application,” says Henrik Pedersen, R&D Manager and continues: “What works for one rubber quality does not necessarily work for another rubber quality. Therefore, it is important to have a good overview of the various rubber qualities and to be familiar with the possible solutions for a given application.”

Bonding at high temperatures is particularly important in the food

industry where sterilization and pasteurisation processes are applied.

“We have carried out accelerated lifetime tests at simulated CIP and SIP conditions with the purpose of testing the quality of the rubber and the bonding to metal at repeated lengthy use,” Henrik Pedersen adds. “The result of these accelerated lifetime tests showed 100% rubber to metal bonding even after 14 hours of

continuous exposure at 160 °C steam.Apart from rubber to metal bonding, we have also tested rubber to PTFE bonding in connection with diaphragm valves. Here, we also obtained very positive results of the accelerated lifetime tests.”

The test results show that AVK GUMMI can deliver strong solutions involving metal to rubber or PTFE bonding for use in the food industry.

Counterflow mixer with mixing shovels and side scrapers.

Bonding to metal after accelerated ageing in steam at 160°C for 14 hours.

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NEWS New Purchaser

As of 1 March 2017 Rikke Mikkelsen took over the position of Purchaser at AVK GUMMI.

Rikke has completed her apprenticeship at AVK GUMMI, and she therefore has a sound knowledge of the various procedures and business routines of the company. This means that Rikke has already established good relations to many of our customers and suppliers, which is a big advantage for all parties.

We are happy to be able to keep an efficient and competent employee, and we welcome Rikke to her many new challenges!

NEWSLETTERPublished by:

AVK GUMMI A/SMosegaardsvej 1DK-8670 LaasbyTel.: + 45 86 95 13 11Fax: + 45 86 95 10 85

avk@avkgummi.dkwww.avkgummi.com

Sales: Carsten Bach JensenTechnical service: Erik CorneliusLogistics: Sune KrøisQuality: Kent A. RasmussenEditor: Anne-Kristina Lowes

In May 2017 a recertification of ISO 14001 was carried out, this time including the requirement specification 4.4.3 from ISO 50001 concerning energy review.

The requirements to the energy review are fulfilled through a well-documented energy profile in which the energy performance is established, based on data and other information that may identify opportunities for improvement of the energy efficiency performance.

In order to work out the energy review, AVK GUMMI has identified areas that particularly affect energy consumption based on an analysis of energy consumption and demand. In other words, AVK GUMMI has pointed out the facilities, equipment, processes and personnel working with or on behalf of the company that significantly affect energy consumption and demand. Examples of this could be ventilation, lighting and heating.

”Our analyses show that AVK GUMMI is an organization in which energy consumption is widely considered in our processes,” says Kent Aatofte Rasmussen, Quality and Environmental Manager and continues:

“For instance we reuse the heat from the production area, and we have changed to LED lighting. The ongoing initiatives and improvements from the entire organization show a high degree of employee involvement. Therefore, an extension of the ISO 14001 certification with the requirement specification 4.4.3 from ISO 50001 fits into our daily routine.”

With the addition of 4.4.3, AVK GUMMI thus documents that the company complies with the requirements, and that the initiative is part of our politics of currently developing the company and having a strong and sustainable environmental profile.

Environmental Audit including Energy Review

On 1 March 2017 Erik Cornelius, Technical Manager, celebrated his 30th anniversary at AVK GUMMI.

”Many things have happened since I started my career at AVK GUMMI as Production Manager back in 1987. Not just within the company, but also in the world around us,” says Erik Cornelius and continues: “The technological development has advanced rapidly, and AVK GUMMI has expanded along with the development. We have

continuously extended and improved our field of competence, and the staff of employees has been increased by more than sixfold.

I have participated in many interesting projects and closely followed the development and production of a number of customized solutions from small, complex micro components to very large components that require extended capacity.”

”Throughout the years, Erik Cornelius has been an important asset to AVK GUMMI, and he has left his mark on many of the processes that underlie the success of the company,” says Peter Lorentzen, Managing Director.

“Erik is still deeply engaged in comprehensive projects, and we have no intentions of letting him go just now,” says Peter Lorentzen with a smile.

We congratulate Erik Cornelius with his 30 years at AVK GUMMI!

30 Years at AVK GUMMI

On 2 May AVK GUMMI participated in the 3-A Sanitary Standards annual meeting in Bloomington, USA, with a presentation on ”Hygienic Seal Design with Elastomers”.

3-A Sanitary Standards Annual Meeting