Share article
Please fill out all the fields marked with an asterisk * and then click on "Send form".
-
Dear Readers!
The refugee crisis, caused by the war in Syria, has awakened Europe from a deep slumber. Individual member states are outdoing each other – introducing one uncoordinated measure after another as they attempt to stem the seemingly never-ending flow of people desperately seeking help. Whilst Chancellor Merkel is hoping to bring about a European solution, others are closing their borders and seriously thinking about exiting the European Union. No matter where you look, people are saying the party is over. It is time now for facts rather than emotions to be brought to the table. Germany has around 81 million inhabitants and its economy has never been so good. Approximately one million refugees had entered the country when the state elections were held in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt and Rhineland-Pfalz on 13 March. To use the same metaphor: if 81 people are invited to a party and they are joined by one international guest, then the party is by no means over. On the contrary, there is a great opportunity here for the new guest’s culture, experience and vitality to enhance the event and make it even more interesting.
As Germany’s population continues to fall, demographers are assuming that the country will need around 500,000 new immigrants every year simply to keep its social security system functioning. In the future, therefore, we may find ourselves being grateful each time a migrant decides to stay and do an apprenticeship in our country. What is needed is genuine integration. The Minister for Labour, Social Affairs and Inclusion in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rainer Schmeltzer, recently published a brochure in four languages so that refugees could find out how the public transport system works in the district of Unna. Whilst talking to one of REMONDIS’ board members, he called on the recycling sector to do something similar. The majority of the migrants have little or no experience of using different coloured bins to separate waste. REMONDIS has stepped up to the mark and published a flyer in German, English, French, Farsi and Arabic. We would also be very pleased to receive applications from registered refugees wishing to do an apprenticeship at our company, for example to become a professional truck driver.
If the state of North Rhine-Westphalia were to be a country in its own right, then it would be among the top 10 European nations when it comes to population figures and economic power. The latest waste management report shows that our industry has become one of the biggest drivers of growth. Whilst traditional industries, such as coal, steel and energy, continue to decline, an ever increasing number of people are working in recycling, industrial and municipal services and water management. REMONDIS is both a driving force and the backbone of this really pleasing development. And what makes REMONDIS what it is, is its 32,000 employees who work for their local inhabitants and their municipal and industrial customers in 33 countries every single day. Looking at all this, it is a shame that politicians would appear to be paying so little attention to the IFAT exhibition which is being held in Munich from 30 May to 03 June. REMONDIS is going to be there even if the Federal Minister of the Environment is not. We look forward to seeing you there!
Yours
Ludger Rethmann
Working to tight schedules
Maintaining and operating production and infrastructure facilities in the process industry – these are the main areas of expertise of XERVON Instandhaltung GmbH. The company recently demonstrated just how extraordinary its capabilities are in this field when it took part in three refinery turnarounds and a project to convert a refinery. These complex large-scale projects all took place at the same time and all had extremely tight schedules.
Both planning & implementation must be perfect
Inspecting and overhauling refineries are a challenging time for all those involved. A whole range of complex interconnected tasks have to be performed under the strictest of safety standards and within the shortest of times – and delivered reliably, smoothly and according to schedule. All the work must be meticulously planned beforehand and then implemented perfectly if such projects are to be a success.
-
“Good planning is extremely important; what is key, however, is the team of people on site.“
Thomas Kramel, Managing Director at XERVON Instandhaltung GmbH
Meticulous organisation of resources
Comprehensive expertise is needed to be able to carry out several turnaround projects simultaneously. To begin with, XERVON Instandhaltung has an extremely experienced and highly effective planning department which plans each and every individual task right down to the smallest detail. All the different resources are organised – from the number of operatives that will be needed, to the materials, to the technical equipment and tools.
Over 1,000 operatives in action
One of the aces that the XERVON maintenance specialists have up their sleeve is their extensive capacities. Firstly they have a very large stock of tools and secondly they have a large pool of excellently trained specialists. Moreover, their own team of operatives can be joined by employees from their partner companies whenever they are needed. Thanks to these resources, the company was able to deploy over 1,000 operatives for the four projects which lasted a total of two months.
XERVON Instandhaltung provides a full range of services from infrastructure services, to services for rotating equipment and fittings, all the way through to shutdown and maintenance management.
“Manpower and equipment are both extremely important in our business. Flexibility, however, is also key,” explained managing director, Thomas Kramel. No matter how well such projects are planned and no matter how many years of experience a company may have, it is impossible to organise everything beforehand. There are always a number of tasks that crop up unexpectedly during such turnarounds that have to be sorted out within a short space of time. Thomas Kramel continued: “Our ability to react quickly to such circumstances is one of our strengths and one of the reasons why XERVON Instandhaltung has such a good reputation in this specialist field.”