JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009 - 62

SPECIAL jec composites show 2009 Biography of Bruno Lammers Bruno Lammers has been the CEO / MD / President of Saertex since its foundation in 1982. He owns two thirds of the company’s shares. He is responsible for all aspects of Saertex technical developments. In 1982, Mr Lammers founded Saertex together with Mr Gert Wagener in the form of a management buyout of Disto-Textil GmbH. In 1995, he set up Saertex multiCom GmbH for the “no-dig” pipe relining business. In 1998, he entered into a 50% joint venture with a South African company. Two years later, he founded Saertex USA LLC. In 2002, Saertex Stade GmbH & Co. KG and Saertex France SAS. In 2005 STX India was founded, in 2007 STX Portugal and in 2008 STX China completed the group’s current structure. Prior to Saertex, Bruno Lammers spent 3 years as assistant to the production supervisor and 2 years as the production leader at Disto-Textil GmbH. Mr Bruno Lammers earned his degree in textile engineering at the University of Reutlingen, where he graduated in 1978. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International PARAMAX Committee in Naila. Germany: country of honor The JEC Group is acknowledging the importance of the German market for the composite sector by honouring Germany at the 2009 Show. Germany is definitely the country taking centre stage: No.1 foreign country represented in terms of number of visitors and also exhibitors – with a dedicated large “Pavilion of the German year” and Bavaria, CFK-Valley, Carbon Composites e.V., North-Rhine-Westphalia pavilions -, JEC confirms its irrefutable position as leader in the German composites market. Bruno Lammers, CEO of Saertex GmbH, will preside over the 2009 JEC Composites Show. AN INTERVIEW WITH BRUNO LAMMERS, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD AND SHAREHOLDER OF SAERTEX JEC Composites Magazine: What is the respective weight of Asia-Pacific, Europe and America in your business today and what are your objectives for each of these areas? BRUNO LAMMERS: We do more than 60% of our business in Europe, about 25% in the Americas and the rest in the AsiaPacific region. We expect the Asian share to grow well above average in the future to reach an equal balance between the regions within the next 5 years. To keep up with this growth, we have just opened our second Asian plant in China, following STX-IND which was built three years ago. Generally speaking, we expect a very dynamic market for the future years as we are mainly active in the growing segments of energy, aerospace and infrastructure. JCM: What is the share of your two main product lines, i.e. liners (multiCom) and non-crimp fabrics (finished preforms and technical textiles using high-tech fibres)? B. L.: Non-crimp fabrics and complexes represent more than 75% of our business, while pipe rehabilitation liners and aerospace parts account for most of the remaining part. Saertex only produces non-crimp fabrics, meaning we don’t invest in other technologies like weaving or braiding. All our product lines use NCFs as base input materials – from cut kits and preforms to ready parts. JCM: What are the most dynamic industries for your business? B. L.: Our most dynamic industries today are certainly the wind energy, aerospace and civil engineering sectors. We are facing a solid, double-digit yearly growth. JCM: Do you plan to maintain the same level of investment for the future as in recent years? B. L.: Over the past 3 years, we mainly invested in new locations like India, China and Portugal. Throughout the next year, we intend to concentrate more on the efficiency and output of our existing plants. Of course, we can’t match the additional market demand only through a higher output of existing plants, which means further investment in new capacity. Over the next few years, we will accelerate our investment in people to support our global growth, especially in Asia. We continue to invest heavily in product innovations to further increase the competitiveness and performance of composites. JCM: What business opportunity does the JEC Composites Show represent for Saertex? B. L.: The JEC Composite Show is THE composite show not to be missed. It offers the best international platform for communication with our entire global customer base in a very concentrated 3day format. Being able to both present our latest developments and strengthen the existing relationships with our partners in the industry especially makes this event so valuable for us. The increased presence of end-users at the show has further improved its attractiveness and helps us achieve our vision: making composites competitive with established materials such as steel or aluminium. More information: www.saertex.com 62 jec composites magazine / No47 March-April 2009

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009

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