Innovative KELLER grinding technology
The KELLER grinding technology is one of our product segments in which we are constantly developing and facing the challenges of the market. The targets and needs of our customers are the driving force for our work.

The Vario 900 grinding machine is our answer to the requirements of our times for plane brick production. It represents the coming generation of KELLER grinding machines and continues the successful history of KELLER grinding technologies.

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https://www.keller.de/en/ics/machines/grinding-machines.htm

The increasing demand for energy-efficient vertical coring lightweight bricks, also in France and in the Benelux countries, induced Wienerberger AG to extend its product portfolio by new thermal bricks. With the “CLIMAmur” product family, the range of heat-insulating vertical coring lightweight bricks was complemented by bricks with integrated mineral wool insulation.

With the aim of a customer-oriented plant solution optimally integrated into the existing infrastructure at the Betschdorf site in Alsace, France, KELLER was won as high-tech partner and highly specialized plant manufacturer of machinery and plants who convinced both technically and economically with numerous comparable reference plants. Both companies have already successfully cooperated in the past. This further cooperation undoubtedly underlines the many years of comprehensive experience of the KELLER engineers in filling technology.

The brick with integrated insulation

Filled bricks are considered as high-tech building material and are used in modern new residential buildings. They comply with ecological, health and static standards. They are also fire- and sound-insulating.

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From 24 to 27 June 2019, the ACERS Structural Clay Meeting took place in Indianapolis, USA.
As every year, all well-known representatives of the American brick and tile industry were represented at this event to exchange information about solutions in the production of facing bricks and facing strips and to discuss new approaches.
In two technical sessions, new findings and experiences in production were presented and discussed by several participants.
This year, Keller HCW was represented by Holger Rottmann. Our presentation “Technology, Innovation and Solutions in the Heavy Clay Industry” was well-received by the participants.
On the second day of the event, four representative brick factories around Indianapolis were visited.

This year, KERAMTEX took place in Bashkortostan (Russia) at the beginning of June.

For the Russian heavy clay industry, it is certainly the most important and trendsetting annual conference, as always sensationally organized by Elena Yumascheva and Elena Leskova.

In the beginning, it was intended to be a scientific conference, but in the meantime it is changing more and more into an interactive communication platform within the industry. Particular attention is given to fruitful project discussions and an open exchange of experience and opinions on current market trends.

Despite the negative trend in the Russian building industry (5 % in 2018) and the associated strong increase in competition, the Russian market remains interesting for the brick and tile industry. This is also reflected by the ratio of the number of participants: brick factories 34 %, machine manufacturer 29 %.

Russian brick manufacturers are more and more actively searching for new opportunities to expand and improve the quality of the existing range of products. Thus, there are new projects in addition to current projects.

Traditionally, the lecture of KELLER HCW generated great interest and was followed by a comprehensive discussion.
This time Torsten Bärtels (Sales Manager KELLER HCW) and Svyatoslav Chernikov (General Director KELLER VOSTOK) gave a lecture on “Modern robot applications”.
For the new colleagues Luigi Bosco (Area Sales Manager RIETER MORANDO s.r.l.) and Svyatoslav Chernikov (General Director KELLER VOSTOK) it was a good opportunity to introduce themselves.

This conference clearly showed that the Russian market continues to develop, even though not always smoothly.

Of course, KELLER HCW and RIETER/MORANDO take an active role in this development.

Every two to three years, the Federal Association of the German Brick and Tile Industry invites to a brick and tile seminar in the Westerwald.

In the facilities of the University of Applied Sciences Westerwald Campus in Höhr-Grenzhausen the basics of ceramics are imparted to the approx. 30 participants in a two-week seminar.

The participants are mainly plant or production managers at brickworks who have not primarily acquired the basics of ceramics in their apprenticeship or who want to refresh this knowledge.

The participants of this seminar in March 2019 were from Wienerberger, Röben, ERLUS, Creaton, Freital-Eder, Olfry, Feldhaus, Zeller-Alzenau, among others, who are well known customers of KELLER.

The seminar takes place in the lecture-free time of the University of Applied Sciences. The lecturers of the seminar are mainly the teachers of the University of Applied Sciences.

Almost two days of the teaching program are reserved for representatives of the supply industry with the objective to provide current and interesting information from the brick industry. For example, companies such as Refratechnik – formerly Burton, Hellmich, Grothe, Rehart, Händle and KELLER have been taking this opportunity for many years.

KELLER held two speeches: “Investigations and possibilities of the KELLER ceramics laboratory” by Jörg Bendik and “Challenges in the brick industry” by Markus Jüchter.

The exhibition “Domestic Construction Materials” (OSM) traditionally opens the annual calendar of exhibitions in Moscow. Over the years, this exhibition has gained importance in the construction industry and has become an important trade event in this area.

At the same time, the Russian Association of Manufacturers of Ceramic Wall Material invites to participate in the special exhibition “CERAMBRICKTECH – Exhibition of Machinery and Equipment for the Heavy Clay Industry, Technologies and Raw Materials”.

The CERAMBRICKTECH 2019 once again offered a unique focus on the business objectives of the KELLER division in the Russian Federation and CIS.

In addition to the very good project discussions and successful contract negotiations with long-standing business partners, very interesting new customers from the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Republic were acquired.

Currently, brick manufacturers in the CIS countries are faced with the need to modernize their machines and facilities. There are only a small number of modern high technology brickworks in the CIS states. The economic shortage of high-quality building materials in the CIS countries is a great opportunity for the KELLER division to conclude further good business transactions.

We look forward to the new challenges!

In December 2018 KELLER HCW GmbH transferred the business “clay preparation and shaping” to the new Company Rieter Morando GmbH, located in Konstanz.

Morando S.r.l., located in Asti, changed its company-name into Rieter Morando S.r.l. The new Rieter Morando unit is part of the European Groupe Legris Industries.

This merger leads to the strengthening of the new Company, guaranteeing it a unique position on the market as a world leading supplier of clay preparation and shaping equipment. The Konstanz site is a competence-center for service, maintenance and spare parts, ensuring reliable and long-lasting support to all customers who know and appreciate the Rieter brand. The Asti site focuses on research and development and on cutting-edge technological solutions for industrial production of new machines, maintaining the proximity to all the Morando and Rieter machines equipped factories.

Relying on the skills of its joint teams, Rieter Morando is expanding service offerings and models across all business areas, including consultancy and technical advice for its industrial customers, as well as digital service offers, leveraging industry 4.0 projects. The Rieter Morando global team is strengthened and ready to shape a successful future.

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KELLER Home / ICS / Complete Plants / Plant Ibstock Leicester

Every year again: The 57th Würzburg Brick and Tile Training Course took place this year as well.

Due to the high number of participants in the past years, the conference venue was moved to the Kolping Academy Würzburg. With the new venue, the organisers have succeeded in opening access to the course to all interested parties. As always, there was an extensive range of topics relating to brick production. Speakers from industry and research gave a broad spectrum of information to the expert audience.

Michael Schmitz and Wolfgang Löchte from KELLER presented the digital information platform KBIS (KELLER Bolt Information System) and met with great interest in the brick industry. The feedback from the auditorium was consistently positive. They rated the system as a big step into the digital future.

Concrete DURABILITY was the motto of the 25th International IFF Conference in Weimar from 14th – 15th November, 2018.

KELLER IMS used this platform for the first time to present the latest innovations from the field of machinery and plant engineering for the production of building materials with regard to “Processes and Equipment”.

In accordance with the principle of the IMS Business Unit – Intelligent Machinery Solutions – the lecture of an automation solution for transport and setting processes in a plant for concrete drainage channels could impressively underscore the flexibility and efficiency of process-optimized production. In addition, the possibilities for the use of new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 3D scanning and the new digital KBIS app in today’s plant planning and subsequent operation of the plant were explained.

The accompanying trade fair proved to be an excellent opportunity to make contact with interested trade visitors, so that initial enquiries about possible process optimisation measures could already be discussed here.
For KELLER IMS the participation was a further step to present its innovative plant concepts beyond the heavy clay industry. A step that paves the way for further projects.