ECT GmbH turns 10
In a branch marked by such a rapid pace of development as in high-tech ceramics, 10 years is a long time. July 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of ECT GmbH (Extrusion for Ceramic Technology) that Frank Händle founded in 2002, and it has been an extremely successful decade. From the very beginning, the company‘s core competence was a system-oriented approach to the extrusion of ceramic body. With that, it took ECT a mere five years to become established as one of the branch‘s leading producers and one of Europe‘s technology leaders on the technical ceramics extrusion market. For example, a major share of production facilities for diesel particulate filters now use ECT extruders.
Part of ECT‘s secret to success is its own particular, network-driven, problem-solving structure in which four production partners and six variously oriented R&D partners form the product- and problem-oriented outer structure, and competent, ECT-linked freelancers make up the function-specific inner structure.
ETC‘s range of services encompasses such plant and machinery as combined de-airing extrusion units, extruders, kneaders, proportioning strainers, ram presses and plasticimeters, as well as services covering everything from consultancy to laboratory testing and customerized R&D. In a branch where innovation is of the essence, R&D plays a major role – as does ECT. The latest ECT innovations include:
› thermoplastic extrusion of powdered ceramic materials embedded in a matrix of plastic, wax or paraffin
› extrusion of ceramic tapes with thicknesses down to 0.2 mm and width up to 1000 mm
At ECT, lots of work is invested in the various aspects of “plasticity” as an essential parameter of extrusion – all to the advantage of heavy clay ceramics. ECT still has plenty of arrows in its quiver, and one or the other will be zinging past any time now. On that note, we wish to congratulate ECT and say “good luck” for the next decade.
Willi Bender
References/Literatur
[1] “ECT – newsletter”, German/English (22 issue to date)
[2] Händle, F. (Editor): “Extrusion in Ceramics”, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009
