Reliable partner to the ceramics industry for 30 years

Photo/Foto: Anett Fischer

»1 Thermoplan Managing Director Christian Nether

Photo/Foto: Anett Fischer

Photos/Fotos: Thermoplan

»2 Acoustic testing of clay roofing tiles

Photos/Fotos: Thermoplan

»3 Wet side with robots in a plant for backing bricks

»4 Quality control system with laser measurement technology

»5 U-block packaging

»6a/b Control engineering for preparation in a backing brick plant

(6b)

»7a/b The newly developed, web-service-based operating data logging and process management and control system in use in a brickmaking line

(7b)

Thermoplan Datenerfassung und Energieoptimierung industrieller Produktionsanlagen GmbH is celebrating its 30th company anniversary this year. The engineering office delivers solutions centring on automation and process engineering at brickworks. Managing Director Christian Nether (50) spoke to us, reviewing the company’s development and explaining its goals for the future.

You are not only involved with all areas of the heavy clay manufacturing process, but other areas too. How do you keep up to date?

The main area of our operations is heavy clay ceramics, which makes up around 80% of our activities. The tiles and split tiles industry are very small spin-off lines. In technical ceramics we have done some things together with Frank Händle and his ECT, including projects in Japan. Now, Hans-Josef Berchtold has taken over ECT. We have known him a long time from his years in the roofing tile industry, we worked really well together for almost 20 years, at first when...