Pioneering work in all
product areas
With its product Rapidobat Cretcon HD, the company H-Bau Technik GmbH, in Klettgau, Germany, won the Innovation Prize “Concrete Components 2013” awarded the Supplier Industry at the BetonTage in Neu-Ulm, Germany. Markus Glattfelder (managing director) and Benjamin Happ (head of Research & Development) answered the questions of BFT International in this interview.
BFT International: Mr. Glatt-felder, your company has just won the Innovation Prize “Concrete Components 2013” awarded the supplier industry,” now for the third time. Our sincere congratulations for this.
M. G.: Thank you very much. The distinction makes us very happy and proud. Because Rapidobat Cretcon HD as product is already market-ready, we already now very much look forward to the reactions on the market.
BFT International: Rapidobat Cretcon HD has impressed the jury. Who had the idea for this product and what, in your opinion, especially distinguishes it?
B. H.: The idea for this innovative product originated with Gerhard Horstmann, the founder of our company, who with great passion continues to bring his pioneering spirit and creative and visionary ideas to the company. The product Rapidobat Cretcon HD distinguishes itself primarily through its ease of application. The innovative Hydrogel form fabric is automatically activated when the concrete is cast into the form.
The contractor can achieve the highest porosity and fair-faced concrete class specified in the DBV code of practice “Fair-faced concrete” with the greatest assurance. This has been confirmed by the results of tests performed at TU Dresden. The architect can rest assured that the surfaces of the concrete components are virtually free of pores, and the satin-finish visual appearance meets the highest aesthetic demands of modern architecture.
BFT International: As a supplier of a broad product range – including thermal- and sound-insulation elements and extending to reinforcement solutions, formwork, and sealants for accessory materials – you have been on the market for a long time. What portion of overall sales do you expect to attain in the future from Rapidobat Cretcon HD?
M. G.: Based on our previous history, Rapidobat is a very important product for us. Its significance cannot be evaluated purely by sales. The objective was and is to be the market leader in terms of quality. With the new innovative Rapidobat Cretcon HD, however, we now have a product with which we can achieve a very considerable increase in quantities and which enables us to become market leader in this respect as well.
BFT International: Your company has accepted “pioneering work in all product sectors” as your guiding principle. In what segments can further innovations from your company be expected?
B. H.: In the sealing segment, we are market leaders with the Pentaflex KB joint sealing metal. To strengthen our position further, we will follow new, innovative paths here as well. As a result, we have already presented the further development of the sealing metal at BAU 2013, which can also be used in dual function as sealing element and as electrical grounding for foundations. Tests conducted at the high-voltage laboratory of the German University of the Federal Armed Forces have confirmed that the metal easily survives the strongest lightning class. The product will be launched on the market at bauma 2013 in Munich.
But we are continuously developing in other segments as well. We will, for example, soon provide our cantilever slab connection elements with HLB thrust bearings to enable further optimization of thermal transmittance without reducing the structural loadbearing capacities. For the time being, we are keeping our other ideas secret.
