Powerful industry meets in Isny
Stairs of Mauthe, KBH paving blocks, pipes and manholes of Rinninger – only a few kilometers from Isny, this year’s venue of the membership meetings of Baden-Württemberg Association of Concrete and Precast Plants (FBF B-W; Fachverband Beton- und Fertigteilwerke Baden-Württemberg) and Baden-Württemberg Quality Assurance Association for Concrete and Precast Plants (GBF B-W; Güteschutz Beton- und Fertigteilwerke Baden-Württemberg), the new Center Parc “Park Allgäu” is under construction comprising 700 houses and about 5,000 beds. The construction site, where the above-mentioned precast concrete components will be installed, is just one example to demonstrate how busy and powerful the precast construction industry is in Baden-Württemberg, as stated with pleasure by the Executive Board and Management Directors of FBF B-W and GBF B-W when welcoming the participants of the two membership meetings in Isny in the Allgäu region of Germany.
In fact, both organizations and their members once again can look back on a successful year. Thanks to the growth in revenue in the fields of expert’s reports and quality management audits, the Quality Assurance Association was able to exceed the budgeted earnings target by around 3.5%, and the assets of the balance sheet now shows a positive increase for 2017 instead of an expected decline.
CE markings – current situation
Precision measurement of crack widths
Eventually, GBF B-W was able to present two new services: Using a high-performance precision camera, Eugen Weber, Steffen Platzschke and Wilfried Röser, the experts especially certified for this purpose, determine the widths of cracks inside pipes exactly. This shall help to reject alleged defects which are not justified.
GBF B-W offer the second service together with Kiwa; in this case, they accompany the documentation process for the voluntary sustainability certification of the Concrete Sustainability Council (see BFT International 06/2018, page 60).
Large radius of activities
The activity report of the Baden-Württemberg Association of Concrete and Precast Plants illustrated the wide range of activities on a national and international level in 2017.
In the field of lobbying and communication special note should be made of a position paper, for example, which was published in 2017 as part of the campaign “Impulse für den Wohnungsbau” (impulses for housing construction). The key demands on politics in Baden-Württemberg are: to provide building land quickly and cheaply, to accelerate the building permit procedures, to avoid additional cost drivers and to strengthen the new construction of permanently used residential buildings.
The activities in the field of training and education are particularly important given the growing shortage of skilled workers. In this regard, FBF B-W offered various education and training programs in 2017, such as the new training course “IHK master craftsman in proc-essing technology and process engineering (m/f)”.
BetonTage congress on the path of expansion
Another service in the field of training and education is the online learning platform of the “BetonQuali” program. The part-time training program focuses on the transfer of knowledge independent of location and with the aid of digital media in preparation for the final examination as process technician in the non-metallic minerals industry.
The range of further training and education programs, moreover, include the BetonTage congress, which is organized for FBF B-W by FBF Betondienst GmbH every year in Neu-Ulm. Today, the conference and exhibition is the biggest event for the precast concrete industry in Europe. The successful concept is also in great demand on an international level meanwhile. Therefore, there are now branches in Shanghai, China as well as in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, too.
New executive board
In addition, the agenda of the FBF included elections to the board this year. The majority of members voted for Fried-rich Gebhart for the position of president, for Martin Kronimus, Kronimus AG, and Wilfried Röser, Siegfried Röser GmbH + Co. KG for the position of vice-presidents and for Richard Bayer, Bernd Betz, Rolf Harsch, Friedrich Klein, Christof Leuchtner, Jörg Rinninger, Uwe Sommer, and Laurenz Zuber as additional board members. Michaela Högerle, Josef Högerle Betonwerk GmbH, and Dietmar Köster, Adolf Blatt GmbH + Co. KG, were newly elected for the position of auditors.
The members of the assembly of FBF B-W and GBF B-W approved their respective boards and the budget for 2017 as well as the budget for 2018 were each unanimously accepted. The contribution rules of both organization remain unchanged for 2018.
Text: Christian Jahn, M. A.