From the Sector

Ulrich Reifenhäuser, CSO of the Reifenhäuser Group, was awarded the prestigious Georg Menges Prize 2022 at the 31st International Colloquium on Plastics Technology in Aachen from September 7-8, 2022. The prize recognizes individuals or groups who have rendered outstanding services to the transfer of research results into industrial practice. The sponsors of the award are the Plastics and Rubber section of Germany's Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), together with PlasticsEurope Deutschland and the Association of Sponsors of the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH University. The award is traditionally presented every two years during the colloquium organized by the IKV. Ulrich Reifenhäuser is the first businessman to receive the Georg Menges Award.

The award was presented by Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Hopmann, Director of the IKV and Dr.-Ing. Herbert Müller, Chairman of the Board of the IKV Sponsors' Association. In his laudatory speech, Professor Hopmann highlighted Ulrich Reifenhäuser's great and successful commitment to the industry and his tireless search for optimal solutions that are sustainable in the best sense of the word, and praised him as a personality of integrity and integration. "The Georg Menges Prize is awarded for the consistent implementation of research and innovation in industry. The previously described achievements of our prizewinner would certainly have been enough to receive the award but, for the sponsors of the Prize, what was especially important and the key argument for their decision was Ulrich Reifenhäuser’s honorary dedication to the K tradefair," explained Professor Hopmann.

Ulrich Reifenhäuser has been a member of the Reifenhäuser Group management since 1992 and is responsible for international line sales. Together with his brother Bernd Reifenhäuser, he manages the company in the third generation. Ulrich Reifenhäuser has been a board member of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association for more than 25 years and has been its chairman since 2010. In 2020, he was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame, as was the award's namesake, and in 2022 he will be co-chairing the world's leading plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf for the seventh time in a row as "President of K show."

SSM Schärer Schweiter Mettler AG, a subsidiary of the Rieter Group, has appointed Per Olofsson as Managing Director and member of the SSM Group’s management team effective April 1, 2021.

Mr. Olofsson is a Swedish citizen and holds a Master of Science Degree in Supply Chain and Operations Management from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, and an Executive MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Per Oloffson joined the Rieter Group in 2013 and is an experienced operations manager with a proven management track record at both local and global level.

• HPR is the highest status a plant can achieve for fire risk prevention and protection
• The site Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines is the second in the Beaulieu International Group to reach HPR status
• Underlines Group’s commitment to risk prevention at B.I.G. sites & to reinforcing our strong business contingency plan

Wielsbeke, Belgium – Beaulieu Yarns, the global supplier of high-quality polyamide and polypropylene yarns, is pleased to announce the achievement of Highly Protected Risk (HPR) status for its French production site, Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines. Awarded by FM Global, HPR designation means a facility meets the highest industry standards for property protection.

FM Global, Beaulieu International Group’s (B.I.G.) industrial property and business interruption insurer for the past two years, offers a unique concept that supports the Group in reducing its exposure to loss and increases its business resilience. A dedicated worldwide team of engineers focuses on providing assistance and protection of its assets, helping the Group to achieve a higher level of risk protection.

The Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines site produces high quality yarns for a large variety of application and market segments including the automotive industry. It scored exceptionally well in its FM Global assessment which focused on aspects including fire protection, protection against natural hazard, mechanical breakdown of machinery and also cyber risks.

Its overall risk mark of 76 ranks it within the top 25% of its industry for fire risk prevention and protection.

Commenting on the Award, Emmanuel Colchen, Global Sales Director Yarns within BU Beaulieu Engineered Products, said: “This HPR yarn production site reinforces strongly our supply chain security and demonstrates our engagement towards our customers and partners. Our contingency planning and risk management are essential, well-considered elements within our long-term business strategy to demanding sectors such as Automotive and Commercial & Residential floor covering contracts.”

Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines is the second facility in the Group to attain HPR status, and the very first in Europe. Pinnacle Polymers LLC in the USA also achieved the HPR as a chemical plant, which is a rare achievement within the chemical business. Fire risk prevention is part of the Group’s broader risk management activities. B.I.G. is investing in increasing the level of protection at all B.I.G. plants in order to protect its business continuity.

The divisions of B.I.G. are also implementing a number of safety programmes to raise awareness of workplace safety and to maintain strong safety records.

Karena Cancilleri, Vice President BU Beaulieu Engineered Products, commented: “I am proud of Beaulieu Yarns for achieving the highly-regarded FM Global HPR Award and setting an example for the whole Beaulieu International Group. This positive step reflects the strong commitment of the Engineered Products division and the rest of the Group to improving safety and protecting our workplaces and our production facilities.”

Beaulieu Yarns received the HPR Award at a ceremony on November 7, 2017 attended by all staff, and representatives of B.I.G. Management, Beaulieu Yarns Management and FM Global Management.