Interview with Thomas Smatloch, DEHN + SOHNE GmbH + Co. KG.
• Electronics • Interview • South-East European INDUSTRIAL Мarket - issue 2/2012
Southeastern Europe is an important market for DEHN
Due to the expansion of the EU and the concentration on renewables
Dear Mr. Smatloch, DEHN is globally known for high-quality protection and safety products. Could you present the main product fields of the company?
Our motto is "DEHN protects..."! The main topic is lightning and surge protection. With a more than 100 years history we are a world wide known specialist for this combination. Another product group is safety equipment for working on electrical installations, for live working and for railways.
We are still a family owned company in the 4th generation. DEHN is based in Germany with activities in more than 70 countries.
DEHN is focused on future-oriented markets. What are the latest trends in the development and manufacture of your products?
The typical trends in electrotechnics are visible on the exhibitions world wide. Renewables from Photovoltaik, Windpower and Biogas, the distribution of electricity in Smart Grids and E -mobility are the most developing ones. As long as all of them are interconnected with cables, equipped with sensitive electronics and supposed to be highly available and fail-proof they need protection! Lightnings are the hardest natural threat in electrotechnics. Our products have to follow those trends to serve in shape, function and parameters efficiently the new applications.
What were DEHN’s dominant topics at Light and Building exhibition and Hanover fair 2012?
The dominant topics were protection of Renewables, E-mobility, Telecommunication, Process Industry and Transportation. Another aspect was the protection of persons working on electrical installations and for live line working.
Please, present some of DEHN’s new products for Lightning protection of PV parks and Surge protection of power supply in buildings available at Southeastern European markets?
In Frankfurt and Hannover we have introduced several new products. Especially in the field of renewables let me mention the DEHNlimit PV 1000 V2 - a spark-gap-based lightning current arrester for photovoltaik applications.
Besides others let me highlight as well the spark-gap-based lightning current arrester DEHNsecure for modern telecommunication applications and the compact and universal surge arrester DEHNbox for the protection of data transmission systems in domestic and industrial applications.
How important is the South-East European market for DEHN?
DEHN runs activities in more than 70 countries. South-Eastern-Europe is important because of its dynamics due to the expansion of the EU and the concentration on renewables.
Who are your partners at Bulgarian market?
Typical partners in Bulgaria are for instance: MAKRIS-GPH - specialized in Safety Equipment,
STIMAR - installation and distribution, and VALTRONIC - distribution
Does your company have an intention to expand its partners’ network in Bulgaria?
Of course we’d like to get more customers. On the other hand most of our products need an explanation to be chosen and installed correctly. Our existing partners have the knowledge and the experience to do this in their field.
Which are the latest industrial and energy projects in the SEE region, realized with DEHN’s products and engineering solutions?
In Bulgaria we sell lightning and surge protection materials for solar power stations as well as in Greece. Very special materials for the use in explosive atmosphere are applied in oil and gas industry in several SEE countries.
Could you present the long-term development strategy of DEHN for SEE region?
Depending on our situation in the country we will achieve or increase a significant market share for lightning and surge protection materials. The key is innovation - at least 30 % of our turnover will be generated by new products.
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