Plansee Group

The Plansee Group (named after Lake Plansee; company name: Plansee Holding AG) is an Austrian company based in Reutte that specialises in the powder metallurgical production of materials (molybdenum and tungsten) and in processing them into tools and moulded parts.[1] The Plansee Group is a private company and is considered a global market leader.[2][3][4]

Plansee Holding AG
TypeAktiengesellschaft
Founded1921
HeadquartersReutte, Austria
Key people
Executive Board: Bernhard Schretter and Karlheinz Wex
Chairman of Supervisory Board: Michael Schwarzkopf
ProductsPowder-metallurgical materials
Revenue€ 2.4 billion
Number of employees
14,145
Websitehttps://www.plansee.com/

History
Paul Schwarzkopf in Reutte (late 1950s)

Paul Schwarzkopf (born 13 April 1886), an industrial entrepreneur and pioneer in the powder metallurgy field,[5] founded Metallwerk Plansee GmbH in 1921. Schwarzkopf, who was searching for a suitable production site close to a hydropower station at the time by placing a newspaper advertisement, ultimately decided in favour of Reutte.[2] Between 1929 and 1931, the company started to produce carbides and hard materials using new and specially developed approaches.[6]

In 1938, Schwarzkopf was expropriated following the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, as he was considered to be Jewish under the Nuremberg laws and decided to flee from the National Socialists to the USA. As a result, the company was part of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke AG between 1938 and 1952.[7][8]

In 1939, Schwarzkopf founded the American Electro Metal Corporation, today operating as Plansee USA LLC. Schwarzkopf continued to conduct research in the field of powder metallurgy in exile and returned to Europe in 1947.[6][9][10] In 1952, Paul Schwarzkopf became the sole proprietor of Metallwerk Plansee GmbH again and expanded the company into an international enterprise.[8]

Plansee Group production site in Reutte (2018)

Paul Schwarzkopf died in his home of Reutte in 1970.[11] The company was subsequently run by relatives and non-family managers.[12]

Metalwork Plansee (1922)

In the early 1980s, the Plansee Group comprised 14 companies worldwide. In 1987, the operations of Plansee High Performance Materials and Plansee Hard Metal Tools (Plansee Tizit) became separate divisions.[13]

In 1996, a fire broke out in the sintering plant of Plansee Tizit in Reutte. Hilde Schwarzkopf, who represented the family’s interests on the Supervisory Board from 1978 on and was referred to as the Grande Dame of Tyrolean Industry, appeared before the workforce shortly thereafter, announcing her commitment to the reconstruction of the site despite the damage it had incurred.[14][15]

In 2002, the Plansee Group merged its division Plansee Hard Metal Tools with the Luxembourg company Cerametal, forming the new company Ceratizit.[16] The Plansee Group owns a 50 percent stake in Ceratizit. A joint venture had previously existed between Cerametal and Plansee in 1948.[13]

In 2008, the Plansee Group acquired the division GTP from Osram Sylvania.[17][18] Since 2011, the Plansee Group has successively acquired business interests in the Chilean molybdenum and rhenium producer Molymet.[19]

Today, the Plansee Group is divided into three divisions - Plansee High Performance Materials, Ceratizit Hard Metals & Tools and Global Tungsten & Powders - and holds interests in one company, which is Molymet.[20]

The Group operates 49 production sites worldwide on three continents and sales offices in 50 countries.

Corporate structure

Plansee Holding AG maintains the following divisions and shareholdings:

Plansee High Performance Materials
Main article: Plansee SE

Plansee High Performance Materials develops and produces semi-finished products and components made from molybdenum, tungsten as well as tungsten-based heavy metal alloys.[21] These metals are required in applications such as the coating industry, energy transmission, the lighting industry, high-temperature furnace construction, semi-conductor production, the electronics industry and medical technology. These metals are used where conventional metals reach their physical limits.[21]

In September 2017, Plansee founded the material search platform Matmatch. The platform allows material experts or buyers worldwide to learn about more than 80,000 known materials and contact potential suppliers.[22][23]

Ceratizit Hard Metals & Tools
Main article: Ceratizit

Ceratizit S.A. is a public limited company based in Mamer, Luxembourg – a company in which Plansee Holding AG holds a 50 percent stake.[24][25]

Ceratizit develops and produces tools for machining and wear parts for industrial production from hard metal and other hard materials. After a series of smaller acquisitions of solid carbide tool manufacturers, Ceratizit acquired the Komet Group in October 2017, a manufacturer of precision tools.[26][27]

Global Tungsten & Powders
Main article: Global Tungsten & Powders Corp.

Global Tungsten & Powders (GTP), headquartered in the USA, is one of the leading producers of tungsten powder. Tungsten ore concentrates are processed into ammonium paratungstate (APT) and then into tungsten metal powder, tungsten carbide and ready-to-press powders. GTP has a subsidiary, Bruntál (Czech Republic), and was integrated into the Plansee Group on 1 August 2008 following approval by the antitrust authority, becoming the fourth division at that time.[28]

On 12 June 2015, GTP acquired Tikomet in Finland, a company specialised in the recycling of hard metal scrap.[29]

The division PMG Sinterformteile was sold in 2011.[30] Holding functions of the Plansee Group are pooled in Plansee Group Service GmbH, based in Breitenwang/Reutte.

Molymet

The Plansee Group holds a 20 percent stake in the publicly traded Molibdenos y Metalas S.A. (Molymet for short), based in Santiago de Chile.[31] Molymet specialises in the processing of molybdenum ore concentrates and rhenium.[32]

Products

The companies of the Plansee Group cover the entire powder metallurgy process chain. The extracted ore is processed into pure metal powder. The powder is then worked into semi-finished products and tool blanks using powder metallurgical methods – including pressing, sintering and forming – and is subsequently processed mechanically. Depending on the requirement, the Plansee Group supplies metal powder, semi-finished products or ready-to-install components made from refractory and hard metals. Since resources are scarce and expensive, the first step - procuring the raw materials by cooperating with mines or recycling facilities - is becoming increasingly important.[3]

The Plansee Group primarily processes molybdenum and tungsten, but also other refractory metals such as tantalum, niobium and chromium as well as their alloys and composites.[3]

Sales markets include consumer electronics, the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, the construction industry, energy engineering, medical technology, the semiconductor industry and aerospace.[3]

Social commitment

Paul Schwarzkopf Foundation

The foundation named after the company founder Paul Schwarzkopf, based in Reutte, supports adolescents from economically disadvantaged families, assisting with their training and continuing education.[33][34]

Impression (Plansee concerts)

Plansee concerts

The concerts were initiated by Hilde and Walter Schwarzkopf and have taken place on a regular basis since 1975. They are organised and financed by the Plansee Group. A season includes five predominantly classical concerts. The concert hall built on the Plansee Group premises in Reutte in 1978 serves as the canteen for employees during the day.[35][36]

Plansee Seminar

The Plansee Seminar is an international conference on the development and production of refractory metals and hard materials. Experts from the realms of research, science and industry discuss applications, materials, production technologies as well as testing and characterisation methods.[37] The Plansee Seminar is held every four years and is organised by the Plansee Group. The first Plansee Seminar took place in Reutte in 1952.[38]

References
  1. (Hermann Simon: Hidden Champions des 21. Jahrhunderts : Die Erfolgsstrategien unbekannter Weltmarktführer. Campus, Frankfurt a. M. 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38380-4, S. 21)
  2. Florian Gasser (2012-09-13), "Metallwerk Plansee: Groß im Kaff", Die Zeit (in German), Hamburg, ISSN 0044-2070, retrieved 2019-02-04
  3. "Plansee Group mit 11% Umsatzsteigerung". Wirtschaftszeit.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  4. Die Weltmeister des Exports, Kurier, (Österreich) vom 13. September 2018, Seite I2, I4, I6.
  5. Austria-Forum | https://austria-forum.org. "Schwarzkopf, Paul" (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  6. "Paul Schwarzkopf". Wilhelm Exner Medaillen Stiftung (in German). 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  7. Horst Schreiber, StudienVerlag (ed.), 1938 - Der Anschluss in den Bezirken Tirols (in German)
  8. "Schwarzkopf, Paul". Austria-Forum. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  9. Paul Schwarzkopf, Macmillan Co. (ed.), Powder Metallurgy, its Physics and Production (in German)
  10. Paul Schwarzkopf (1955), Paul Schwarzkopf: Geschichten aus Molybdänemark (in German), 1, Füssen
  11. Peter Paschen (2010), Paul Schwarzkopf - Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), 24, retrieved 2019-02-04
  12. Hilde Schwarzkopf. "Quoten sind beleidigend". Die-wirtschaft.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  13. "CERATIZIT - die Geschichte - Über uns". 2012-03-27. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  14. Gertraud Walch (2008-03-10), Geschäft hat viel mit Glück zu tun (in German), Kurier, p. 24
  15. Alois Vahrner. "Plansee: Tiroler Metallurgiekonzern mit Weltruf". Top.Tirol (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  16. "CERATIZIT – die Geschichte.". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  17. Plansee. "Plansee-Gruppe übernimmt amerikanischen Pulverspezialisten GTP" (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  18. "Verkauf des Wolfram-Geschäfts an Plansee Gruppe abgeschlossen" (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  19. Mittermayr Helmut (2017-07-02). "Chile-Connection sichert Rohstoffe ab". Tiroler Tageszeitung. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  20. "Plansee-Gruppe veräußert PMG". 2011-12-16. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  21. "PLANSEE SE". EFDS. Archived from the original on 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  22. "Plansee". Matmatch. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  23. Rauth Christoph (2017-07-09). ""Guardiola statt Ronaldo": Wechsel bei Plansee-Aufsichtsrat". Tiroler Tageszeitung. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  24. Cordelia Chaton: Ceratizit aus Mamer feierte gestern seinen 75. Geburtstag. 75 Kerzen und viel hartes Metall. Luxemburger Wort, 14. Oktober 2006. S. 87.
  25. "Produktionsstätten in Luxemburg.". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  26. Verschmelzung CERATIZIT Standorte in Deutschland. Archived 2010-10-29 at the Wayback Machine 26. Oktober 2009.
  27. "Plansee-Betrieb Ceratizit tätigt größte Übernahme seiner Geschichte" (in German). 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  28. Research and Markets. "Global Tungsten Carbide Powder Market 2018-2023 - Increasing Demand of Tungsten Carbide-Based Machine Tools, Cutting Tools, & Abrasive Products". Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  29. Sahin Serdar (2015-06-18). "Plansee übernimmt finnischen Hartmetall-Recycler Tikomet". Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  30. "Plansee trennt sich von PMG" (in German). 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  31. Plansee. "Plansee-Gruppe beteiligt sich am chilenischen Unternehmen Molibdenos y Metales S.A." (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  32. "History". GTP. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  33. "Dr. Paul Schwarzkopf - Stiftung - 529900A5KVG3LRDSMU50". Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  34. "Stiftungs- und Fondsregister" (PDF). Tirol. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  35. "Vorschau auf die Plansee Konzerte 2017". MeinBezirk.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  36. "Plansee Konzerte". Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  37. R. Palme, W. Aschenbrenner (1981), "10. Plansee seminar", Metall (in German), 35 (10), pp. 1026–1028, ISSN 0026-0746, retrieved 2019-02-04
  38. Plansee Group. "Plansee Seminar | Plansee". Retrieved 2019-02-04.
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