GEA Westfalia Separator Process: New Business Unit Renewable Resources

Since the beginning of the year, the new Business Unit “Renewable Resources” has been in existence at GEA Westfalia Separator in order to enable the company to serve one of the major segments of the future from a single source. The previous Business Units Oils & Fats Recovery, Oils and Fats Processing, Starch Technology and Industrial Biotechnology have been combined in this new business unit. With this focus, GEA Westfalia Separator is taking account of the fact that the areas in which users are operating have expanded; many producers nowadays no longer focus on a single area of application, e.g. refining; instead, they are also involved with biofuels, starch, protein recovery, etc. “Our customers handle the entire range of renewable resources. This move was therefore only logical”, Klaus-Peter Eickhoff says, the head of the new business unit who is also responsible for Oils & Fats.

With this new structure, GEA Westfalia Separator will now be able to operate even more effectively and take full advantage of synergies. One example: as a result of the combination of the above business units, the new business unit covers the entire value creation chain consisting of mass materials such as soy beans, rape seed, potatoes, corn (including products made on the basis of these materials). In the field of food and also in industrial applications and energy production.  

“The new business unit means that it will be much easier for the customer to process his project because he will now have only a single contact who is responsible for process engineering developments. Many customers now have only one contact, where they previously had three.” This is how Dr. Frank Taetz, who is responsible for starch & proteins, describes a key advantage from the point of view of the customer. 

However, as a result of this new positioning, GEA Westfalia Separator will not only be able to operate much closer to the market; its customers will also benefit from the extended innovative strength. The aim is to achieve always the best separating and clarification results for maximum raw material yields combined with enhanced process efficiency and greater installation availability. In order to achieve this objective, the Business Unit “Renewable Resources” utilises the know-how of the entire GEA Group. “In future, we will work even more closely together not only within GEA Westfalia Separator but also with our affiliated companies. We will thus be able to offer our customers solutions in an even more consistent and better manner”, says Bernd Lüking, in charge of biofuels & fermentation industry.

Renewable resources is the issue of the present and of the future in all respects for food and energy. The consistent move of GEA Westfalia Separator opens up a wide range of opportunities which will benefit customers across the board.