More than a hundred years of experience in an ever-changing industry: EKW is guarantee of efficiency and innovation in its field

A company with over 120 years and numerous branches, production units, and commercial offices worldwide: we are talking about EKW, a manufacturer and distributor of refractories for foundries and a reference point and solution provider for turnkey refractory services. The General Manager Angelo Vezzuli told us more about it.

How did your story begin?
«Our story is over a century old: the parent company was founded in 1903 in Eisenberg /Palatinate, Germany. The first production plant was estabilished here: located near a mine of Eisenberger Klebsand, the kaolin-rich silica sand, which is the base material for refractories. Our subsidiary, EKW Italia was founded on January 27, 1967, with the task of consolidating and increasing the presence of the parent company’s products in our national market».

The German mine holds the title of “the largest in Europe”: with its 150 million tons of material, it ensures mining activity for the next 300 years. EKW positions itself on the market as a producer and distributor, outright, of refractories. It also provides its customers with all related services, from design to installation. The support and consultancy activities for customers are carried out by EKW staff with great responsibility and utmost attention to current regulations.

Let’s get into details: who is your target customer and what do you offer to those who choose you?
«Our target is definitely foundries: for cast iron, aluminum, copper and red alloys, precious metals, steel mills, rolling mills. We offer high-quality refractories, produced from virgin raw material, we don’t use recycled or regenerated material, which is one of our strengths. We also cover the entire supply chain: we have installation teams that install our refractory materials inside foundries, a task we carry out when the plants are shut down, without interfering with the operations of others; we work on Saturdays, Sundays, at night, in August, in December. Furthermore, we also handle prefabrication in a company we own located in Rezzato: Veneta Lombarda Refrattari S.r.l. (VLR). VLR’s technicians, on customer’s request, conduct targeted studies of the plants and work out suitable and customized solutions according to the needs. The precast refractory pieces made to measure at Veneta Lombarda Refrattari’s production site can be a viable alternative to traditional concrete applications».

What is your mission?
«Our company philosophy is clear: the continuous search for efficient, cost effective and innovative solutions for our customers. We collaborate with them in identifying the “critical” points in the use of refractory materials and develop the solution together. We offer a customized product, meeting the customer’s needs whatever they may be».

What sets you apart from your competitors?
«The quality of our service, the significant investments we make in research and development to find materials that are more suitable and more environmentally friendly; but also our Code of Ethics. We have values that are crucial for us, starting with honesty in our business actions toward our customers. The intrinsic quality of our product is also attested by our certifications. We have adopted and are constantly implementing an integrated quality system. Our parent company is certified to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, DIN EN ISO 14001:2015, DIN ISO 45001:2018, and DIN EN ISO 50001:2018. We have a management approach focused on quality and customer satisfaction, aimed at improving the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of our organization».

To conclude, what are your future projects?
«We want to make the company even more comprehensive, capable of diversifying its offerings and presenting itself to customers with increasingly suitable packages and services».

EKW Italy boasts a technical sales team available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: their goal -and their strength – is to create tailor-made projects, always personally supervising the site and guiding the customer through every stage, from design to plants’ start-up, for a true “turnkey” service.

Watch the TV interview on Business24