December 2020 interview: Alexander Jakschik discusses ULT’s response to the pandemic and its outlook for 2021. Projects and statements reflect that period.
Growth plans established at the start of a year can be disrupted by unexpected events. For extraction and air-filtration specialist ULT AG, 2020 meant reviewing several priorities.
In this interview, Alexander Jakschik explains the company’s initial objectives, adjustments during the pandemic and planned developments for additive manufacturing.
“Just like every year, we had a strategic planning that highlighted key areas where we should focus our expertise. Our planning helps us determine what kind of industry we want to serve more, what kind of branches and where we want to grow. The ultimate goal remains to grow the company further. This year, we wanted to focus our role and position in the additive manufacturing industry as market leaders in the gas cleaning for Selective Laser Melting,” Alexander Jakschik, executive at ULT AG states from the outset.
“Another pillar of growth was our network AMP+.” [As a reminder, AMP+ was officially launched last year at Formnext 2019. Made up of Assonic Dorstener Siebtechnik GmbH, Solukon Maschinenbau GmbH and ULT AG, the network helps operators of SLM technology to develop efficient manufacturing practices while addressing issues related to powder processing and handling.]
“Together with Assonic and Solukon, we wanted to push our capabilities forward in order to build a complete end-to-end solution for the depowdering, sieving and cleaning conditions.
Obviously, for our business segment, we wanted to develop new products for extraction and filtration, as well as air drying solutions.
Lastly, another key goal was to optimize and digitize our internal processes. In this vein, we have installed an ERP system – Enterprise Resource Planning – to digitalize our processes. To date, not only has the company’s warehouse been digitalized, but there is a wide range of digital processes that our teams needed to master”, Alexander Jakschik continues.
Digitalisation had been on ULT’s roadmap for two years. According to Jakschik, the constraints of 2020 accelerated its integration into the company’s operations and customer exchanges.
Some jobs could be performed remotely, while machine construction and production coordination required staff on site.
“Only a few people needed to work remotely. For a company of our size and our field, it’s very important to have the teams in-house to ensure real-time production planning and other requirements that cannot be performed from home office”, Alexander Jakschik clarifies.
The pandemic changed the timetable for that roadmap: some projects were accelerated and others redefined.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste”
Facing the pandemic’s economic disruption, Jakschik argues that a company should “never let a good crisis go to waste”. ULT used the period to advance internal projects and also explored air purification in public indoor spaces.
“Like many companies, we did not operate at 100% during the peak of the pandemic. We used this chance to push the integration of our ERP system within our processes forward. It was an opportune time to launch it, to make amendments and to improve what needed to be improved.
We also launched two new product lines. These products aim to ensure safety conditions by cleaning the air from the virus in public areas including schools, fitness centers, big office spaces, dental surgeries and more. Named JakAir and SASOO, the new products enable to help fight viruses like Coronavirus by purifying the air”, he explains.
Editorial clarification: filtration can reduce airborne particle concentrations, but does not on its own guarantee protection against infection. Performance depends on factors including airflow appropriate to the room, maintenance and ventilation. The EPA’s explanation sets out these limitations; it does not certify the models mentioned here.
For additive manufacturing, Jakschik also describes the difficulty of discussing technical issues with customers when engineers work remotely.
Nonetheless, this was the right time for the ULT team to focus their efforts on R&D activities and “develop new products that would meet customers’ problems of tomorrow” – as per the words of Jakschik.
“In our gas cleaning systems designed for Additive Manufacturing for instance, we have further developed features that enhance easiness of use, safety as well as features which make it possible to reuse powders,” he outlines.
Jakschik’s account highlights three priorities: adapting the organisation, continuing R&D and drawing on network partners.
“It’s difficult to share expectations after such an extraordinary year”
Extracting emissions from an industrial process and filtering indoor room air address different needs. ULT’s developments described here cover both areas; performance must be assessed for each intended use.
At the end of 2020, Jakschik remains cautious about the outlook for 2021, while saying additive manufacturing will remain a development priority for ULT:
“We have been working on the launch of a new dehumidification equipment, a new extraction filtration machine which also focuses on highly flammable particles found in AM production environments and for our OEMs that use SLM process, we have developed new features for their AM processes. We will keep a high focus on AM”, he concludes.
This content has been written in collaboration with ULT AG.
ULT AG supplies extraction, filtration and air-drying systems for industrial environments. Its additive manufacturing activities include process-emission treatment and support for users.
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