TRIBUTE TO THE STAFF - MAGAZINE 2018 - The whole story about the world's most exciting barrier company - deltabloc.com
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MAGAZINE
2018
TRIBUTE TO THE STAFF
The whole story about the world‘s most
exciting barrier company
Family matters Our family keeps growing
Service and Innovation Innovation never stops
DELTABLOC® around the globe On the road
www.deltabloc.com
02 Crossing continents Crossing continents
03
Crossing
continents in
safeguarding
roads
2,860 km
With 2,860 km from Germany‘s Black Forest to the
Black Sea, the Danube crosses roughly half of Europe.
In 2017 alone, almost the same length of temporary
and permanent DELTABLOC® safety barriers has been
installed, safeguarding roads around the globe.
04 Editorial Editorial
05
Creating safety
barriers is
Tribute to our business.
the staff Protecting lives
is our motivation.
As the CEO of DELTA BLOC International GmbH, it Family matters
is my great pleasure to provide you with the very In order to understand where we think the puck
first edition of our “DELTA“ Magazine. It is meant is going to be in the future, and how we are de-
to allow you a rather special look into our still (and termined to skate there, it may be a good idea to
hopefully always) “young“ company. Although we tell you who we are, and what drives us. As you
have been in the business of developing, promot- will see on the following pages of this magazine,
ing and marketing vehicle restraint systems for al- we consider ourselves a big family – in many dif-
most 20 years, and very successfully so, our goal ferent dimensions. Belonging to a group of com-
is not so much to focus on the milestones we have panies that has been owned for over a century by the
achieved in the past. Instead, our aim and our pas- founding families, family values are built into our – THOMAS EDL
sion lies firmly in what‘s ahead for us, for our part- DNA. Moreover, the 80+ DELTABLOC® employees CEO, DELTA BLOC
ners, and for our particular market. As a company, across the world form a very tightly knit “core family“, INTERNATIONAL GMBH
we try to live and act by the very principle coined which it is immensely satisfying to work in and
by the legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky to belong to. And finally, our incredibly large and
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where widespread family of partners all over the world
it has been.“ is growing stronger by the day. Therefore, I would
like to dedicate the first issue of this magazine to
each and every member of this family – and to all
those who will choose to join us in our efforts in the
years to come.
content
06 Contents Contents
07
Visit us online
for more information
www.deltabloc.com
08 14
GLOBAL SERVICE
PROVIDER
30 / J ust another day
at the office?
ELTABLOC® Academy
32 / D
30
34 / Global full-service
partnerships
38 / L atin America
FAMILY MATTERS
08 / Welcome to the DELTABLOC® Family
10 / Our family keeps growing
22
12 / Loving the challenge PUSHING AHEAD
14 / DB 80 Superstar
18 / Pushing DELTABLOC®
technology ahead
40
20 / A history of groundbreaking
milestones
INNOVATION NEVER STOPS
22 / Austria‘s road safety pioneers
24 / Innovation never stops
26 / Silent night, silent road
28 / Street smarts IT‘S DELFIE TIME
08 Welcome to the family Artikelname
9
welcome
to the
Language Barriers vs. Concrete Barriers
One thing Zahradnik really liked about his company Having enjoyed a wonderful and caring childhood
MANAGING FAMILY was the high level of freedom and trust that every himself, it was clear to him from the start that he
employee enjoys. There is no boss constantly looking wanted to “be there“ for his little daughter as much
DEVELOPMENT over your shoulder or micro-managing your approach. as he could. And DELTABLOC® is just the right kind
What counts is the success of the enterprise in the of company that allows you to care for more than
long run. Therefore, everybody assumes a great one baby at the same time: Having settled down
Reinhard Zahradnik has been involved in building deal of responsibility. Decisions are generally taken with his girlfriend near the company’s German
DELTABLOC®‘s international business for almost a quickly: “Would you like to relaunch our French headquarters, his boss Ingo Stoffels was perfectly
decade. When he became a father recently, he decided Subsidiary?“ – “I don’t speak any French, but yeah, willing to let him retire his travel suit, and take
to stay at home for two years, while still taking care of I will do it!“, Zahradnik told his boss sometime back up video-conferencing instead, both from home
the growing DELTABLOC® family. in 2011. A small subsidiary and his desk in Neumarkt,
had been in place there in as well as to reduce his
France already, but had working time to about a
“I don't speak
When Thomas Edl took over DELTA BLOC International How to develop an international market never really come off the third. This allows him to
GmbH’s as CEO in 2008, Reinhard Zahradnik was Though he was initially assigned to the International ground. Time for a new continue to support the
any French,
the first new employee that joined his team. His Sales Department, Zahradnik was soon to find approach, which Zah- local team in Lyon, as
mission: pushing the international rollout of out that with DELTABLOC , there is a lot more to
®
radnik, from his desk in well as to take care of
but yeah,
the company. Having graduated from Vienna “sales“ than in an ordinary company: Apart from Austria, was keen to take his little daughter during
University of Technology just 3 years earlier, Zahradnik simply selling licences to prospective partners and on together with Olivier the first two years of her
I will do it!“
was keen to prove himself and highly motivated manufacturers, his job was to develop markets Keutgen, a French-speak- life, while her mum soon
to commit himself with his talent and dedication from the ground up! Throughout Southeast Europe, ing DELTABLOC® pioneer resumes her own part-
to Edl’s ambitious expansion plans. At this time, for instance, years of dedicated work had to be done from Belgium. Finally, after time career. In the end,
DELTABLOC®’s core technologies had already been on the regulatory side, inlcuding convincing national years of regulatory work Reinhard Zahradnik his business workload
under development for many years, and apart from agencies to advance passive road safety, and helping and project development will gradually come down,
a strong Austrian home market, the company was them to implement proper regulations and guidelines, in France as well as in while his tasks at home
already present in two dozen countries from Norway to so that only high-quality products, strictly tested neighbouring markets, the French subsidiary is (including changing diapers, bathing and all the
South Africa, largely through licensing its technology against common standards, would be employed. finally doing well. rest) will certainly become more challenging, as
to precast concrete producers all over the globe. On the other hand, selling a licence alone doesn’t little Lena will soon start to crawl around. And
With the first subsidiaries in Germany and France, necessarily guarantee highest quality either – a lot Taking on a new challenge if that’s not enough, two-time-Iron-Man Zahrad-
international expansion was soon to move into higher of technical support, training and constant product With his “baby“ DELTABLOC France growing, Zah- nik is already well into his training schedule for
gear – and Zahradnik was right in the middle of it. development are vital for the whole system to work radnik was suddenly confronted with another baby: another running/biking and swimming challenge
as intended. The birth of his daughter Lena in September 2017! in the future.
Our family keeps growing
11
INGO STOFFELS
CEO, DELTA BLOC DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
ENDURANCE BABY
LENA ZAHRADNIK
My daddy takes me for a run and I like it!
My father is really a sweet man, and a tough guy too! You know, every four years
he does these Ironman challenges where he spends 10 hours or so swimming,
running and biking together with a few hundred other madmen & women. I think
it‘s cool, the training keeps him focused, relaxed and strong – basically everything
he will need to raise me, too! By the way, I was hardly 5 months old and he
already brought me up to speed – pushing me 20 km in my stroller through nice,
fresh Bavarian air. I really like that he‘s doing that, I can even get some good
quality sleep, when he‘s not constantly on the phone managing his
OUR FAMILY
business all over France. Just kidding, he‘s a really great dad and
quite a family man.
KEEPS GROWING CRASH TEST BABY
ADNA SILIC
My mommy took me to an exciting crash test before I was even born
Hi everyone … They call me “crash test baby“, and there‘s a reason for that: When I was
At DELTABLOC®, we run our company like a family, still in my mother‘s womb, but had already my big cute eyes and well developed ears,
spread out over many countries and continents. I could hear my mommy and all her colleagues getting completely excited over that
crash test in which a really big truck hit this very elegant but strong concrete
Every day we care for each other‘s business, wall. Boom booom baaaang and nothing happened! Well, I mean yeah, there
assist each other with know-how, manpower was that noise in the distance, but no concrete was flying around. I mean
and whatever is needed … And when an employee ZERO! Zero debris! Yeahhh … Everybody cheered a lot, and I was thinking to
needs our support in order to also care for his myself: I hope that when I’ve grown up a little bit and my mom goes back to
own family at home, we are glad to allow for work, I will be part of this DELTABLOC® family as well.
great flexibility in everybody‘s interest.
I think you could say our family bonds are at least
as strong as our safety barriers.
GLOBETROTTER BABY
FLORIAN FERNER
My daddy travels around the world … Can‘t wait to go with him!
My dad is a very free spirit. He travels roughly a hundred days a year. And I mean real rough travel,
like sitting in an airplane for 15 hours and then driving another 15. Because, you know, Latin
America is a BIG continent. Lots of long, never-ending roads. They could all need some decent
concrete protection, by the way. But that‘s going to take him at least a few more decades to im-
plement – so when I grow up, I‘m sure there will still be lots of roads left for me to work on.
12 Loving the challenge Loving the challenge
13
LOVING THE
A typically untypical Viennese, Georg Ferner is currently our
globetrotting “Ambassador“ to the Latin American Continent.
Equally well versed in the Middle East as in other corners of the
world, travelling has always been a passion for the trained engi-
neer. After several years as an employee in the early days of our
CHALLENGE
company, he finally works a free-lancer, helping to put together
precast concrete and infrastructure projects of all sorts. But since
DELTABLOC® is such an attractive subject, our projects take up
most of his (travelling) schedule. But that might change a
little, since he‘s just recently become a proud father.
GEORG FERNER
DELTABLOC EMPLOYEES SPEAK ABOUT
® AREA SALES MANAGER
LATIN AMERICA
THEIR WORK ENVIRONMENT
DELTABLOC® employees come from many different backgrounds.
We try to make sure that each and everyone can find his or her own
perfect work-life balance in our company, and take on big, rewarding KATRIN HASELBAUER
challenges! APPLICATION ENGINEER Katrin joined DELTABLOC International just recently
as an application engineer – and so far, she is very ex-
cited about what she saw and learned during the first few
weeks on the job. Soon she’s going to spend even more time
with customers, colleagues and on various construction sites.
What motivated the 32-year old from Burgenland to become an
engineer? As a young girl, she and her two sisters helped their
father to build some large structures at home … From that to
studying construction engineering in Vienna later on it’s
JULIA STAIGER apparently just a small step.
ASSISTANT TO THE CEO
Born in Bosnia, university degree in Sweden – Emina
Only 24 years old, and in spirit as youthful and mature as Silic is our multi-cultural and multi-lingual engineer,
our company, Julia Staiger is thrilled to work as a management working on all technical aspects of product development,
assistant. Having left her studies in Vienna after two years, she from the basic idea to the finish line … Which is, in our
chose to do some “real work“ in a small family business, just to land case, very often a severe impact at a crash test. Since
her dream job in a larger one soon thereafter! In fact, her work at the planning, organizing and validation of those tests
DELTABLOC International in Sollenau – though demanding and time- is a big aspect of her job, she is usually a little “tense“
consuming – still allows her to pursue a Finance & Marketing degree about the outcome. Especially so in October 2017 at
in Wiener Neustadt, where she practically spends all weeknights. the very last “ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE“ crash test.
Being well organized and a tough cookie, she also manages to But she wasn‘t that much afraid that a large piece
spend quality time with her partner from New Zealand, of concrete would come out … But rather, a small
who came from the other end of the world, just baby, as she was pregnant and gave birth to her
to be with her. lovely daughter Adna just a few weeks later.
EMINA SILIC
DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER
14 DB 80 Superstar DB 80 Superstar
15
How DELTABLOC®'s iconic safety barrier became the legend of a new millenium
DB 80
SUPER
STAR
In 2000 A.D., contrary to some predictions, the world did not come to an end.
In so many ways, things were really just getting started. Passive road safety,
for instance, was undergoing a revolution on highways all around the world
and we introduced the DB 80 – our symbol of a new millenium of life-saving
technological breakthroughs.
When Karl Benz first demonstrated his gas- and more dangerous. Unlike road safety, which hardly
fuelled “Benz Patent Motorwagen“ in 1885, the progressed at all. In 1984, Volvo invented the airbag and
first car that was soon about to kick the world would thereby greatly advance safety for drivers and sub-
into the automobile age instantly hit a wall. Bang! sequently, for passengers as well. But “passive safety“,
Luckily, no one was hurt, which is hardly surprising, meaning the design of road infrastructure and ensuring
given that the three-wheeled tube frame with 0.8 the safety of virtually everybody around, was still in its
horsepower wouldn‘t even reach its maximum velocity infancy. Steel guardrails were becoming ubiquitous,
of a little over 10 km/h before impact. Fast-forward but had their own bag of disadvantages: Whereas they
a hundred years to the mid 1980s, and more modern helped a great number of cars to stay on the road, they
cars had not only populated virtually every corner of had troubles to prevent faster or heavier vehicles from
the planet, but turned into heavy high-speed monsters. breaking through to the opposite lanes of a motorway.
Year after year, cars became ever faster, numerous,
16 DB 80 Superstar DB 80 Superstar
17
DB 80 N2 W4 H1 W4 H2 W5
DB 80E H2 W1
Explaining the success of something is not always an obvious thing to do. Often times
successful people are, for instance, just said to be in the right place at the right time.
That is most certainly the case for DB 80. But to that, one might also add “and have the DB 80AS-E H2 W1
right shape“! Because ease of manipulation and handling is of course a major cost and
time factor when installing concrete elements of any sort. So, since it is easily doable to
install a kilometer‘s worth of DB 80 during a regular working day, the practicality of the
system has long been established wherever people had worked with it. And then there‘s
DB 80F H2 W2/W3
of course that other aspect to its shape: The incredible versatility! Being considerably
smaller than DELTABLOC®‘s larger heavy hitters (DB 120S), and a lot tougher than ultra
slim work-zone protection artists such as the SB 50 series, the DB 80 is simply the DB 80A H2 W2
perfect all-rounder with the widest range of useful missions. And finally, there‘s a
third aspect to that shape.
DB 80AS-A H2 W1
Perfectly in shape due to years of impacts
DB 80 and its brothers and sisters have one amazing property, that almost
defies the laws of nature: Whereas most things simply decay and get worse
over time (think entrophy), especially when they are constantly being
smashed and hit, DB 80 just got better every year. With every impact
on every crash test, as well as with the analysis of real-life accidents
and their consequences, DB 80‘s design, the material technology
and the core components such as the coupling system and rein-
forcement were undergoing continuous improvements to make
the whole system more robust and high-performing. With
two decades‘ worth of improvements, and the experience
of literally half a million of produced elements, the DB 80
is – as it stands – a real superstar.
*
Further family
members have
retired from sales
already, still
doing their job
on the road.
18 Pushing DELTABLOC® technology ahead Pushing DELTABLOC® technology ahead
19
Pushing
DELTABLOC ®
Franz Spitzer, married with three grown-
technology
ahead …
up kids, has been actively developing
the DELTABLOC® product range for
the companies of Kirchdorfer Group
since 1994. Currently, he is Head
of Research & Development at
DELTABLOC International.
Impact tests are almost like a “day at the office“-
routine for you, we assume. Do you have other new international standards over time. Current
hobbies as well? regulation allows parts heavier than 2 kg to break
Ha! It‘s of course a lot more exciting than being at off at the most severe impacts, which seems to
the office … Those crash tests are rather big and be accabtable when a 38 ton heavy truck hits the
expensive undertakings. But it‘s true, over the barrier. But it has never been our company spirit to
Mr. Spitzer, as Head of Research & Development at DELTABLOC course of my 25-year career I have been involved just “follow“ the minimum requirements. Instead,
International and as an industry veteran, you are sort of in close to 200 of them, so they have become kind we always tried to push ahead and see what‘s really
the technical father of the DELTABLOC ® system, aren‘t you? of a routine. But if you spend weeks and months possible to achieve. Today we can offer a full range
Well, yes and no … It‘s true that I was and still am involved in developing certain aspects of the product, then you of different H4b barriers without such heavy parts
developing DELTABLOC® vehicle restraint systems almost from are of course very keen to know if everything turns detaching off the barrier. Truly a personal milestone
the start. Actually, when I joined our founding company MABA in out well in the end. So it‘s a challenge every time, if in my career as a developer. And in many cases,
1994 as a young technician, my boss at the time, Helmut Heimel, you like. And as far as my hobbies go – I do a lot of we have set the standard first, and the rest of the
had more or less invented the first version of DELTABLOC® just skiing, mountain biking and I also like paragliding industry and the regulatory framework eventually
two years earlier. But ever since then, I have been constantly a lot. So you could say that‘s quite challenging, too! followed our lead.
involved in pushing the boundaries of what‘s possible with
these systems. What have you been working on recently with
regards to DELTABLOC® development? And what
When you started to work on the DELTABLOC system, first
®
drives the company to continue to develop these
crash tests were already under way, right? products for more than two decades already?
Yes, crash tests first started in 1993 – the very first one was even Our big research project over the last two years
performed with manned vehicles, but then Heimel switched to a was of course the development of ZERO DEBRIS
testing ground in Germany, where he could put crash test dummies CONCRETE. Actually, the concrete mix is only a
into the vehicles. Although the stunt drivers reportedly didn‘t mind small part of the whole development – we took a
too much, he was actually terrified when he saw the force and new look at the way we reinforce the concrete, and
danger of these impacts. Crazy times! These days, of course, our also redeveloped other core components such as
test vehicles are very precisely accelerated to the required speed the formwork. Overall, ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE Gerald Schweiger and Franz Spitzer
and angle using a sophisticated wire rope system. is quite a substantial breakthrough that will set2018
A HISTORY OF
ZERO DEBRIS
CONCRETE
GROU N D -BR E A K I NG
2012
2007
1995
DELTABLOC ®
30
LICENSEES
ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE SETS NEW
SAFETY STANDARDS UP TO CONTAIN-
PRECAST BARRIERS
FIRST IMPLEMENTED IN
THE AUSTRIAN MARKET
IN
24
COUNTRIES
MENT LEVEL H4b
After 18 months of development DELTABLOC®
has the world‘s first ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE
barriers market-ready for worldwide rollout –
a groundbreaking innovation that saves lives
DELTABLOC® LAUNCHES by reliably preventing hazardous concrete
ITS IN-SITU
pieces from breaking out even at high impact
BARRIER BUSINESS
events up to level H4b.
1993
2000
2010
2017
OUR COMPANY GOES
INTERNATIONAL DELTABLOC®
DELTABLOC Europe is incorporated in NOISE PROTECTION OPERATES IN
order to market the adoption of our con-
crete barriers to an international market
WITH PHONOBLOC®
Under the trademark PHONOBLOC®, the 43
COUNTRIES
in the form of licensing deals. Later, the company enters the noise protection AND HAS
company is renamed to DELTABLOC market with an innovative 2-in-1 system,
International, as the products are soon combining vehicle restraint systems with
PERMANENTLY
DEVELOPMENT AND adopted in South Africa, the Middle East noise barriers in an efficient, space-saving
INSTALLED MORE
TESTING BEGINS and Australia, among other places. design. Absorber elements made out of THAN 800.000
After first attempts and trials with steel lightweight concrete are later comple- BARRIERS
guardrail and concrete barrier systems mented with wood concrete solutions. In
during the 1980s, the promising US “New the same year, DELTABLOC International
Jersey“ design profile forms the basis is awarded Austria‘s “most successful
of the pioneering development of high export business“ title in the category
performance concrete barriers for Austria‘s Trade & Industry.
Highways, in addition to CITYBLOC® patents
and trademarks already held by our parent
company.
MILESTONES22 Austria‘s road safety pioneers Austria‘s road safety pioneers
23
austria's
pioneers
When it comes to road safety, Austria has developed and exported more than its fair share of ideas and products to
the world, notably the idea of permanent Road Safety Training Centers to enhance and train driving skills of ordinary At Teesdorf, Franz Wurz and Hans Danzinger (Head of ÖAMTC‘s Driving
drivers. We spoke with Franz Wurz, who invented and developed the idea for Austria‘s Touring Club ÖAMTC in Teesdorf Camp & Racing Circuit in Melk) recall the crazy old days of the first
south of Vienna, where the first-ever crash test of DELTABLOC® elements took place. ever crash tests of DELTABLOC® elements. Wurz hosted the event and
organized the stunt drivers. Danzinger was one of them, smashing a
Only a short drive from the DELTABLOC Inter- every potentially dangerous situation. Around the truck into the concrete barriers and getting out unharmed.
national Headquarters, the legendary “ÖAMTC same time, Wurz also layed out the design of such
Fahrtechnikzentrum Teesdorf“ has been the home a driving camp, as well as the ultimate guide to
of Austria‘s first permanent driving camp for more driving mastery, in his book “My Driving Technique“,
than 30 years. It has also been the blueprint and the bible for driving safety and fun, and used in
model not only for subsequent driving camps all classes to this day!
over Austria, but all around the world. As with
DELTABLOC®, good ideas simply “catch on“ and Successful with Road Safety Training Centers
become established rather quickly, if a great The driving camp in Teesdorf became an instant
vision and substantial market demand combine. success, prompting Wurz and ÖAMTC to develop
The vision, in this case, came from Franz Wurz, many more such installations all over Austria and
a former racing driver and three-times European later also abroad. “A key element to the success
Rallyecross Champion. is that they are really multi-functional. And, of
course, people just love to play around and see
Active Road Safety as a family affair what they can do with their cars. But apart from
Together with his son Alex (ex Formula 1 driver, the fun aspect, it is really seriously helping road
two-times Le Mans winner and “FIA road safety safety. A scientific study with 10,000 participants
ambassador“), Franz Wurz has spent a large por- in Luxembourg demonstrated the huge effect on
tion of his professional career focusing on “active“ road safety! Therefore, Luxembourg made driving
road safety, i.e. teaching driving skills to ordinary camp courses mandatory for all new drivers!“, Wurz
drivers that want to have more fun and eventually told us. Together with his son Alex and a team of
more control of their car. It all started around 1984, training and safety experts, he runs the “Test &
at the end of his active motorsports career and Training International“ company, which promotes,
long before his son could even reach down to the consults and designs Road Safety Training Centres
pedal. In cooperation with the Austrian Automobile, and race-tracks all over the world. Such as the
Motorcycle and Touring Club (ÖAMTC), he bought one in Teesdorf, where active and passive Road
land the size of 40 football fields and designed a safety measures first “collided“ in 1993, when
very clever and versatile training ground, on which the first concrete restraint systems were put to a
drivers could train their skills in order to master spectacular test.24 Innovation never stops Innovation never stops
25
When it comes to preventing
hazardous parts breaking out from
concrete barriers upon impact, our
proven DELTABLOC® reinforce-
ment technology already performs
extremely well up to containment
level H2. But now we have taken the
development effort to a whole new
level: with ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE,
we have practically eliminated the
danger of detached parts especially
at highly dynamic and heavy im-
pacts. It is truly stunning, what our
R&D Team was able to achieve.
And I am delighted to confirm that
ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE has
proven its performance in the H2
series ‘DB 80 Superstar’ and the
whole new H4b series ‘HERO 120’,
which solidifies our competitive
INNOVATION
advantage quite substantially.
– Thomas Edl
NEVER STOPS
CEO, DELTA BLOC
International GmbH
NEXT-GEN TECHNOLOGY
ZERO DEBRIS CONCRETE EXTENSIVELY
TESTED, CERTIFIED & READY TO MARKET
As everybody knows, concrete is incredibly hard and durable.
But it is of course also a little brittle, which has the annoying
consequence, that something breaks out, when you hit it with
something hard – say a hammer. Or a truck. Well, now we can
comfortably say: “Those were the old days …“26 Silent night silent road
Silent
Night
Silent
Road
Every year, thousands of tourist flood the famous
“Silent Night Chapel“ in Oberndorf. They come
from all over the planet … But some of them come
actually for a different reason: They want to see Ralf
Dirnberger (AND the Chapel), because there are not
many experts of his standing anywhere else. He has
The small village of Oberndorf near Salzburg been part of the noise reduction business for more than 20 years – What Ship only the clever stuff
is not only home to the world‘s most popular separates him from the rest, however, is that he learned and practiced The beauty of it is that shipping PHONOBLOC®
Christmas tune. It is also where silent nights are every single aspect of it himself. Starting out as a mason, he worked products across the continent is exactly what
sold and promoted year-round: At our dedicated his way up to various manager positions, while he still likes to lay his DELTABLOC International does so well: you see,
PHONOBLOC® competence center, run by “Noise hands on the concrete, especially in the lab: he not only sells projects virtually all competitors have large, physical pro-
Barrier Guru“ Ralf Dirnberger.
“I just absolutely love the through his extensive professional network, but he also develops the duction facilities somewhere. In order to keep them
technical specifications, conducts lab tests and performance trials busy, heavy prefabricated concrete elements are
noise protection industry. himself, and takes all certification matters and all the necessary often shipped over huge distances – making the
Being quite the alpha male, I paperwork into his own hands. Why? “Because every time I test the
product myself, I learn something new …“, he tells us.
logistics prohibitively expensive. DELTABLOC®, on
the other hand, ships mostly know-how, production
like to work independently, equipment and high-tech but lightweight components,
Develop first, then sell whereas the “heavy stuff“ can be produced locally,
pushing the business as hard When Thomas Edl hired Ralf Dirnberger, his task was to export the that is as near as possible to the project! Since there
as I can. That‘s why working in existing PHONOBLOC ® product line to an international audience. are hundreds of precast concrete facilities all over
“But not so fast“, he said … “if you want your product to succeed, the place, virtually every producer can potentially
a small outpost near Salzburg you need to give me six months, a development budget and a lot get licensed for a PHONOBLOC® installation. So
is just perfect for me. And the of trust. I‘ll develop a really competitive wood concrete solution the growth potential is really fantastic. No wonder
for you, better performing than all the competitors out there!“ No Ralf Dirnberger had to hire a new colleague just
German market right over the sooner said than done, and neither Thomas Edl nor Ralf Dirnberger recently, in order to take on the growing requests
border here is of course a very ever looked back. The new design was an instant hit, and ever since,
Rafl “the salesman“ Dirnberger can throw around square meters
for international projects. And no wonder that noise
protection devotees are so often found in Oberndorf‘s
big focus of ours …“ like a baker throws his dough … 20.000 m 2 there, 40.000 m 2 over Silent Night Chapel – praying and hoping that Ralf
here … It all sounds like half of Europe is already lining up to get still has another PHONOBLOC® production license
PHONOBLOC Noise Protection solutions.
®
to grant for their region.
RALF DIRNBERGER
PHONOBLOC® Business
Development Manager28 Street smarts Street smarts
29
STREET
SMARTS Have you ever heard of DB‘s little brother CB? Actually CB, a.k.a.
CITYBLOC®, has been the first-born concrete barrier in our family of
modern vehicle restraint systems. But not many know that – because
How CITYBLOC® is
its range of activity has for a long time been confined to the Austrian
home turf, where it flourishes on streets and places with a speed limit
of up to 50 km/h. But that lack of street fame is about to change “bigly“,
redefining urban
as they say in D.C., because that handy little allrounder recently not
only got a major facelift, but some serious testing and development,
too. Think crash testing and the whole shebang. But we’re not talking
landscapes
bicycles here, all right? But we’ll come to that in a minute …
Modular security barriers for smart urban infrastructure
For decades, CITYBLOC® has been the ultimate choice for guidance,
separation and protection wherever automobile traffic is slow-moving,
or not moving at all – except for pedestrians, bicycles, pizza deliveries or
tramways. In short: everything that’s typically part of city life. Whether
you want to guide traffic in a parking lot, separate lanes in a warehouse,
protect pedestrians in a bus stop, keep workers within a construction
site or just simply close off a road and say “please turn around, will
you?”, CITYBLOC® offers a virtually unrestricted range of possible uses. And comes with
lots of “add-ons” and plug-ins (such as traffic signs and fences). This is also why recently,
our modular safety barrier system started to propagate wildly over Northern Europe,
on a mission to protect bicycle riders from slower-moving obstacles such as cars and
trucks. In fact, in countries like Sweden and Denmark, where bicycles practically rule
the cities, DELTABLOC® elements now sell like hotcakes. And you can be sure that the
“viking spirit” of these bicycle kingdoms, driving social and urban development all over
the place, will soon spread CB-protected bike lanes all across the continent.
First fully EN 1317-compliant allround barrier
At present, though, city life is still more like the wild west – since no regulations or
standards for restraint systems apply to inner-cities yet. Which is not good, since so
many different road users battle it out at various speeds within a very confined space.
In short: Always ready and willing to be the first with a new standard, we redeveloped
CB 240 “T1” and successfully crash tested it against EN 1317-2 standards at a speed of
80 km/h. Showing the world once again, how it’s properly done “the smart way“ – we
stand ready to redefine urban traffic flows and city life in general.30 Just another day at the office
12/02/18
IT‘S GOOD
NEWS MONDAY!
monday
The gentlemen enjoy a free
upgrade to a fine new Jaguar!
14/02/18
Well done, Europcar … - Now
get the Navigation ready, be-
cause the first production
10:15 15:15
partner to be visited is 74.9
miles away (exluding a stop-
over at Burger King) – and the
THE DAY IS JUST
07:00 15/02/18
whole damn way, the Jag‘ likes
GETTING STARTED
DESTINATION MANCHESTER
to be driven on the wrong side
thursday
After an early morning taxi of the road!
TAKE-OFF FROM VIENNA -
ride, Hugh McGarry (Project
Manager U.K.) and Joachim Retiring the car and putting on BREAKING THE ICE BEFORE
Dragschitz (International some serious working gear, A TRULY GRAND OPENING
THANKS FOR THE RIDE AND WINTER
Equipment & Production including a change of trousers! After 51.6 sunny early morning miles back to Man-
Manager) settle down in the Now work is getting started. Back 45.5 Miles to yesterday‘s production chester Airport, it‘s finally time to return the Jaguar.
STRIKES WITH A WAITING GAME
wednesday
plane, ready to start another Which means … When dinner plant – but this time without Hugh. Which Luckily, no contact with any concrete barrier … While
busy week and for a major new is served later at the hotel, is a pity, because he could have helped to every thing is fine with the car, misfortune strikes
production start in England. it‘s already half past nine in scrath the ice from the Jaguar‘s windshield elsewhere – flight delayed due to snowy conditions
Ready for take-off, as soon England, which of course cor- … Anyway, back to a detailed look at the in Frankfurt! Damn it … After many hours of waiting,
as the flight attendant has
buckled them up …
12:40 responds to half past ten in
continental Europe.
production process, lots of documenta-
tion, and finally - at precisely 13:00 local
an almost cancelled ticket and another re-booking,
Joachim can fly back to Vienna via Munich. Time of
time, the first-ever SB 70 produced on arrival at home: Midnight!
her Majesty‘s Isles is liberated from it‘s
tuesday
formwork. Good boy – great shape! Time
09:40
to celebrate the grand opening … But this
time, no Guinness at hand. Instead, some
13/02/18
CHECK-OUT AND OFF TO THE
office work and going over the whole pro-
SB 70 PRODUCTION START
duction process with the local manager.
New day, same routine: Early morning rush to an-
other production plant, this time Joachim and Hugh
assist with the production start of SB 70 elements.
The new formwork needs a little explaining, and the
production process some streamlining.
Joachim Dragschitz knows every trick in
the book when it comes to the intricacies of
producing DELTABLOC® elements. That‘s
18:40 because he has been a plant manager at our
Austrian sister company for a long time. But
STUDYING THE more recently, he has found his true passion
LOCAL CULTURE – sharing his detailed production knowledge
with all our production partners around the
07:40
Since everything went rather well at the plant, world! So for him, those quiet days “at the
it‘s now time to study some local habits (and office“ (or production plant, rather) are gone
beverages), just across from the new hotel. for good. Now he‘s truly happy with “Customer
Service in Action“!32 DELTABLOC® Academy DELTABLOC® Academy
33
Our open trade secret:
DELTABLOC® Academy
DELTABLOC®‘s business model is rather unique in the entire industry …
Since our focus is primarily on the transfer of know-how and sharing of
core technology with an ever growing network of partners worldwide.
The advantages are obvious: We invest heavily in research, product
43 years old and a “native“ of Wiener Neustadt, Wolfgang Ganster
development and training, while our partners can focus entirely on project
has been working for DELTABLOC International ever since global
management, delivery and production. In short: We handle hundreds
expansion started in 2010. As Sales & Operations Director, his
of projects and production facilities, which requires a very efficient
prior engineering and automotive industry experience proved
way to deliver and implement DELTABLOC® components. Besides our
very valuable in the development of DELTABLOC International
tension bars and coupling systems we even ship reinforcement, rebar
into a global service provider. He directs our sales activities
and accessories turn-key ready. Furthermore our services include all
and oversees our efforts in partner training and
the necessary equipment for production and handling. This full-service
know-how transfer, which are at the core of
solution provides unbeatable efficiency and speed for any initial pro-
our excellent relationship with licensee
duction start for projects worldwide.
partners all over the world.
Wolfgang DELTABLOC® ACADEMY
IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Ganster >> G
et the latest overview of current
product developments
>> Hands-on production training
>> Project Installations training
>> Logistics & Project Management
For more information on our complete
training workshops, please contact us:
+43 57715 470-0
academy@deltabloc.comGlobal
35
Full-Service
Global full-service partnerships
Partner-
ships “To be honest, we consider DELTABLOC® more of a large
We enjoy a very strong position on the German market and
community than just a company. Ever since our products
are able to participate in many substantial infrastructure
were first launched in the early 1990s, and most certainly
projects, that the German government is undertaking. Our
since the incorporation of DELTABLOC® as a separate
market share is increasing substantially every year, and
company in 2000, the growth of our movement has been
from our headquarters in Bavaria and our branch office near
nothing short of spectacular! Together with 80 employees
Ingo Stoffels
Berlin, we are in a great position to cover the entire country.
and hundreds of friends and partners across the world, we are
CEO
excited about the future of our unique portfolio and business
model. We invite everyone interested in passive road safety
worldwide to come and see us, and be part of our comunity“
Werner Fink
France
CFO
DELTA BLOC INTERNATIONAL GMBH
ESTABLISHED:
in 2000
> DELIVERING TECHNOLOGY & KNOW-HOW
> PROVIDING CUSTOMER SERVICE & TRAINING After many years of market development,
EMPLOYEES:
> JUST-IN-TIME LOGISTICS & SUPPORT
80 our subsidiary with offices near Lyon is
well-settled and showing a very good
CONTACT: 6 SUBSIDIARIES WORLDWIDE LICENSEES
DELTA BLOC International GmbH performance, especially in the rental
Industriestrasse 28
2601 Sollenau
Germany business. DELTABLOC France is growing
France
Austria
Netherlands > Exclusive Partnerships
and doing well.
U.K. > Project-based Partnerships
T. +43 57715 / 470 - 0 Reinhard Zahradnik
South Africa
F. +43 57715 / 400 - 474 Sales Director
Slovenia
office@deltabloc.comGlobal full-service partnerships
37
Netherlands DELTABLOC
The Netherlands is very much a steel country, and
South Africa
the Dutch traditionally favor non-proprietary sys-
At 71 one years old, they call me the grandfather of the group.
tems. But as technical requirements are increasing,
I have been implementing DELTABLOC® products in South Africa
the market for premium DELTABLOC® systems
since 2007, and count on many more years of doing business –
is opening up. Working a lot with architects and
still going strong! Even though the EN 1317-standard is still not
planners, there are always good technical solu-
Kees Hanegraf fully accepted here, we are doing great projects in South Africa,
tions to be designed with our wide product range.“ Sales Director
Swaziland and Mozambique. Over the last 3 years, our turnover
Garth Strong has virtually doubled every single year!
CEO
In the very early days, it took us years and years of Developing a labor-intensive
production system for Africa
dedicated work to become accepted as a trusted supplier on
the British market. But since we carried out a very successful
project on England‘s longest motorway in 2015, our position has
changed dramatically and DELTABLOC® business has literally
DELTABLOC® Legend Garth Strong has developed a
exploded. We celebrate our 8th year in the U.K. with the largest unique production system that is perfectly designed
for developing African Nations, where labor is abundant,
turnover ever – being awarded a sizeable share of our govern-
but capital (and automation and machinery) are
Anthony Walker ment‘s rather substantial infrastructure spending program. scarce. As you can see, production works perfectly
CEO smooth – no need for a precast concrete plant. Instead
DELTABLOC® elements are produced “in the bush”
utilizing and developing local labor.
Slovenia
Though only very recently formally incorporated, we have been im-
plementing DELTABLOC® products all over Slovenia and Croatia for
more than 10 years. In fact, Slovenia in particular is the only country in
the world that features every single product development. Slovenia is
a showcase for everything DELTABLOC® stands for – with the goal of
being a true one-stop-shop that offers the entire product range of noise
Miran Klemar
protection and vehicle restraint systems. CEOLatin America
39
What a difference: Shiny new DELTABLOC® elements
replace an older local system that has been out of
OUR SPECIAL ENVOY SENDS CONVOYS shape for many years, near Brazil‘s Capital São Paulo.
OF CORE TECHNOLOGY TO
LATIN
DELTABLOC INTERNATIONAL‘S VERY OWN AMBASSADOR-AT- Developing the
LARGE, HIS EXCELLENCY GEORG FERNER (THE FIRST AND ONLY!), South American market
HAS BEEN TOURING LATIN AMERICA FOR MANY YEARS. AS YOU Especially since 2012, Ferner
WOULD EXPECT, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS PART OF THE took on the task of developing
WORLD ARE HUGE … AND SO ARE THE DISTANCES AND BARRIERS DELTABLOC® business in Latin
AMERICA
TO OVERCOME IN ORDER TO GET THERE. BUT PATIENCE AND America, especially Brazil. Which
PERSEVERANCE ALWAYS PAY OFF IN THE END. is especially hard to do, since
prohibitive import taxes almost
Doing business in Latin America is not always double the cost of everything that‘s shipped into this vast country.
easy. Even if you master the language(s), know Nevertheless, and thanks to being a creative civil engineer with
the market and the people … Simply getting any- Austrian training, he managed over the years to convince many of
where out in the countryside can take forever. At the huge private highway operators of the usefulness of our services.
least by European standards, where hopping on an DELTABLOC® contracts followed soon – not only in Brazil, in the
airplane to attend some mid-morning meeting in region of the incredible 20-million metropolis of São Paulo, but also
a neighboring country is always an option. Not so in Chile, Peru and Colombia.
in Latin America: Developing business there takes
patience, a clever approach, and lots of ingenuity. Big shipment en route to Paraguay
For all that, Georg Ferner, who in a previous life But the real “whopper“ of a project is just getting started in “nearby“
worked as a trained civil engineer, is the man for Paraguay: In the country’s capital Asunción and its surroundings,
DELTABLOC®. Starting out as a technician, Georg 100 km of roads will be outfitted with DELTABLOC® technology. The
Ferner quickly became a product manager with first containers with core technical components from Austria are
special skills for far-away countries, first for the already on their way across the ocean. Soon, convoys of trucks will
Spanish-speaking world, and then also for Australia follow and deliver locally produced concrete barriers to the roads
& New Zealand, the Middle East and Russia. And of Paraguay. A brilliant technical solution and DELTABLOC®‘s well
while he was “around“ home, he even helped to established strength in handling large, complex projects finally made
establish our U.K. subsidiary in the very early days. the difference in Latin America!40 #delfie #delfie
41
#delfie #team #delfie #delfie #holiday
#teamwork #berlin #ontheroad #worklifebalance
#DELFIE
#delfie #sportcar #racing #carbranding
#sunnyday #livefast
We just love to innovate and be creative - and we love to
have fun at work. As you can tell from our DELTABLOC®
selfies or better yet … DELFIES. Enjoy – this is us!
#delfie #teamwork #delfie #teamwork
#colleagues #ontheroad #colleagues
#delfie #team #delfie #team #delfie #team #delfie #teamwork
#teamwork #friends #teamwork #meeting #teamwork #hengelo #colleagues
#delfie #ontheroad
#phonobloc42 Watch out for the cat Imprint
43
Watch out BILDMARKE
for the cat!
01
Imprint
VISDP: MEDIA HOLDER AND PUBLISHER
DELTA BLOC International GmbH
Industriestrasse 28, A-2601 Sollenau
PHONE +43 57715 / 470 - 0
MAIL office@deltabloc.com
www.deltabloc.com
CONCEPT AND EDITING werbeagentur movemus,
Bahnhofstrasse 9, 8403 A-Lebring
TEXT AND DESIGN werbeagentur movemus,
Bahnhofstrasse 9, 8403 A-Lebring
PRINT Medienfabrik Graz,
Dreihackengasse 20, A-8020 Graz
PHOTOS DELTA BLOC International GmbH,
Tourismusverband Oberndorf, shutterstock,
The cat will protect you as of summer 2018. Hans Dazinger, Christian Postl
Be the first to know and register now! COVERPHOTO Christian Postl
www.christian-postl.com
Errors and printing errors excepted. All rights reserved,
cat@deltabloc.com including adoption and contributions according to § 44
sections 1 and 2 of the Austrian Copyright Law.www.deltabloc.com
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