Innovative strength and research and development (R&D) are basic essentials at Aurubis for improving competitiveness. Both are oriented toward our corporate strategy and make a contri- bution to enhancing the production competencies at Aurubis. We focus on five areas of action:
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Efficiency increase for long-term growth»
Increasing flexibility in processing complex raw materials»
Diversification in the extraction of by-metals»
(Further) development of copper-based products, services and technologies»
Innovative methods and processes Innovation management set upWe understand innovation as the implementation of ideas for processes, products, services and business models which have not existed in the Group up to now and represent value added for us and our business partners. Openness to new ideas, unconventional solutions and the inclusion of all employees form the basis for innovation power at Aurubis.
In fiscal year 2009 / 10 a Group innovation manager and local innovation managers at five production sites were appointed, some of whom had assumed responsibility for other plants. Together with representatives from the HR, strategy, PME (Project Management Excellence) and R&D sectors, they form the Aurubis Innovation Team (AIT), which reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer.
Our innovation management system complements the still existing company suggestion scheme and particularly encourages ideas with innovative power. A clearly structured process that is binding for everyone ensures that the submitted suggestions are treated equally and transparently. The joint administration of innovation and the company suggestion scheme also ensures that ideas are generated and evaluated in an optimal manner.
When launching innovative processes, we considered it of utmost importance that the employees were kept informed throughout the Group. With this in mind, ten events were held at five sites to provide briefings on system principles. Particular attention was paid to the presentation and direct application of creativity methods. The first concrete results from this and the positive feedback from the participants indicate that good progress can be expected.
The topic is becoming increasingly dynamic since it provides the opportunity to emphasise innovation in the management’s individual agreed targets.
Increased R&D expenditure and investments
In fiscal year 2009 / 10 we also carried out a number of research and development projects. The expenditure for R&D amounted to € 8.4 million (€ 6.7 million in the prior year) including expen- diture for the CIS solar cell project. Most of the expenditure was allocated to project improvement, with a higher allocation to product and process development.
Increased requirements in the growing Group and project diversity necessitated an enlargement of the R&D team during the past fiscal year. On 30 September 2010 it was made up of 36 employees (32 in the prior year), 17 of whom had qualifications in engineering or natural sciences. In the current fiscal year, we will continue to train highly qualified young people during their employment in the R&D sector for a future position within the Group. r&D exPenDItUre in € million 05 / 06 06 / 07 07/ 08 08 / 09 09 / 10 7 8 5 6 5 8 6 4 2 0 G R O UP M ANA GEMENT R EPOR T tion tion c onsolid a ted financial st a tement s c onsolid a ted financial st a tement s
Business performance l Business Unit Copper Products l Research and development
Flexibility in the processing of complex raw materials leads to competitive advantages
One project focus for the BUs Primary Copper and Recycling / Precious Metals was to improve the metal yield by reducing losses of valuable metals. In this area we carried out intensive tests to optimise slag treatment by using an innovative process. Some of this work comes under a research project being carried out by Aurubis, a university and another industry partner on increasing efficiency, which is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Projects for the enhancement of flexibility in the processing of complex primary and secondary raw materials constitute another key focus of our work. For example, during the course of the fiscal year we commissioned a plant for fluorine removal in our off-gas treatment. We developed the underlying process. During operation the plant fulfils all required values and also makes an important contribution to the strategic focus on the processing of more complex raw materials, with the option of processing fluorine-containing concentrates.
The aim was not only to reduce the influence of undesirable by-elements in the copper production processes. The controlled extraction of additional metals and the optimisation of process management to reduce throughput times, and thus the working capital, were equally important.
Innovative copper products create added value for our customers
For the BU Copper Products we developed new, innovative products and optimised existing ones, in some cases in close collaboration with our customers. There was also close contact to the sales, production, product technology and quality manage- ment departments for the determination and defining of the product requirements.
One focus continued to be on developing and optimising low- alloyed copper alloys for the electrical and electronic industries as well as for the automotive industry. Solutions for semi-finished products in the form of wire and strip tailored to customer needs were specially developed in numerous projects. We also achieved the frequently required strip surface coating for new alloys, for instance by hot-dip tinning, which has gained a high level of recognition in the market.
The industry’s demand for a lead-free, easily machinable and cost-effective brass alloy was met by the development of BlueBrass®42, the first alloy of the BlueBrass® family. The alloy
fulfils the current EU norms RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) and ELV (End of Life Vehicles Directive) with regard to its composition. We are presently in the trial phase for the manufacture of lead-free machinable parts from the new alloy at various customers. The special feature of this alloy is its good machinability and very good workability. Solar cell project is still pursued
Together with Cordes & Graefe KG (Bremen), Aurubis is devel- oping flexible solar modules for generating energy in accordance with a self-devised process using copper as a basis. The joint subsidiary CIS Solartechnik GmbH & Co. KG, in which each partner has a 50 % stake, was established for organisational purposes. It is concerned with long-term development, oriented to the fast-growing future market of renewable energies. The project’s aim is to develop the innovative process technology on a pilot scale, the batch production of CIS solar modules suitable for the market and an attractive technical and cost- effective concept for future solar module production.
r&D eMPLoYees Number 05 / 06 06 / 07 07/ 08 29 08 / 09 32 25 25 40 30 20 10 0 09 / 10 36
After having finalised the initial capital expenditure on the pilot line in fiscal year 2008 / 09, we invested about € 50,000 in technical optimisation in fiscal year 2009 / 10. Additional major capital expenditure on the pilot line has not been planned as yet. Most of the project schedule has been successfully completed in the meantime. The efficiency rate of the solar cells manu- factured in the pilot line achieved our original target, but is still below the laboratory standard. Product development is also very advanced. CIS solar modules have been tested in a field trial since spring 2010, which has shown that the process and the product can be realised from a technical standpoint. Despite this, the development phase has still not been completed yet and will be continued in fiscal year 2010 / 11 with a higher set target. The solar cells’ efficiency rate of about 8 %, which has been achieved in the pilot line so far, and the production yield are not sufficient from the current perspective. Serial production of CIS solar modules planned on the basis of pilot line results thus far would not fulfil the economic targets, mainly due to the unexpected strong price decline of all solar modules since 2009 as well as the consolidation in the industry. Further steps mainly depend on the next project results in the pilot line. Laboratory results to date indicate that the pilot line has potential for improvement to enable it to reflect economic feasibility in the medium term.