Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann

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Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
founding 1948
Seat Leinfelden-Echterdingen
management Alexander Lehmann, Andrea Krämer, Zeljko Petrina, Ralf Görner
Number of employees 950
Branch Billing service provider and measuring device manufacturer
Website www.minol.de

The Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG group of companies, with headquarters in Leinfelden-Echterdingen and production facilities in Mulda / Saxony and China, is an international energy service provider for the real estate industry and private building owners.

history

Minol Mineralölimport Stuttgart Werner Lehmann was founded in 1948 as the predecessor of Minol Messtechnik. Brunata Wärmemesser was founded in Stuttgart as a licensee of the Danish Brunata in 1952. Brunata Wärmemesser is initially active in south-west Germany in the field of heating cost accounting . In 1974 the core business of billing services was expanded to include the production and development of water meters . In 1983 the Minotherm II heat cost allocator and the first generation of heat meters were developed. In the same year the construction of the Germany-wide began billing of consumption by Minol Messtechnik . Since 1991 water meters in Mulda / Sa. produced. The development of the first series of electronic radio heat cost allocators began in 1991. The company has been developing and producing electronic heat meters since 1994 . In 1995 the companies Minol Messtechnik and Minol Brunata were merged and since then the company has been operating nationwide under the name Minol Messtechnik , with the brand name Brunata traditionally being continued in southwest Germany. In 2001 the quality assurance process begins with the certification of the billing service according to DIN EN ISO 9001: 2000 . In 2004 the subsidiary Minol USA took over the US Water Works accounting company. With the takeover of Zenner International by Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann GmbH & Co. KG, the Minol Zenner Group was founded in 2005. The entry into the Polish market takes place in 2006 with the takeover of Skibatron Polska. Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann GmbH and Co. KG and Stadtwerke Nürtingen GmbH founded the new company Minol Energie GmbH u. Co. KG. At the end of 2017, the company presented Minol Connect, a wireless radio network based on the internationally established and open transmission standard LoRaWAN Long Range Wide Area Network . In 2018, the Minol-ZENNER Group takes over Brunata International and thus opens up new sales markets for the IoT networking of buildings.

Business areas

The service sector is primarily concerned with the consumption-dependent billing of heating and cooling as well as hot and cold water for each apartment. The production and development area develops and produces together with Zenner International heat, cold and water meters as well as specialized software for these areas.

Locations

At times there were 20 branches nationwide. In July 2020 it was announced that around half a dozen of these locations will be closed at the end of the year as part of a restructuring.

There are the following Minol locations worldwide:

Products

  • Water meter:
    • Single-jet meters and capsule meters for billing by apartment in sizes Qn 1.5 and Qn 2.5 m³ / h.
    • Multi-jet meters for house connection technology in sizes Qn 1.5 to Qn 15 m³ / h.
    • Woltman meters for the metrological recording of flow rates in pipe networks in sizes Qn 15 to Qn 600 m³ / h.
  • Heat meter:
    • Compact heat meter for apartment-based consumption billing in sizes Qn 0.6 to Qn 2.5 m³ / h.
    • Split heat meter

Antitrust aspects of the submetering business

In May 2017, the Federal Cartel Office published a "sector investigation into reading services for heating and water costs" with the result that there are considerable indications of the existence of an uncompetitive oligopoly in the market for reading services for heating and water costs , to which at least the two market leaders Techem and Ista International exist , but possibly also Minol Messtechnik W. Lehmann, Kalorimeta and Brunata-Metrona belong. A few large companies dominate the market for meter reading services for heating and water costs (the two largest providers Techem and Ista together have a 50% market share, the five largest providers together have 70%).

According to the Federal Cartel Office, the existing market structure and competition lead to "restrictions on actual and potential competition. The possibility of the opposite side of the market to switch to other companies is [...] limited." In total, the Federal Cartel Office found "relatively high" returns for the submetering companies, which result from an average turnover per residential unit and year of around EUR 74 (with clear differences between the various providers).

Criticisms of the Federal Cartel Office

The Federal Cartel Office expressed the main points of criticism both at structural features and at certain behaviors of the submetering providers who aim to "make it more difficult for customers to switch providers and are therefore suitable for limiting competition between submetering providers".

  1. Long contract terms , including different calibration periods for different types of meters.
  2. The cost of reading is usually borne by the tenant, the choice and commissioning of the reading service is made by the landlord ("triangular contract"). As a result, the client's price sensitivity is only weak.
  3. The costs of the reading are sometimes difficult or impossible to understand for the user, as they are only shown in aggregated form in the ancillary cost statements.
  4. A change of provider is made difficult by the lack of interoperability of meter systems. Due to legislative interventions, however, there is a trend towards more interoperable systems that could make it easier to switch providers in the future.
  5. A poor comparability of prices and the quality of the services offered makes it difficult to select alternative service providers.
  6. Tacit coordination : In particular, the leading companies Techem and ista have it comparatively easy, due to their position in the market, to reach agreement on the terms of tacit coordination. Among other things, the high degree of concentration, the high stability of demand and the divergence between direct demand and payment flows (triangular contractual relationship) allow uncontrollable room for maneuver, since central competitive parameters such as price setting and changing providers cannot develop their disciplinary effect on the submetering markets to a sufficient extent.
  7. Refusals to deliver accessories and spare parts : In the investigation by the Federal Cartel Office, 46 market participants surveyed stated that in certain cases they had difficulties when a submetering customer wanted to switch from their current provider. These difficulties often consisted of the availability of spare parts for taken over meters.
  8. Use of proprietary software and access to interfaces : Submetering providers usually do not grant their competitors access to the interface of their meters.

Recommendations of the Federal Cartel Office

The Bundeskartellamt recommends the following "measures to stimulate competition in reading services":

  1. promoting the interoperability of meters (approaches for this are already laid out in the MsbG ).
  2. a standardization of the calibration periods and usage periods of the meters so that a submetering customer can switch to another provider as easily as possible after a certain contract period.
  3. Softening the "triangular contractual relationship" (submetering company, submetering customer, user) in order to impose the costs of submetering on the party hiring the submetering company. In addition, improved transparency for tenants through information rights and tendering obligations.

Identical names

There is an identical name to VEB Minol . However, this is purely coincidental.

literature

  • Frank Peters: Handbook for heat cost accounting (specialist information for apartment managers, landlords, heating technicians and engineers). 14th edition. Minol Messtechnik, September 2010, ISBN 3-9810112-4-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung: The future lies in the networked house, January 10, 2018
  2. ↑ http://allpr.de/10834/Minol-Messtechnik-Anhaltendes-Wachsen-im-Auslandsgeschaeft.html Minol Messtechnik: Sustained growth in international business
  3. ↑ pressrelations: "Minol Messtechnik takes over the Zenner Group in Saarbrücken", November 9, 2005
  4. ↑ FINANCE Magazine: “Minol Messtechnik acquires Skibatron Polska sp. z oo ”, March 17, 2006
  5. ↑ FAZ.NET: "An unusual partnership - Minol and Stadtwerke Nürtingen sell gas nationwide", November 7, 2010
  6. ↑ Rent and manage IVV real estate: “Keeping consumption on the screen at all times - The Internet of Things in Building Management”, December 1, 2017
  7. ↑ ZfK newspaper for local government: "Minol-Zenner Group takes over Danish Brunata", July 13, 2018
  8. ↑ a b c d Press release: Sector inquiry into meter reading services for heating and water costs. (PDF) Bundeskartellamt, May 4, 2017, accessed on January 4, 2018 .
  9. ↑ a b c d Sector Inquiry into Submetering - Representation and analysis of the competitive situation in meter reading services for heating and water costs. (PDF) Bundeskartellamt, May 4, 2017, accessed on February 23, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Stefan Buchen: Kartell: How reading services enrich tenants. Norddeutscher Rundfunk - public law institution, July 10, 2019, accessed on February 23, 2020 .
  11. ↑ What is the difference between Minol and VEB Minol. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .