QSIL Ceramics
| QSIL Ceramics GmbH
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1909 |
| Seat | Auma-Weidatal , Greiz District , Thuringia |
| management | Michael Keitz, Martin Weber-Liel, Alexander Dohn |
| Number of employees | approx. 200 (2018) |
| sales | approx. € 20 million (2018) |
| Branch | Industrial ceramics |
| Website | www.qsil-ceramics.com |
The QSIL Ceramics GmbH (Quarzschmelze Ilmenau) based in Auma Weidetal since 2006 successor company of the traditional company Porzellanwerk Auma . Technical ceramics have been produced at the site since 1909 .
The GDR predecessor company VEB Porzellanwerk Auma was temporarily integrated into VEB Keramische Werke Hermsdorf (today Tridelta ) and was the market leader of technical ceramics in the GDR.
Before July 2019 the company was called Barat Ceramics GmbH .
history
After the first three-phase transmissions were successful in 1891, the demand for porcelain insulators increased enormously in the following years. At that time, Auma Mayor Franz Kolbe promoted the settlement of industrial companies on the Triptis-Marxgrün railway line, which went into operation in 1894 .
The choice of location was also favored by the large forest areas in the vicinity of Auma - very large amounts of wood were required to operate the kilns. In 1909 Karl Gustav Richard Berghaus founded the Porzellan-Industrie-Gesellschaft Berghaus in Auma to meet this demand. In 1912 the company was converted into a stock corporation in order to be able to make the necessary investments quickly. From this point on, the company was named Porzellan-Industrie-Aktiengesellschaft Berghaus .
In 1920 Oskar Brunnquell took over the majority of the shares with approx. 95%. He was the owner of the company Brunnquell & Co , a manufacturer of electrical equipment and lighting based in Sondershausen. This takeover led to an increasing expansion of the range of press porcelain, especially for switch bases and lamp sockets, which were delivered to Sondershausen for completion .
Great Depression
The global economic crisis also affected the workforce of the Porzellan-Industrie-Aktiengesellschaft Berghaus in Auma with short-time work and layoffs. The mix of products helped the Auma factory through these difficult times. The range was expanded to include sanitary china. As a manufacturer of isolators, the company was a recognized supplier for the Reichspostzentralamt in 1934 .
1945 to 1985
After World War II in 1945, the company was placed under the sequester of the Soviet occupation forces. The company narrowly escaped dismantling. In August 75 people were employed again. The company was able to continue under German self-government from 1946. One reason for this was the high demand for high-voltage insulators - also as an urgent reparation obligation towards the Soviet Union. On August 6, 1946 Finally, transforming followed the property of the state of Thuringia . From then on, the company belonged to the industrial group glass / porcelain, Ilmenau and traded as Thuringian Porcelain Works , Auma, formerly Porzellan-Industrie-AG Berghaus (state-owned company), then in 1948 as IKA, Auma VEB porcelain factory and from 1952 with the re-establishment of the VVB industrial association Technical ceramics (TECHKERAM) as VEB Porzellanwerk Auma (PWA).
In 1962/1963, VVB Techkeram paved the way for the concentration of the production of ceramic cutting materials ( cutting ceramics ) and the establishment of a pilot plant for the production of oxide ceramic products in the Auma porcelain factory.
In 1964, the cutting ceramics production area went into operation. In 1965 the coal-fired round kilns were demolished and the kilns heated by remote gas were put into operation. This enabled sintering temperatures of up to 1,800 ° C to be achieved. In addition, the technical implementation of injection molding technology was advanced. Inert gas furnaces for metallization burn-in (Mo / Mn process) and soldering furnaces for brazing with silver solder were tested.
From 1966, high vacuum- tight , hard- solderable ceramic-metal connections were further developed. For example, diode and thyristor housings, bushings, potentiometer base bodies and vacuum interrupter chambers have now been manufactured. These new and further developments led to a total production of oxide ceramics worth 7.75 million marks in 1967 .
As early as 1969 the company became part of the VEB Keramischen Werke Hermsdorf , today Tridelta.
In 1970 a specially developed hot isostatic press for pressures up to 100 MPa was completed.
The former porcelain producer became the sole manufacturer of oxide ceramics and nitride ceramics in the GDR .
From 1972 to 1975, thick film circuit substrates and packages for hermetically sealing solid state circuits were developed and manufactured. The green goods for this were produced by film casting. The procedures for this have been newly developed.
In 1982 the grinding shop was expanded to improve hard machining including lapping and polishing. The "Oxide Ceramic Auma Production Plant" project was started in 1985. The foundation stone for the 37.2 million mark project was laid on August 23, 1985. The construction of the new three-story production and administration building as well as the two-aisled production hall cost around 8 million marks, the rest was spent on equipment. The aim of the expansion was the production u. a. of translucent aluminum oxide ceramics for burner tubes of sodium vapor lamps and for EPROM covers, ceramic bonding tools, bearing rings, switching chambers and crucibles for the thermal processing of phosphors for television picture tubes.
1990s
As a result of the political change in 1989 and the monetary union in 1990 about 95% of the customers stayed away, the turnover of 52 million marks in the GDR (1989) fell to 1.9 million DM (1991). Before this time, 25–30% of sales were generated with customers from the Comecon countries.
The VEB Keramische Werke Hermsdorf combine was restructured in 1990 and Tridelta AG was formed. The Aumaer Oxidkeramik GmbH (short: OKERA) was created from the Auma porcelain factory on July 1, 1990 . Hard restructuring measures followed, such as the separation of some product groups and specialization in small and medium-sized series as well as high-precision and technologically sophisticated products made from high-performance ceramics. In addition, the markets in Western Germany and Western Europe were opened up.
The company Boart Longyear GmbH & Co. KG , based in Burghaun , bought the company in September 1992 and has committed itself to maintaining around 90 jobs. The name was changed to Boart Ceramics GmbH . Since the new owner was already using similar technologies, he was an important source of ideas and advice at this point. The company benefited from this support in particular with the reorganization of the company, the expansion of sales and finance. As a result, old buildings were demolished and rebuilt and more modern equipment was purchased.
15.2 million DM were invested until 1999. Support was received primarily from Franz Schuster , the then Economics Minister of Thuringia, and from Otto Schily , who at that time was deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD in the German Bundestag .
In 2006 the private equity investor HQ Equita GmbH ( Bad Homburg ), an investment company of Harald Quandt Capital , founded Barat Ceramics Holding GmbH . This has acquired 100% of the shares in Boart Ceramics GmbH . The company was renamed and has since acted on the market as Barat Ceramics GmbH . From 2012 the private equity investor Steadfast Capital was the main shareholder of Barat Ceramics Holding GmbH .
Barat Ceramics GmbH has been a 100% subsidiary of QSIL AG Group since January 2019.
From July 2019 the company Barat Ceramics GmbH will operate as QSIL Ceramics GmbH.
Products and Applications
QSIL Ceramics GmbH produces technical high-performance ceramics made of aluminum oxide , zirconium oxide , mixed ceramics and mullite . Areas of application include mechanical engineering, environmental technology, diagnostics and medical technology. The ceramic parts are used, for example, as wear protection, as a bearing ring, as high-temperature and vacuum components, as tools or for ballistic protection.
In addition to simply fired parts, their post-machining (drilling, grinding, honing, polishing) is also offered in order to maintain tight tolerances and reduce roughness.
Web links
- Literature by and about QSIL Ceramics in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- QSIL Ceramics GmbH
- QSIL AG
Source
- "Barat Ceramics - Visions in Ceramics", ISBN 978-3-940027-01-6 , catalog of the Porzellanikon Selb