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drymix.info Newsletter 171/2015; ISSN Number 1613-0111; 1. November 2015

1. ladmmc four in São Paulo, Brasil, 6. November 2015
2. 10th Anniversary SEADMA Conference, in Bangkok, Thailand,19. November 2015
3. Dubai: MEDMA AGM, 22. 11. and MEDMA Workshop on Big 5, 23.11.15: Programme
4. Announcing Russian Mortar Days 2016, 27. January 2016 at MCU, Moscow
5. 3rd Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting, Sydney, NSW, DATE: Programme
6. Sika, BASF Open New Plants in Africa
7. Baumax is history! But what a special kind of history! A Guest Commentary by Helmut Brunnsteiner
8. DIN 18560-1 Contains Revision of Residual Humidity Requirements in Gypsum Screeds

1. ladmmc four in São Paulo, Brasil, 6. November 2015

drymix.info expects record attendance for The Fourth Latin American Drymix Mortar Conference ladmmc four, taking place at Club Transatlântico, São Paulo, Brasil, next Friday, 6. November 2015. In this light, we urge industry experts which would still like to register to contact us immediately. Special remark for sponsor personnel: each delegate must have a valid (prepaid) registration. You can also book your attendance via our website

For the convenience of the delegates simultaneous translation Portugues - English is being provided. The Drymix Mortar Yearbook 2015 will be handed out along with technical informations from our supporters.

Admission is 310 € per person, reduced for members of drymix.info to 270 €; there is also a specially reduced admission for Mortar Manufacturers which is only 230 €. For Brasilian Delegates, we have created the possibility to pay via bank transfer in R$ in Brasil. Please enquire with us about this form of payment.

2. 10th Anniversary SEADMA Conference, in Bangkok, Thailand, 19. November 2015

The 10th Anniversary of the South East Asia Drymix Mortar Association SEADMA is being celebrated at Grand Mercure Bangkok Fortune Hotel on 19. November 2015. Over 120 drymix are expected for this key international networking event of the drymix mortar industry in South East Asia. The new MEDMA/SEADMA Technical Bulletin 10 is being presented to all delegates during this event. The conference features 8 technical lectures as well as the SEADMA Annual General Membership Assembly (AGM) with informations about the new associations in Thailand, The Philippines and Indonesia.

Admission for this conference is 210 €, reduced for members of SEADMA and drymix.info to 170 €. Special admission for Mortar Manufacturers is 120 €. We encourage all delegates to book and pay soon, so we can have their individualized documents ready at check-in.

3. Dubai: MEDMA AGM, 22. 11. and MEDMA Workshop on Big 5, 23.11.15: Programme

All MEDMA members and interested guests are invited to join the Annual General Assembly of the Middle East Drymix Mortar Association MEDMA at splendid Al Badia Golf Club in Dubai, UAE. The meeting begins at 19:00, the Executive Committee will present the MEDMA actions from 2015 and the outlook for 2016. Also, elections to the EC will take place. This festive event has become a fixed date for the industry prior to The Big 5 Industry Exhibition in Dubai. Evonik has decided to contribute towards the cost of this event, thanks a lot!

Admission is free of charge for members only (up to two participants for member companies), all others pay AED 400 per person. Advance registration by e-mail to drymix.info is absolutely mandatory (both for members and non-members!).

The next day, The Middle East Drymix Mortar Association invites construction experts to the MEDMA Workshop during Big 5. This event is conducted in cooperation with DMG World Media, the organizers of Big 5, Continuous Professional Education points can be obtained by consultants, architects and contractors alike by participating. The MEDMA Workshop starts at 10:00, it takes place in one of the meeting rooms on the Main Concourse at Dubai World Trade Center (this is the axis between Novotel and Ibis Hotel, please observe directional signage).

MEDMA and drymix.info members have put together a comprehensive series of lectures all focussed on the industrial production and applications of quality mortars and the application of such procuts on the jobsites throughout the Middle East. Here is the preliminary programme:
MEDMA Workshop on Big5, Session 1: Mortar Production and Applications
Actemium, Guillaume Lafay: A New Concept for an Innovative Mixing Plant of Dry Mortars and other Dry Products
m-tec, Kutlu Güvenc: Mortar Application by Machine in Highrise Buildings
Lahti Precision, Henrik Halonen: Special Mortars and Plasters for Modern Construction Systems
drymix.info/MEDMA, Ferdinand Leopolder: Efficiency Increase on the Jobsite
MEDMA Workshop on Big5, Session 2
Evonik, Markus Roos: Airvoid Management in Cementitious Systems
Testing (Bluhm&Feuerherdt), Hans-Heinrich Reuter: (working title) State of the Art Testing Methods for Drymix Mortars

4. Russian Mortar Days 2016, 27. January 2016 at MCU, Moscow

The Russian Mortar Days 2016 are a cooperation of The Russian Federation for Factory Made Mortars SPSSS with Moscow Technical University MGSU (MCU) with drymix.info (supporting the event internationally). They are being hosted as in the past years at MCU. The Russian Mortar Days are the only scientific conference on drymix mortars in the region and unite scholars from all across the Nation with drymix mortar experts and the raw material supplying industry. The lecturing programme is currently being completed by Technical Chairman Prof. Dr. Andrey Pustovgar (MCU), contributions by the industry can still be proposed to either SPSSS or drymix.info. Attention supporters: since this is not an event organized singly by drymix.info, a different price list applies, please enquire with us.

Regular Admission is 215 €, admission for Mortar Manufacturers is 170 €, Students and Faculty have free access. There are substantial rebates for early booking, which expire on 15.12.2015. Online registration (in €) is available through the drymix.info website (shop),  SPSSS is handling the registrations in from Russia (in Russian Roubles).

5. The Third Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting Meeting, Sydney, NSW, 18. February 2016: Programme

drymix.info is organizing The Third Australia Drymix Mortar Meeting, which will take place on Thursday, 18. February 2016 at Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach (at Brighton Le Sands, not far from Sydney International Airport). The meeting unites drymix mortar experts from Australia and New Zealand with researchers and the raw materials and equipment supplying industry. A delegate welcome is planned for 17. February, 20:00, it is being sponsored in part by Wacker Chemie (thanks a lot, additional sponsoring is welcome!). Here is a review of the preliminary programme (in alphabetical order by company):

Actemium (formerly Sofraden), Guillaume Lafay: A New Concept for an Innovative Mixing Plant of Dry Mortars and other Dry Products
BPI.Visqueen, (lecturer tbd.): Global Packaging Innovations in Cement and Drymix Mortars
Concetti, Trevor Mitford: Dry as a Bone: Packaging Dry Cement Premixes in PE Film
Construction Technologies Australia, CTA, (tbd. Troy Hogan?),(working title) Laying Large Format Tiles
drymix.info, Ferdinand Leopolder: The Use of Jobsite Machinery - a True Industrial Revolution
Kerneos, (lecturer tbd.), (working title): Smooth Flooring Using Calcium Aluminate Cement
Nu-Age Plaster, Mike James, Seismic Retrofitting of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in New Zealand
Ferro (formerly Nubiola), Dani Lladó: Mortar Coloration: Options for New Designs and Cool Façades
Wacker Chemie, Dr. Harold Schoonbrood: Flexibility in Tile Adhesives

Admission is 210 €, reduced for drymix.info members to 180 €. The special admission for drymix mortar manufacturers is 110 €. Online registration is already available through the drymix.info shop (Visa or Mastercard required).

6. Sika, BASF Open New Plants in Africa

Both Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) have recently announced to have opened new production locations for construction chemicals and drymix mortars in high growth Nations in WestAfrica. Sika invested into capacities in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Lagos, Nigeria and established new subsidiaries in Ethiopia and Tanzania. BASF has just inaugurated its new production plant for concrete admixtures in Lagos, Nigeria (West Africa).

7. Baumax is history! But what a special kind of history! A Guest Commentary by Helmut Brunnsteiner

For the last 35 years Karlheinz Essl pushed the idea of an Austrian Do it Yourself (DIY) store to its all time high in 2012. Baumax had become one of the leading companies in its field in Central and Eastern Europe. The company was the first to venture into Central Europe by founding its outlet in 1991 in Budapest, Hungary. In 2012 there were stores in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and finally in Turkey. In many of those conutries, Baumax also had become the market leader for DIY, Baumax's turnover was 1.520 mio Euro and the company had 11.000 employees.

In 2011, Baumax ran 155 outlets in 9 countries: 67 in Austria, 24 in the Czech Republic, 15 in Slovakia, 15 in Hungary, 3 in Slovenia, 14 in Romania, 5 in Bulgaria and 5 in Turkey. Baumax planned 5 more openings within 2012 despite an already critical financial situation. Baumax changed its strategy and accordingly its presentation in public towards increased service and more sales in the field of private label.

Apparently this was too late and the expansion in the former years was too fast and without sufficient funding. In addition, Baumax had suffered from weak housing markets, just like any other home-improvement chain in Europe. The increasing competition of its European competitors Obi, Bauhaus, Hornbach, Praktiker, Kingfisher and Baywa did hardly allow to gain cash in return for the improved service. Basically the high-speed expansion in Southeast Europe (CEE) and Turkey combined with fluctuations and not sufficient operative management added to the above mentioned problems.

Karlheinz Essl had pioneered the DIY idea in Austria and Central Europe and had been the first to separate this business from classic wholesale operations. His expansion came to an end when the economic crisis struck and his imperium had grown too fast. At this point neither the right management ressources nor enough backup financing was available to change the strategic orientation of Baumax. The sad result was the bankruptcy. Due to accumulated losses, and after having injected substantial own funds again (coming from the sale of parts of Mr. Essls large modern art collection to Dr. Hans Peter Haselsteiner, founder of Strabag), the Essl family had to pull out of Baumax. The company fell to the creditor banks which decided to liquidate Baumax by selling off its assets.
 
Some outlets went to other industries (e.g. furniture giant XXXLutz) and the remaining DIY stores went to Obi (48 in Austria, 4 in the Czech Republic, 14 in Slovakia and 2 in Slovenia), Hagebau (6 in Austria, see drymix.info Newsletter 170/2015), Hornbach (1, Austria) and in the Czech Republic, the Polish Merkury Group (Krosno, Poland) takes over 18 of the 24 outlets. The fate of 10 outlets in Austria has not yet been decided upon.

8. DIN 18560-1 Contains Revision of Residual Humidity Requirements in Gypsum Screeds

The latest revision of DIN 18560-1 ("[thick] Screeds for Construction") comes into effect in November 2015. Apart from marginal changes in other parts, it contains new regulations for the requirements of residual humidity in Calcium Sulfate (gypsum) based screeds prior to overlaying the screeds ("Belegreife"): the residual humidity in non-heated screeds was raised from previously 0,3% to 0,5% (identical value as for heated screeds). Also, in section 1 of DIN 18560-1 the Calcium-Carbide Method (CM) was entered as mandatory method to determine the residual humidity in cementitious, magnesia-based and gypsum-based screeds. The change was welcomed by the industry both in terms of accuracy as well as practicability. Despite criticism of the CM Method, the industry sees no alternative to this test.

The drymix.info Newsletter is being sent exclusively to registered subscribers and all members of drymix.info. Editor-in-Chief: Ferdinand Leopolder. Back issues will be published on www.drymix.info. Please also check our Chinese Edition on www.drymix.info.

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Sincerely Yours, Ferdinand Leopolder