NRW.Europa

First the idea is born. But sometimes a suitable strategy is missing, or the right business partner, or the financial means needed to transform the idea into concrete products or services.

So that your idea doesn't stay just a vague theory, NRW.Europa helps put it into practice. How? Take a look at the following successful examples:

Kissing frogs at the Hanover Fair
Martin Feindt, Export Manager of Bio-Circle Surface Technology GmbH in Gütersloh, knows that "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your handsome prince". He has been doing this for many years with such success that there was even a prize for it at this year's Hanover Fair. The company, which distributes innovative products world-wide in the area of surface technology, such as VOC-free cleaning agents, corrosion protection products, welding separation agents and part cleaning equipment, received the b2fair Business Award. By participating in the b2fair Brokerage Event at the last Hanover Fair, Bio-Circle found a new business partner in the shape of CWMT, a Swedish company.

An away game in Malta
Cruse Leppelmann Kognitionstechnik GmbH (CLK) is based in Munster and develops, manufactures and distributes non-contact quality control systems, for example for the inspection of food packaging. In their search for new customers, Dr. Carsten Cruse, the Managing Director, approached NRW.Europa. The team published a technology profile with the CLK technology in the database of the Enterprise Europe Network. A short time later, a company in Malta expressed its interest via its local Network partner. Playmobil Malta first of all tested the system for the optical quality control of its toy figures and has since started using it successfully. In Playmobil, CLK has found an important customer and at the same time a new area of application for its technology.

German technology for Italian wastewater
At Levapor GmbH in Leverkusen everything revolves around biological processes, especially for the treatment of complex and problematic wastewater, sludge and exhaust air. In the framework of a company presentation at a Brokerage Event of the Enterprise Europe Network, Levapor launched discussions with Elion srl., an Italian enterprise. Elion is specialised in the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater and today distributes Levapor products, as well as using its corresponding biological disposal processes. For Managing Director Dr. Imre Pascik just one example of many positive experiences: "Thanks to the work of the cooperation experts at ZENIT, we have almost always "hit the bull's eye" from both a technical and a business perspective. Contacts have often led to long-term technical partnerships, or contracts, or give us reason to expect a positive trend in the future."

New countries, new markets for microflotation
Enviplan Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH in Lichtenau-Henglarn is a provider of package solutions in the area of wastewater treatment. Since 1988, over 220 industrial and municipal microflotation projects at national or international level have been realised. For about the last ten years, the environmental experts at Enviplan have been taking part in the Network activities on offer and "which have made it possible for us to penetrate new markets and countries in the first place", explains Roland Damann, Managing Director. In this way and following new contacts made at a Brokerage Event, Enviplan's patented AQUATECTOR® Microfloat® microflotation technology was transferred to Austria and used there for the treatment of wastewater in dairies. Recently, a presentation of this technology to a delegation from Egypt led to in-depth negotiations with players from the stone and marble processing industry there. In the meantime, Enviplan has its first contract under its belt from Alex Tiles for Marble and Granite, an Egyptian firm which exports marble to 40 countries and is saving around 15 percent in production costs with the aid of the new technology.