Ir. G.P.Th. Naaykens is president of the STRAALTECHNIEK INTERNATIONAL GROUP. This group is a family owned holding which consists of two real estate companies and eight manufacturing / trading companies throughout Europe. These companies are located in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Romania and Slovenia.

The group is active in different industries including Industrial Air Handling and Surface Treatment. With respect to Surface Treatment, all subsidiaries are joined together to perform under one holding. The company was founded in February of 1982 by Naaykens in Tilburg who built their first blasting installations back in 1957. This illustrates that the holding has been performing in the industry for more than fifty years and can be seen as having unique experience. New companies in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany were founded using knowledge of existing sales and technical staff. Other subsidiaries were added in the nineties by means of joint ventures.

Currently the Group consists of:
-Straaltechniek International B.V. in Dordrecht, The Netherlands
-Straaltechniek International N.V. in Aartselaar, Belgium
-Strahltechnik Naaykens International GmbH in Ermsleben, Germany
-Straaltechniek International A.S. in Randaberg-Stavanger, Norway
-Straaltechniek Minex International S.R.L.* in Bucuresti, Romania
-Straaltechniek International Adriatico SIAPRO d.o.o.*,  in Cerkno, Slovenia
 
(*): Joint venture

Last year the Straaltechniek Group employed approximately 150 people and generated a turnover of € 40 million. As a group, Straaltechniek focuses on three industries: Aviation, Marine and Railway.

Aviation Industry

In the aviation industry Straaltechniek is focusing on shotpeen technology which has the goal of improving the resistance against fatigue, thus increasing the life time of components. Throughout the past years Straaltechniek has developed a complete range of machines for many different shotpeening operations. Customers can be found in the production or repair & overhaul of aero engine parts, landing gear components and many others. Many tailor-made machines have been designed and delivered, from semi-automated machines to complex CNC- or robotic operating machines. Many global OEM’s are producing their parts using a Straaltechniek shotpeening installation.

In addition to the design and delivery of shotpeen machines, Straaltechniek decided to build an advanced robotic shotpeening machine at their own workshop in Dordrecht – The Netherlands. This machine is equipped with 10 programmable robotic axes and is equipped with full process parameter controls, like closed-loop air pressure and shot-flow controls. Furthermore, the machine is equipped with the latest development in the Straaltechniek Group, the recently launched ProcMon process parameters monitoring and recording software. This ensures the user maximum traceability for peening records of performed operations.
The primary reason for having this multi-purpose robotic machine is to provide the customer or prospect with the possibility to see and discover the latest technological developments. In addition to the commercial purpose, the machine will be used to perform shotpeen training sessions when this is requested. Finally, the machine will act as a jobpeener, which means that it is used to shotpeen products for third parties.

In the meantime, the machine and procedures have been checked and certified by one of the biggest OEM’s in the military aircraft production. The Straaltechniek Group focuses on the Southern part of The Netherlands because it is developing itself as the “Maintenance Valley for the Aviation Industry”. If the Dutch government decides to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) it will give a boost to the aviation industry allowing for big business in that part of The Netherlands.

To conclude, besides the capability of designing, producing and delivering a complete program for shotpeening, Straaltechniek is well prepared to perform subcontracting activities.

Marine Industry

In the past it was common to perform shot blasting and paint spraying outside, under non-controllable conditions. As a consequence, Straaltechniek introduced a revolutionary design for the surface preparation of ship sections in the early 1990’s. This design was based on using reusable abrasive (no longer with copper slag) which created big cost reductions with respect to waste amounts, resulting in big advantages for shipbuilders.

Furthermore, the design was based on a one-stop shop meaning that the complete surface preparation (cleaning of parts, blasting and painting) is performed in one and the same workshop. Other advantages consist of minimizing internal transport, environmental benefits and assuring surface preparation 365 days per year, not having to depend on weather conditions.

Recently combi-halls were delivered in Denmark, Romania, Turkey and Germany.

Railway Industry

During the last two decades Straaltechniek International developed automatic blasting systems with oscillating nozzles built on a working platform with manipulator for the surface preparation of railway wagons. In the meantime, several manually operating blasting halls were delivered to Russia and their former allies to refurbish 100,000 wagons which were delivered through the former DDR (German Democratic Republic).

Not long ago Strahltechnik Naaykens International GmbH engineered, designed and delivered a dual robotic blasting system with an automatic roller system with stop and go functions for the wheel sets of the wagons to the Deutsche Bundesbahn. This blasting operation is performed by two robots. The purpose of the blasting operation on the wheel sets is surface preparation and to get an equal roughness level of max. Ra = 1,6 µm. This roughness level needs to be achieved on both the wheels and the shaft. After blasting the sets of wheels, tests are done by using ultra sonar ND.

By continuing to introduce more automation into standard machines, the Straaltechniek Group is strongly convinced that they are ready for the future. Because the group is active in many different industries and countries Mr. Naaykens feels assured that the group will not face too many problems resulting from the economical crisis. Moreover, Mr. Naaykens informs that the Straaltechniek Group will not focus on these possible threats but will concentrate on opportunities. “The group is all set to meet the high demands of our customers and potential clients. Our customer needs to feel confident that every Euro they invest will be recovered with the machines supplied by the Straaltechniek Group”.

For Information:
Straaltechniek International Group
www.straaltechniek.net
E-mail: info@straaltechniek.net