Ervin is a leading manufacturer of steel and stainless steel abrasives. The family-owned company produces a range of shot and grit products under the brand names Amasteel, Amachrome, Amacast, and Amagrit. Ervin has two manufacturing plants in Germany that supply the European markets, along with a European head office in Berlin.

(?) MFN: Hello Dr. Assmann, thank you for taking the time for this interview. To start with, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Ervin?

(!) W. A.: I joined Ervin in 2010 as Managing Director for the Stainless Steel Abrasive division, responsible for running our dedicated manufacturing plant in Sprockhövel, Germany, and overseeing sales of stainless steel abrasives across Europe. In 2016, I was appointed Managing Director for Ervin in Europe, based at our new head office in Berlin.

(?) MFN: Today, we want to talk about Ervin, your plans for the future, and how Ervin can help companies with their blasting operations. Can we start by understanding more about how Ervin began?

(!) W. A.: Our story started in 1920 when John F. Ervin founded the company. He was a foundryman trying to find a better way to clean and deburr castings and forgings. His development of the process for manufacturing cast steel shot led to Ervin securing the patent for “Metallic Blast Material” in 1939. The basis of this technology is still widely used around the world today.

In 1946, the first third-party internationally recognized standard, J444, was introduced, defining cast steel shot and grit size specifications. Ervin continues to exceed the requirements of this and subsequent standards to deliver high-quality products to all partners.

(?) MFN: Thanks, we hadn’t realized that Ervin was the creator of the category. But what does that long history mean for customers in 2025?

(!) W. A.: What drove our founder was the desire to do things better, and that philosophy has been a constant inspiration to everyone who has worked at Ervin for over 100 years. It is a core part of what we call the “Ervin Culture.”

In addition to ensuring the best possible product quality of our abrasives, we are committed to helping our customers improve their blasting processes, collaborating with them to increase productivity and lower costs. In a rapidly changing world, it is important that companies can rely on their suppliers to work with them to evolve and meet future challenges.

(?) MFN: And is there still family involvement in the business?

(!) W. A.: Yes, the current president is a third-generation descendant of John F. Ervin, and there is a clear line of succession for the company to remain family-owned and independent.

(?) MFN: Do you think that family ownership has a positive impact on the Ervin business?

(!) W. A.: Definitely! It gives us consistency in the direction of our company and the freedom to balance short- and long-term needs in our decision-making.

For example, in 2024, despite all the recent economic and global turbulence, we decided to expand production capacity at our stainless steel abrasive manufacturing facility by commissioning two completely new melting furnaces. This expansion allows us to meet increasing demand for our products and ensure short delivery times for customers.

(?) MFN: Can you give an example of how you help customers improve their blasting operations?

(!) W. A.: The most obvious example is the Ervin Test Centre at our manufacturing plant in Glaubitz, Saxony. Customers are invited to visit the test centre, where we combine the experience and expertise of our technical team with a selection of blasting machines and the full range of Ervin abrasives. This helps customers find the optimal abrasive for their processes and workpieces. We can even tailor abrasive solutions to individual customer needs.

And, of course, our robust quality control procedures ensure that Ervin customers consistently receive abrasives that meet the agreed specifications, delivering the results they need in their blasting operations. Sadly, we know that this isn’t always the case with other abrasive producers.

(?) MFN: It sounds like Ervin is open to creating new products to support customers.

(!) W. A.: That is definitely the case. In the last few years, we introduced a new product called Amapure to our customers. Amapure is a degreasing additive that removes oil and grease from the blasting process, extending the useful life of the abrasive, reducing customer waste and costs, and improving coating performance.

At our stainless steel manufacturing plant, we installed an automatic abrasive mixer in 2024, which produces customized mixes of round and angular blasting abrasives to meet specific customer needs under the name Amamax.

And, of course, in 1947, Ervin developed the Ervin Test Machine to analyze metallic abrasive quality, which is still widely used in the industry today.

(?) MFN: You mentioned the “Ervin Culture” earlier. Can you tell us more about that?

(!) W. A.: As I explained earlier, Ervin is a family-owned business, but we regard all the people who work for Ervin as part of the Ervin family. That isn’t just a nice phrase; it shapes the way we treat each other and what we expect from one another.

It’s a recognition that we succeed together and that every role plays an important part in our company. Our shared values are to embrace challenges, be responsive, trust our colleagues, and take pride and satisfaction in what we achieve together.

Similarly, we regard our customers as partners. Our approach is collaborative, and we celebrate their successes with them.

(?) MFN: Tell me more about how you work with your customers.

(!) W. A.: We have another concept that we call “Ervin Value”. We aren’t just a manufacturer and supplier of steel and stainless steel abrasives. We have expertise and extensive experience in the blasting processes of many different companies across Europe, which we use to help customers optimize their operations—delivering improvements in productivity and cost savings.

By analyzing the Total Cost of Blasting and utilizing other diagnostic tools, we can identify the potential impact of adjustments to machine settings as well as changes to the abrasive media. Very often, switching to a higher-quality abrasive, even at a slightly higher cost per tonne, results in much greater savings in labour, energy, machine wear, waste, and abrasive consumption.

(?) MFN: We noticed that you recently announced some interesting changes that will make Ervin a more sustainable company. Can you tell us more about that?

(!) W. A.: Sustainability has gained a lot more attention in recent years, but it is not a new concept for us at Ervin. The process of making cast steel abrasives, which our founder developed and patented, is based on recycling scrap steel — so sustainability has always been at the core of our business. Over 98% of our raw materials are recyclable.

The use of recyclable paper packaging for many of our products dates back to the 1960s. And as I mentioned earlier, everything we do is driven by the desire to do things better and more efficiently, which naturally reduces waste.

Early last year, our new wind turbine began providing emission-free electricity to our Amasteel manufacturing plant in Glaubitz, reducing our Scope 2 carbon emissions by around 20%. In 2027, we will transition from natural gas to hydrogen as part of the Central Germany Hydrogen Network, which will result in an 80% reduction in carbon emissions compared to 2023 levels.

Our sustainable approach makes good business sense for both us and our customers—it’s not just about jumping on a bandwagon or greenwashing.

(?) MFN: Can you explain why this is beneficial for customers as well?

(!) W. A.: There are several benefits for customers. Firstly, the high quality of our shot and grit products ensures consistently high levels of durability and transmitted energy in the blasting process. This means that Ervin customers use less abrasive per workpiece, consume less energy, and produce less waste. As a result, they improve the sustainability of their operations while also reducing costs.

Waste disposal, particularly landfill waste, is an issue of growing concern across Europe, with governments introducing new legislation and financial penalties to encourage companies to reduce their waste. Our comparative testing shows that using Ervin abrasives consistently reduces consumption—and therefore waste—by 10%.

Secondly, our transition to low- or zero-emission energy in our manufacturing plants helps reduce our customers' Scope 3 emissions, contributing to the sustainability of their businesses. And, as I mentioned earlier, our collaboration with customers to improve their blasting operations invariably leads to greater efficiency, reducing costs, energy consumption, and waste.

(?) MFN: Thank you. It looks like a lot is happening now and in the future to build on Ervin’s long history.

(!) W. A.: That’s correct. We have a clear roadmap through to 2030, by which time we will have achieved our net-zero carbon emissions target. We look forward to working with both existing and new customers to grow our businesses together, identifying and capitalizing on the many new opportunities for our products—drawing on the Ervin Culture and Ervin Value.

(?) MFN: Thank you for your time, and good luck with all your future plans.

(!) W. A.: Thank you for the opportunity to share a little of our history and our ambitions.

MFN would like to thank Dr. Wolfgang Assmann for this interview!

For Information: 

Ervin Germany GmbH Nina Roessing, Marketing Rudower Chaussee 48 12489, Berlin, Germany

Tel. +49.30.400 37846

E-mail: info@ervin.eu

www.ervin.eu