Interview with Mr. Sperling Managing Director of Sperling GmbH & Co. Behälter- und Apparatebau KG

We started in 1975 with the construction of pressure vessels for the German market. On the basis of my father’s experience and that of the employees we quickly became known for welding jobs with special materials that in those days were used, for example, in the treatment of drinking water. Via those possibilities we got in on rail transportation technology in 1978. Through the construction of railway carriages there was a need for welded cooper vessels to supply water for the toilets and for washing. Over time our company’s permits were extended regularly, so that today we can manufacture products for international use in both business segments. In railway transportation technology we have expanded our skills in the supply and disposal of water and are the market leader for such components today in Germany. After obtaining European certification and certification according to American rules and standards Apparatus engineering was developed in such a way that we are now in a position to offer our products internationally.

The increasing alignment to international requirements has also increased the infrastructural needs as regards the size and weight of the vessels. We were not able to fulfil these requirements to the desired extent at our previous location, with the result that we established a main criterion for a new location: direct access to water. In addition, the location area was to have a minimum size to allow for future expansion. In the course of searching for a location we used knowledge of places and satellite views per computer to find unbuilt areas of land and then examined the availability of such with the help of KomSIS. As a result we came across two sites in the northern Weser-Ems area, and Elsfleth had the advantage due to the size of the plot and designation as an industrial area.

Our international alignment means that the size and weight of the apparatus is so great that road transport of the manufactured pieces is in some cases far too expensive. Access to water was thus the direct result and decisive criterion for the choice of location. The positive reactions of our customers to the new location has convinced us that we made the right decision.

Development in our company is independent of location. Networks in this area are national ones, and some international. However, networks in the JadeBay region are attracting an ever increasing number of impulses in the area of developments.

After the move and subsequent work in 2009 has been concluded I think we can say that our requirements and expectations of the new location have by and large been fulfilled. There is still some potential for improving the surrounding infrastructure. It would therefore be good if peripheral industrial areas with trimodal possibilities were included more concretely in the planning and improved access to water, rail and road resulted. The mixed cargo loads we send partially unpacked due to size are generally expensive in large port facilities that mainly deal with containers.