Customers’ comments
ECG references!
„To earn Loyalty from Your Clients, It is
essential, that you meet their Expectations –
or even exceed them.”
On this page, instead of talking about ourselves, we’ve printed some comments from customers whom we asked to express their views about us and our work. We were very pleased with the results, because they show that the consulting we provide is on the right track: we believe in individual solutions when it comes to energy cost management. In cooperation with our customers, we elaborate these solutions and efficiently put them into practice.
And what can we do for you?
Rainer Winge, head of Central Procurement at Südzucker AG
The Südzucker Group, which produces 4.6 million tons of sugar a year, is the leader of the European sugar market. The Group operates production plants all over Europe. That's why the international expertise of Energie Consulting GmbH is a particularly important factor in our cooperation with this company. For example, in Belgium we need to combine the electricity and natural gas needs of various production plants. In France, thanks to ECG's familiarity with the market we've found very advantageous solutions for covering our energy needs.
We've been using ECG's services since 1998, and over the years we've successfully recommended it to other companies.
Herbert Woodtli, head of Central Procurement at Axel Springer AG
When the electricity market was liberalized in 1998 and electricity prices fell in a series of major drops, it was possible to purchase electricity without having any specialized knowledge of the field. That changed when a large number of governmental charges were imposed, some of which could be reimbursed. Starting in 2001 it was possible to buy natural gas as well, and that made energy procurement even more complicated. That presented us with the question of whether we should build up in-house expertise in this area or cooperate with a specialist consultant from outside. We decided to hire a specialist consultant from outside, and that has turned out to be the right decision.
In the past seven years we have purchased more than 2.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and natural gas with a value of more than €110 million. And we have noted that we've always bought the right amounts at exactly the right time, thanks to the advice we've received from ECG. As a result, we've always paid prices that were favourable in comparison with the market price.
Ulrich Altstetter, head of the central department Plant Technology and Logistics at Wieland-Werke AG, Ulm
Wieland-Werke is an energy-intensive company — that is, on account of its particular processes it is characterized by very high energy consumption. As a result, the topics of energy and energy procurement have a particularly high priority for us, not only for economic reasons but also from the standpoint of strategic considerations. We've been cooperating with ECG for more than ten years now. What started as a pilot project to assess the efficiency of our power plant has developed into a lasting partnership. We regard this company as a very competent partner with whom we discuss our energy issues and from whom we receive new impulses again and again. The practical benefits and the success of our cooperation are evidenced by our energy cost, which are very low, both in an absolute sense and in comparison with other companies in the sector.
Dr. Clemens Mittelviefhaus, Leiter Technische Betriebe, Henkel KGaA
We operate our own power plant for our location in Düsseldorf, where a total of 12,000 employees of various companies work. This power plant could also cover the energy needs of a city with 100,000 inhabitants. When we were developing a concept for meeting our energy requirements over the next 20 years, ECG helped us to record and assess the present situation. ECG's sound analysis formed the foundation of our development of a clear perspective regarding our future energy supply.
What interested us about ECG was the fact that it doesn't come from the field of theoretical consultation; instead, it's a spinoff of a company that is itself an energy user. This practical basis has turned out to be a major advantage in the work we've done together.
Klaus Hohagen, head of Material Management, Friedr. Gustav Theis Kaltwalzwerke GmbH
Friedr. Gustav Theis Kaltwalzwerke GmbH is a globally operating company with production plants in Europe, Asia, and the USA. In a very energy-intensive production process, we refine hot-rolled coils from carbon steels and corrosion-resistant steels into precision coldrolled strips for customers from a broad range of sectors, such as automotive and furniture production.
We concluded a consultant contract with ECG in mid-2006. The reason for this was that energy procurement is not part of our core business and we had been looking for cooperation and support from an expert partner. This cooperation has evolved in a way that's been extremely positive for us.
We have jointly set further goals for ourselves for the near future. These include the consolidation of our energy needs within Europe and a benchmarking process for technical gases.
