Fosbel Inc.

A technical training for site officers, coke oven inspectors and site engineers of the Fosbel India team was organized recently to equip and refresh the technical knowledge and fundamentals of coke oven battery design, operation and maintenance with special focus on oven inspection, ranking, maintenance processes. The team focused on Fosbel’s industry benchmark Coke Oven Management Information Technology or COMIT® which is a web-based condition monitoring system that enables better visibility into maintenance priorities for more strategic maintenance management. The training was delivered by David Gilroy, one of the leading technical experts on coke oven battery design, operation and maintenance and on Fosbel’s MICOWALL® technology & COMIT® system. David is a Fosbel Inc. veteran based in Australia. He developed and delivered this interactive training through various course modules, interactive sessions, feedback sessions, case studies and course assessment. Thank you to David for providing 2+ days of important technical training for Fosbel India site engineers and technicians, who went back equipped to apply the relevant aspects of training in their respective work areas. #refractory #COMIT #cokeoven #training #india

Fosbel India team organized an off-site Annual Meeting in the scenic Eastern coastal city of Visakhapatnam (Vizag) earlier this month. Thirty-six Fosbel India team members from across various functions and customer locations in India attended the two-day meeting. Fosbel Inc. CEO Eric Yaszemski attended the meeting along with Fosbel India Managing Director K G VENKATESAN, Finance Controller Soumen De, Business Unit Director Dipankar Banerjee and other senior managers of Fosbel India management team. After a successful business year in 2024, the Annual Meeting was a good opportunity for the team to relax, celebrate the success of 2024, have an overview of 2025 business plan, and build a strong team network. Fosbel Global CEO Eric Yaszemski shared Fosbel’s global business performance in 2024 and congratulated the team for the good performance of the India business in 2024. An award function was organized on the beachside as part of evening team dinner to celebrate and recognize our Fosbel India team and individual performances in various functional areas and customer locations in 2024. Congratulations to our Fosbel India team on an excellent 2024 - we are looking forward to a successful 2025!

Furnace endoscopy has become an indispensable tool in the glass industry, offering a non-invasive, efficient, and safe method for monitoring and maintaining glass melting furnaces. As the glass industry continues to evolve, the adoption of advanced diagnostic tools like furnace endoscopy will play a key role in enhancing operational efficiency and maintaining a competitive edge. Investing in this technology is a strategic move for any glass manufacturer committed to excellence and sustainability. #FurnaceEndoscopy #FOSBEL #GlassIndustry #GlassManufacturing #OperationalEfficiency

Elke Wiedenhoefer joined Fosbel in August 1989 as a purchasing clerk and, in 2024, celebrated 35 years with our company. Shortly after joining Fosbel, Elke demonstrated a high level of operational understanding and work organization and was soon promoted to Head of Purchasing. As the world became more complex pre- and post-pandemic with supply chain, logistics and purchasing challenges, Elke’s role has evolved to take on more importance. Her level of responsibility as Purchasing Manager is high and her expertise is heavily relied upon. She ensures our jobs at customer sites are ready to go with accuracy and diligence and is one of the key reasons our crews are so successful. From negotiating key raw material orders, meeting and engaging with vendors, to ensuring day-to-day supplies are fulfilled, Elke has attended to the details, both big and small. She has earned the respect of our European and Middle East operations and of her colleagues both within Fosbel Europe and globally. Elke shared these pictures, which include visiting the coke plant Thyssen in Germany with two colleagues in 1990; attending a Glasstec conference in Düsseldorf in 1992; and the third picture is with her husband, Holger Wiedenhoefer, while on vacation in South Tyrol, Italy. Congratulations on your milestone 35th anniversary, Elke. We are grateful for your dedication and friendship!

Today, we are featuring Christophe Leborgne, who recently celebrated 35 years with Fosbel. Since 1989, Christophe has been instrumental in providing our customers with outstanding coke oven repairs in Europe and the Middle East as our Fosbel GmbH Coke Operations Manager. Christophe began working with Fosbel Europe when it was located in Euskirchen, Germany; has seen the office move multiple times; and has easily traveled to more than 20 countries while leading our Coke oven repair teams. He is one of our hardest working team members and expects his team to give the same effort. Not only respected by his European colleagues, Christophe is widely recognized in our global operations for his knowledge and expertise. And his storytelling. If you've had dinner with Christophe, you are sure to have been entertained by him and his great laughter! A special thank you to Viorel Patriche for providing these early pictures. We also notice guest appearances in these pictures by Mike Cofield and Paul Willbourn. We are lucky to have so many dedicated, knowledgeable and loyal team members. Congratulations, Christophe, on 35 years - we appreciate you and look forward to many more years. Cheers!

During January, we are spotlighting Fosbel employees who have celebrated key anniversary milestones with our company. It's our people that make our company strong and we enjoy celebrating those who have dedicated years of service to our company, shared their knowledge and experience, and have continued making Fosbel a leader in the refractory space. Ernie Goffi celebrated 35 years with Fosbel in 2024 and, this month, hits the 36 year mark! Ernie began his career with Solar Refractories, moved to Certek, then Fosbel when Certek was acquired. Ernie has been with Fosbel ever since and serves as our Vice President, Global Business Development, Coke Americas. Ernie has been a featured speaker at more than 20 Coke conferences and is known globally as an expert in Coke oven repairs. If you know Ernie, then you know he was on the Carnegie Mellon University football team, is an avid golfer, and will gladly entertain you at dinner! Please join us in wishing him a happy anniversary at Fosbel!

Fosbel Inc. is proud to be associated with this prestigious symposium and we look forward to meaningful discussions and engagements with industry leaders in this symposium.

Fosbel Inc. showcased the high-performance pre-cast refractory solutions from its group company Wahl Refractory Solutions in the recently concluded 18th NCB International Conference & Exhibition on Cement, Concrete and Building Materials. This event was held at the stunning venue of Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi, India from 27 - 29 November 2024 organized meticulously by the National Council for Cement & Building Materials. We highlighted the features of our benchmark and trend-setting solutions for cement industry like SIFCA® kiln tip-casting blocks, cooler curb blocks, TAD dampers and blaster nozzles in our booth in the trade show. Our team of Fosbel Inc. Business Unit Director Dipankar Banerjee and Adarsh Singh along with the Managing Partners’ team of our valued business associates SPV Engineers for Indian cement market, Shreekant Hulgi, VIJAY KUMAR VEMURI & Prasad Mandava,BE,MBA, PMP, Energy Manager,LSSGB. Mandava engaged & discussed with delegates from major cement producing groups and cement OEMs in India. Dipankar Banerjee made a presentation on “Engineered Special Pre-Cast Refractory Solutions from Wahl-Fosbel for Critical Cement Plant Applications” on the 2nd day of the conference summarizing our product offering. We are looking forward to following up on the various positive discussions that we had in our booth in the conference with our esteemed cement plant customers. Exciting days ahead. #cement #refractory #Engineering #precast #india