“PETKUS Engineering is focused on offering a customer-tailored solution for grain terminals plants and deep processing plants. We offer the technology and quality of German design and European supply chain with flexible and dynamic processes. We want to offer a more personal and collaborative approach to our customer compared to other big competitors and help him in finding out the best solutions for his needs.”
Dr. Martino Celeghini
Senior Project Manager
PETKUS Engineering
We have an esteemed guest for Miller Magazine’s Technology Platform section: Dr. Martino Celeghini, Senior Project Manager at Petkus Engineering. With his long-time expertise in large international project management, Dr. Celeghini took over the project management of PETKUS Engineering from his father in 2020.
Petkus Engineering is an internationally operating German company of the PETKUS Group, one of the largest seed and grain technology companies in the world. Based in Wutha-Farnroda, Petkus Engineering designs and supplies large plants for grain logistics and steel structures for processing plants with storing and dosing silos as well as grain and food processing plants around the world. It has an entire product portfolio for a modern reception and processing plant.
Dr. Celeghini gave an exclusive interview to Miller Magazine on the principles that make the company successful and the future of the grain processing industry. “For PETKUS, supporting customers with the definition of project objectives and determining the economic feasibility of a project is just as much part of a project as managing the permitting procedure, designing and building,” he says. He is proud of providing customers with the technology and quality of German design and European supply chain with flexible and dynamic processes.
Here is the answers of Dr. Martino Celeghini, Senior Project Manager at Petkus Engineering, to our questions.
Mr. Celeghini, PETKUS has 169 years of history. It has been a long journey. Could you please provide us with some brief background on that great history and philosophy behind it?
PETKUS founder Christian Friedrich Röber started with manufacturing agricultural machinery, including the so-called "corn-screen" in 1852. The company focused then on seed cleaning technologies and expanded the market in particularly in Russia reaching 1907 an annual revenue of more than 5.000 machines, exported to over 30 different countries. PETKUS managed then to survive difficult times and political chaos – from the expropriation following the Second World War to the privatization following the reunification of Germany. 1994 Mark Scholze and Luca Celeghini decided to carry on the tradition of the international company's prosperous formative decades by reuniting RÖBER with PETKUS.
2011 ROEBER Institute as Innovation Center (R&D) was established. 2016 PETKUS acquired the company SIMEZA in Saragoza Spain and created PETKUS Engineering in order to expand in the growing market on large grain logistic plants. In 2020, I decided also to join PETKUS Engineering continuing a family tradition and bringing in my long time expertise in the field of large international project management
What kind of role and place does Petkus Engineering in its sector? How would you describe Petkus Engineering current position in the grain industry?
PETKUS Engineering is a recently found but fast-growing company of the PETKUS Group, which is bringing to the market an alternative and interesting offer besides the existing larger suppliers. We see our position as enrichment for the customers, which are looking for good quality products, customized innovative plant solutions, professional project planning and execution, still paired with the spirit, flexibility and dynamism of a medium-sized family-owned company with a long heritage.
Can you tell us about your product/service portfolio?
The product is manly divided into three business areas: grain storage terminals, grain port terminals and dry milling plants. PETKUS Engineering has an entire product portfolio for a modern reception and processing plant. Starting with intake pits, equipped with dust extractors and continuing with a wide range of conveyor systems, buffer silos with flexible loading and unloading possibilities for truck or rail, various pre-cleaners and dryers as well as modular round silos, which are available with different heights and capacities.
PETKUS Engineering has also the capability of designing complex steel structures for supporting structures and buildings. Included are technological consultations, project feasibility studies, assistance for construction and use approvals, statics calculations according to EURO-CODE, building construction and civil engineering and steel construction.
In the dry milling business area, PETKUS Engineering focuses on providing milling plants for industrial production flour of wheat for the production of starch or pea for production of proteins. The focus lies mostly on the achievement of the highest possible yield of starch or proteins inside the flour. Therefore special “Dry Milling” diagrams have been developed to follow the highly specific requests of the wet technology by different suppliers.
PETKUS Engineering finally offers for all three business areas turnkey solutions for customers, which desire a full care approach. For PETKUS, supporting customers with the definition of project objectives and determining the economic feasibility of a project is just as much part of a project as managing the permitting procedure, designing and building.
Can you give us some information about your production capacity and facilities?
PETKUS Group has an own production in Wutha-Farnroda in Germany and a silo production plant in Spain at affiliate company Simeza as well as several European suppliers for components and sub-assemblies. This allows to easily scale up or down the production capabilities depending on the current market situation.
What are the qualities and characteristics that make you different from your rivals?
PETKUS Engineering is focused on offering a customer-tailored solution for grain terminals plants and deep processing plants. We offer the technology and quality of German design and European supply chain with flexible and dynamic processes. We want to offer a more personal and collaborative approach to our customer compared to other big competitors and help him in finding out the best solutions for his needs.
You are a global player in seed and grain processing. You have regional headquarters all over the world. In overseas markets, which regions are you most active in? Where are the most promising markets in terms of exports?
Currently, we focus our activities on exporting countries like Russia and Ukraine and on the importing countries in the Middle East.
Petkus is dedicated to innovations. What can you say about the innovations and solutions that you have brought to the industry? What will your R&D department offer to customers in the coming period?
PETKUS Engineering believes that the market for industrial protein production form plants will grow even further in the future due to a large-scale shift in in eating attitudes, so we are working on increasing our knowledge in the pea dry milling technology. On the other side, the trading and logistics of grain will continue to grow leading to larger plants of larger storage and conveying capacity. We are developing conveying equipment capable of delivering solutions for these increased demands.
Looking to the future, what do you believe the challenges and opportunities are for your company?
The main challenge and opportunity for PETKUS Engineering will be in establishing and growing his position in the market of large international grain storage, handling and processing plants while keeping the flexibility and customer focus which helped us come all this way.
*Is there anything else you would like to add?
No, thanks for your interest in PETKUS Engineering.