The KÖPPERN group : a strong and diversified alliance

As the term says so well, “l’union fait la force” and Euragglo always agreed on this principle.

Indeed, from its creation in 1992, Euragglo has directly associated itself with the American company K.R. Komarek Inc., until the two companies were integrated to the German group Köppern.

The Köppern Group: worldwide specialist in agglomeration and compaction-granulation processes

It’s their common passion for agglomeration and granulation processes that gathered the three companies under the same banner in 2018. But beyond that one passion, it’s also the common values and philosophy they shared that bring them together. To expand the business network and know-how, meet the needs of a global customer base, never stop to innovate and meet challenges, all common elements that reinforce the relation between the members of the Köppern Group and increase their impact on the global market.

It’s the family company Köppern that was first born on the agglomeration processes market. Founded in 1898 in Hattingen, Germany, the company, from the early XX^th century, specialized itself in the design and manufacture of briquetting, crushing and compaction-granulation systems using the roller press technology. Its more than 120 years of experience in the field now allows the company to be the leader on the market.

Still today, the company is owned and managed by the Köppern family since it is Christopher SCHÄFER, 4^th generation of the Köppern family to be involved in the agglomeration field, who’s at the head of the business.

In parallel, it’s in 1920, on the other side of the Atlantic, in the United States of America, that the Komarek family is also entering the briquetting world: Gustave Komarek, and its son Karl Richard, start to get interested in the charcoal shaping, starting from raw material that they managed to put under a briquette form, in order to facilitate their transport and use. A few patents, agglomeration processes and machine designs later, including the Komarek B100 press (briquetting press working with cantilevered removable rolls), in 1962, following the “official” creation of the K.R. Komarek Inc. company, that Richard Karl Komarek, son of Karl Richard and grandson of Gustave, joined the family business, of which he stayed at the head until the sale to the Köppern Group.

Since 2007, the company has moved to Wood Dale, Illinois, and is today managed by Jan Pflugfelder, CEO and President.

It’s finally in 1992, in Quiévrechain, in the Hauts-de-France region (North, near the Belgian border) that the French company Euragglo S.A.S. also entered the briquetting market. Founded by Pascal Hervieu, its Managing Director, the company specialized itself in the design, manufacture and installation of briquetting and granulation units for industrial customers.

Convinced by the benefits of the business combination, it’s from its creation in 1992 that Euragglo associate itself to Komarek in order to touch customers on each side of the Atlantic Ocean but also to benefit from the long experience and notoriety of the American company. That relation reinforces itself a little more a few years later, in 1997, when Euragglo started as an official distributor of the K.R. Komarek Inc. briquetting presses on the European territory.

Today’s alliance benefits to all the three companies because it reinforces the global presence of the group, as close as possible to its customers and always more attentive to their needs. The personal experience acquired by each company over the years increase the common experience, allowing the group to offer ever more appropriate, personalized and innovative technical solutions to a wide range of industrial fields.

Passion, as well as the quality and reliability values shared by our companies then allowed our group to be active worldwide and installed more than 1 000 briquetting equipment in more than 40 countries since its creation.

Köppern, Euragglo S.A.S. and K.R. Komarek Inc. form a strong team, 100% turned to the satisfaction of their present and future customers.