Lubricants Association Profile The Lubrication Committee A platform for German and international activities of UNITI and UEIL
UNITI is the German association representing medium- sized companies in the fuels, lubricants and heating fuels sector. UNITI membership includes over 3,000 companies employing approximately 60,000 people, with a total annual turnover of about 31 billion Euros. UNITI’s lubricant manufacturer and dealer members have a total market share of about 50% of the German market. Many of the additive companies active in the German mineral oil business are also represented in UNITI. UNITI is the official German Delegation to UEIL, the European Lubricants Industry Organisation.
The UNITI Lubrication Committee was founded early in 1984 by 11 lubricants experts at that time, following an initiative of Dr. Manfred Fuchs, owner of the Fuchs-group based in Mannheim. The committee’s main goal is to ensure appropriate represen- tation of the lubricant industry’s interests within UNITI. During the committee’s second meeting, Dr. M. Fuchs reported on the development and status of the German and international lubrication market. This work has become an essential regular topic and has been subjected to continuous intensive analysis. The committee’s other regular work includes issues to do with industry development and the raw material supply market. This work especially helps medium-sized lubricant manufacturers prepare themselves for when there may be a need for alternative supply sources - for example when there was base oil or additive supply bottlenecks and disruptions.
Besides the on-going monitoring of current issues and demands of the lubricant business, the UNITI Lubrication Committee has also been assigned the task of presenting and discussing specific concerns and issues of medium-sized lubricant companies with the various ministries, public authorities and other trade associ- ations. This is in addition to their work of preparing for lubrication related technical conferences, for example - the famous annual internationally acknowledged UNITI Mineral Oil Technology Congress in Stuttgart.
The committee currently has 19 members mainly from medium- sized lubrication manufacturers dealing with automotive and industrial oils. Since 2005, Immo Kosel, Mineralöl-Raffinerie Dollbergen GmbH, Uetze-Dollbergen, has been the chairman of the lubrication committee. Since last year he has been supported by his vice chairman Andreas Mahlich, Zeller + Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG, Mineral Oils – Printing Inks –
Chemistry, Eislingen. One of the main tasks of A. Mahlich is to link the UNITI activities with UEIL in order to adequately represent the interests of the German lubricant industry on a European level.
UNITI membership includes 81 companies who are actively working in the lubricant business. The work of its Lubrication Committee is supported by a manager from both the association UNITI e.V., as well as its 100% daughter company, UNITI Mineral Oil Technology GmbH. UNITI board of directors, Immo Kosel and Andreas Mahlich jointly represent the interests of the UNITI members operating in the lubricants market.
Currently, the Lubrication Committee’s other technical discussions include REACH and GHS and their impact on the mineral oil industry – both of these regulations have a special international focus and the new EU Block Exemption Regulation (BER) for car distribution, which also represents an important European challenge.
In order for the committee to take into account relevant forthcoming political decisions and regulations, which will increasingly be made at the European level, they see the need to push for a stronger European and international orientation of UNITI, to ensure they prepare UNITI members for any significant changes. In this regard they see the exchange of information and the coordination of UNITI delegates in the various UEIL bodies as their main focus at regular meetings of the committee.
An important tool to strengthen this strategy was the successful first internationalisation of the annual UNITI Mineral Oil Technology Congress with 260 participants in 2010. A first class international programme has already been prepared for the next UNITI Mineral Oil Congress on 5th/6th April 2011 and the UNITI Lubrication Committee would like to encourage a large attendance for this Congress.
Mr Edwin Leber, UNITI-Mineralöltechnologie GmbH, Berlin Mr Andreas Mahlich, Zeller + Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG Mineralöle - Druckfarben - Chemie, Eislingen
LINKS
www.uniti.de
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LUBE MAGAZINE No .99 OCTOBER 2010
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