Ebema
Ebema is a leading name in the provision of concrete paving products
Aestethic strength
Ebema is a leading name in the provision of concrete paving products
The Belgian family business can trace its roots back to 1946, when it began its life as a wholesaler of building materials, before growing into a widely regarded supplier of high quality, concrete paving products for public spaces. Its aesthetically designed products have found applications across a range of locations including, bus stops, swimming pools and cemeteries as well as numerous village and town centres across Benelux, Germany and France.
Today, Ebema is active within two key markets specialising in concrete paving products for public authorities, municipalities, engineering offices and contractors under the Ebema brand name, while its Stone & Style brand delivers products for garden, terraces and other outdoor applications. This range is distributed exclusively through construction dealers throughout Belgium, The Netherlands and France.
With a workforce of 200 highly competent employees operating across two locations in Zutendaal and Rijkevorsel, Ebema is able to achieve a turnover of €40 million in its main markets within its home country of Belgium as well as the Netherlands, France and Germany. Key to this success has been the firm’s dedication to forming long-term relationships with its clients, as CEO Jan Panis explains: “The basis for a long-standing customer relationship is to provide an excellent quality coupled with an outstanding service at the right price. Additionally, Ebema pays close attention to training customers and we like to maintain strong, personalised contact with the company’s clients.
“We build a long-lasting collaboration with our suppliers in order to achieve a win-win relationship and we intend to continue to achieve this by pursuing a spirit of open cooperation.”
One of the ways that Ebema maintains its close ties with its customers and suppliers is through the organisation of company visits. The company opens its doors to visiting groups of around 25-30 people from various associations, enterprises, institutions and schools where visitors can ask professional Ebema guides questions regarding the company and the products important to them.
Ebema has also invested significantly to ensure it has the very best in production facilities. Its plant in Rijvevorsel is specialised in the construction of customised, tailor-made products, such as prefab elements for railways, dyke reinforcements as well as smooth objects made of self-compacting concrete.
During October 2013, the company announced the opening of its new facility in Zutendaal. The €20 million project brings with it increased capacity, an ultramodern colorlab and office facilities as well as a new factory setting covering 7000 square metres. The colorlab is the ideal location for Ebema to work in collaboration with architects and designers to develop new products, with a range of over 200 different materials and surface finishes. In addition to this, new machining facilities offer increased productivity through the development of several time saving measures. “Individuals, architects and public clients want increasingly distinguished unique design, colours, finishes and combinations of them,” says Jan. “In time we will even be able to produce on a project basis, which is a revolutionary concept.
“Two very time-consuming steps in the production process were drastically curtailed. The automatic exchange of molds takes only five minutes; the previous manual process took 30 minutes and cleaning the machine now also runs partly automatically. Through these innovations Ebema offers a unique concrete factory in Europe, nowhere else can be so fast to respond to the changing needs of the market.”
During 2013, Ebema’s new aesthetic grass concrete flag Aviena Circle was used to tremendous effect in France’s Mantes-la-Jolie. The €410 million urban renewal project saw five large apartment buildings demolished, 2500 houses renovated and 250 new businesses housed as well as the repair of roads, planting of trees and installation of an ultra-modern pool. The Aviena Circle concrete flag was co-created by Ebema and French architect Maxime Saisse to provide a seamless integration between functional permeable paving and the natural environment.
Aviena Circle has attracted a great deal of interest from within the industry through high-profile projects like Mantes-la-Jolie and numerous trade shows, as Jan elaborates: “Architects and engineering offices are impressed by the product and see the added value that it can offer in the landscaping of outdoor spaces. The Aviena Circle is also greatly appreciated at exhibitions and product launch presentations and the first projects using the flag are underway. It is strongly felt that the Aviena Circle is a product that can give an extra touch to projects.”
Another important product to emerge has been the introduction of the company’s Megategels. Ebema was the first company to respond to consumer demand for greater freedom to enjoy their gardens and introduced flags 1x1m in size to accommodate increasingly elegant design. “The garden has become an extension of the home,” Jan explains. “Just as the home is decorated in a certain atmosphere, attempts are made to distinguish the garden. It is therefore no coincidence that trend-conscious consumers and landscaping architects are extremely charmed by the collection of large flags of Stone & Style by Ebema. The Megategel collection makes it possible to design a garden fully tailored to a client’s house style.”
As it moves into 2014, Ebema will look to increase its reputation and reach in new geographic markets as well as developing new and innovative product lines. “Further collaborations with designers and architects abroad could play an important role in this,” Jan confirms. By increasing its global foot print and product portfolio in conjunction with a dedicated approach to treating its staff as the ‘first ambassadors’ of the company, Ebema is laying a strong path that will take it far into the future.
Ebema
Services: Leading concrete paving products