Dr. Paul Lohmann is a medium-sized, owner-managed manufacturer and developer of mineral and metal salts headquartered in Emmerthal, Germany. The portfolio includes over 400 different salts with over 7,000 specifications. The company supplies specialty salts worldwide to a wide variety of industry applications, including pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, dietary supplement, animal nutrition, food, cosmetics and industrial. In the Industrial business unit, a new brand identity has recently been introduced. Birgit Megges asked Dr. Paul Lohmann’s Managing Director Jürgen Lohmann about this.

CHEManager: Mr. Lohmann, your company’s Industrial Applications business unit is about to introduce new innovations. How does this division fit into the company as a whole and what role does it play in your business?

Jürgen Lohmann: There are three business units at Dr. Paul Lohmann: Pharma, Food and Industrial Applications. Pharma includes cosmetics and biopharma, and food includes food supplements and animal nutrition.

The business unit Industrial Applications currently accounts for just under 20% of total sales. It’s not so much the internal comparison with the other business units, but rather the growth potential that prompts us to target expansion in this area and give it a distinctive identity with the Lohtragon brand name. Our guiding principle of combining consistently high quality mineral and metal salts with continuous innovation, along with the highest possible customer orientation remains the basis.

What does the realignment look like and what are the reasons behind it?

J. Lohmann: Since September 1, our business unit Industrial Applications has been on the market with around 60 products under the brand name Lohtragon. Melissa Wlost is responsible for the brand launch. To use her words, with the Lohtragon brand we synergize our know-how and expertise in manufacturing, optimization and development of metal salts with the objective of being even more closely aligned to the specific requirements of our industrial customers. Basically, this is not a realignment, but rather a refocusing. The brand identity Lohtragon underlines our efforts to actively re-shape this business area as part of the value-added strategy of the company as a whole.

How will the changes affect your customers?

J. Lohmann: We are convinced that the Lohtragon brand identity will enable us to create an industry-oriented image, to respond even more specifically to the requirements of our customers and to offer them unique solutions to the unique challenges they face in their application areas. For our existing customers, their trusted products and qualities will of course remain fully available. Prospective customers in particular will benefit from the sharper focus on a proven standard portfolio and the option of individual product optimization. With this portfolio mix under the Lohtragon umbrella, we will optimize customer support services like streamlined responsiveness to customer inquiries, customized product recommendations and enhanced product availability. António Neto is one of our experts responsible for technical sales and is directly available for consultation.

Applications are especially diverse in the industrial sector; can you name the main business areas?

J. Lohmann: The diversity makes this area as exciting as it is challenging. We supply customers with applications in the industrial sector such as polymer additives, energy, catalysts, electroplating, surface treatment, automotive, hygiene products, crop protection, fertilizers, construction chemicals, chemical synthesis, glass, ceramics, pigments and many more. We also offer mineral salts that are of interest in a wide range of segments across the board. These include free-flowing agents for the optimum processing of powdered products, aqueous solutions for an optimized production of aqueous end products, and metal salts for adjusting the optimum pH or optimizing the active content… just to name a few.

You not only sell products, but also offer your customers solutions and joint development opportunities. How would you describe such a cooperation?

J. Lohmann: With development projects that go beyond our standard range we distinguish between the different stages. It starts with customer-specific modifications of existing products, like with chemical and/or physical parameters such as the adjustment of particle size, bulk density or dust behavior, and extends all the way to the development of completely new products. In each case we rely on a partnership-based and goal-oriented exchange, in which our experts from the specialist departments are also closely involved.

In which sales markets do you currently see the greatest opportunities for growth?

J. Lohmann: We will expand the variety of applications in line with our capabilities to meet the needs of our customers. We remain flexible in this respect and are always open to new challenges.

Olaf Kirschnick is Head of the business unit Industrial Applications. He and his colleagues see further growth potential in particular through a targeted focus on some core segments, such as energy storage systems like latent heat storage and rechargeable batteries, medical products and synergists for flame retardant systems, among others. In addition, we want to become even more involved in areas that affect us all in the future. To that end, we are initiating specific projects with partners in the areas of environmental protection, sustainability, recycling, circular economies, resource efficiency – especially with regard to energy, water and raw materials – water quality and crop protection.

To what extent have the relevant markets changed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic?

J. Lohmann: The pandemic affects us all especially on a personal level. Of course, there are also influences on our business development, whereby we are currently benefiting from several factors in the area of industrial applications. The market segments we serve are so diverse that, in addition to declining demand in some areas like automotive, there are also areas that are developing positively for us. Our focus on specialty chemicals is invaluable, as is the development of new market segments.