New Construction Innovation Center and Expert Forum Bau

Following opening of the Bensheim Innovation Center, in May 2022, Master Builders Solutions is looking back on a successful year in operation, during which additional new test capacities were created and innovative customer solutions developed.

As market leader in the concrete admixtures sector, the company concentrates comprehensive solutions from construction chemistry segments and supports the development of clinker-reduced concretes. Construction chemistry specialists from Master Builders Solutions help manufacturers of ready-mixed concrete, cement and precast concrete elements, as well as concrete product producers and industrial floor experts, to work more cost-efficiently and sustainably. With its special admixture portfolio, Master Builders Solutions actively supports the establishment of clinker-reduced cements and CO₂-optimized concrete on the market. The specialist company supports its customers in working out optimization concepts for sustainable concrete solutions with expanded services and analytical tools. 

Toward this objective, the Innovation Center, on a site approx. 600 m² in size, offers ideal prerequisites at the Stubenwald Industrial Park in Bensheim for promoting the exchange of sustainability standards and innovations in the context of customer projects, research topics, laboratory experiments and customer events. Here, concrete technologists at Master Builders Solutions advise customers entirely individually and develop solution approaches for optimized use of admixtures for concrete, which in terms of technology and cost-efficiency optimally pay off. The direct connection of the Bensheim Innovation Center to the A67 and A5 motorways – in addition to the existing MBS locations in Stassfurt in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt – offers an easy-to-reach contact point for customers and application engineers from the southern and western parts of Germany, as well as from parts of Austria and Switzerland.

Strengthening innovation capacity and research activities

The heart of the MBS complex is the concrete laboratory where concrete samples are investigated and concrete test specimens are prepared. The laboratory is equipped with extensive technical facilities for strength testing, rheological measurements, investigations of fiber-reinforced concrete components and production simulation of no-slump, immediately demolded concrete products. The information thus gained is intended to support close monitoring of concrete, recognize optimization potentials and ensure uniform concrete quality – also under generally difficult conditions. Together with customers, experts clarify questions concerning the correct choice of admixtures for concrete, select batching and application techniques as well as developing and implementing made-to-measure concepts for a wide variety of construction tasks. Concrete technologists not only advise on the choice of correct admixtures, but also support building during the construction phase. The Bensheim Innovation Center, as approved inspection body, offers consulting engineers and other construction partners who do not have their own capacities and laboratory technology the possibility for certification and concrete testing.

“Providing sustainable solutions is a core element of the Master Builders Solutions portfolio and of our overall strategy. Strong partnerships with our customers and research institutes are essential for developing significant innovations. At our Bensheim Innovation Center, we are working ever more closely with leading players to continuously develop admixtures strong in performance – products that offer our customers added value with long and positive effect on the construction industry,” says Oliver Mazanec, Marketing Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

New Innovation Center in Bensheim

But the Innovation Center is
much more than merely a concrete laboratory. In May, the company welcomed more than 120 guests directly on its grounds for the Construction Expert Forum BAU on the topic “Sustainable Concrete Construction Methods.” The central question was “How can we build more sustainably in the future, and what is the contribution of admixtures to decarbonization of concrete construction methods?” Master Builders Solutions had invited customers and business partners along the entire construction value-added chain, including builders and planners, construction companies, concrete producers, equipment manufacturers and representatives from research institutions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In their presentations and practical demonstrations, guest lecturers and company experts thematically discussed the most important problem areas, new approaches to solutions and product solutions throughout all aspects of sustainable building.

“Our two-day Expert Forum BAU in Bensheim was a complete success and – for our team here – a wonderful opportunity for a personal exchange with specialists from the industry. We were very pleased to present our latest approaches to the ecologic and economic optimization of concrete. It is clear that we must urgently make a combined effort to confront the sustainability challenge in construction. To meet this challenge, we must present to the public the technological innovations in concrete that are already available today: CO₂-optimized concrete, new production technologies, topics involving all aspects of recycling material, preservation of resources, product recycling and waste management etc. Here, at the new site, our Innovation Center assumes a pivotal role, because we intend to strengthen networking with customers and other important actors from the industry to jointly create future-oriented solutions,” says Thomas Breiner, Marketing Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.