When did you decide to pursue engineering?
Geipel: [Laughing] Ancient times, back in school.
What inspired you to become and engineer?
Geipel: I really enjoyed math, science, and physics, and I didn’t like Languages, so I went with Mechanical Engineering.
What need did you see in industry that lead to the idea of the Hiflow® ring?
Geipel: There are a lot of patents in the market, and it is very competitive, but there is no current big development in applying fundamental physics in what a packing should do.
How did you come up with the design for Hiflow®?
Geipel: If you look at the packing market, you see a wide variety of shapes, but none that used this design. We saw the need for the patent, and we made it.
What, in your opinion, is the most difficult and taxing part of the design process?
Geipel: On one side you have patents; on the other, you must make sure the packing provides a new advantage; and finally, it needs to have a more cost-effective design. Finding an equilibrium between these three is the most important and challenging part of packing development.
Who all helped you in the designing of Hiflow®? (Providing encouragement, design suggestions, helping with the patent, etc?)
Geipel: At the beginning it was a one-person show, but I was determined to make a packing design. Most conversations were with the patent lawyer, who really understood the principles of physics and what I was trying to do. When we got larger, it was a small team and several discussions with clients like BASF. After that, it was collective efforts and hard work to develop our latest patents with the manufacturing team and the design team.
What lead to your decision to own RVT?
Geipel: I am the co-owner with my son, Christian, and Herbert Rüger. I was the main driving force in the Engineering department. I suppose I thought about what I wanted to do after retirement, and how the company needs to be in good hands for the future. So I bought my part of the company so RVT can have an owner who cared and invested in the future with my son being my legacy after I am no longer working.
The Hiflow® ring is now one of several RVT packings. What’s your motivation to keep improving and innovating new products?
Geipel: My motivation is mostly driven by the market. All development in the packing market is currently looking at developing the fourth generation of packing. Can it provide a benefit in special applications and special solutions? For our trays we look for a high capacity and turn down ratio, for our packing we look at distributing the small liquid load across the packing, and how efficient it will run if the liquid is dirty or heavy. We have to keep finding new products that will fulfill the needs of the customers in these special applications.
Would you consider Hiflow® rings to be the greatest success of your career? If not, what is?
Geipel: I would consider my greatest career success to be able to stay in the market for a long period of time and provide outlook for the future. Surviving is a great success given all the ups and downs in a business.
When most companies look to create a North American office, they typically pick large cities full of other corporate offices like New York or Chicago. What lead you to pick Knoxville, TN?
Geipel: The former ownership name of RVT was Rauschert, a technical ceramics company that looked for a US office in 1982 or 83. They established their factory in Madisonville, TN, and decided to implement a product that was no longer made of ceramic. Plastic injection molding began, and we hired an engineer. When we created RVT from Rauschert, we decided to move the engineers to Knoxville. Knoxville is not your typical North American city. It’s large, diverse, has a large University, and has a reasonable cost of living. The only disadvantage for us, is that there are no direct flights form Europe into Knoxville.
Unfortunately, we are still in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. What safety measures have you put in place for each office of RVT to ensure all employees stay at a low risk of exposure?
Geipel: There are different Governments at each site, so naturally there are different regulations at each site. In Germany, you have to pay a fine if you don’t wear a mask when you are outside right now, it is very strict. So what we have done is split the office down the middle, there is a home shift and an office shift that rotates out every week. Our supervision and installation consulting workers must quarantine at home for 5 days, take a COVID test on the 5th day, and if they are negative, they can come back to work. If they are positive, they must stay in quarantine. So far, only two employees have been affected, and all those in contact with them have come back negative.
In China, the rules are even more strict, and so we follow all Chinese rules and guidelines to ensure the safety of all our employees. In the USA, the rules are the same as the rules in Germany. If you must travel, you must quarantine, and take a test after 5 days. The biggest disadvantage is that we can’t travel across continents so that we can meet with other offices for business.
What do you enjoy during your spare time when you aren’t at work?
Geipel: [Laughing] I have a large property to care for, whether I enjoy it or not. I also travel around a lot, during normal times. Everyone in Germany has thirty days of vacation, and most of us enjoy hiking. We have mountains nearby that are very similar to the Smokies in Tennessee.
Beccah Blevins and Abby Newberry conducted the interview.
