Franken-Schotter is limestone quarrier and producer, specialized in the quarrying and manufacturing of Jura limestone. The company owns and operates their own quarries in close vicinity to their factories where they produce natural stone products for any purpose.
From facade and flooring panels, to gardening and landscaping products to custom stone works and aggregates for road construction and foundations.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: We are global players, exporting to more than 60 countries worldwide. Our finished natural stone products are used for facades, interior and exterior applications. Jura limestone has excellent technical values and is extremely versatile. It can be used for virtually any application, from high-rise facade, the tallest natural stone tower in the world is clad with Jura limestone and is the Al Hamra Tower in Kuwait, standing more than 400m tall. The stone is also used in high-foot traffic flooring areas such as shopping malls, airports and office buildings. It can also be used in exterior flooring applications in freeze-thaw conditions.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: We are constantly looking for new ways to add value to our natural stone in the form of new products. Be it new finishes on the stone to create different appearances or come up with new anchoring systems to make installation of facade panels more efficient. Our innovation of new products is constantly evolving and never stops.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: Anything and everything that can be made out of natural stone.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: The market is fairly saturated. We have a niche product that is for people who would like to utilize one of the oldest building materials in the world, natural stone.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: We offer limestone in the timeless colors of beige and grey, recently we have seen the trends going towards grey. Linear finishes and applications are also growing in popularity.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: Franken-Schotter was the first company to utilize different finishes of natural stone such as sandblasting or brushing the stone to create different textures, this is now commonplace in the industry. We were also one of the first to construct gabions, called the RAWE Stone box and brought this to the market and have further developed these into FS-noise barriers that are used along highways and railways and shield noise to residential areas. Our most recent innovation is the LINEA facade system which was a joint venture with GFT facades from Switzerland. The system is intended to ease installation of small strips of stone, capitalizing on the linear trends we see in the market today. The system also contributes to the energy efficiency of buildings as it minimizes thermal bridges.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
FRANKEN-SCHOTTER: The outlook for 2022 is very positive. As we control our whole supply chain of raw material, we are somewhat insulated from the problems facing the global supply chain due to the pandemic. Demand for natural stone in the construction industry is very high and we are benefitting from this. We expect to have a solid amount of work for 2022 that will keep our 450 employees busy for 2022.