"Dry ice is so versatile that we don’t focus exclusively on individual sectors"

ASCO: Mr Heiner, to begin with, could you give us an insight into the company ‘Achim Heiner Dry Ice’? As well as filling carbon dioxide cylinders for beverages, you also offer dry ice via online delivery. How did these business areas come about, and how do they compare in terms of size?
We have been in this business for 14 years now. For the past two years, we have been running the company exclusively with our own family members. This enables us to supply our customers with fresh dry ice at very short notice and at any time of the day or night. Our main business lies in dry ice delivery for industry. The online sale of dry ice and the filling of carbon dioxide cylinders for private customers is only a smaller business area that we run on the side.

ASCO: Which sectors do you mainly supply?
Our most important industrial sectors currently include plant and mechanical engineering, but the automotive sector, research and the food industry are also of great interest to us. However, the use of dry ice is so versatile that we do not focus exclusively on individual sectors. We also frequently supply customers involved in the restoration of classic cars. We are also active in machine cleaning for the plastics industry, where we use specialised dry ice techniques. Furthermore, we offer solutions for deburring and surface treatment required across various industrial sectors. We also play a crucial role in the transport of medicines by maintaining the cold chain with dry ice, even during long transport times.

ASCO: Do you see any specific dry ice applications where there is currently particularly high demand for your products?
Our customers are primarily interested in two areas of application that we can particularly highlight. Firstly, this includes the pre- and post-processing of components and parts, particularly with regard to deburring and cleaning. Secondly, we offer solutions for cleaning production machinery and tools. A key advantage of using dry ice is that it leaves no residues, such as chemicals or water/moisture, which is of great benefit to numerous industrial sectors.

By using food-grade CO₂ in our dry ice, we can also operate within the food industry. This enables, for example, the cleaning of production machinery or the maintenance of the food cold chain, which represents a further advantage of our technology.

ASCO: You are now producing dry ice using the ‘ASCO Pelletizer P28i’. You have replaced an older model with this one. What is the advantage of the new pelletiser?
We opted for the ASCO ‘Pelletizer P28i’ because we wanted to significantly reduce our production times. Several tonnes of dry ice leave our production facility every day, which used to take a great deal of time. With the new P28i production machine, we have been able to reduce the time by about half.

ASCO: You opted for an ‘old-for-new’ exchange deal and traded in an old ASCO Pelletizer. How did you find out about this?
We received the offer for a trade-in as part of our enquiry to ASCO. After careful consideration of whether we wanted to keep our old machines as a backup, we decided to accept the offer. This decision was largely influenced by the benefits that the trade-in entailed. In particular, the discount granted as a result and the fact that we no longer had to dispose of the old machines represented significant advantages for us.

ASCO: What are your goals and planned projects for 2024?
We are committed to continuously expanding our customer base and building new relationships with potential customers. Our aim is to make our services accessible to a wider audience and to share our expertise across various industries. Through the strategic expansion of our customer base, we aim not only to strengthen our market presence but also to create the opportunity to convince even more customers of the value of our products and services.

Achim Heiner Dry Ice