PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2014

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Häusserstr. 36 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Doris Fischer : fischer@hbmedia.net Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Waldemar Schmitke Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Roland Loch loch@hbmedia.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49 6201-878925 fax: +49 6201-878926 koepke@hbmedia.net LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Heike Fischer reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr. 25 67354 Römerberg Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | w ww.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 03/14 www.petpla.net dear readers, Mediterranean here we come! At long last the time has come for the Editourmobil to set off on tour again. Following brief stops in Austria and Switzerland, our itinerary will begin in Italy where we are looking forward to visiting companies both large and small in the weeks leading up to Easter. The next stage of the tour will see us in North Africa and Spain. As usual you will be able to follow our progress from the end of March via our online blog. You will recall that we were undecided about the vehicle livery. After much deliberation, we have opted for the big green spaces option. This nearly caused a major upset to the timetable. Instead of two days as planned, our films man took nearly a week to apply the film neatly to all the windows and flaps all around the vehicle. We almost had to postpone the start of the tour! The livery was not the only thing that has changed. The Editourmobil itself has been transformed into a new (old) vehicle. The Laica on an Iveco base served us splendidly during our tours to Russia and the East and the arduous trip through Latin America. It has now gone to a good home in Chile. For our new vehicle we were hoping for a bit more floor space and, primarily, a vehicle without any electronics. Eventually, we came down in favour of a Mercedes Benz 814, built in 1990. The only electronic item in the vehicle is the radio. To put it through its paces and check everything was in order, we took it on a 5,000km trip. We made a couple of minor changes, the first being to fit a large roof light to ensure we had plenty of light. Next we re-worked the electrics, fitted new bat- teries, inverters and a patch panel which ensures we will have a reliable power supply. Another vital element was the router to supply us with WLAN whenever possible and enable us to upload the photographs on to the blog promptly. The pièce de résistance, however, has got to be our own beer and it’s on tap! This is all part of an in-depth experiment we shall be conducting to establish whether PET kegs are suitable for beer. There were several sys- tems to choose from (see article in issue 4/13), and in the end we decided on the Keykeg system, which seemed to us to be the most suitable for our requirements. The system requires no carbon dioxide and a small compres- sor ensures that adequate pressure is maintained between the beer bag and the PET keg. When we are on the move, we have a filler valve availa- ble, which means that we can also take a keg with us on site. In the second stage in the configuration the air pressure for the 2-circuit air braking system comes from the chassis. It is only when the compressed air tanks are empty that the small compressor swings into action. We will report back once we get to this stage. In the meantime, you will be more than welcome to join us in a glass or two of the amber liquid. Yours Alexander Büchler