In the newly opened AZ webshop, our customers can choose from around 850 articles in six categories. And the best thing is: a dynamic product finder leads directly to the right product or the right variant, without any lengthy search. We will soon be adding the “Spare parts” category to our range.

The store offers flexible and secure payment options – whether by credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay or conveniently on account (for verified customers) – so that shopping is just as convenient as the product selection.

Initially, the online store will only ship within Germany.

Try out the store now at az-armaturen-shop.com

AZ Armaturen South Africa celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025! The site was AZ’s first foreign production facility (est. 1985)

To mark the 30th anniversary of AZ Armaturen do Brasil, the successful development of the company was celebrated with a festive and memorable event. International guests from the entire AZ Group came together to honor this important milestone. The program began with a two day LATAM sales conference.

The highlight of the celebrations was the main event on Friday with around 280 guests consisting of employees, partners and customers. In a festive setting, the AZ owner and CEO Mr Wisser thanked Alexander Schmidt for his successful 27 years as Managing Director of AZ Armaturen Brasil. Furthermore, three employees were honored for their achievements: Luis Fernando (Sales Manager), Alex Fernando (Engineering & Production Manager) and Noeld Cangussú (Foundry Manager).

The topics of environmental protection and slowing global warming are becoming increasingly important in the market for valves. This is why there are new, stricter standards worldwide, such as TA Luft Rev 2021, ISO 15848 or API 641. Our special valves with FSN-EF sealing in sizes DN15 to DN400 (½‘’ to 16‘’) are now certified according to ISO 15848-1 from -29°C to +230°C in accordance with the highest tightness class A. The special valves remain tight to the atmosphere under high mechanical loads and temperature changes, even without readjusting the stem seal. We are also working on certification down to -45°C, for which test series are currently being carried out.

SABIC Technical Meeting took place in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, from 26th to 30th January. AZ Armaturen was also represented here by Paulo Araujo and Tim Zeiser. The Middle East is a growing market for AZ Armaturen, which is why we are now regularly represented there.

From 28th to 31st January 2025, AZ Armaturen was represented by our French colleagues from AZ Armaturen France at the SEPEM trade fair in Douai in northern France. It was the first participation in the SEPEM trade fair series, but the stand was fully equipped with many exhibits and was well attended. Thumbs up for our colleagues from AZ Armaturen France!

The AZ Armaturen Headquaters in Mönchweiler once again had a great New Year’s party in January with good food and a fun supporting programme. The official part of the event included a review of the year and a look ahead, as well as honouring several company anniversaries.

From 2nd to 6th September, AZ-Armaturen South Africa exhibited at Electra Mining 2024, where Volker Knoth’s team received an Innovation and New Product award for the AZ Low-Emission Plug Valve type FSN-EF. AZ Armaturen South Africa gave away unique biodegradable lanyards and “Garden in a box” items containing vegetable, fruit, and herb seeds, which intrigued visitors. The event was a great success, combining new customer connections and this exciting award.

At SMM Hamburg, a leading maritime technology trade fair, our booth saw strong attendance as the team showcased AZ plug valves and advanced valve technologies. Visitors connected with our AZ valve experts to explore cost-efficient, solutions designed to meet demanding industry needs and improve system performance.

AZ France’s own Service Center is now taking shape! In the near future, AZ plug valves can be repaired and serviced here. With this additional service location approx. 100 km south of Lyon, our local customers can benefit from AZ’s global service even faster than before!

At this year’s summer party on 19 July in Mönchweiler, there was again plenty on offer for young and old: from the bouncy castle and volleyball to the, as always, excellent food. The weather was a little unstable, but nevertheless everybody enjoyed the event.

The 3rd AZ Soccer Cup took place on 12 July 2024 in Mönchweiler as part of FC Mönchweiler’s summer festival. Eight teams participated, two more than previous years, despite challenging weather.

The finals were especially intense, with two placement matches decided by 9-meter shoot-outs. Team STEIN Automation 2 claimed first place.

Final Top 3 Placings:

• 1st: Stein Automation 2
• 2nd: AZ-Armaturen 2
• 3rd: Duravit

Thanks to all teams for their commitment. The positive feedback ensures excitement for next year’s 4th AZ Cup!

AZ Thailand’s new service center in Rayong was officially opened on March 1st. The ceremony included a blessing by Buddhist monks, a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony and good food. Together with our most important customers from the region, celebrations later continued on the beach in the evening.

AZ Armaturen France now has its own building. The move was necessary because Benjamin Selosse’s team has grown to include Alexandre Sliwa and Yannick Belin and is also handling more orders.

The AZ Service Centre UK, headed by Tim Clare and his wife Marie, has also relocated and is now based in Roecliff, York, north of Leeds.
We wish both teams in France and the UK good prospects for growth and much success

At the AZ Armaturen New Year’s party at the Technikmuseum in St. Georgen (Museum of Technology in St. Georgen), the successful 2023 financial year was bid a festive farewell and the new year 2024 was welcomed. CEO Jörg Wisser expressly thanked the employees for their hard work. As Jörg Wisser emphasized, motivated and qualified specialist staff are the basis for our successful company. As part of the New Year celebrations, a total of 16 employees were honored for 10 to 30 years of service.

At the traditional company New Year’s celebration at the beginning of January in the Technology Museum in St. Georgen, CEO Jörg Wisser expressly thanked the employees for their commitment.

44 long-serving employees with 10 to 40 years of service were honoured for their achievements – a total of 600 years of experience and commitment to AZ Armaturen.

AZ Armaturen is also in its anniversary year – 60 years of AZ! – with further celebrations and activities taking place throughout the year 2023.

AZ Armaturen headquaters and parent production plant has achieved a high degree of energy independence and sustainable electricity generation.

The installed photovoltaic system on the rooftops of the headquaters’ buildings has a capacity of 770 kW (peak), while power usage is approx. 500 kW (including production floor). As a result, AZ Headquaters Mönchweiler produces 100% of its own energy consumption in summertime when peak solar can be attained. Averaged over the entire year, bad winter weather included, the photovaltaic system covers about 50% of the electric power needs of AZ Armaturen in Mönchweiler.

Initiated by AZ Armaturen Brazil, the international AZ organization now has a representation in Bogotá, the capital city of Columbia.

Our new local representative is Alejandro Stepkowski. He will be focusing on expanding our customer portfolio in Colombia, the 3rd most populous country in South America and 3rd largest GDP in the continent. It has a very diversified industrial market, and we will focus on the petrochemical, chemical, pharma, steel and paper mills and coffee markets.

Since he worked for AZ in the USA before and has 20+ years in the Oil & Gas industry, we are convinced Alejandro is the right person for this job.

AZ Armaturen Thailand is a 100% subsidiary of AZ Armaturen since 2021 (2012-2021 it was a joint venture). Since then a lot has changed for general manager “Toni” Ananatporn Buangoen and his team: they gained new team members as well as a new and bigger, AZ owned building in Rayong, in the Region of the capital city Bangkok.

After long preparations, ValveWorld 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany finally took place. Equipped with a newly designed booth and some updated digital media, our team welcomed our new and existing customers and friends.

AZ Armaturen South Africa supported the ILOVEBOOBIES nonprofit charity which educates and performs clinical screenings for South African women who have limited funds and access to medical facilities.

AZ Armaturen South Africa’s donation to this charity contributes to the early detection of breast cancer as every woman who is screened is given a pair of socks which serves as her reminder to selfexamine each time she wears them.

As breast cancer awareness also is an effort to reduce the stigma of breast cancer, AZ Armaturen South Africa’s team proudly wore these bright colourful socks on their “Shorts & Socks Friday” . What a fun afternoon it was whilst supporting a very good cause.

After setting up our AZ Armaturen representation in the region, we participated in ADIPEC Exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

It was our first time on this event series, so we didn’t know what to expect, but everything went really well! Our booth attracted a lot of guests and many visitors were very interested in our AZ plug valves. For a first time attendance, ADIPEC definitively was a success.

ADIPEC is held annually, and we’ve already booked for 2023’s edition – the Middle East is gaining in importance as a business area, so AZ Armaturen needs to be present in the region as well.

AZ ARMATUREN GMBH was founded in 1963 by Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Wisser.
Today, the family business is in its second generation under the management of Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Wisser.

60 years AZ Armaturen – a reason to celebrate.

More about the history of AZ Armaturen GmbH

At the Black Forest Bike Marathon 2022 (September 10 and 11, 2022) in Furtwangen, a team of AZ Armaturen Headquaters in Mönchweiler participated.
The weather was suitable for the event as it was not too warm and not too cold, so the starting conditions were favourable.

Our colleagues successfully completed the distances of 60 and 42 kilometres  respectively, almost without any mishaps, and thus reached 6th place in the company
ranking (teams of up to 10 members).  Our colleague Caleb Kieninger reached 2nd place in the individual ranking over a distance of 90km with 174 participants on
this route.

Congratulations, Team AZ!

The Kwa-Zulu Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE) in Durban is held every two years – normally. AZ Armaturen South Africa was already registered for the 2021 trade fair. However, the event has been postponed to February 2022 due to the Covid19 pandemic. A little over 60 leads were generated, some even being detailed requests. Some leads have already been converted into offers. All participants were satisfied with the result and what they had achieved. AZ will be back next year in June when the show returns to its original pre-pandemic schedule.

For one of the largest manufacturers of nutritional supplements for animal feed worldwide, who is using AZ plug valves, we conducted a speed repair.

Like every 5 years, the ammonia line had to be serviced, as did the first half of the valves involved: a total of 23 valves and 21 actuators. The catch: the repair had to be completed in under 10 days, including pickup and delivery. Thanks to the active commitment of our international team, lead by Benjamin Selosse, the repaired valves were back in the factory three days before the deadline.

The customer is impressed with our work and was able to complete the maintenance on time. The maintenance and repair of the second half of the valves follows in October. No problem with AZ!

The valves were in use for about 10 years, the total of five 20″ and 16″ plug valves with full bore design at our customer’s plant (manufacturer of polypropylene and polyethylene).

Now the valves have been completely overhauled while the customer‘s plant was in a planned maintenance shutdown, starting at the end of April. In the meantime, the valves have been delivered to the customer and reinstalled, where they continue to function reliably as is expected of AZ Armaturen. Repair time at AZ Mönchweiler was 3 weeks only.

On the recently acquired building next to the AZ Armaturen main plant, a solar system with 270 kW output (for self-consumption) was recently installed and thus complements the area-wide equipment of the main plant with photovoltaics, which already provides a nominal output of 422 kW (of which 266 kW self-consumption). Overall, the output of the photovoltaic systems on the roofs of the AZ buildings in Mönchweiler amounts to 692 kW, of which the AZ main plant consumes up to 536 kW itself.

Due to the pandemic, the spring sales conference could not be held as a face-toface event, so instead there was again an online conference with several sessions. We have learned a lot from past digital events, and so the spring sales meeting was well prepared and equipped, so that, in addition to screen sharing, live lectures were also possible with green screen, for example. The conference was a success overall, with up to 50 participants at the same time (in the international session), which is significantly more than as faceto- face event. Although it was still a rather unusual situation, the participation in the presentations was good and the feedback consistently positive.

Our newly designed valve type CARTRIDGE-N offers fast service for welded plug valves as well as optimization of inline service

Typ CARTRIDGE-N
Forged steel plug valve with weld-ends and aligning pins for fast, easy and above all safe installation and maintenance

Your advantages using CARTRIDGE-N:

• Block design with special cartridge
  for fast service
• no incorrect installation due to aligning pins
• no special tools required
• maintenance possible for valves which are difficult to access

AZ-Armaturen South Africa turned 35 years old end of 2020 – congratulations on the anniversary! AZ valves have been manufactured and repaired in Boksburg near Johannesburg for customers in countries south of the Sahara since 1985.

A big anniversary celebration was not possible due to Covid-19 restrictions, so there was a „braai“ (a South African barbecue) for the employees of AZ- Armaturen South Africa and Trident Plastics during their year-end meeting.

Congratulations, Team South Africa!
Stay healthy, and to a successful future!

Following „Safety First“, the new slogan was presented at the last sales meeting::

engineered. fast. dynamic.

It expresses:

engineered
special solutions such as the double valve type DAR „two in one“ with standard length is what defines our engineering services and craftsmanship

fast
faster than the competition – large stocks (cast blanks and valves in the finished goods warehouse) and a good supply chain as well as a high degree of vertical integration make AZ the faster choice

dynamic
understanding and fulfilling the needs of our customers, as well as well-trained employees and modern equipment allow us to react accurately to new challenges

Safety remains our mission of course, even though our new slogan doesn´t mention it explicitly.

AZ Armaturen GmbH in Germany manufactures valves that meet the highest GMP requirements (GMP = Good Manufacturing Practice). For example, our customers use our GMP-compliant AZ Vario sampling system in an aseptic, pharmaceutical application with clean room conditions in accordance with EU GMP requirement zone A. This is the highest possible GMP class for operations with “high risk”, and designating for example areas with open ampoules. AZ Armaturen is appropriately equipped to be able to supply products for such applications, including (among others)

• special clean room assembly area
• individual tools
• trained assembly personnel
• packaging according to clean room requirements

The entire process is continuously and closely documented and monitored by AZ quality control, and was well received and commended by our customers.

In addition to the conventional on-site factory inspections, AZ Armaturen in Mönchweiler, Germany now also offers inspections using Photo Documentation as well as location-independent, real-time Remote-Live Inspection. In both cases, factory visits by the customer are not required.

Photo Documentation is currently used very often and is very popular with customers, as everything is immediately recorded in writing and with pictures. The inspection and test procedure is determined in advance between the customer and AZ Armaturen and is then processed and documented in the factory by the AZ inspection assistant.

When using Remote-Live-Inspection, the tests carried out in the factory are transmitted in real time to the customer’s inspector via a video headset which is carried by the AZ inspection assistant. The customer’s inspector can give verbal instructions to the AZ inspection assistant and can highlight details on drawings and on still images, which appear on a display on the headset of the AZ inspection assistant.

Both variants can be carried out for customers from all over the world, can be planned at short notice, are flexible in terms of time and can be carried out quickly; there is also a cost saving due to the elimination of travel expenses.

AZ Armaturen Eurasia in St. Petersburg, Russia, celebrated with a grand opening the new service center and workshop on December 6th.
The first AZ valve repaired in St. Petersburg was painted gold and is being reinstalled at our customer’s plant.
For our customers in Russia, the opening of the Service Center is an important step: now they have not only local contacts, but can also have valves repaired more quickly and cost-effectively. AZ Armaturen congratulates our Russian team and wished great success with the new service & repair center.

The fair went very well, the stand was well received and had a lot of visitors. AZ Valves is now often even recognized, although AZ in the US compared to other major manufacturers there is more of a novice.

Our on-site team took the time to engage in in-depth discussions about solutions that AZ can realize for customers. For the next time AZ Valves is aiming for a bigger stand (currently 6x3m, in the future 6x6m) to show the growth of our branch in the USA with a little exhibition space.

International exhibition of technologies and innovations for the mining industry

AZ Armaturen Chile proudly participated in the 2019 Exponor Chile fair organized by our longstanding colleague Camilo Umpierrez.

Exponor is an exhibition of global technology and innovation for the mining industry that takes place every two years in Antofagasta, Chile. Exponor is widely recognized as an international mining show, with the advantage of being held in Antofagasta, a region at the heart of Chile’s mining industry which accounts for 54% of the country’s total metallic and non-metallic mineral production, including 16% of copper production. The region’s productivity will be supported up to 2025 by a portfolio of investment projects with US$ 49 million, according to the Chilean Copper Commission, Cochilco.

AZ Armaturen Eurasia has recently moved to a new office, gained a new team member and now also got green lights for their very own AZ Service Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our dual university programme student T. Zeiser (AZ Germany) will do a pracital semester abroad in St. Petersburg from September to December and help setting up the Service Center.

AZ Taicang represented us at the 11th AchemAsia, with a team combining technical expertise and sales force. The team collected more than 100 leads consisting of end users, EPCs and equipment manufacturers.

Some of them heard about plug valves for the first time, some already knew AZ before. AchemAsia helped them to better understand our valves, and to become aware of our customer-oriented technical solutions. As usual, our sampling systems and special valves were the most interesting points for our visitors. After evaluating the collected contacts and data AZ Taicang will utilize them to explore the arising business opportunities.

For the first time, AZ Armaturen Italia exhibited at the IVS Bergamo Industrial Valve Summit in Bergamo, Italy. The two show days were full of valve experts from around the globe. Luigina Agostinone and Marta Verona were supported by Steffen Häring and Erich Ermel and made a lot of new contacts – from Italian EPC’s and end-users up to Australian resellers. Italy remains a global valve hot spot and the outcome of the exhibition has convinced us to re-book for 2021.

Our team attended NefteGaz in Moscow also this year. Focus of the trade fair are among others transportation, storage and processing of oil and gas. Accordingly, our booth was mainly visited by operators of Russian refineries such as Rosneft, Tatneft, Lukoil, Gazprom; the discussions and inquiries were typical for the industry and centered around sampling of oil-water mixtures and lubricating oil with Contiflow and Sampling-SIC, as well as our valve types DBI for double block and bleed with only one valve, HM heating jacket, HF for alkylation and full bore valves.

As expected, the fair went well, and AZ Armaturen Eurasia’s expanding team is currently facing new tasks and challenges. The next trade fair to be attended will take place in September, the Khimia 2019 (also in Moscow), which mainly attracts the chemical and petrochemical industry.

The Danish company Swire Blue Ocean A/S operates special vessels for the installation of offshore wind farms.

These can be used to transport and install offshore foundations, poles and generators into water depths up to 60 m.These can be used to transport and install offshore foundations, poles and generators into water depths up to 60 m. For these vessels AZ Armaturen has supplied ball check valves. There are used to avoid overflow of collecting containers (waste tanks) which contain spilled oil and temporarily rainwater.

• P Pressure:
• T Temperature -10 to 30 ° CM
• Medium oil / water mix
• AZ Valves Lined ball check valve, type GLOBUS, DN50, Material: ductile iron with  PFA lining and PTFE hollow ball

The Inline-Sampling-Valve Type CONTIFLOW with pressureless sampling at definable sample volume can also be equipped with sensor technology. During the process the flow is neither interrupted nor are there any particles disturbing the flow as is, for instance, the case with sampling valves. The sensor system automatically activates and controls the sampling with freely programmable sample volumes and/or cycles. A sample level controller prevents the bottle from overfilling. The PLC-system can either be programmed manually or easily integrated within the existing control system.

The sustained positive business development in Russia over the last years led to the establishment of our own subsidiary in St Petersburg. OOO AZ Armaturen Eurasia has started operations in December 2014 and now moved into its own offices. This ensures faster and more thorough consultancy at engineering companies and on-site services. Further information are available on the website www.az-eurasia.ru where you can also order completely revised AZ catalogues in Russian.

After the 2006 expansion, AZ Armaturen GmbH is again enlarging its production areas at the Mönchweiler site. With today’s ground-breaking ceremony for the new production hall, an additional 2500 square meters will be provided. “The growth and the increasing requirements of our customers require this construction measure”, explains Jörg Wisser, Managing Director of the AZ Group.

For example, international customers include the chemicals, petrochemicals and fertiliser industries, as well as power plants and operators of sea water desalination plants that want to further increase plant capacity with valve diameters of up to 600 mm. The newly acquired sales sectors for production of ultra-pure silicon for the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries and the food industry also require special oil-free and grease-free production areas. “The new construction provides room for an improved work process, so that we can respond to customer requests more quickly and with greater flexibility.” explains Wisser, substantiating the new investment.

With approximately 100 employees, the special valves are designed, produced and marketed at the Mönchweiler location. AZ followed its internationally active customers into the growth markets early on. This is why, in addition to the headquarters in Mönchweiler, the AZ-Group also manufactures its valves in Brazil, China and South Africa with a total of 360 employees.

In the course of the recertification of the ISO 9001 Certificate, the newly introduced environmental management system, in accordance with ISO 14001:2004, was also successfully tested and certified. The international environmental management standard ISO 14001 specifies requirements recognized worldwide for an environmental management system.

The standard contains environmental key indicators or environmental performance evaluations and particularly emphasizes continuous improvement processes of environmental performances.

Robust valve AQUA-P for sampling drinking water in accordance with ordinance DVGW W511

The 1/4″ small AQUA-P valve is designed for hygienic-microbiological sampling of drinking water in accordance with DVGW Ordinance W 551.

Buildings used publicly and commercially must be systematically tested once a year for Legionella bacteria in the building insulation. The robust stainless steel valve, with soft-sealing PTFE sealing bush, is maintenance free and can be relied on for many years. Germs cannot form in the cavity-free stainless steel AQUA-P valve; this is the absolute prerequisite for unadulterated, representative sampling.

In 2013, the enterprise AZ Armaturen looked back over 50 years of company history. AZ supplies industrial valves for production plants in the chemicals and petrochemicals industry, nuclear power plants, pharmaceuticals and paper industry, and for food production, seawater desalination plants and many other application areas.

The enterprise was founded in 1963 by Dipl.-Ing Gerhardt Wisser. Right from the start, he specialized on soft-sealing, cavity-free plug valves and special solutions in industrial facilities. New valve types for more economic production facilities were developed together with the customers. The company reacted to the increasing requirements of the industry with larger diameters up to DN 600/24″, as well as higher pressures up to PN 160/class 1500 and innovative product developments.

Additional product impetus through the use of new materials and innovative production processes are the cornerstones of the company’s growth. Thus, by the mid-1970s AZ produced the first FEP/PFA lined valves in the transfer moulding process. Different product patents, e.g. for sampling systems, also underscore the high level of the development engineers at AZ.

The extensive line of metallic plug valves, sight glasses, as well as sleeved plug valves/ball valves, dampers, filters and check valves is just one part of the product portfolio. In recent years, the system offerings for sampling stations, control valves, automation and extensive special manufacturing have been the particular sales focus.
“We want to be a competent partner for the most rigorous demands for our customers,” states Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Wisser, Managing Partner of the AZ-Group for almost 20 years. He has consistently pursued the production policy that his father had initiated and has driven it forward: AZ is a specialist for technically demanding special valves.
This strategy requires the establishment of international sale structures and production facilities in order to follow the customers into the future markets. Today AZ produces at four locations. In addition to the headquarters site in Mönchweiler/Germany, the firm also produces in Brazil, South Africa and China with a total of 350 employees. This globalization will be further pursued in years to come.