Böhler-Uddeholm With New Structure

Print

  • Aim of restructuring is to focus the Special Steel Division more strongly on its key areas of High Performance Metals and Special Forgings in addition to reducing management complexity. 
  • Welding Consumables area will be assigned to the Railway Systems Division. 
  • Precision Strip area will become part of the Profilform Division.

The supervisory board of voestalpine AG has today, Wednesday, agreed extensive restructuring of the Special Steel Division (BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM AG) which will focus the division much more strongly on its key area as a highly specialised, global niche supplier of special steel. The companies of the High Performance Metals and Special Forgings areas will be combined under their own holding company and will form the future Special Steel Division in the voestalpine Group. BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM AG remains this holding company. The Welding Consumables area will be assigned to the Railway Systems Division as an independent area because Welding Consumables is an excellent complement to this division’s product range. The Precision Strip area will become part of the Profilform Division. The new structure will become effective at the beginning of the forthcoming financial year, that is as of 1 April 2010. Aim of restructuring is - as already announced – an increase of productivity and efficiency as well as a stronger focus on fewer key areas.

Until now the BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM Group has controlled the Welding Consumables, Precision Strip and Special Forgings areas through its own intermediate holding and leading companies; the largest area High Performance Metals has been controlled directly by BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM AG. Strong growth in the past and the large number of companies has led to a very complex organisational structure with just short of 190 individual companies. In an optimisation of the Special Steel Division’s sales structure launched this year, a start has already been made on decreasing the number of affiliated companies in order to reduce complexity, tighten up operations and reduce costs.

Reorganisation of the Special Steel Division in Detail
The High Performance Metals and Special Forgings areas have common key segments and customers in power engineering and aviation. At the same time, High Performance Metals is an important supplier of semi-finished products for Special Forgings. As a result of these strong mutual dependencies, the two areas will be merged with BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM AG as the joint leading company. In future they will jointly form the “new” Special Steel Division, which will correspond to around 80% of the sales of the existing Special Steel Division. The responsibilities for production and sales which have been managed jointly so far, will be separated in order to push ahead with the measures necessary in sales, production and logistics.

The reason for reassignment of the Welding Consumables area within the Group is that Welding Consumables has similarities with the wire rod activities of the Railway Systems Division - both in respect of the semi-finished products used and also in terms of processing. There are numerous cross connections and the intention is to develop them in order to improve the joint cost position in the future.

The same applies to the Precision Strip area which has only a few points of contact with the other areas of the Special Steel Division but which fits well into the product range of the Profilform Division. The Precision Strip area’s key competence is a special form of hot strip finishing - that is high-precision cold rolling and further additional processing steps. The Profilform Division is also a niche specialist in the finishing of hot strip which explains the reassignment.

The Four Production Areas of the Previous Special Steel Division
The High Performance Metals area with four steelworks in Austria, Brazil, Germany and Sweden achieved sales of just under EUR 2.6 billion in the last financial year 2008/09 (as of the end of March) and employed a workforce of 10,631. The main products of the High Performance Metals area are tool steel, high-speed steel, valve steel, powder-metallurgically manufactured steel, high quality structural steel and special steels that have to be particularly heat-resistant, tough and corrosion-resistant.

The second area of the Special Steel Division, the Special Forgings area, produces high-quality drop forged parts such as structural components and propulsive unit discs for the aviation industry or turbine blades for the power industry in addition to components for the commercial vehicles industry at two sites in Austria and Germany. In the last financial year, the area achieved sales of around EUR 300 million with a workforce of 866.

The Welding Consumables area - in future part of the Railway Systems Division - is one of the world’s largest universal suppliers of welding consumables with eight production sites in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico and Sweden. In the last financial year, it generated sales of around EUR 530 million with a workforce of 1,872.

The part of the Precision Strip area that will be assigned to the Profilform Division from April 2010 produces steel strip in Austria, Sweden and Spain for the manufacture of saws as well as special steel strip for the paper, knife and watchmaking industry in addition to final products for the shoe and paperboard industry. In the last financial year, the area employed a workforce of 944 and achieved sales of EUR 152 million.


voestalpine Group
voestalpine is a globally active group with a number of specialized and flexible companies that produce, process and further develop high-quality steel products. The Group is represented by 360 production and sales companies in more than 60 countries.

With its highest quality flat steel products, voestalpine is one of Europe's leading partners to the automotive, white goods and energy industries. Furthermore, voestalpine is the world market leader in turnout technology, tool steel and special sections, as well as number one in Europe in the production of rails.

The voestalpine Group generated revenues of EUR 11.6 billion in the business year 2008/09 and employs around 40,000 staff throughout the world.


For further information please contact:
voestalpine AG
Corporate Communications

Gerhard Kürner
T. +43/50304/15-2090
gerhard.kuerner@voestalpine.com

Peter Schiefer
T. +43/50304/15-2397
peter.schiefer@voestalpine.com