trailer world issue One 2008

Title “The strip from which these hubcaps used to be produced was 2.75 mm thick,” explains Rolf-Konrad Hoﬀmann (53). “Today a 1.5 mm dual-phase steel is entirely adequate.” The Purchasing Manager responsible for steel and axle proﬁles has worked for BPW for 32 years, and he knows the steel business in- side out. Whereas highly stressed parts of the vehicle such as air suspension hanger brackets are produced from micro-alloyed steels, softer steels such as DD11 deep-drawing steel can be used in other areas. “Lasts for ever,” is steel expert Hoﬀmann’s response to a question about the lifespan of the BPW hubcap. The use of thinner, high-strength steels in vehicle construction has other positive side eﬀects: Because of the weight reduction, a greater payload can be carried and CO2 emissions are lower. Top-quality steels from the steel kitchen in Salzgitter, such as the dual-phase steel DP600, stretch the laws of physics to the limit. The material can be worked, and in the process it develops excel- lent strength in the ﬁnished component. The result is, for example, optimum impact properties such as are sought after in car construction. “Workability has become the triumph of steel,” explains market- ing boss Bross, and points out another outstanding property: “At the end of the process there is a fully recyclable product.” Around 10,000 tonnes of steel are supplied by Salzgitter AG, the group of which Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH is a part, to BPW every year. “Our market is the niche,” explains Bross. Producing three mil- lion tonnes of ﬂat steel per year, Salzgitter supplies specialities for in- dustry, “delicacies” such as S700MC, steels with excellent machining and material properties. “The product is not everything,” says Salzgit- ter Flachstahl Company Secretary Dr. Jürgen Harland. “You also have to be able to present the processes as outstanding. For example, when it comes to delivering a steel coil to the other end of the world with perfect precision.” Because logistics costs play an ever more important role in the highly competitive steel market, Salzgitter has fundamentally restruc- tured its processes in the last two years. Since the start of the year the former transport and shipping department has borne the name usual among logisticians: Logistics & Supply Chain Management. Together with Gerhard Kosubek, the Head of Shipping Control, and with dis- patchers and schedulers on behalf of the customers, the processes were closely examined and turned on their heads. In Dr. Jürgen Harland, the team has gained a USP: today the com- pany is probably the ﬁrst logistics operation that also produces steel. The key words are volume ﬂexibility in the timeline. In a produc- tion facility with over 90 % capacity utilisation, it is usually diﬃcult to respond to customer requirements that are changed at short no- tice. “You simply can’t do that by parcel post,” emphasises Harland. »Workability has become the triumph of steel.« Dr. Sebastian Bross (38) doesn’t want to sell just anything. For Salzgitter Flachstahl he has found the “steel specialities” niche. Photos:Pusch,Lenke 8 Issue One 2008

trailer world issue One 2008

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