Issue 3February 2012

Page 2 The Expanded Metal Company: It’s about trust, reliability, service and flexibility

Page 4 Investments in Europe

Page 6 Tata Steel products for climate neutral living

Page 10 Customers value Ympress Laser

IN BUSINESSINdUStry StrIp

thE ExpaNdEd MEtal CoMpaNy

Sharing the bigger picture to increase supply flexibility

Kelly Tidy, accountmanager Tata Steel and Stephen Shears, Managing Director

of the Expanded Metal Company

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Gibraltar Industries Company -owner of The Expanded Metal Company- is a leading manufacturer, processor, and distributor of primarily metal materials for the building, vehicular, and industrial markets.

Gibraltar operates with 84 facilities in 27 US-states, Canada, China, England and Germany. Employees: approximately 4,000.

The Expanded Metal Company (EMC) has been operating successfully for over 120 years. Based at Hartlepool in the north-east of England, EMC and its related businesses offer one of the most comprehensive ranges of expanded metal mesh available anywhere in the world. Large volumes of their products are for market sectors including automotive, agricultural, construction and security. The vast majority of these products are made from material supplied by Tata Steel.

Good relationship“We have a long standing relationship with EMC,” says Tony Waite, Tata Steel’s Commercial Manager, Industry Strip Original Equipment Manufacturers. “We have evolved together and our close relationship has helped us both through organisational changes and turbulent economic times.”

Stephen Shears, Managing Director of The Expanded Metal Company, concurs. “We have worked with Tata Steel for at least 25 years. They have supported our growth – especially in the last ten years. We’ve got a good relationship with them.

“If you take the overall Tata Steel package it’s a good balance of prices, service, flexibility and lead times. Of course, we go out into the market and make sure that they are competitive. Generally, we find that they are. If they’re not, we try to work together to find solutions.”

EMC, owned by American-based Gibraltar Industries since 2006, buys hot-rolled steel to manufacture security products such as perimeter fences and industrial products including machine guards. But its biggest volume from Tata Steel is galvanised steel - used to produce filter support mesh for the automotive industry, mainly for air filters.

“We supply, often on an exclusive basis, the majority of leading automotive filtration

The Expanded Metal Company serves some tough European markets, in which price, flexibility and reliability are critical success factors. In the battle for market territory, The Expanded Metal Company has chosen Tata Steel as its strategic supply partner.

manufacturers in Europe. They are always looking for cost-downs and they want reliability and flexibility. They work in a world of fluctuating demand and short lead times and they measure our performance using strict metrics” , says Stephen.

Increased flexibilityNot surprisingly, EMC measures Tata Steel’s performance using similar metrics. Both companies have worked closely to increase steel supply flexibility and ensure that EMC can meet frequent short lead times. EMC’s ability to meet customer demands is an important factor in its export success – the business recently won a top award for ‘outstanding export’ performance.

Stephen notes: “Tata Steel has become much better at understanding what we do. They ask questions, we’ve learned about each other’s issues and we share the bigger picture. Their communications have improved and we have a common understanding and trust between us. We have also taken advantage of their technical expertise – it’s good to know we can call upon it.”

Tony Waite maintains that Tata Steel’s long experience of the automotive sector has helped both companies to share ‘the big picture’. Kelly Tidy, Tata Steel’s Account Manager for EMC, explains that her frequent discussions with the customer, involvingTata Steel’s customer services and technical teams, have improved communications and service. “I am able to keep Richard Summers, EMC’s Purchasing Manager, in the picture regarding deliveries and we are in a position to respond quickly if there are any potential issues,” she says.

Stephen concludes: “We’re a proactive company, always searching for new markets and developing value-added products. The markets are increasingly competitive.Tata Steel is a good strategic supply partner for us. The challenge we face is to continue our good work together to eliminate waste, think creatively, to protect our UK market and win market share overseas.”

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In the second half of 2012 Tata Steel will carry out probably the largest investment of the year in UK manufacturing – the185 million pounds sterling (221 million euros) rebuild of the No 4 Blast Furnace at the Port Talbot plant in South Wales. The project will leave Port Talbot with two state-of-the-art furnaces and raise iron making capacity. An additional 53 million pounds sterling (63 million euros) project to install equipment to recycle and reuse process gases from the steel making plant will produce another significant contribution to the energy self-sufficiency and sustainability of the Welsh steel industry.

Technology & sustainabilityInvestments to capture and recycle process gases have also been launched elsewhere at Port Talbot. A 60 million pounds sterling (72 million euros) project to reuse Blast Furnace off-gas was completed and put into operation in 2010, while a project to recover waste heat from the Continuous Annealing Process Line will be put into effect later this year.

Improvement programmeTowards the end of last year the company initiated a major improvement programme at the IJmuiden works in the Netherlands.

Over five years a total of around 800 million euros (670 million pounds sterling) is to be spent on hundreds of improvement projects. As well as increasing the efficiency of the production processes, the programme aims at further enhancing product quality. The world-class IJmuiden site will have its capacity increased in order to take full advantage of its ideal location on the coast, close to Europe’s manufacturing heartland.

Tata Steel is determined to continue to innovate, both through its own research activities and through collaborations with third parties, including customers. The company’s understanding of high-temperature technologies, for example, will be enhanced through the new national research facility being set up at the Teesside Technology Centre in conjunction with the Centre for Process Innovation. The new hot strip leveller at Tata Steel’s service centre in Dudley in the UK’s West Midlands is also due to start up this February.

We may be living in uncertain times, but investment and innovation to further improve product quality, process efficiency and quality of service will remain priorities at Tata Steel.

The rebuild of Blast Furnace No. 4 and more investments in Europe

Tata Steel is dedicated to being its customers’ preferred partner by unlocking the potential of steel. To this end, Europe’s second largest steel producer is continuing to invest in its assets, despite the economic headwinds. This year several large-scale capital expenditure projects will take place to maintain technical leadership, make the operations more sustainable and improve the quality and service Tata Steel offers.

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To do business with each other in turbulent economic times like this, trust and relationships are very important. In order to make it through a crisis period like this one and to come out stronger, any company needs to invest and innovate. We are part of the Tata Group: a financially healthy and respected company. A company that has vowed to provide added value to its customers and stands for corporate citizenship for over a century.

Tata Steel continues to innovate, even during these difficult times. Internally, with our research and development departments, product development, investments in technology (see the article on investments in Europe on page 4) and more importantly through projects in which we collaborate with our customers. We want to provide both quality and service. A good example is the relationship we have with The Expanded Metal Company (page 2 and 3) in which we look at the long term and know each others’ businesses. We want to innovate, in order to be prepared for tomorrow. Our customers are very positive about Ympress Laser, a hot-rolled type of steel that is developed to optimise the laser cutting process (page 10).

I also would like to highlight that sustainability is high on our agenda. In addition to European initiatives such as HIsarna, a method for melting iron ore which reduces CO2 emissions up to 40%, sustainability is also associated with tangible products, such as the photovoltaics offered by Tata Steel: roof panels with integrated solar cells, used by up-and-coming architects (page 6).

Freek Schut Director Sales & Marketing, Industry Strip

INNovatIoN IN tIMES oF CrISIS

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An energy neutral homeSUStaINaBlE StEEl

The architectural firm ‘denieuwegeneratie’ (The New Generation) has built an energy neutral home at Huizen in the Netherlands using various products from Tata Steel designed into the project from the early stages.

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An energy neutral home

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The house of Lucas Mol and Sanne Oomen is completely energy neutral. It is not connected to the gas mains, or sewers. Sanne: “We are connected to the electricity grid, in order to provide power - generated by solar panels on the roof - to the electricity grid so as to balance out energy consumption. But overall, we produce more energy than we consume. There will be two electric cars parked in front of the house. They will be able to be charged using the own energy supply of the house.”

The house is heated by burning sawdust. At the bottom of the house is a computer-driven furnace, which converts wood pellets (compressed sawdust) into heat. Water from the shower is recycled. The toilets are flushed with this water, after the heat has first been recovered (www.denieuwegeneratie.nu).

An energy neutral home

SUStaINaBlE StEEl

“The entrance of this energy neutral home is made of Tata Steel’s products,” says architect Sanne Oomen of the architectural firm ‘denieuwegeneratie’ (the new generation), while showing a scale model. “One side of the house is dug into a hill and needs robust support. Appearances also count. Dutch profiler Laura Metaal provided us with hot-rolled material,” she explains.

tata StEEl prodUCtS For SUStaINaBlE CoNStrUCtIoN

Tata Steel produces a wide variety of steel-based construction products which are used in many sustainable buildings. Many of these are specifically designed to minimise the energy use of buildings.

Using the sunProduct: Aluplus Solar: photovoltaics. Product: Prisma coated roof panels and Solon photovoltaics Product: FischerTerm Solar system (Schüco product)

Generate your own energy with roof panels containing integrated solar cells

Lightweight steel-frame constructionProduct: Star-Frame Solutions. A prefabricated steel structure in any desired shape or size

A green roofProduct: Kalzip Nature Roof

Cooling without energyProduct: E=MC2

Energy storage in the roof

Thin but properly insulated walls, floors and ceilings with integrated heating systemsProduct: Comflor Thermo Active: ceilings/floorsProduct: SAB profile sandwich panels Product: (thermo active) Quantum floors. Lightweight floors

Warm wallsProduct: Comfort Vite. Invisible heating system

For further information, check www.tatasteelconstruction.com or contact your account manager.

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Tony, has worked in a variety of sales and marketing roles since joining Tata Steel in 1999. He has extensive experience of supplying steel to European Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and describes these companies as “the heartbeat of the economy”. The OEMs include manufacturers of radiators, office furniture, domestic appliances and industrial packaging. As Tony describes “We have a shared responsibility with our customers to create mutual value to ensure that we both come through the economic downturn.”

Tony is leading from the front and encouraging his team of account managers to get alongside customers. “We need to listen and respond to their needs. We need to ask questions. For example, how can we use our research and development expertise to help this customer make better-value products? Can we help the customer to meet sustainability challenges or to minimise their working capital?”

Listening and learning are key parts of Tony’s commercial strategy. That includes listening to criticism as well as praise. “We’ve recently used the ‘Net Promoter’ customer loyalty metric to

better understand how our customers regard us. We have a positive Net Promoter Score which tells us that our business relationships are good. But customers have told us that they want us to be easier to deal with.

“This Net Promoter feedback fits well with our sectorised focus. We recognise that knowledge and long-term relationships are important to our customers and we are trying to maintain these wherever we can. I am also working closely with my team to establish and maintain clear lines of communication with customers and to provide the ease of transaction that they demand.”

NICE to MEEt yoUTony Waite spends a large part of the year in destinations across Europe - spending time with his customers. “Meeting customers face-to-face is absolutely vital,”says Tony. It’s one of the ways we get to understand them and their markets. We need to build this better understanding so that we can work in partnership and create value together.”

Tony Waite,

Commercial Manager Tata Steel for European

Original Equipment Manufacturers

(OEMs)

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Disruptions in the cutting and bending process due to problems in the sheet material can seriously delay the workflow in a supplier’s production process, particularly in a 24/7 operation.The heterogeneous composition of standard hot-rolled steel makes it necessary for the parameters of laser cutting machines to be adjusted on a regular basis. In addition,

the material has a rolling direction that needs to be taken into account to avoid deviations and crack formation during bending. Dutch company Blozo Metaalwarenfabriek BV in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, used to see a significant proportion of its output in the production flow get wasted as a result of these problems.

Since Blozo switched to Ympress Laser for the entire range of thicknesses of hot-rolled steel, those problems are a thing of the past and the quality supplied to the end customer now remains consistent.

Ympress® LaserImproving manufacturing processes with consistent qualityBoth Steel Service Center MCB and their customer, Blozo - a supplier of semi-finished products - tell us about the added value of Ympres Laser, a type of hot-rolled steel specifically developed to optimise the laser cutting process. “We would never use anything else now.”

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“The quality of standard hot-rolled steel (ST37) can vary greatly between different suppliers, even for plates produced within the same batch”, says director and owner Maurice Blonk of the family business Blozo. “This regularly resulted in a rough cutting image and excessive spatter formation during piercing, with spatters getting stuck to the cutting head. This means an operator needs to intervene, which causes enormous disruption to the cutting process, particularly during unmanned hours. Furthermore, the fact that you need to take the rolling direction of standard hot-rolled steel into account requires quite some thought

when nesting the plates. Even with care rejects will remain a regular occurrence.”

Blozo, which supplies steel and aluminium semi-finished products to companies from a diverse range of sectors, first learned about Ympress Laser four years ago, on the recommendation of MCB. Blozo tested 4mm Ympress Laser and achieved a consistent, tight cutting image, without any need to adjust the cutting parameters. Maurice Blonk: “Due to its homogeneous composition, Ympress Laser has the advantage that you no longer need to take the rolling direction of the plate material into

account. Initially, we started to use Ympress Laser selectively together with standard hot-rolled steel from other suppliers. However, it was impractical to keep the two different qualities constantly separated. Eventually, it turned out that the lower purchase price of standard material did not make up for the loss caused by disruptions in the production process. For that reason, we switched over completely to Ympress Laser last year.”

Blozo processes between 150 and 200 tons of Ympress Laser a year in thicknesses ranging from 3 to 20mm.

John Gamble, Business Development Manager of Tata Steel, Maurice Blonk, director and owner of Blozo BV, Jerry Hoekstra, field account manager of MCB.

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InBusiness is the magazine for the Industry Strip customers and partners of Tata Steel.

Editors: Jos Aalders, Martine Bredewold, Hans Brouwer, Ellen Driessen, Ardy Duwel, Amanda Hodges, Egbert Jansen, Bob Jones, Richard Nicholls, Sander Out, Anne-Ruth van Rijn, Susan van der Steenhoven, Erik Steenkist, Robert Vaughan, Linda van WijkLogistics: Willem LegersteePhotography: Chris Hoefsmit, Cees Peereboom, Andy WilsonText editing: UvA-talen, Richard NichollsDesign: Fonts & FilesPrinted by: HuigHaverlag Printing

Tata SteelSales & Marketing Industry StripPO Box 100001970 CA IJmuidenThe Netherlandsstrip.enquiries@tatasteel.com

www.tatasteeleurope.comwww.tsspij-productrange.nl

oN thE CovEr

IN BUSINESS - IN BrIEFTata at exhibition for wind energy Tata Steel exhibited at the fair of the European Wind Energy Assocation (EWEA), an offshore exhibition in Amsterdam. The exhibition attracted 8.200 visitors over three days. Customers were especially keen on finding out the extent of service Tata Steel can offer them. Tata Steel will also attend the next exhibition which will be held in Frankfurt in November 2013.

New pricelists Tata Steel in Europe has new pricelists. They contain the price extras for hot-rolled, direct-rolled (Ymagine), cold-rolled, hot dip galvanised and MagiZinc strip products in Pounds Sterling and Euros. Effective April 1, 2012.

Top 50 most respected brandsOne year after the start of the brand transition the brand Tata climbed up in the ranking of most respected brands of the world and entered the top 50 (Source: Finance Express).

Corporate citizenhipThe department Customer and Technical Services (CTS) - technical consultants that visit the customers - decided to dedicate their yearly team building event to do something good for society. They painted an office and a shop for a foundation that helps poor and homeless people and is run by volunteers.

Intended successor Ratan Tata appointedTata Sons has appointed Cyrus Mistry (43) as vice-chairman and intended successor of chairman Ratan Tata (75). Mistry is a member of the board of directors of Tata Sons since 2006. Tata Steel is a subsidiairy of the Tata Group, which owns companies in various industrial sectors, ranging from tea to hotels and from IT to consultancy. The Tata Group has more than 350.000 employees, operations in 80 countries and total revenues of 50,95 billion EUR.

Metalsheet congressTata Steel hosted the congress of the FDP, Sheet Metal Association of Benelux in November last year. The day proved to be a platform to exchange ideas and get informed about the latest trends. It was attended by companies that work in the supply chain of sheet metal: from steel manufacturers to sheet metal workers, re-rollers and profilers as well as research and education centres. Prof. Dr. Wubbo Ockels, a well known Dutch physicist and former astronaut, gave an inspiring speech on the importance of sustainability for our planet (www.fdp.nl).

GreendealThe Dutch Gouvernment has signed a Greendeal with Tata Steel. If Tata Steel proceeds with the investments in three projects that lead to more sustainable steel production, the government will support Tata Steel organising favourable financing conditions.

Tata Steel Chess 2012Several customers participated in the customer competition that is part of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in The Netherlands on January 14th and 15th. During this event Grandmasters play chess alongside amateurs. At the end of an exciting weekend the team of Sogeti took the trophy home. Philips was second and Sigma third.

Ympress is often used in heavy industrial applications like this excavator. Ympress Laser is developed to optimise the laser cutting process.

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