|
Article Excerpt
Standing in the middle of a West European metals warehouse, one experiences the same sights and sounds--racks of bar or tubing, the rumble of forklifts and overhead cranes--as in any North American distribution center. It's not until you notice the signs--"Vorsicht!"--and hear the language spoken by the workers that you feel far from home.
Indeed, service centers in Germany are much like their U.S. and Canadian counterparts, both in the way they operate and in the concerns held by management, including local and global economics, metal availability, competition, pricing, profits and customer service. They are as diversified in their product lines as North American distributors and in some cases, more so.
Metal Center News recently had the opportunity to visit four service centers in Germany. (1) What follows is a snapshot of each company on the tour.
HAGMEYER
The average order size these days at Hagmeyer GmbH in Geislingen, Germany, is 20 tons. The number of orders Hagmeyer receives in a typical month has almost doubled in the last five years, but the weight of each order is about half of what it used to be, says Manager Gerhard Wirth.
"It is hard to get the margin we want on small orders. Maintaining the margin is difficult in all industries right now" he adds.
On the positive side, Wirth says metals prices have stabilized as a result of the euro, which provides transparency from exchange rates across European borders. "I would never have believed that the change to one currency would have occurred so easily. It's easier to figure costs and prices. But people still think in local currency, and the same margin in euros, vs. Deutsch marks, is...
|
|
More articles from Metal Center News
DoALL cuts stainless steel at high speed. (Saws and Blades)., January 01, 2003
Nucor completes Birmingham purchase. (Metal Industry News).(Birmingham..., January 01, 2003
Canada's Stelco restructures integrated steel business. (Metal Industr..., January 01, 2003
Oregon idles mills for 3 weeks. (Metal Industry News).(Oregon Steel Mi..., January 01, 2003
AK Steel ends lockout, recalls Mansfield workers. (Metal Industry News..., January 01, 2003
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
