Dutch metal wholesaler and one of Europe’s market leaders in the supply of steel coils, sheets, tubes, sections and bars, MCB has long been distinguished by its close collaboration with its customers and suppliers. Consulting and providing system and project support as part and parcel of their service offering has made them an integrated partner in any supply chain.
One such long-standing partnership is with M&G Group (Burgerhout brand) in slitting steel coils produced by ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products in smaller coils for their advanced flue gas, natural ventilation and climate control systems in the Netherlands and surrounding regions. Today M&G’s focus is on more efficient and sustainable hybrid heating systems for residential buildings that combine various sustainable technologies.
From left to right: Wouter Smrkovsky, Group Purchasing Manager at M&G, and Ricardo van der Molen, Process Engineer at M&G [Copyright: M&G]
MCB has built its relationship with M&G on the strength of their supply chain efficiencies through just-in-time stock management, consistently quick material transportation and a close supplier partnership that ensures that the two organisations’ complementary systems and processes are in consistent harmony with each other. MCB finds these same values and competencies in their steel supplier, ArcelorMittal. Jorg Eichhorn, Key Account Manager at MCB, notes: “ArcelorMittal’s sustainability standards, shorter lead times on supply chain issues and rigorous technical expertise are helping us to meet our customers’ needs.”
Reliability and availability are crucial aspects of creating such a successful partnership. With the support from ArcelorMittal, both MCB and M&G managed to reduce their storage costs by carrying less stock while still enjoying consistent availability of materials on a very short notice, making the companies less vulnerable to sudden market shifts in demand.
From left to right: Ron Peters, Account Manager at MCB, and Jorg Eichhorn, Key Account Manager at MCB [Copyright: MCB]
When M&G encountered some issues with the processing of galvanised steel, the technical support and advice from both MCB and ArcelorMittal came in handy. Wouter Smrkovsky, Group Purchasing Manager at M&G, explains: “Having to interrupt our production for cleaning the line after each 50 seamed and welded pipes for flue gas venting and ventilation systems produced costed us too much time and money. That’s why we called in the help from MCB and ArcelorMittal, to find a solution together.”
Jorg Eichhorn says: “In close collaboration with ArcelorMittal we convinced M&G to switch from Z140 galvanised steel to Magnelis® ZM90 with E-Passivation® to improve their production process. After overcoming some challenges in their initial setup, the change of material helped them to achieve a great overall improvement in processing time and reduced maintenance, pollution, and waste. Now they only have to clean their machines after each 300 tubes, that’s a world of difference for our customer.”
That’s confirmed by Ricardo van der Molen, Process Engineer at M&G: “Our production engineers and line workers are very enthusiastic about the transition to Magnelis®. The low powdering after cutting, as well as the lower amount of weld fumes, are very much appreciated. Moreover, the stability and consistency between Magnelis® coils were key for making our production process more open to automation and for obtaining considerable efficiency upgrades.”
M&G is still discovering new ways to optimise its products and systems for reduced impact every day. They for instance made the immense and demanding transition of consolidating nine smaller processing locations into one central location. This included almost doubling the company’s processing efficiency, a big reduction in the environmental impact due to the decreased need for transport, and a standardisation of the thickness of Magnelis® steel used to limit stocking costs and enhance automation in the future.
“The past years the Magnelis® product quickly emerged as a leading competitor in both cost efficiency and processing simplicity, which motivated not only M&G but also many of our other customers to making a full switch from their previous use of galvanised steel,” says Jorg Eichhorn. “Especially for HVAC and solar application systems.”
[Copyright: M&G]
[Copyright: M&G]
