cover story BUTTINGS new team focuses on progress by t - PDF document

cover storyBUTTINGÕSnew team focuses on progress by traditionBUTTINGÕS new team focuses on progress by tradition 




www.stainless-steel-world.net Mr Thomas SchŸller has been withButting all his life and knows thecompany like the back of his hand.He was trained in the company as amaterials analyst and studied materialstechnology on a Butting grant.Aftergetting his engineer qualifications,hefirst worked in the quality control de-partment and then switched to thewelding department.After six years ofexperience as welding engineer hewas ready to take over the responsi-bility of the pipe production fromplate as production manager.His spe-cialities are welding techniques andproduction therefore in the new teamhe will be responsible for productionand technical support.It was a deliberate choice to also in-clude an outsider in the team,with afresh outlook on the business.Ms IrisRommerskirchen holds a Ph D inmaterials technology and has a vastexperience in technical marketing.Next to materials issues she will befocussing on marketing and sales.MsRommerskirchen:ÒNormally,themanagement of such a company con-sists of lawyers and controllers.Ofcourse,Mr Butting is a controllerhimself but he moreover has a tech-nical background.ThatÕs a winningcombination,to mirror the compa-nyÕs core competences in the educa-tion and experience of the boardmembers.ÒROGRESSBYTRADITIONStainless Steel World meets the threeexecutives in the main office of thecompany,which has been located inKnesebeck since 1946.On this loca-tion,900 employees produce an im-pressive range of pipes,fittings andpre fabricated assemblies for trade,oil& gas industry,chemical industry andmany other miscellaneous markets.Products include simple stainless steelsuch as 304 and 316 but also morecomplicated materials duplex andnickel alloys.Furthermore the com-pany can manage difficult cobalt al-loys and titanium or aluminium al-loys especially for the chemical in-dustry and aerospace industry.Added to that,there is the subsidiarycompany that Hermann ButtingÕs fa-ther founded in Schwedt in 1991,thereby returning at least part of thecompany to the banks of the Oder.Creating new jobs in what used to beEast-Germany was one of his goals.He chose the town of Schwedt be-over this April at Butting,Germany.The seventh genera-tion to be exact,as Mr Hermannlonged to his ancestors since thein Crossen on the Oder river in 1777.Mr Hermann Butting,already in placeas CEO since April 2000,used towork together with his father Dr.Hannshermann Butting and Dr.KarlSchŠfer in the management team.Since the first of April this year hewill share the responsibility of runninghis family company with senior em-ployee Mr Thomas SchŸller and new-comer Ms Iris Rommerskirchen.MORETHANTHREEThe members of the new team arerelatively young but very experienced.Together,they have everything it takesfor a well-prepared start in the man-agement of Butting.Each is responsi-ble for a closely defined niche.Soleshareholder Mr Hermann Butting isnot only a welding engineer but alsoholds a degree in businessManagement.He took great care toget acquainted with the whole com-pany from the inside by working indifferent departments for many years.Based on this hands-on experience,hehas already started to adapt the organ-isational structure to the current sizeand needs of the company. www.stainless-steel-world.net 




 For Butting,2002 is not onlythe year in which the compa-ny celebrates its 225th anniver-sary.It will also be the yearthat a new management takesover the wheel.Relying onmore than two centuries ofexperience,the team will tack-le the challenges that a newmillennium will throw theirway.Rooted deeply in tradi-tion,they plan to keep Buttingnamic,state-of the-art compa-ny that focuses on innovationas the best way to serve thecustomers.cover story from left to right: Ms IrisRommerskirchen, Mr Thomas SchŸllerand Mr Hermann Butting. 




www.stainless-steel-world.netcause it is the largest paper producingregion in Germany.Butting Schwedtnow has 60 employees and is mostlytry,producing vessels but also doingrepairs and alterations to existing in-stallations.Even though idealismplayed a role in starting the Schwedtfacility,profit still needs to be made.The twenty million German marksworth of investments in,among otherthings,a 21 m high production halland state of the art welding equip-ment are paying off.The Schwedtmill currently has a turnover of 8million euro and is enlarging its pro-duction also for vessels for the oil-and gas-,chemical,food- and otherindustries.The decision to start in Schwedt is afine example of the Butting philoso-phy.The family-owned company hasalways felt and still feels a strong re-sponsibility for its employees.Somefamilies have worked at Butting forgenerations.Mr Butting explains:ÒOur motto is ÔProgress by TraditionÕ.We believe in continuity,so thatlessons from the past will be of use inthe future.We look back on a longhistory of gathering experience andwe always take good care that we passon that experience on to the workersthrough training.ÓIn much the same way,parting CEODr Karl Schaeffer hands over thetorch to the new team after 24 yearsof working for Butting.ÒWe neverconsidered resorting to takeovers toexpand,Óhe states.It is indeed veryunusual for a company of ButtingÕssize to remain family-owned.ÒInsteadwe tried to meet the market needs bydeveloping new products and process-es.On the one hand we focusedstrongly on the developments in ma-terials such as with duplex in whichwe are one of the world market lead-ers.We took that a step further withexotics and titanium,and in the futurewe will continue to concern ourselveswith special materials.ÓMr Butting concurs:ÒWe are able torespond to market needs quickly be-cause we take great care to be a frontrunner when it comes to technologicaldevelopments.ÓOne example of invest-ing in the future is the new furnaceroll that Butting introduced on theStainless Steel World 2001 Conference.Another recent investment is theJumbo,a new machine that enablesButting to continuously form andweld coils and plates up to 36Ó.TheJumbo started production at the endof 1999.ÒNo large concern with longlines of decision making would everdream of investing as much and in theway that we do!Ó,so Mr SchŸller.PECIALPROJECTSA relatively new product is theButting Bimetal pipe,in short theBuBi pipe,which has been receivedwell by the customers.It will be usedin the Bintang Field DevelopmentProject for Esso in Malaysia.MsRommerskirchen:ÒThey needed a825 stainless steel,but a solid pipewould be way too expensive and isimpossible to produce.The only pos-sibility was a plated pipe.The wholeproject amounts to about 10.000m ofstraight pipe only.ÓDue to the verygood bookings in the BuBi-produc-tion plant,the company had to investin the BuBi-production line to in-crease capacitiy and to be able toproduce BuBi pipes in larger diame-ters up to 24Ó.ÒItÕs true that we take on a lot of highrisk projects,and sometimes theybackfire,Óconcedes Mr Butting.ÒButthat is our philosophy:you need totake risks to run a state of the artcompany,and that includes countingyour losses every once in a while.ÓBeing innovative made Butting thesuccessful company it is today,and amarket leader in many areas though.A prime example of daring and tech-nical experience is an amazing andvery novel deepwater exploration pro-ject 1000m under sea level,called theShell Bonga Project,for which cladpipes will be used.Mr SchŸller:ÒInthis project,we will weld SCR pipesfor the first time,so it is a very innova-tive project for Butting.The technicaldemands are high and tolerances in-credibly narrow.ÓWith 30 tonnes ofclad pipe needed,the Shell Bonga pro-ject is undoubtedly huge.Since a wallthickness of 28 mm is required,theproduction process is also a challenge.Ms Rommerskirchen:ÒWhereas flexi-ble pipes were used in the past,this isthe first time that 28 mm clad pipesare introduced for a pipeline at thebottom of the sea in the so-calledcover story Butting's facilities in Knesebeck, Germany. www.stainless-steel-world.net 




touchdown area.On theone hand,the pipe hasto be able to resist thegulf stream movements,on the other hand thereare the differences intidal levels to overcome.Moreover,nobody is re-ally sure what exactspecifications are neededunder those circum-stances,so the toleranceestimates are very nar-row indeed to ensurereliable operation.Wehave to make sure that theseams can endure these high/low ra-tios.ÓBesides the programthat will be madeespecially for the Shell Bonga Projectto investigate the fatigue behaviour ofwelded clad pipes,Butting is engagedin a special TWI project group thatdeepwater problems because the fa-tiguecharacteristics of high alloystainless steel pipes simply arenÕt yetknown.Butting will furnish pipes forthis programme.Another of ButtingÕs unique projectsis the production of highly specialisedaccelerator pipes for the CERN parti-cle accelerator.15m long half pipesare formed and will be welded to-gether to form a 25km long pipe thatholds the accelerator magnets.For thebeam screens,an oval shaped,copperplated pipe was needed,partially per-forated and laser-welded.Next to thehigh material requirements othercomplicating factors played an impor-tant role.During the welding of thecopper-plated beam screen tubes forexample,gloves were worn becausefingerprints would reduce the pipeÕssupraconduction capabilities.MsRommerskirchen:ÒThis is a primeexample of ButtingÕs high degree ofspecialisation,not only on the produc-tion side but also in the sales depart-ments.We are organised per branch ormarket,with a specialised sales staffthat has all the necessary technicalqualifications to advise even a veryspecialised customer as CERN.ÓMEASURESOLUTIONSon standard low cost product.Excellent quality,and made-to-mea-sure solutions that ease the burden ofthe customer are two of manyButtingÕs core capacities.Mr Butting:cover story Name:H. Butting GmbH &Location:Knesebeck andSchwedt, GermanyEmployees:960Products:Pipes, fittings, vesselsApplications:Trade, oil & gas,chemical industry,paper and celluloseindustryTurnover in:Website:www .butting.de FACTS & FIGURES ÒOne of our strong points is that weare able to pre-produce equipmentto a high level in our own plants.That means we need relatively littletime and space on a building site,which is very cost efficient for ourcustomers.We prepare the pipes hereand deliver just-in-time.Our facilityin Schwedt plays an important rolein this as it enables us to deliver bothpipes and vessels.This way,the cus-tomer doesnÕt need to worry aboutcommunication problems with othercontractors.ÓIn Schwedt,the technical sales peopleare personally responsible for everyproject as a whole,from givingquotes and buying materials to theactual production and delivery.ÒI ama strong believer in processes with asfew break of points as possible,Óex-plains Mr Butting,Òso the wholeproject is concentrated around theproject engineer,which means a cus-tomer always has to deal with thesame person at Butting.It is an idealsituation.Unfortunately,the projectsat our Knesebeck plant are too largeto follow that same method.But wedo try to keep the lines short here aswell.That was one reason for reor-ganising our sales department accord-ing to markets.ÓAs a family owned company,the newButting management enjoys and ap-preciates the advantage that it is notaccountable to shareholders.Mr In Schwedt, Germany, Butting has itsButting:ÒWe can per-mit ourselves a longterm view on business.We can take risks andcalculate chances morefreely,keeping the fu-ture in mind and notjust our remunerativerates for the next share-holdersÕmeeting.ÓHis colleagues agreewholeheartedly.MsRommerskirchen:ÒWedefinitely watch themarket closely and keepour eyes peeled for newniches.Flexibility and versatility areour driving force,so we are always atthe ready to respond to new chal-lenges regarding materials and pro-duction techniques.That is whereour chances lay.ÓMr Butting:ÒWhat distinguishes usfrom others is that we are definitelynot a large concern with ten yearplans.The core of our strategy is fo-cussed on answering one question:what does the market or the cus-tomer need? We donÕt know what thefuture will bring,but here at Buttingwe do know we are prepared forwhatever will come.That is the waywe want to run this business.Ourgoal is to still be around 25 yearsfrom now.I am looking forward tothe day that I can proudly hand overButting to the next generation.Ó Being innovative made Butting the successful company it is today