THE THYSSENKRUPP
EMPLOYEE NEWSPAPER
NO. 2 / JUNE 2015
MATERIALS SERVICES EDITION
Cutting edge
Slicing slabs:
MillServices works
for Steel Europe 03
We are ThyssenKrupp
GENERATIONEN
GENERATIONS
Group family saga
Highs and lows – the Rissos
have experienced
54 years of change at
ThyssenKrupp
04–06
World Trade Center
The new skyscraper
is setting records
with the help of
Materials Services
10–11
MENTORING
Promotion?
Of course!
Fostering new talent.
“I want to run
500 marathons –
that’s my goal.”
DAVID PHILLIPS,
System Engineering UK
07
17
SANDRA-SIBYLLE PECHSTEDT,
Lawyer,
Business Area Materials Services
THE EMPLOYEE NEWSPAPER ONLINE:
WE - ONLINE.THYSSENKRUPP.COM
2 NEWS WHAT MOVES US
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
Middleton
Danville
Coppell
Boston
EDITORIAL
Dortmund
Essen
Duisburg
Düsseldorf
Eichen
Ennepetal
Kiel
Ilsenburg
Lippstadt
Andernach Changzhou
Shanghai
Nové Zámky
Manchester
Dunkirk
St. Ingbert
Florenz
Terni
Dubai
Venette
Móstoles
Tokyo
Zhongshan
Mumbai
Pimpri
Manila
Bangkok
Bangalore
We view change and diversity
as ­opportunities
Campo Limpo
São Paulo
WE around the World
This world map shows some of the places that we have
visited in this issue. Either we met the employees there, or
our Colleagues have sent us their reports.
THYSSENKRUPP GLOBAL
13.7
million
TRUCKED KILOMETERS
and the associated amount of
CO2 ­emissions are saved by
ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products each year by using innovative
rail containers to transport their
foundry coke.
10
million
CELLS and more can be formatted
each year on an industrial scale
by the fully automated systems for
lithium-ion batteries produced by
ThyssenKrupp System Engineering.
12,000
MWh
BLOCKED ENERGY is how much
lifts and heating and air conditioning
technology in commercial properties
built today will consume in the next
15 years. The term “blocked energy”
describes the service life of technical
equipment that cannot really improve its
consumption rate once installed. This
results in an annual power consumption
of 120 terawatt hours in the U.S.,
equivalent to the total consumed by the
Netherlands each year. Buildings are the
main contributor to global energy consumption rates at 40 percent. Innovative
technologies such as the TWIN system
from ThyssenKrupp allow for an average
saving of 27 percent in lifts.
Q2
net operating
­results online
Our Group published the figures for
the second quarter of 2014/2015 on
12 MAY. As usual, the balance sheet
figures will be explained in depth in
the wall newspaper and on
we-online.thyssenkrupp.com.
I hope you enjoy reading our newsletter.
CREDITS
Contact:
ThyssenKrupp AG, WE Editorial Office
ThyssenKrupp-Allee 1
45143 Essen, Germany
E-mail: [email protected]
Published by:
ThyssenKrupp AG
Corporate Function Communications
Head of Internal Communications:
Dr. Eric Marzo-Wilhelm, Editor-in-Chief
Contact partners for the Business Areas:
CT: [email protected]
ET: [email protected]
IS: [email protected]
MX: [email protected]
SE: [email protected]
CO:[email protected]
Photographic
department, layout,
and production:
C3 Creative Code
and Content GmbH
Heiligegeistkirchplatz 1
10178 Berlin, Germany
Printed by:
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG
Digital/Print Media
Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 12
47119 Duisburg, Germany
Total circulation:
150,000
WE is printed on
chlorine-free paper
from responsible
sources.
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (2) Illustrations: C3 Visual Lab (3)
A
successful company needs to constantly reinvent itself,
respond to trends, and stay flexible in a crisis. New technologies are often replacing outdated processes, markets
are presenting new requirements, and the rules of the game are
changing for society as a whole. For example, today it goes without saying that women are part of our Group, albeit not yet at
every level. However, ThyssenKrupp employs over 140 different
nationalities in 80 countries, and young and old work side by side.
A lot has changed in recent decades and we are all experiencing
this change together. We focus on how this affects our daily work,
our colleagues, and our private life using the example of the Risso
family from the Brazilian site in Campo
Limpo. Three generations of this family
have experienced ups and downs,
overcome personal crises, and taken
chances while working for the Group
(see page 4).
Much like a major football club
of international renown, a company
such as ThyssenKrupp needs the best
players. It cannot afford to pass up the
competency and experiences of good
employees, no matter what their culture, gender, or age. The knowledge of
“Our strength is
all these people is valuable. One of our
the diversity of
key tasks is to preserve it, learn from
our people of
it, and use it in the future. Football
every culture,
gender, and age.” also has something to teach us here.
In 1974, the players in the German
BARBARA THIEL,
Head of Diversity & Inclusion Global
national team all had the same cultural
heritage. Today, the young German
footballers no longer all bear typical
­German surnames on their shirts such as Müller, B
­ reitner, and
Netzer, but they are “our” boys all the same.
People from many different cultures and religions work at
ThyssenKrupp around the world. They contribute to our strength
and innovative power. In our brand new engineered blog on page
18, we explain who they are, what drives them, and how they
enrich the world of ThyssenKrupp.
WHAT MOVES US NEWS 3 2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
The metal blocks have
to be cut and ground
before they can be
processed in the
hot rolling mill.
Left: This is how
a cut block looks
from the side view.
Below: The flame
that cuts through
the metal can
reach up to 2,200
degrees Celsius.
COLLABORATION
In good shape at
2,200 degrees Celsius
Title: Photos: ThyssenKrupp (2), Jambes Bastable Illustrations: C3 Visual Lab
Page 3: Photos: ThyssenKrupp (5)
A game-changing
contract: The
Colleagues at
MillServices &
Systems now cut
metal blocks for
Steel Europe
T
ry it with another
valve,” Timm Jesberg calls to his colleague. He climbs
onto the bridge of
the new cutting machine and reaches
for a wrench. Then he adjusts the
valves. A short time later, the gas
for the cutting torches hisses out.
The flames have to reach 2,200 degrees Celsius in order to easily
cut through the block of steel and
leave a clean cutting edge. Jesberg
and his team from ThyssenKrupp
­MillServices & S
­ ystems (TKMSS)
are busy fine-tuning the system.
When everything is in place, the
cutting torch can slice through a
meter of steel in five minutes. Including the loading and unloading
time, a block of steel – also called
a slab – can be cut along its entire
length in an hour.
Right next to Jesberg and the
machinery, Stefan Oonk is examining the test slabs on the floor.
He is an employee from the quality
assurance department at Hoesch
Hohenlimburg, a subsidiary of Steel
Europe. Do the slabs have the right
geometric shape after they have
been processed? Only with the right
shape can they then be processed
into hot-rolled steel strips.
The work that TKMSS does,
cutting metal blocks for colleagues
from the Business Area Steel
Europe, is a new development.
The slabs used to be processed
by an external service provider
in Cologne. But shipments there
from Duisburg cost the company
too much time and money. Now
both can be saved with Materials
Services.
“Such a large
investment shows
confidence in our
ability to carry out
this work.”
TIMM JESBERG,
Manager of Finishing Services
€2.5m for new technology
Fifteen thousand tons of steel are to be processed here each month.
In the factory hall in the south of
Duisburg, everything is in close
proximity. This is where the cast
slabs are cut and transported for
further processing. The different
departments are connected with a
transport crane, and there is also
a railway siding on site. The cut
blocks, weighing several tons,
can be easily transported by train
to the hot rolling mill in Hagen.
“We can retrieve the slabs as needed,” says Oonk. “Around 15,000
tons of steel are scheduled to be
cut here each month for the next
five years.” Hoesch Hohenlimburg
and TKMSS agreed to this arrangement in summer of 2014.
However, first the new
­machines have to get up to speed.
Jesberg and his team are still
testing how to get the best results
processing the slabs. Initially
they only had a torch cutter and
a cutting machine; then another
cutting machine was added. Everything is set up to run completely
automatically, and except for three
employees to run the machines,
the factory building will be empty
of people.
Around €2.5 million have been
invested in this modern facility.
“Such a large investment shows
confidence in our ability to carry out
this work,” says Jesberg.
The end of manual labor
There was a time when the finishing
services in his department were
not so well equipped. Finishing
services encompass all departments that cut and test materials,
as well as those that bundle them
for shipping.
“We were no longer properly
perceived by the Business Area
Steel Europe,” Jesberg explains.
That was because until recently,
Jesberg’s team had to carry out
many of the processing steps
manually. “In the long run, that
doesn’t make sense financially,”
according to Jesberg. By acquiring new technology, the factory
now depends on fully automated
processes.
The contract with Steel Europe
has radically changed the situation. Now the department, with
its 40 employees, has acquired
additional contracts.
MARILENE RISSO
has worked in plant
administration for nine
years. She was one
of the first women to
work in this area.
ROBERTO RISSO
has worked for
ThyssenKrupp on and off
since 1977. He met his
wife at the plant.
s
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o
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fo
Group
NADIR RISSO
worked at the Campo Limpo
plant right from the start.
Back then, it wasn’t unusual
to find snakes in the plant.
ve been
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: The Ri the past
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54 y
ansform
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L
ooking back, Nadir Risso remembers how,
in the early days, Campo Limpo was located right beside a thick Brazilian rainforest
filled with marmosets, hummingbirds,
and parrots. Some mornings he would
even find the odd snake that had made its
way into the plant. “When we showed our
colleagues in Germany aerial photographs
of the plant, they wanted to know if there were any indigenous
people in the area.” Now, 54 years later, the great wilderness
can only be seen in the old photographs. You can barely
recognize the area 40 kilometers north of São Paulo on new
aerial photographs. The jungle and plantations have given way
to production facilities, and thousands of new buildings now
surround the city. With several highways connecting it to São
Paulo and surrounding industrial locations, Campo Limpo has
become one of Brazil’s most important economic regions.
Photographs, initially in black and white and later in color,
tell the story of the transformation of the plant, Brazil, and indeed the entire ThyssenKrupp Group on its journey to becoming
a modern, global company. The Risso family experienced this
transformation first-hand. Grandfather Nadir was among the
first employees at Campo Limpo. Son Roberto and his wife witnessed the crisis and breakdown of old structures, and grandson Lucas is experiencing the digital age and globalization. The
history of ThyssenKrupp is also the history of their family.
The early years
The new metal workshop for crankshafts, connecting rods,
and other automotive parts was located far away in the countryside back when 24-year-old Nadir Risso, just married and
Most of us were
just simple
coffee pickers.”
NADIR RISSO
expecting his first child, applied for a job there. It was conveniently located at a railway junction. Few Brazilians had cars
in those days. When the plant opened in 1961, a team made
up of a few dozen German engineers started working there,
too. They trained the unskilled farm workers on how to use
the machines. “Most of us were just simple coffee pickers,”
recalls Nadir Risso.
Nadir was the son of a sugar cane cutter. As a young
man, he opted to go to the city and complete evening classes
in technical drawing. He was later able to take advantage of
this knowledge and experience in his role in gear production
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US FOCUS 5
There was a move
towards flatter
hierarchies from the
1990s onwards.”
ROBERTO RISSO
LUCAS RISSO
worked in production
planning until recently.
He is taking time out
to travel the world.
1977–TODAY
THE SECOND GENERATION
Training
Studied part time to become an engineer
Positions at Campo Limpo
Clerical assistant, drop forge, production
line, quality assurance department
What makes him special
Roberto Risso has lived through the plant’s
highs and lows, and adapted to the different
situations. He has taken on new positions
in Campo Limpo more often than any other
Risso. He met his wife Marilene at the plant
in the early 1980s.
1961–1983
THE FIRST GENERATION
Training
Studied part time to become a technical drawer
Positions at Campo Limpo
Gear production, quality assurance
What makes him special
Nadir Risso, the son of a sugar cane cutter, laid
the financial foundation for his family with his
professional career in Campo Limpo.
at the Campo Limpo plant. He assumed responsibility for
quality assurance soon after, and was really in his element
there. His precise calculations and research shed light on the
causes of a number of production failures. He will soon be
tasked with instructing inexperienced colleagues. In doing so,
he experiences something that will be a formative experience
for many Campo Limpo employees in the following years: The
German Group invests in its employees. It provides training,
free travel, and healthcare – even for families.
During this period, Brazil transformed from a developing country to a key growth market. The Campo Limpo
plant acquired two new major customers in the mid 1960s:
­Volks­wagen and Ford. Production ramped up and included
many new components, particularly crankshafts, but also
other vehicle components that need to be able to endure
excessive stresses. Small vehicles dominate the streets
of Brazil, with the VW Beetle being the most popular. The
machines in the plant run continuously, and employees work
around the clock in three shifts.
The Group invested in automation at the beginning of the
1970s. “We controlled the machines manually until then,”
remembers Nadir. “The new technology used hydraulics and
sensors, completed multiple process steps simultaneously,
and was up to ten times faster.” Work became more effective,
safer, and cleaner.
Things are looking up, also for the Rissos. The German
company pays far better than most Brazilian companies. Nadir
is needed. He works a lot, even putting in extra shifts. The
family of three will soon be able to afford a new, bigger house
in a better area. And they need the space. They had a daughter in 1964 and more children followed in the early 1970s.
Economic crisis and modernization
When eldest son Roberto Risso began working as a clerical
assistant in Campo Limpo in 1977, the plant was hugely
benefiting from the economic upturn and looking for new
challenges. But that’s not what happened.
What does he have in common with his father, Nadir? The
52-year-old Roberto can’t help but laugh at the question. “My
father has always been someone who wanted to do everything
properly and well.” This has left a mark on him. “Like a lot of
Brazilians, I put a lot of passion into everything I do, but I also
have a German tenacity for getting to the bottom of things.”
After he had joined the company as a clerical assistant, it
took Roberto some time before he was able to make a career
in Campo Limpo. He came of age four years later and got a
job at the drop forge, which uses incredible forces to cut slabs
from red-hot steel elements for vehicle components. A little
later, the plant got caught up in the Brazilian economic crisis
of the 1980s. Inflation skyrocketed, sales plummeted, and
the plant had to reduce production levels by half. As a result,
close to 50 percent of employees were laid off, and Roberto
was one of them. It was three years before he returned to
the plant. He works on the production line where slabs are
ground, milled, and drilled for an accurate fit. He learned the
ins and outs of each and every machine and witnessed first
hand how the Campo Limpo plant grappled with the economic
crisis. The plant opens up new sales markets in Mexico and
the U.S., modernizes machinery, and increases efficiency.
A key decision for the future was made at this time.
From now on, women would be hired to perform office work.
Roberto began meeting up regularly after work with one of
his new female colleagues. Their relationship would go on to
last a lifetime. “There were a lot of female secretaries in the
plant at that time,” recalls Marilene Risso. “But unlike now,
there were absolutely no women in higher positions. We had
to keep things between us very formal. It would be unthinkable to show our feelings at work. Roberto and I couldn’t give
anything away.” That is, until they tied the knot in 1984.
Their first son, Raul, was born three years later, followed
by Lucas in 1991. The young father moved into the quality
assurance department in 1987. It would be his job to work internally in the plant to adapt production processes to customer
requirements as efficiently as possible. The time he spent
6 FOCUS WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
“The experience
of our employees
is worth millions.”
Four questions for
MARK A. LEHRER
How can employees in
companies acquire and
share knowledge?
Basically, there are two ways employees can acquire and share
knowledge: either over IT platforms, or face-to-face. Some
companies primarily rely on technology-based information
exchange systems such as the Intranet, while others prefer to
take a more face-to-face approach that promotes openness
and the exchange of information. The ideal company would
have both electronic platforms for exchanging information,
and forums that employees can utilize to discuss the
information. It would also offer seminars and other events
in order to establish a culture of exchange at all levels of
the company.
Does the exchange of
knowledge mainly play a
key role in global Groups?
When multinationals pay millions of dollars to acquire new
companies, it’s mainly for their experience. This wasn’t always
the case. For example, it would have been inconceivable for
a U.S. automotive manufacturer in the 1960s or 1970s to
acquire a European or Asian company, thinking it could learn
something from its employees. That has changed now.
Which global Groups
stand out on account
of their methods?
Photos: Dirk Bruniecki, Paulo Friedman (4), ThyssenKrupp (3) Illustration: C3 Visual Lab
Well, I would say the European pharmaceutical company Merck
is a role model in terms of its approach in Latin America. Merck
learns from its environment, and takes on local employees.
This makes a lot of sense, as the employees working at the
­acquired company have many years of valuable experience.
One of your direct competitors, steel group ArcelorMittal, is also
a good example of how to handle the transfer of knowledge.
ArcelorMittal’s position as a market leader is partially due to the
way it transfers knowledge within the company. If, for example,
two plants are being constructed and one is progressing better
and faster than the other, knowledge is passed from the good
plant to the weaker one. This ensures that neither plant ends
up at the lower end of the hierarchy, and that no one part of the
company is considered superior. The mutual learning process
is key here.
How are new technologies
changing the opportunities
for exchange?
Being able to provide information online was a really big
step forward for companies. Making information available
immediately is the next step. Instant messaging is currently
bringing about rapid change. It makes it possible to exchange
information with employees – or indeed the public – at all times
without a break. This is sure to pose many new challenges
to companies.
MARK A. LEHRER
researches how companies transfer
their wealth of knowledge to new,
less experienced employees. He
is Professor of Strategy and
­International Business at Suffolk
University in Boston (USA).
2010–2015
THE THIRD GENERATION
Training
Studied part time to become an engineer
Positions at Campo Limpo
Production planning
What makes him special
Unlike his father and
grandfather, Lucas Risso has never worked on
machines. His world is dominated by
computers and software.
working on the machines came in handy here. He understood that the workers on the machines often know things that
engineers do not learn at university. He learned that quality
is a question of having a good level of understanding with
colleagues, regardless of hierarchies. “There was a move
towards flatter hierarchies from the 1990s onwards,” Roberto
says. “This made it easier to share the information colleagues
in production learned while carrying out their work.”
These were uncertain times, as the economic crisis
showed no signs of stopping. In 1994, the Rissos decided that
Roberto should undertake further training to protect the family.
He spent five years attending courses, learning English and
Spanish, and taking evening classes to become an engineer.
The plant provided him with support by covering half of his
training costs.
Globalization and the path to the digital age
The Brazilian economy finally recovers, thanks in part to the
currency reform of 1994. The Group invests in new production locations for wrought-iron vehicle components in order
to become more independent from regional crises. A second
plant was established in Brazil in the 1990s, in addition to one
in Mexico. Further plants were also opened all over the world
from 2010 onwards. This opens up new doors for R
­ oberto,
who knows his own plant inside out and speaks several
languages. He is just the man to develop a joint corporate
culture for the plants combined in the Forged and Machined
Components Business Unit. He spends a number of weeks every year traveling to other locations, exchanging experiences,
and assisting in the introduction of the tried-and-tested quality
assurance system, which was developed at his home plant
over the course of several decades. He flies all over the world,
visiting Mexico, the new Brazilian plant in Santa Luzia near the
city of Belo Horizonte, the U.S., India, and lastly, China.
It was during this time that the Rissos’ youngest son
began to show interest in working at the Campo Limpo plant.
As a child, Lucas Risso had marveled at the giant machines
on show at the plant’s festivals. He gazed in wonder at the
drop forge where the glowing raw materials are molded, and
the diamond mill that cuts shavings from steel as if it was
I’ll be happy to
come back, but
I really want to
travel first.”
LUCAS RISSO
butter. Young Lucas was captivated by these images. “It was
the same for my grandfather,” he says. However, Lucas grew
up with computers and the new opportunities provided by the
Internet. He applied to the Campo Limpo plant in 2010, and
got the job he wanted in production planning, where software
is used to pre-calculate entire production processes. Over
the next four years, he became familiar with modern management methods that make it possible to calculate entire
supply chains across plants and countries. He studied part
time in the evenings to obtain an engineering diploma. He has
remained true to tradition, but also looks ahead to the new
opportunities the future has to offer. He learned that from his
family at ThyssenKrupp.
A few months ago, Lucas decided to move to the U.S. to
study management as a way of adding to the experience he
has already gained in the plant. However, this does not make
the end of the relationship between the different generations
of the Risso family and ThyssenKrupp. “I’ll be happy to come
back to the Forged and Machined Components Business Unit,
but I really want to go abroad for at least a year first.”
A prospect like this was unimaginable for the people at the
Campo Limpo plant 54 years ago.
A plant in the jungle: Visit we-online.thyssenkrupp.com
to watch a video from the early years of ThyssenKrupp in
Campo Limpo.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US FOCUS 7
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
Through
someone
else’s
eyes
Mentor and mentee: Colleagues
Sandra-Sibylle Pechstedt and
Jörg Wehmeyer.
Materials Services
is supporting young
talent with experienced
mentors. This program
makes quite unusual
matches – and that’s
exactly the point.
additional experience and new perspectives, as well as expands their network.
The project was inspired and
brought to life by the Human Resources
Development (HRD) department at
Materials Services. Although the idea
of employee mentoring has been
around for a while, Lena Völkel from
the department People Development
explains that “we have restructured and
reconceived the program in recent years,
and have made it a central component
of our employee development.” Most
recently, 13 mentor­ing matches were
made. Mentor and mentee meet and
exchange their experiences six to twelve
times a year. In addition, the department organizes workshops and training
courses where mentors and mentees
from different disciplines can converse
and network with each other.
Pairing sparring partners
“Mentees have the opportunity to learn
from the first-hand experience of the
managers,” explains Maike Trutti, head of
the People Development department. In
order to expose participants to different
viewpoints, people were intentionally
matched with partners from vastly
different disciplines – such as the lawyer
and the strategist. “For me, he was a
sparring partner who helped me consider
my daily work and develop my career
goals from an entirely new perspective,”
says Pechstadt. In the meetings they
would discuss their assessment of
her career situation, for instance.
“We discussed the kind of questions
that everybody asks themselves,”
Wehmeyer recalls. “How can I use my
skills to contribute to the success of the
company? And how can I continue to
advance my own skills?”
Since her mentor wasn’t very familiar
with her area of work, first she had to
explain her field. “That forced me to look
at myself and my job from an external
perspective.” Things which appear to
be self-evident and routine have to
be explained – both to yourself and to
your mentor. Particularly thanks to his
professional experience and strategic way
of looking at concepts, her mentor often
offered valuable advice. “I developed
ideas with the strategist about how to
approach the companies in the Business
Area when tackling legal questions and
thus expanded my own skill set.”
Wehrmeyer says that he also learned
from his mentee. “I not only learned a lot
about the work of our company lawyers,
but also about how the legal sector as a
whole is developing.” After participating
for a year, he feels that the program
plays an important role in employee
development, as well as helping to further
network the different fields of the Group.
The next round of the mentoring program
will begin in the fall.
For information on the next round
of the mentoring program, contact
Lena Völkel in People Development:
[email protected]
Three questions for
Falk Majert,
Managing Director of
ThyssenKrupp Plastics,
and mentor.
1
Why is a special
mentoring program
necessary in the
first place?
Knowledge is the only resource that increases when you
share it, according to one saying. That is especially true
for large companies. And beyond factual knowledge,
participants can share the personal experience they
gain from working with people and structures at
ThyssenKrupp.
2
What do you gain from it as Managing Director?
Well, particularly as Managing Director one doesn’t
always get the level of openness one would hope for
in conversations with employees. That is easier between a
mentor and mentee, who come from different areas of the
business. We executives also want and need to improve our
behavior – that was one important point of feedback from the
employee survey.
3
What can normal employees
get out of the program?
In our Group a new business culture has been developing in recent years in terms of leadership style. Management
can no longer simply issue commands from above and
have them carried out below. Instead, you have to treat your
employees with respect, include them in decision-making,
and explain decisions. I think this change in business culture
is necessary and important. The mentoring program is an
essential piece of the puzzle.
Photo: ThyssenKrupp Illustrations: C3 Visual Lab
N
ormally, a company strategist and a lawyer would
have little to do with one
another – one drafts
the big picture, while
the other is concerned
with the fine print; one
considers chances, the other risks; one
creates diagrams, while the other studies
footnotes.
“We only knew each other by sight,”
remembers Jörg Wehmeyer about his first
encounter with mentee Sandra-­Sibylle
Pechstedt, which was in May 2014. Ever
since, the head of the department Strategy, Markets & Development at Materials
Services has served as a mentor for the
lawyer, who works in the Legal Team of
the Business Area.
For one whole year, the pair got
together every few weeks and discussed
how Pechstedt could further develop
her career. “I had to get used to it at
first,” says 34-year-old Pechstadt. “Mr.
Wehmeyer had a different approach as
a strategist, and he also liked to demonstrate his ideas visually in order to further
our discussions.” That was a new and
valuable approach for her as a lawyer.
“We soon developed a basis of trust, and
could talk openly about everything,” her
43-year-old mentor confirmed.
The two met each other through a
special mentoring program that supports
employees in their first management
positions, specialists with a high level
of responsibility, and project managers.
The new generation of managers gains
8 PROJECTS WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
The service center is
the first location for
Materials Services
in India.
Above: A local woman paints
a spot on the forehead of CEO
Joachim Limberg. For Hindus,
this is the location for the
energy of the third eye.
Arabian
Sea
Bangalore
Bay of
Bengal
500 km
India gears up for takeoff
I
ndia’s aviation industry is booming, and
Bengaluru is the center of the boom. The
southern city is inhabited by 8.4 million
people, making it India’s third-largest
city after Mumbai and Delhi. It is the
heart of the country’s civilian and military
aerospace industry. The metropolis is
often referred to as India’s Silicon Valley on
account of the fact that it has developed into
a key IT location in recent years. As a result,
Bengalaru offers the perfect business environment for ThyssenKrupp Aerospace.
ThyssenKrupp Aerospace opened a
service center there in February of this year,
the first subsidiary for the Materials Services
Business Area located in India. It uses an
area covering 3,300 square meters to provide
customers from the aerospace industry with
materials such as aluminum, titanium, and
steel in the form of bars, plates, sheets, and
round rods. Employees at the facility can also
cut the materials according to customer specifications, so high precision saws, cutting and
milling machines and test devices have been
installed. “We are strengthening our local presence and this allows us to better satisfy the
specific requirements of our local customers,”
explains Jürgen Funke, Chief Executive Officer
at ThyssenKrupp Aerospace.
The service center’s opening ceremony
generated a lot of interest in the industry.
Airbus, Boeing, and Rolls-Royce India
sent representatives, as did many other
ThyssenKrupp Aerospace customers and suppliers. Along with ThyssenKrupp Aerospace,
these global companies see Bengaluru as an
aerospace hub with great potential in the Asia
Pacific region.
“We can better
satisfy the
specific
needs of local
customers.”
JÜRGEN FUNKE,
ThyssenKrupp Aerospace
Metals more
precious than
gold
That which grows together,
belongs together
ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products will
market 5,000 metric tons of rare earths
on behalf of the mining company Rainbow
Rare Earths. These precious metals are
used to make batteries, magnets, and LED
screens, among other things. In further
news, the company has signed an agreement with NioCorp to purchase 3,750 metric tons of ferroniobium, a rare heavy metal,
every year. Ferroniobium is used to create
superalloys, and to manufacture special
steels as well as improve their weldability.
The newly formed ThyssenKrupp Schulte consolidates materials services in Germany,
while ThyssenKrupp Infrastructure centralizes global construction service activities.
Ferroniobium: Used
in the manufacture of
superalloys.
T
he logic behind pooling the individual skills and expertise is to offer
customers one-stop service. This
spring, ThyssenKrupp MetalServ,
ThyssenKrupp Stahlkontor, and
ThyssenKrupp Schulte and their associated Business Areas were merged to form
the newly created ThyssenKrupp Schulte
GmbH. This has the effect of bringing the
­ThyssenKrupp brand more to the forefront
while also unleashing a number of important
­synergies. As a result, customers now have
a more dynamic service partner on their
side in Germany, offering 600,000 ­square
meters of warehouse capacity, 400
­processing machines, and 100,000 products
in stock.
The Materials Services Business Area is
also growing together in another area. As
All construction services offered by Materials
Services will soon be available under one name.
part of restructuring its construction services
activities, it is establishing ThyssenKrupp Infrastructure. As of October 1, ThyssenKrupp
Bautechnik, ThyssenKrupp Tiefbautechnik,
and ThyssenKrupp Bauservice will be merged
to form the new company. The c­ onstruction
services operations have been brought
together to create a leading supplier of civil,
marine, and foundation engineering solutions
capable of delivering a full range of infrastructure project services. The new company
sees itself as a full-service partner for the
construction industry.
It will operate a technical office, as well
as branch offices in Germany and around the
world, to serve local customers in different
regions. This will also be a key factor in
gaining access to new markets and landing
major deals.
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (3), Alamy Illustration: C3 Visual Lab
Bengaluru is the capital
of India’s rapidly growing
aerospace industry.
ThyssenKrupp Aerospace
has now opened a service
center in the city.
WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN PROJECTS 9
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
Fit for the future
Efficient collaboration, well-coordinated processes, data
available at the push of a button – with daproh, ThyssenKrupp
ticks all the boxes for staying competitive.
M
ore time for
customers?
Complete control
of project costs
in real time?
Worldwide access
to the stocks in
every plant? Over 450 employees
throughout the Group are working
on the daproh initiative to become
even more c­ ustomer-oriented,
streamline processes, use knowl‑
edge and expertise even more
effectively in the company, and
make data accessible anytime,
worldwide. That’s how they are
working to make the Group fit for
the future.
daproh, which stands for data
and process harmonization, is one
of the biggest Group-wide ­initiatives
paving the way to a large, inte‑
grated corporation. It is the way
ThyssenKrupp can optimize and
harmonize business processes and
establish itself worldwide.
“While the business
world becomes
increasingly digital,
we are often still
busy looking for
data.”
HEINRICH HIESINGER,
Chairman of the Executive Board
“daproh is
indispensable
for helping to
automatize
business
processes within
the Group.”
GUIDO KERKHOFF,
Chief Financial Officer
All processes are analyzed
“While the business world becomes
increasingly digital, we are often
still busy looking for data,” said
­Heinrich Hiesinger at the First
­Global daproh Day in Essen.
“daproh is indispensable for
helping to ‑­automatize business
processes within the Group,” adds
Guido Kerkhoff.
In order to achieve this goal,
experts from Group Standards, the
Business Areas, and IT are devel‑
oping unified best-practice pro‑
cesses that are compatible with the
corresponding Business Area as
well as with Group-wide guidelines.
But once these are ready, all the
processes – such as in Finances,
Controlling, Purchasing, Planning,
and Logistics – have to be precisely
analyzed and redefined from start
to finish to make them faster and
more efficient. “daproh allows all
businesses and units to simplify
their past and current processes,”
says Martin Hölz, who heads the
Group initiative.
Today, individual teams are
already working towards the
same standards, and can share,
compare, and analyze data more
easily. Many employees appreciate
the fact that, thanks to daproh,
they have more time to talk
with customers. This increases
effectiveness and also lowers
business risk, since the monitoring
tools built into the system ensure
that guidelines such as compliance
rules are observed.
More time to grow business
JESSICA ZHENG, Business Process Manager,
ThyssenKrupp Elevator, China
In China, we are currently selling lots of new elevators. Before
daproh, keeping costs for individual new installations (NI) under
control, and tracking their progress in real time were real challenges.
The system only provided us with limited support during the pro‑
curement process up to the point of payment. Today, without the
order/assignment saved in the system, no payment is made. Today
the elevator plants only accept orders that have been authorized
in SAP and already paid. This ensures that the project costs are
always comparable with the original calculation.
This integrated monitoring process is also used in NI projects. It
allows us to keep an eye on the budget and minimize risk. Instead
of collecting data, we can expand the business.
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
ABIGAIL SEMIONATTO, Global Key User, ThyssenKrupp
Forged and Machined Components, Brazil
For me, daproh’s advantage is in the clear distribution of roles and
responsibilities. The accompanying standards are stored in the
system. They call for peer review to prevent conflicts of interest,
meaning that critical processes are subject to review by at least two
employees. Thus, for example, a purchaser cannot approve their
own invoice.
Comparable figures will offer a great improvement, since the indi‑
vidual systems have different configurations and are not mutually
compatible, meaning the results from individual companies are cur‑
rently either sent in Excel files or manually entered into the SAP@
KONS system. Soon the data will be transferred automatically,
and be available at the push of a button so that we can compare
results faster and more easily.
Having transparent data speeds up analytics
VICKY TO, Asia Pacific, Group Controller,
ThyssenKrupp Elevator Hong Kong
In the past, reporting was a laborious process. Our branch offices
were required to complete a data form and submit it to us every
month. We had to contact them again for each further question.
Now we have direct access to detailed data in the system much
faster. Our prognoses are becoming more precise and effective,
making it easier for us to improve business processes. And now
we can use the time we save to analyze the results – for instance,
to figure out why the actual costs of a project are higher than
planned. That way we can react faster.
A better overview for talent scouts
T
he application
­processes are different
in every country. For ex‑
ample, labor laws in the
United States stipulate
that certain information cannot be
requested in applications. In China,
on the other hand, applicants apply
to a high number of job vacancies at
the same time, which means much
more work for the recruiters. The
personnel department is introducing
a Group-wide management system
for the whole application process –
called TalentLink – to facilitate
standard processes at
ThyssenKrupp worldwide.
“Uniform processes and quality
standards not only simplify the
process – such as for posting job
vacancies and contacting candi‑
dates – they also give us a better
public image,” says John Neubauer
from the Sourcing & Recruiting
team. The program is already up
and running in ­Germany, Austria,
Switzerland and the U.S., and it is
being continually improved upon. In
China it is just being ­introduced.
Despite our global approach,
TalentLink is also tailored to the
needs of each country, and is
coordinated across the BAs by the
appropriate ­Regional Headquarters.
For instance, interfaces with the
regional career and job platforms
are specifically developed in each
country. “We aim to successfully
combine Group-wide standards with
specific regional characteristics.
“TalentLink
offers both
recruiters and
applicants huge
advantages.”
JOHN NEUBAUER,
Sourcing & Recruiting Team
We also want to offer candidates a
fast and simple application process
worldwide,” says Neubauer.
The system offers recruiters a
clear overview of vacancies and
applicants, as well as efficient and
reliable processes. “The number
of applicants is particularly high in
China. TalentLink is meant to reduce
workloads over the long term,”
according to Holly Li, Head of Per‑
sonnel at the Regional Headquar‑
ters China. Next on the agenda are
regional centers in India and Brazil.
The
­TalentLink
team in
Shanghai
while the
system
is being
introduced.
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (2)
ThyssenKrupp is
introducing the new
application system
TalentLink worldwide
with the support of the
Regional Headquarters.
Uniform processes
and standards ensure
transparency and
simplify the recruiting
process.
10 PROJECTS WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
At the peak
The new World Trade Center in New York is
the world’s fourth-tallest building,
and its most symbolic. It has been crowned
with steel from Materials Services.
One World Trade
Center is 1,776 feet
tall – a number that
recalls the American
Declaration of
Independence in 1776.
WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN PROJECTS 11
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
Skyscrapers
The tallest buildings in the world are in Dubai and
Shanghai. New York comes in fourth place.
800
T
he time is 7:30 a.m. The sun
has just risen. A massive crane
is hoisting a towering, stainless
steel spire over the rooftops of
New York. Hundreds of construction workers gaze skyward,
spellbound. Many applaud,
some salute, others whip out cell phones and
snap pictures. Helicopters film the action; TV
stations report live. They are all documenting
how One World Trade Center (OWTC) received
the spire that completed its silhouette.
A historic moment. Twelve years after the
destruction of the old World Trade Center on
11 September 2001, a 104-story skyscraper
stands once again in its place. The building is
charged with superlatives and symbolism. With
the new stainless steel spire, it now measures
exactly 1,776 feet (541 meters), 1776 being
the year the U.S. was founded. This makes the
successor to the destroyed Twin Towers the
highest building not only in the United States,
but also in the entire Western world.
And ThyssenKrupp played a role in building it, from basement to spire: For example,
millions of tourists will see the ThyssenKrupp
logo when they ride one of the 71 elevators
or twelve escalators up to the observation
deck. Several of the elevators are among the
fastest in the world. They can attain speeds
of up to 37 kilometers per hour. Another of
ThyssenKrupp’s contributions to OWTC is less
apparent, but even more spectacular in its
way: the stainless steel spire of the 124-meter
mast that adorns the roof of the skyscraper.
The mast is equipped with communications
technology and features an electric beacon
that can be seen shining at night from miles
away. This is one of the highest points where
a product by ThyssenKrupp has ever been
installed – and one of the most symbolic.
The order was placed in December 2012.
It was received by Randy Pengov, who works
as a product manager for stainless steel
products at Ken-Mac Metals, a subsidiary of
ThyssenKrupp Materials based in Cleveland,
600
400
200
0
One World
Trade Center
New York, NY
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai, China
Burj Khalifa
Dubai, UAE
828 m
Height
541.3 m
632 m
Stories
104
121
163
Ready
2013
2014
2010
Ohio. The customer from New Jersey ordered
approximately 6,350 kilograms of 316L steel
plates with a thickness of roughly a quarter
of an inch (6.35 mm). The 316L class was
selected due to its especially high resistance
to corrosion. Ken-Mac Metals sells more than
72,000 tons of stainless steel each year,
most of it to manufacturers of industrial kitchenware. So it was a fairly small order in terms
of quantity.
The staff at Ken-Mac Metals ordered the
stainless steel from a supplier in Kenosha,
Wisconsin. Just four days later the steel plates
reached the customer in New Jersey, where
they were lightly treated with a sandblaster, trimmed to size, and assembled into a
gleaming spire. On 10 May 2013 they were
finally installed at OWTC, half a year before the
building actually opened.
The stainless steel tip on its way to the top,
symbolically decorated with the American flag.
Boxes for trees
The complexity of construction at the new OWTC
complex meant that ThyssenKrupp was involved in many
ways. Not all of them are as dramatic as the elevator
system or the steel tip of the spire topping the site.
Some of them, in fact, could hardly be more down-toearth. That’s the case with the so-called “earth boxes”
that encase and protect the root systems of the 500
trees at the foot of the OWTC tower, in the Memorial Garden. Material for the boxes was provided by
ThyssenKrupp’s AIN Plastics of Yonkers, New York. The
plastic is called Black Hitec HDPE, which has excellent
durability and low moisture absorption characteristics.
Some time later Pengov sent a video link
to Joseph Gurney, Vice President of Stainless Steel at ThyssenKrupp Materials North
America. It contained video of that sunny May
morning when the stainless steel spire was
installed on the mast of OWTC. Gurney called
Pengov into his office, along with Stainless
Steel Product Manager Steven Hales and
his deputy Brian Morgan, and together they
watched the video on Gurney’s laptop. “I
still remember how moved we were by those
images,” Gurney recalls. “It was something
very special for all of us.” On 11 September
2001 the three of them must have watched
with the rest of the world as terrorists steered
planes into the Twin Towers of the old World
Trade Center, causing the buildings to collapse
and killing nearly 3,000 people. Now they were
able to watch the coronation of New York’s
new landmark. “This video documents the
victory of good over evil – the rebirth of the
tower!” Gurney said. “It made us very proud to
have been involved.”
A visit to the observation deck of One World Trade
Center makes tourists feel on top of the world.
What events have triggered the same feeling for
you. A sports performance? An afternoon with your
children? Show us all in the photo competition at
we-online.thyssenkrupp.com!
Photos: Iwan Baan, Corbis Illustration: C3 Visual Lab
“The Victory of Good over Evil”
12 PROJECTS WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
EVERYONE PULLING TOGETHER
A higher grade of steel
The team at the Acciai Speciali Terni facility in Italy makes high-grade
stainless steel. Here’s a step-by-step guide to how this is done.
1. Selecting the mixture
Massimiliano Panico
The required blend of scrap and
metal alloy is loaded into the basket
Production control technician
2. Electric arc furnace
Mauro Grifoni
The steel is melted down
Production control technician
3. Refining
Luca Olivieri
The steel is refined
Production control technician
4. Casting
Fabio Allegretti
Slabs are made
Technical coordinator for
continuous casting
5. Hot rolling
Daniele Ricci
The slabs are transformed in coils
Technical coordinator in charge
of hot rolling
6. Cold rolling
Matteo Faustini
The stainless steel is reduced to the
required thickness
Foreman, cold rolling mill
7. C
utting the
stainless steel
Daniele Dominici
Product is cut to size
LOCATION
My insider tips
for Terni
Marmore Falls near Terni:
The Roman god Jupiter is
said to have played a role
in its creation.
Stefano Conedera,
External Relations
I monitor the process where the steel is molten in the furnace.
­Consumption, productivity, and quality must all be right.
Substances that reduce product quality are removed from the steel
in our converters and adjustments are made to achieve the desired
chemical composition during the refining process. I am in charge of
overseeing this operation.
I’m in charge of the technical systems in the area where metal blocks,
or slabs as they are also called, are cast.
I’m responsible for monitoring the hot rolling process. In this step,
the stainless steel stabs are rolled into a coil at an extremely high
temperature as required for its future intended use.
My team and I monitor the cold rolling process. This is when the
stainless stain is made to the customer’s specifications in terms of
thickness and finish in a process performed at room temperature.
My team and I cut the stainless steel coil according to customer’s
specifications. We also check the quality of the finishing.
When’s the best time
to visit Terni?
While many of you know that
St. Valentine is the patron of lovers,
what is less well known is that he
also served as bishop of Terni and
is the city’s patron. That’s why
February 14 is a holiday here,
and it’s celebrated with a week of
festivities including cultural and
other events.
What are the
essential sights?
The Cascata delle Marmore, or
Marmore Falls, are not far from
Terni. The man-made waterfall is
made up of three sections. Legend
has it that the Roman god Jupiter
played a hand in its creation. When
he discovered that Nera, a nymph,
and Velino, a shepherd, were
lovers, he transformed Nera into a
river in a fit of rage. Despite all his
efforts, however, he could not keep
the lovers apart. Velino reunited
with Nera by jumping from the
cliff into the river. And that’s how
Marmore Falls came into being.
What are fun activities
to try out?
If you’re into extreme sports, the
Marmore Falls are once again a
good tip. The Velino and Nera rivers
located close by feature narrow,
breathtaking gorges. Even if you’re
not the adventurous type, it’s worth
making a trip down the rapids.
There are experienced guides to
make sure you don’t get hurt.
What historical sites can be
found in the region?
Terni was once part of the Roman
Empire. You can visit the ruins of
the Ponte d’Augusto bridge just
outside of town. It’s also worth a
trip to the archaeological site in
Carsulae.
Photos: fotolia, ThyssenKrupp Illustrations: C3 Visual Lab (14)
Foreman, cutting center
In the first step, I select the required mixture of scrap metal and alloy.
This is then loaded into the basket destined for the electric arc furnace,
where it is melted down to form the specified type of stainless steel.
WHAT WE MAKE HAPPEN PROJECTS 13
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
A well-networked future
Logistics, if automated and done well, helps prepare the Group for the future.
Young scientists – members of a ThyssenKrupp class of fellows – are searching
for the solutions of tomorrow.
MATERIALS SERVICES
Daniel Dressler and
Darian Achenbach have
created the logistics
solutions of the future
for ThyssenKrupp.
P
roduction and the materials
business would grind to a halt
were it not for logistics. If the
accompanying workflows at a
Steel Europe plant in Duisburg
are not perfectly coordinated, this could lead to costly
delays in sending off coils of flat steel from
the hot rolling mill for further processing. Or
if the panel saw that one location is currently
unavailable, there could be delays in carrying
out a customer’s processing order even though
the same machine is standing idle at another
location. As these highly simplified examples of
­logistics-related issues faced by Steel Europe
and Materials Services demonstrate, “The key
to success is for logistics to focus on meeting
the needs of customers. Logistics is what
brings the company together and represents
one of ThyssenKrupp’s key fields of expertise.
This spans procurement, production, and distribution.” That is how Darian Achenbach (28)
and Daniel Dressler (30), PhD candidates at the
Graduate School of Logistics at TU Dortmund
University, describe the role played by logistics.
This is what drove the decision by logistics managers at the two BAs to launch the
ThyssenKrupp Competence Center Logistics
(CCL) five years ago. It was part of an effort
to generate futuristic strategic concepts for
real-life logistical issues faced by the Group.
These are developed by young scientists
working in collaboration with specialists from
the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and
Logistics (IML).
“We are not talking about issues that need
immediate solutions but rather end-to-end,
systematic approaches,” says Marcus D
­ eckers
from Steel Europe, who heads up the fellowship
program for ThyssenKrupp that is currently
focusing on 14 research topics. Achenbach and
Dressler’s work focuses on different areas, with
the latter devoting his efforts to planning and
routing shipments of steel at ThyssenKrupp
Steel. This involves coordinating shipments
sent by rail or truck between the plants and
customers. Conversely, A
­ chenbach is looking
into the question of how orders can be efficiently assigned based on the capacity utilization at
the various locations as this relates to trading
activities involving processing.
Putting theory into practice
Similar approaches often work in different
areas. In the words of the young researchers,
“What’s needed are new ideas. Logistics
cannot simply continue its administrative
function. It needs to continually evolve in
order for our company to remain competitive.”
If at all possible, this should be a team effort.
“Logistics
requires new
ideas and needs
to continually
evolve.”
DANIEL DRESSLER AND DARIAN ACHENBACH
PhD candidates at ThyssenKrupp Competence
Center Logistics
That’s why the fellows at CCL work in adjoining offices in the same wing. “It allows us
to brainstorm, discuss ideas, and help each
other out,” says Dressler. One area where
they are doing so is with simulation models.
The outcome of the two research projects will
be IT-based system solutions. While Dressler
has created the basic concept for a planning
system with detailed processes for integrating various transport flows, Achenbach
has developed an online portal that uses a
market-based strategy to manage orders and
available capacity. “The main challenge is in
&
coordinating decentralized planning activities
in view of uncertainties arising from, among
other things, orders received on short notice,”
says Achenbach.
In the best-case scenario, the fellows
should spend as much time on campus as
they do at the company. This is crucial in
allowing them to gain in-depth knowledge of
workflows and issues that affect the logistics
processes. Furthermore, to ensure a smooth
flow of information from theory to practical
application, they receive close guidance. “At
first, I was taken aback by the amount of supervision,” says Dressler. “There were several
people who were there to assist me from day
one at Steel.” Each one has their own unique
role to play in the complex realm of logistics.
This combination is what drove them to
work in research after completing their degrees.
“It’s a great chance in more than one way.
First, it helps me cover my costs while writing
my thesis. Second, I have the opportunity to
use a scientific and practical approach to devising innovative solutions at the company. Finally,
there is the prospect of being able to put the
results of my research to practical use.” The
solutions proposed by Achenbach are being
used in a NRW project by Materials Services.
The two BAs are currently joined by
­Elevator in CCL. In many ways, this represents
an investment in the Group’s future. There
are the results of the research, which Markus
Witthaut, an IT specialist at the Fraunhofer
Institute and the project’s scientific coordinator,
sees as being exceptionally good. “We are
obviously also looking to find highly skilled
young people to work for our company,” says
Deckers. There has already been some success
here, including the first eight new colleagues
who are in the process of completing their
PhDs. They work in different departments, and
are developing a keen understanding of how
several BAs operate.
Photo: ThyssenKrupp
STEEL EUROPE
14 RESEARCH WHAT WE DEVELOP
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
Many shades and colors
to choose from:
PLADUR makes any
wish come true.
ALL ABOUT MATERIALS
1What’s
this?
It’s part of a pedestrian bridge from the
InnoCity modular steel construction kit.
These modular weight-bearing structures
are walkways for the city of the future.
comes up with
2Who
something like that?
The technology kit for elevated walkways
made of elegant, lightweight steel components is a concept developed during
the Urban Mobility project from Steel
Europe and Elevator Technology.
A splash of color
Coil-coated flat steel brings color to building facades and household appliances.
The PLADUR brand from ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe makes any finish possible,
including steel with the look of wood.
T
here are practically no limits set in
terms of what is possible in creating
the look you want for your facade. Options include polished, fine-­textured,
painted, or a wood or metallic look.
The PLADUR series from ThyssenKrupp Steel
Europe offers organically coated flat steel in
nearly any finish, allowing industrial structures to
blend in with their environment, and the creation
of washing machines with a wood finish.
“Our core market consists of the construction and garage door industries as well as the
commercial vehicle and household appliance
“We care
because…
…we are one
family and
the health
and safety of
everyone is
important.”
SALES ASSOCIATE,
Regional Headquarters for
China, Beijing, on the 2015
World Day for Safety and
Health at Work
on household appliances only has to look good.
Every one of our products is highly environmentally friendly because they can be fully recycled.
“All of our pre-treatments are chromate-free,
we avoid pigments containing heavy metals,
and we always use cutting-edge technology,”
explains Pohl. “So when it comes to this product
line, steel is going green.”
3-D technology is now being used to design
the finishes. The patterns, both intricate and
precision-textured surfaces created using
CAD, are subsequently applied to coil-coated
PLADUR products.
kilometers traveled
This would be possible if the
Ruhr express bicycle route
is built, and is equal to the
distance from the earth to
the moon and back.
can
3What
it do?
The modular design principal opens up
new solutions to meet the varied needs
of urban infrastructure. The prefabricated
modules require little space, meaning
they can be integrated into any existing
urban development scenario. This
includes elevated bicycle and pedestrian
paths, such as the 100-kilometer Ruhr
express bike route planned between
Duisburg and Hamm.
it
4What’s
good for?
Busy downtown intersections are free
of pedestrian traffic. Elevated routes,
escalators, and moving walkways such as
ACCEL for distances of up to 1.5 kilometers make it easier to move about the city
for everyone, both young and old.
FROM THE BUSINESS AREAS
…and
what might
this be?
WORLDWIDE
WORLDWIDE
Faster and quieter
to ever greater heights
New automotive products top the
winner’s board in the innovation contest
Office and residential towers are constantly reaching new
heights. This means faster elevators are needed. To meet
this demand, ThyssenKrupp Elevator has developed the
Active Roller Guide that allows for speeds of up to 15 meters
per second. This is made possible by sensors on the cabin
and roller guide that register unwanted lateral motion and
transmit signals to tiny electromagnetic adjustment units.
These then induce a controlled movement to offset the
motion and thereby reduce cabin vibrations to ensure a
comfortable ride even at the highest of speeds. The Active
Roller Guide is currently undergoing testing and is scheduled
for launch in mid 2016.
InCar plus took top spot in ThyssenKrupp’s 2014 Innovation
Contest. The development project was the largest of its kind
for years, and involved three Business Areas and 15 locations.
Second place went to Uhde High Pressure Technologies (IS) for
its project on high-pressure food pasteurization. ThyssenKrupp
Presta (CT) was awarded third place for yet another innovation
in the automotive field: the assembled adjustable cam element.
Finally, the Energy and Environment Special Innovation Award
went to BU Plant Technologies (IS) for a process for cleaning
wastewater from coke plants.
Go to we-online.thyssenkrupp.com and enter innovation contest
2014 in the search field to read more about each of the winners.
Pla
and wy
in
Solve the riddle and send
in your answer!
We are giving away a travel voucher worth
€1,000 for services from Dr. Tigges Travel
Agency in Essen, Germany.
Entries must be submitted
by September 31, 2015. Send to:
[email protected].
The winner will be notified separately.
The judge’s decision is final.
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (4), Nils Hendrik Mueller,
Martin Pfeiffer / The Cool Box (3), Fotolia Illustrations: C3 Visual Lab
WELL SAID
industries,” says Sales Manager Axel Pohl.
The flat steel is designed to meet the individual
needs of customers.
The finishes do more than serve an aesthetic
purpose. The properties of the rugged material,
which offers a high level of formability, vary according to its intended use. For instance, certain
coatings can absorb moisture, while others
are easy to clean. When used on commercial
vehicles, the coating needs to be chip-proof,
whereas it has to be durable and able to withstand heat, rain, and cold temperatures if applied to a garage door. Conversely, the coating
400,000
fewer vehicle
CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE PEOPLE 15
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
RULES
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
The ThyssenKrupp global compliance
program contains the core aspects of
anti-corruption measures, antitrust law,
data protection, and the prevention of
money laundering. The ­compliance
­directives apply to all employees worldwide who are in turn personally responsible for complying with the rules. Some
60 corporate and regional compliance
officers and compliance officers from
the Business Areas are there to offer
them assistance with their knowledge
of compliance.
The desert lives
by its OWN RULES
It is necessary
to take regional differences into
account as part of global implementation of the ThyssenKrupp compliance
program and directives. This requires
knowledge of the region, and cultural
sensitivity. The current team of 11
regional compliance officers is able
to bring these skills to the table. They
serve as trusted business advisors to
employees on the ground, especially
in questions related to anti-corruption
measures and competition law.
The way deals are sealed in the Arab world is different than in Essen.
That doesn’t mean ThyssenKrupp employees can skirt the company’s rules.
Regional Compliance Officer Sven Klaiber is there to ensure none are broken.
He has lived for some time in Dubai and knows the local practices well.
T
here are two mistakes that
everyone makes once in
Dubai,” says Klaiber with a
grin. “The first one is hanging
your whites out to dry when
there’s a sandstorm. The other
is forgetting where you parked
your car at the Dubai Mall.” These are silly
­mistakes and nothing more than that. Mistakes in professional life, however, especially
those having to do with compliance violations,
can have serious repercussions. That’s why
Klaiber helps ensure that such violations do
not occur in the first place. As a lawyer by
training, he serves as regional compliance
officer responsible for the META region (Middle
East, Turkey, Africa). His knowledge of local
practices allows him to assist colleagues
working in local units, in Corporate Function
Compliance, and in the Business Areas.
While the ThyssenKrupp compliance
directives apply around the world, the legal
systems vary from country to country. To this
end, Klaiber is there to offer a local and global
perspective in helping answer questions
Deals signed in the
region are subject
to local law. That’s
why Sven Klaiber
is there to help
his colleagues
­understand the laws
and how they work.
about contracts, local laws, and compliance
legislation, and help out with background
information on new projects or business
partnerships. He also provides colleagues
with global insights and information about the
Group-wide compliance program in an effort to
foster mutual understanding.
The German native has been living in
Dubai with his family for six years. The first
thing that struck him was how international
Dubai is. “We recently counted 13 different
nationalities just among our close circle
of friends,” reports Klaiber. While only 15
percent of the population of the Emirates are
locals, Arab culture still holds sway, especially
in business life.
Personal relations are extremely important
here. You meet up a lot to talk and eat. This is
all part of demonstrating mutual respect. Business partners frequently pay visits to the office
or plant. This generates quite a few q
­ uestions
for Klaiber from colleagues on whether invitations they extend or receive conform with the
terms established in the global compliance
rules. “Hospitality is writ large in the Arab
I often need
to view things
from a different
cultural
perspective
here.”
SVEN KLAIBER,
Regional Compliance Officer Dubai
world. Invitations to lunch or dinner, in many
cases at upscale restaurants, are common
and have the potential to give the impression that undue influence is being exerted.
The same is true when it comes to giving or
accepting expensive gifts. This means it is important that gifts and invitations do not violate
our compliance rules,” says Klaiber.
There are special rules in place for setting
up an office in Dubai. This generally means
having to have a local business partner, or
sponsor. There are certain key things that
need to be taken into consideration from a
compliance perspective when choosing a
partner. Unlike in many countries, employees
who work in the private sector can also be
considered public officials in cases where the
state maintains a stake in their company. Plus,
business people often hold political office.
This makes perfectly good sense, especially
when you consider that natives make up only
a small portion of the overall population – and
this is fully permitted under local law. “If you
are looking to sign a consulting agreement,
you’ll need a local partner whose role and
background make him an acceptable candidate under the terms of our compliance directives,” says Klaiber, who holds a doctorate
in law. That’s why he offers his support not
only when reviewing contracts but also when
the time comes to select business partners,
regardless of whether they will function as a
sponsor, consultant, or other type of partner.
Unique cultural practices and differences
in laws and legislation are also explored in
great detail in the training seminars held by
Klaiber on how to work by the compliance
rules. He is constantly traveling in the Gulf
region, Turkey, and Africa. “Teaching the
material requires both passion and intellect,
as well as the ability to see things from a
different cultural perspective. This is the only
way to get the message across,” he says.
Even if Turkey has different customs than
Africa, whose customs in turn differ from
those practiced in the Gulf States, the rules
of proper conduct remains the same across
ThyssenKrupp.
16 PEOPLE WHO WE ARE
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
AT WORK
SE
KREUZTAL-EICHEN,
GERMANY
What are you
working on
at the moment?
Elisabeth
Pfau
Clerk for order tracking
A good network is important to
this 52-year-old clerk, because
timely production is key in her
job. From her office she manages
the material deliveries for all
galvanized and coated steel strips
for customers from industries
such as the household appliance,
automobile, garage door, and
construction sector. Despite tight
deadlines, this employee from
Siegerland stays cheerful.
ThyssenKrupp Group employees
undertake a wide variety of tasks every
day. Here we interview and present
colleagues from all over the world.
And what does your
workplace look like?
Whether you work in production,
in the workshop, or the office
– show us what you do for
ThyssenKrupp, and where!
Please send your photos to:
[email protected],
subject: My Workplace
CT
Amrish
Dholakia
Engineering Manager,
Industrial Solutions (India)
After 15 years as a process engineer,
for the last three years he has been an
engineering manager responsible for new
industrial facilities from design to startup
around the world. The 38-year-old often
faces the challenge of keeping the team
motivated in the face of stringent schedules and continuous changes during execution. When a facility is up and running
with the planned performance figures,
he’s a happy man.
ILSENBURG, GERMANY
Christian Reuß
Plant operator,
Presta Camshafts
The 33-year-old supervises the
camshaft production for Porsche
and BMW at two plants. He enters
instructions for the reassembly of
every kind of shaft into his computer.
The shafts, which are manufactured
fully automatically, are monitored
according to an inspection plan. His
monitors display the target dimensions and deviations. Alongside his
shift job, this father of one daughter
is getting an additional qualification
as a master craftsman in metal.
MX
NOVÉ ZÁMKY, SLOVAKIA
Eva Majkútová
Operations Manager, Materials Slovakia
Since December, this 32-year-old logistics expert
has taken on additional responsibilities. She not only
supervises logistics processes, flows of materials
and warehouse management, but also improves processes to make the company more efficient and up
to date, and therefore more competitive. In addition,
she is in charge of selecting customers as well as
customer service and satisfaction. It is important to
her to include all employees in this process.
IS
ET
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
Kirsty Green
Elevator technician, Elevator Technology
She enjoys fixing things, and likes to figure out how they
work. That’s why the 34-year-old became an engineer.
She trained with OTIS, went to engineering college and
has been fixing elevators for ThyssenKrupp as a maintenance and call-out engineer since 2013. In order to get
a step ahead, she is currently studying for a degree in
engineering design alongside her job. In the future,
she’d like to design and construct new elevators.
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (3), Nils Hendrik Mueller, Balasz Jeckel/The Hering, James Bastable (2), private
MUMBAI, INDIA
WHO WE ARE PEOPLE 17
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
OFF WORK
He keeps
running and
running …
… and running. David Phillips has been
­running his rounds, over 25,000 kilometers
total just in marathons, for 35 years. He has
raised over £85,000 for a good cause, and
intends to raise another few thousand.
David Phillips training
for the London
­Marathon, which took
place in late April.
W
hoever takes up running dreams about
running a marathon. Extreme athletes
will aim to join the 100 Marathon Club,
to which all runners belong if they have
run this distance more than 99 times.
But David Phillips has long since entered another dimension – he has run
450 marathons and over 300 half marathons. Still, he is not
satisfied. “I want to complete 500 marathons, that’s my goal,”
says the 70-year-old company secretary at ThyssenKrupp
System Engineering. When the running movement emerged
in the 1980s and fun runs sprang up everywhere, he became
curious and tried it out. The timing was right; he was well
trained and had recently stopped playing rugby. It was a love
to last him a lifetime. Ever since his first run, he has done
laps almost every day after work, usually near the airport in
­Coventry, which is around the corner from his office.
On weekends, Philipps takes part in organized running
events. “It doesn’t matter if it’s five or ten kilometers or more,”
he says. He ran his first marathon in Coventry in 1982, which
took him three hours and 19 minutes. Several years later he
was the 25th member of the 100 Marathon Club in the UK. He
has already participated in most of the major marathons in the
world: London, Paris, New York, and Boston. He has even run
the marathon in the Shakespeare town of Stratford-upon-Avon
32 times. But in his opinion, the most beautiful one is the
Snowdonia Marathon, which takes runners through a national
park in Wales. “You get to see a lot of the regions and the
landscape. This is how I discovered the world a little bit,” he
says enthusiastically. He does take more time than before to
complete a course: a marathon now takes him five hours.
His aim was never to set records, and this still does not
interest him. Nor does he consider himself an extreme runner.
He notes with admiration that a doctor in Germany has just
run his 2,000th marathon. And he marvels at runners whose
goal is to run 365 marathons in one year. He has other things
in mind. “There are many different and interesting people in
“I approach running
the same way
I do working –
I just can’t quit.”
DAVID PHILLIPS,
Company Secretary, System Engineering, UK
my running group. I enjoy talking to them and learning from
them.” Phillipps also appreciates how doing sports allows him
to clear his head. “When you work with tax rates and accounts
all day long, it feels good to run and to think about absolutely
nothing for a while.” The cliché that a runner is running away
from something makes him smile as he replies, “That doesn’t
make sense, because in the end, you always come back to
where you started.”
He no longer runs purely for his own pleasure, but also
does so for charity. He has raised nearly £85,000 so far for
the Brain and Spine Foundation that provides support for
people with neurological diseases. “My goal is to raise
£100,000,” says Phillips. He could reach this goal with
500 marathons. And would he call it quits after that? “That’s
not likely,” Phillips supposes. “I approach running the same
way I do working – I just can’t quit.”
Phillips in one of
his first marathons.
Running is still a
good way for him to
relax from work.
Jus
greatt!
Amazing
­colleagues
worldwide!
Recom
by his mended
c
Garry Holleague
arper
Write to us if one of your team members has an
interesting hobby, a special sporting talent, or if
they go out of their way to help others. We look
forward to your interesting submissions from all
over ThyssenKrupp.
You can get in touch with us by mail at:
ThyssenKrupp AG, WE Editorial Office,
Heading: Amazing Colleagues, ThyssenKrupp
Allee 1, 45143 Essen, Germany, or by e-mail
at: [email protected],
subject: Amazing Colleagues
18 INTER ACTIVE WHAT CONNECTS US
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
Exciting stories
from across
the globe
ThyssenKrupp launches the new
“engineered” blog to offer fresh and
authentic insights into the group.
T
hyssenKrupp has many
faces: elevator maintenance staff, plant
engineers, trainees, or
“Angela running the
steel plant’s kiosk” –
and there’s more than
one story behind every face. In May
we launched the “engineered” storytelling platform to share our employees’ stories, photos, and videos with
you, thus offering a glimpse into
the world of ThyssenKrupp. You are
invited to come in and explore this
world.
The blog is a dialogue-based
Internet journal that offers a fresh
and modern view of our company, its
many facets, the people that populate
it, and the skills they bring to bear.
After all, it is not always clear to see
what our engineers develop, what
impressive technologies and products
we create – in other words, what
makes ThyssenKrupp the company it
is today.
The initial stories were told by a
young team of four cinematography
students and a ThyssenKrupp employee. They embarked on a journey
across the world in May to spend three
months discovering new things at all
locations and share their insights in
a creative manner. How do innovations come about? How is an idea
transformed into a final product? Who
are the people that go the extra mile
for ThyssenKrupp day in, day out?
Where do they live? What drives their
enthusiasm?
In “engineered,” the five travelers
describe what they experience behind
The blog’s camera team went on
a road trip, starting at the Essen
headquarters.
the scenes. In addition, a group-wide
editorial team will regularly be contributing stories that are exciting and fun.
ThyssenKrupp has thus committed
to embracing the digital future and an
open exchange around the clock and
across the globe. Better yet, anyone
can participate! Write comments and
share your views by becoming a writer. If you have a story to tell or a photo
you would like to post, please join the
discussion and take your ideas online.
You can follow the world trip live, and
don’t forget to share the posts in your
social networks, be it Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Show your community what we at ThyssenKrupp stand
for, who we are, and what makes us
special. Visitors can personalize their
access and filter posts. Enjoy the
virtual expedition!
Top: Selfie
of blog author
Patricia Schiel
and film s­ tudent
Michaela Edl.
Left: The camera
team live at the
Nürburgring
as new shock
absorbers are
being installed.
Take a look at our new blog:
http://engineered.thyssenkrupp.com
UPDATE
Direct to – Making
things happen
Mission statement and daily business*
From Stefan Hülse
The internal communication platform allows
colleagues to put questions to the group’s executive
management and engage in a global exchange.
NEW
Have pressing questions
concerning your Business Area?
As of June, you can direct your
comments not only to Heinrich
Hiesinger, but to any member of
the Executive Board!
“Let’s keep it up,” wrote Fabrice
Lajugie de la Renaudie at Elevator
France. “We must learn how to use
tools such as this to communicate
and leverage the additional potential released in the process. I will do
my share every day.” The platform
is getting more and more popular
across the globe. Posts from China,
Spain, and Portugal are particularly
on the rise.
Things are in motion. “Four
thousand employees are p
­ aving
the way for social media at
ThyssenKrupp – I am impressed,”
says Stefanie Heyduck, social
media expert at IBM. This initiative also gives ThyssenKrupp’s
employees across all locations and
Response
from Heinrich Hiesinger
Business Areas unprecedented
freedom in addressing a broad
range of topics that are of interest
to many of us. In addition, posts
can be discussed with each other in
addition to the replies provided by
the Executive Board. This is a key
step towards establishing an active,
vibrant network.
“I’m hoping for many more
colleagues across all functions to
join and help to nurture and sustain
a corporate culture of transparency, openness, and honesty,” says
Bettina Schotten, one of the first
users to sign up. Another user,
Carsten Rose, considers the forum
“a visible sign and building block of
the cultural change that has been
initiated; we should introduce more
such building blocks in the future.”
Go to https://directto.thyssenkrupp.
info to vote, post a comment, ask a
question, or read answers to other
people’s questions.
I agree with you. The mission statement still does not provide enough
orientation. We must get better at distilling the written aspirations and
applying them to our daily work as well as convincing employees to join
in. Managers and employees should discuss and agree on how they
intend to live up to the mission statement.
Comment
by Bettina Schotten
I believe that the mission statement guides our daily actions, often
without us realizing this, and without being able to put a name to what
guideline we are following. It is not enough for us managers to be role
models – we must also start to identify and spell out even the small
things people are doing right, not least to help raise awareness.
Personal advancement within the group*
From JD
It’s a big shame that such a large company as ours lacks a
­consistent personnel development process. We need long-term
career paths for employees on the lower hierarchy levels.
Response
from Heinrich Hiesinger
I also feel strongly about the importance of employee development, and
share your assessment. Though there are many good internal programs,
what we do not have is a consistent framework for talent management
across the group – such as, for instance, TK Talents. But I would stress
that employee development also depends on everyone’s willingness to
get involved. Communicate your wish to move ahead.
* Contribution was shortened
Photos: ThyssenKrupp (10)
E
ver since its introduction,
the “Direct to Hiesinger”
interactive platform is
getting more popular
by the day. More than
4,000 users have already registered, and participate in discussions across geographic borders.
They write articles on urgent internal issues, make suggestions for
improvement, rank the relevancy
of contributions, and engage in a
dialogue with one another. A strong
user community has established
itself and is growing steadily thanks
to the many activities that raised
awareness of “Direct to” at over
50 international locations until the
end of April.
I am disappointed with the impact of the mission statement on our
company. There should be an authority to support employees in
challenging viewpoints, and to help them point out discrepancies
between the mission statement and actual business practices.
WHAT DEFINES US IDENTIT Y 19
2/2015 WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP
THREE TIMES THREE
“It’s about our quality of life”
We can all help to protect the environment. Colleagues across the globe share their stories on ecological responsibility
and which projects they support as private citizens and at the workplace to save precious resources.
Color Huang
Yun Zhu
Carlos Alberto da Silva
Position: Administrative Manager
Age: 32
Location: Elevator China,
Zhongshan
Position: Logistics Manager
Age: 33
Location: ThyssenKrupp Plastics,
Düsseldorf
Position: Head of Maintenance
Age: 54
Location: Metalúrgica Campo
Limpo, Brazil
1
How important
is environ­
mental conservation for you
personally?
“Environmental protection is a hot
topic. Ever since a documentary at
the beginning of this year, we here
in China have become aware that we
are living in serious haze. No matter
what people say, we have to take these
­warning signs seriously.”
“I am now much more aware of environmental issues than I used to be
a few years ago. Even though I grew
up in China, where the wise words of
Confucius teach us that we should live
in harmony with our environment. I feel
it’s my obligation to take the matter
seriously on a personal level.”
“Protecting natural resources is of
essential importance to life itself. So
many people are not interested in what’s
happening in their homes, and the
environment is suffering as a result. This
seriously reduces the quality of life for all
of us. Society as a whole should aspire to
improve this situation.”
2
In what way
do you help
to protect the
environment?
“I pay attention to how much water I
am consuming, and try to a
­ ccumulate
less waste from packaging. I take short
showers instead of full baths, use
rainwater for my garden, and cut down
on plastic bags. Also I donate extras to
charity instead of throwing them away.”
“I always take the train rather than
drive a car. And in my home I exclusively use LED lights. When purchasing
new electronic devices, I check the
energy efficiency rating and – I’m not
kidding you – I always wash my hands
at low temperatures.”
“I own a house in the countryside,
in a region where water is scarce.
Together with my neighbors, I actively
support projects to protect local springs
and projects for rainwater treatment. We
also strive to raise awareness for fire
hazards.”
3
Do you know
of projects at
your location?
“There are many practical steps
towards saving the environment. We
can set up garbage classification in our
workshop and recycle paper, plastic,
aluminum, and glass. Or buy green
energy generated from renewable
sources and turn off appliances and
lights after work.”
“Our environmental footprint has
just been determined. We are discussing internal options for lowering
our energy consumption. Next year we
will introduce an energy management
system. The company is backing us
100 percent when it comes to launching new projects.”
“Every idea is being supported. We
donate recyclable waste materials to
the Vida Nova cooperative for the reuse
of resources. We are also engaged in a
project to recycle abrasive dust, another
one to recycle process water, and many
more. For example, we recycled one
million liters of oil in 2008.”
Systematically saving energy and the environment
The department for Sustainability, Environment & Energy Management keeps improving our group’s energy balance.
R
esponsible utilization of energy and eco-friendly
processes are of vital importance to an industrial
corporation such as ThyssenKrupp. For this reason,
in 2009 the group started to implement a global
environmental and energy management department
and define guidelines. These included concrete targets for
energy consumption. “We are aiming to increase our efficiency by 3.5 terawatt hours by 2020,” says Marc Verheyen,
Energy Efficiency Manager at Sustainability, Environment &
Energy Management. This does not necessarily mean that
consumption will drop by this amount. “The figure describes
the difference to the amount of energy we would be consuming
in 2020 if we did not take any energy efficiency measures,”
explains Verheyen.
For three years now, key data has been captured to control
the required programs: energy and water consumption, CO2
emissions, waste and wastewater volumes, and even airborne
emissions such as dust, nitric oxides, or solvents. These data
are collected, reported, and evaluated each year in accordance with international standards. “We mostly leave it to the
individual companies to decide for themselves which projects to
implement to improve their footprint,” says Bernd Irmscher, who
is in charge of coordinating environmental management. “Our
companies are highly diverse, so centralized project rules would
not really make a lot of sense. But our processes ensure that
all locations continuously reduce their ecological impact and
improve energy efficiency.”
Network conventions such as energy efficiency days, regional meetings of environmentalists, checklists for feasible environmental protection measures, software for capturing data,
and other measures are jointly worked out by corporate HQ and
the Business Areas. Starting in 2011, Irmscher and colleagues
from the Components Technology, Industrial Solutions and Steel
Europe Business Areas have been offering internal training
seminars on environmental protection. Some 160 colleagues
have already been trained to become what are known as environmental auditors. “They contribute to systematically improving environmental protection in the plants,” explains Irmscher.
“For example, they work with the environmental management
systems many customers are calling for nowadays.”
The ThyssenKrupp website provides detailed information on
our environmental footprint, such as annual CO2 emissions of
34 million metric tons and the improvements achieved through
these programs. This level of climate reporting places the
group in the top ten percentile of D-A-CH companies in terms
of transparency. In 2014, too, ThyssenKrupp was listed on the
Leadership Index of the CDP climate protection organization.
Check the sustainability keyword on the ThyssenKrupp.com homepage
to find out more about sustainability and the targets behind our environmental and energy management initiatives.
20 ONSITE WHAT DRIVES ME
WE ARE THYSSENKRUPP 2/2015
My ThyssenKrupp
Coming back home
Ever since he was a child, Domenico Sciaboletta knew of the steel mill in Terni, where he now serves as
production manager. However, his path to a job at one of Italy’s oldest industrial plants took him a long way.
“Our plant can
look back on
more than
130 years of
history”
DOMENICO SCIABOLETTA,
production manager
at the hot rolling mill
Acciai Speciali Terni produces
over a hundred types of stainless
steel. Titanium is also part of the
company’s product portfolio.
the staff come to me to talk about both professional and personal matters.
I believe this is a very important role and it’s one that takes up a majority of
my time. Our team is generally all around the same age. We stick together
even in times where it is not always easy for me to answer my employees’
questions or address their concerns. One of main ones at the moment
relates to the aftermath of the global economic crisis, which would seem to
have no end in sight.
Our plant can look back on more than 130 years of history. It was built
in the early days of the modern Italian state. Its location in the center of the
country was chosen for strategic military reasons, tucked away in a remote
and beautiful mountain region. The downside from a modern logistics
perspective is that we are far away from the main transportation links to the
ports. Despite this obstacle, steel production plays a central role in Terni, a
city of 110,000. To this day, getting a job at AST is a great opportunity for
many young people in the city and the surrounding area. We receive many
applicants. Everyone believes in the future of the plant, and we will continue
to build on the tradition of steel-making in Terni.
131 YEARS OF STEEL PRODUCTION
Steel was first produced
in Terni, a city located
100 kilometers north of
Rome, in 1884. Acciai
Speciali Terni (AST) has
been among the top global
producers of stainless steel
for many years.
1,500,000
m2
is the size of the
AST industrial complex.
15
percent
of all stainless steel
made in Europe is
produced in Terni.
Photos: Fabio Massimo Aceto/ Fotogloria, Fabio Menghi
W
hen I was child, I always wanted to know what went
on inside the massive facility in Terni. Obviously
steel was made here, that I knew. I have now worked
for Acciai Speciali Terni for nine years and have had
plenty of opportunity to find out what exactly goes
on at the plant. However, my path to becoming
production manager in the hot rolling mill was
anything but straightforward.
I grew up in small town near Terni, where the plant was often a topic of
conversation. But unlike most people in the area, I am not from a blue-collar
family with ties to the giant steel works in Terni. I majored in engineering
at the material sciences department in Perugia and from there went on to
work as a young researcher at INSA, the R&D institute in Lyon. When it all
seemed set that I would pursue a career in academia, I received an offer to
work at the stainless steel plant in Terni. This came completely out of the
blue. I’m proud of my choice to this day.
My first job at the plant was in the metallurgy/R&D department. This is
where we developed a method for analyzing non-metallic particles trapped
in molten metal. The standard technique required a full two days to ascertain the purity and quality of cast steel, whereas our procedure allowed it
to be determined almost immediately – a matter of minutes – during the
casting process itself.
Four years ago, I transferred to the rolling mill, where I initially served
as shift supervisor. This proved to be an extremely important experience.
We make coils of strip steel out of stainless steel in the heart of the plant.
We even roll titanium here, which involves a much more complex technical
process.
Despite being only 34, I was recently promoted to an important post
and all the responsibility that goes with it. I am now production manager at
the hot rolling mill in charge of 90 employees. I find it great that members of