Cross-company cooperation in south Duisburg: ThyssenKrupp MillServices & Systems expanding finishing services for Hoesch Hohenlimburg on HKM site

ThyssenKrupp MillServices & Systems has expanded its portfolio of finishing services and concluded a five-year service contract with Hoesch Hohenlimburg. The company has now taken a new slab slitting and grinding line into production on the site of Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) in south Duisburg. The new equipment allows the slabs, which are supplied to narrow strip specialist Hoesch Hohenlimburg, to be cut to size exactly as required and ground. This results in a further overall improvement to the quality of the strip steel products.

“We are delighted to have won this contract. Our cooperation with Hoesch Hohenlimburg is a good example of synergies at work in the ThyssenKrupp Group,” says Timm Jesberg, head of Finishing Services. Previously the slabs for Hoesch Hohenlimburg, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, were processed by an external service provider. After discussions on how to retain resources within the Group, the two companies jointly planned and implemented the new slitting line.

The cooperation delivers advantages on both sides. Short transportation distances and a warehouse management system tailored to the needs of Hoesch Hohenlimburg save the hot-rolled strip producer time and money. “This cross-company cooperation is a win-win situation for us and our customers, who benefit from our specific services and the further improvement in the quality of our material,” said Dr. Jens Overrath, CEO of Hoesch Hohenlimburg, during the start-up of the line. One of the biggest improvements is in logistics. The existing storage areas and the processing equipment on the HKM site are now close together and linked among other things by rail sidings and transport cranes. For example, the slit slabs from the line are loaded using a special 80 ton cross transporter. It can carry up to six slabs, stacked pyramid-like in three layers.

About ThyssenKrupp

ThyssenKrupp is a diversified industrial group based in Essen, Germany. It has roughly 150,000 employees in over 80 countries developing ideas and innovations for sustainable progress. In fiscal year 2013/2014 ThyssenKrupp generated sales of more than 41 billion euros.

ThyssenKrupp MillServices & Systems is a highly capable engineering services provider with particular expertise in the metal-producing and fabricating industries as well as other sectors with complex production processes. Its product portfolio embraces the entire customer value chain, from slag management, in-plant logistics and production support to maintenance, project business and packaging. Customers benefit from end-to-end single-source services. In all these areas the company provides round-the-clock availability and meets high standards of health, safety and environmental protection.

Hoesch Hohenlimburg GmbH, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, is a specialist supplier of hot-rolled steel strip founded over 160 years ago in Hagen, Germany. The company, which employs around 900 people, supplies some 80 percent of its narrow strip products directly or indirectly (via the cold rolling industry) to automotive component suppliers. Almost a fifth of its production output goes to export, mainly to other European countries but also to Asia and North and South America. Hoesch Hohenlimburg sees itself as a specialist for custom applications and can produce even small batches cost-efficiently.