Info 1 2008 Engl - Buderus Edelstahl Gmbh

11 th Year· Issue 1 · May 2008
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH
Buderusstraße 25
D-35576 Wetzlar
Phone +49 (0) 64 41/3 74-0
Fax +49 (0) 64 41/3 74-28 82
info@buderus-steel.com
www.buderus-steel.com

Edelstahl
Magazine for
Customers and
Employees
1/2008

Contents
4
10
2
€ 2.3 million investment in steel
mill energy-saving project
Classic water tower makes
way for progress
l The Company
4 Evaporation cooling at electric
furnace 6
€ 2.3 million investment in steel mill
energy-saving project
6 Continuous Improvement
programme launched
“Better is best”
8 € 15,000 for children’s projects
Donations instead of Christmas
presents
9 Africa hammer celebrates
its second birthday
Project in Togo, West Africa,
successfully under way
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
10 Classic water tower makes way
for progress
12 Aircraft, travel, and time
Bernhard Pauly retired
at the end of the year
13 Buderus Edelstahl
donates prize money
Fröbel school in Wetzlar
welcomes donation
14 Tough steel images
Industrial photographers
at Buderus Edelstahl
16 Celikmetal boosts Buderus Edelstahl
activities in the Bosporus
Presence in Turkey expanded
14
9
Tough
steel images
Africa hammer celebrates
its second birthday
l Tool Steel/Engineering Steel
18 Global Meeting 2007
Buderus Edelstahl’s international sales
partners welcomed in Weilburg
20 Special steel bonds
Buderus and Bogner:
A successful international partnership
over many years
22 Finnish Polarputki Oy managers
in Wetzlar
Three-day trainee programme
at Buderus Edelstahl
24 Fifth International Gear Steel
Symposium in the Wetzlar civic hall

16
20
Celik metal boosts Buderus Edelstahl
activities at the Bosporus
Buderus and Bogner:
special steel bonds
26 International meeting around the
Buderus Edelstahl tower
Another successful year for the Euromold
expo
l Employees
27 CR & T Board Meeting
Special steel for commercial vehicles
on the agenda
27 Buderus Edelstahl becomes a member
of the Drive Technology Research
Association
28 Introducing Jennifer Schneider
Heat Treatment Supervisor
Career profi les at Buderus Edelstahl
29 Böhler-Uddeholm Management
Academy Stage 1 welcomed at
Buderus Edelstahl
30 Series of lectures on “Recent developments
in metal forming” at the IBF
30 Long service awards
30 Deaths
l News
31 Recommended reading
“Tool making in plastics processing”
31 2008 dates
31 Imprint
Dear Readers,
As we look back on a
successful 2007, we wish
to thank our customers
for the confi dence they
have placed in us, and
for our constructive
collaboration. We also
wish to thank our
employees, whose
commitment and dedication
made it possible
to achieve this goal.
We have a full programme
for 2008, and
have set ourselves further
goals.
In this issue we want
to bring you some highlights from our
company’s activities. These include
intro ducing a continuous improvement
process to replace the existing company
suggestion scheme. We also
introduce two of our sales partners –
Celik Metal, and Bogner – and report
on various symposiums and professional
development events.
One new feature in this magazine is
the series “Career profi les at Buderus
Edelstahl”, regularly introducing
employees in various vocations.
We also include reports on the
causes that Buderus Edelstahl has
supported over the past year.
We trust you enjoy reading this issue.
With our sincere best wishes,
The Management Team
Karl-Peter Johann
Jens Mohr
Editorial
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 3

The Company
€ 2.3 million investment in steel mill energy-saving project
Evaporation cooling at electric furnace 6
4
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008

In addition to constant improvement of
technological processes to achieve economic
goals and enhance quality, saving
energy is a key task when it comes to
environment protection and resource
husbandry. Climate change and its consequences
call for rapid action.
Buderus Edelstahl has risen to this challenge
by investing € 2.3 million this year in
new plant to generate process steam and
make it available for downstream use.
Turning the coarse separator in situ
The company has invested in an evaporation
cooling system for the exhaust gas
fl ow from electric arc furnace 6 in the
Buderus Edelstahl steel mill. The system
pumps pressurised water through the
exhaust gas pipe of the furnace (connected
load 57MW; oxygen gas burner 18 MW);
the water is heated up by the exhaust gas,
and some of it evaporates. The steam-water
mix is separated in the steel mill, and the
steam is stored, to be drawn off as required
by steel degassing (steam jet).
Wolfgang Wichert has headed the Buderus
Edelstahl steel mill since 1 January
2008. The previous incumbent, Dr Klaus
Schäfers, has left the company. Wolfgang
Wichert has 18 years’ experience of the
steel industry, and was previously head
of the steel mill at Lech-Stahlwerke
GmbH in Meitingen, Bavaria.
Wolfgang Wichert is 46 years old, and
comes from the Emsland district. He has
found it easy to adapt to the typical
hearty Hessian style of the local area, and
after barely three months in Wetzlar has
been able to conclude, “The decision to
come to Buderus Edelstahl was the right
one. I’m pleased to contribute to the success
of this innovative company.”
The Company
Coarse separator delivered from Turkey by truck
Previously this process steam had to be
generated by a gas boiler. The new plant
generates 100% of the process steam itself,
and also contributes to the plant’s steam
network. On average throughout the year
it generates at least 5 tonnes of steam per
hour. This represents a saving of about 3.8
million standard cubic metres of gas a year,
and more than 7,000 tonnes of CO 2.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 5

The Company
Directors Jens Mohr, Karl-Peter Johann with Continuous Improvement representatives Stefan Schmidt, Sebastian Zimmermann, Rolf Schmidt (works council), and
Manfred Becker (from left to right)
“Better is best”
Continuous Improvement
programme launched
Buderus Edelstahl initiated the establishment of a systematic continuous improvement
process (KVP) with the help of external advisers in late 2007, which will benefi t
employees and customers throughout the world. The aims are to further intensify
customer orientation, process optimisation and cross-departmental communication
on the use of resources and synergies.
The new Continuous Improvement programme
replaces the previous company
suggestion scheme system, providing a
uniform structure for the whole company.
By systematically and continuously working
on improvements, whilst constantly
reducing defects, the Continuous Improvement
programme ensures high process orientation
and process reliability. The programme
provides the right tools to establish
appropriate measures and implement
the results effectively. This creates greater
fl exibility and enables rapid response to
changed conditions in the marketplace,
with customers and with competitors – a
6
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
factor that will secure Buderus Edelstahl’s
continued position as a market leader in
the fi eld of high-grade special steels.
Kai-Zen: change for the better
Continuous Improvement was in principle
developed from the Japanese Kai-Zen, a
management concept that involves all
levels of a company to achieve gradual
improvement by increased involvement of
employees, strengthening the company’s
competitive position. Process quality, product
quality and service quality are the
main focus of continuous teamwork.
Buderus Edelstahl is using its Continu-
ous Improvement programme to pursue a
corporate culture that expressly welcomes
the involvement of each employee, in
which ideas are contributed and rewarded.
“We developed the programme jointly with
the works council”, says Jens Mohr, Commercial
Director of Buderus Edelstahl, “and
we are convinced that every employee can
contribute good ideas to promote the company’s
prosperity.
All employees will be able to engage in
the Continuous Improvement programme,
and to make a truly personal contribution
to the company’s ongoing development.”
The Technical Director Karl-Peter Johann
comments, “We are sure all our employees
will be fully committed to this as well –
after all this enables them to make a long
term contribution to our competitiveness
and thus also to secure their own jobs.”
The company’s Continuous Improvement
Offi cer Manfred Becker believes that
the programme will harness much positive
energy. “Playing an active role in shaping
the future of Buderus Edelstahl, being able
to contribute suggestions, seeing your
ideas become reality, that is a great feeling
– and you get paid for it.” Manfred Becker

and his team are working together with
many other people on systematic implementation
of the programme. Six Continuous
Improvement teams will be formed in
the pilot phase.
Coordination for the steel mill is being
handled by Karl-Heinz Spengler, Ralf Rech
is responsible for the forge, and Sebastian
Zimmermann is coordinating the administrative
sector.”
The Continuous Improvement teams
report through the coordinators to the
Continuous Improvement offi cer, receiving
direct technical support through contacts
in the Human Resource, Controlling, Quality
Assurance, Process Engineering, Technology
and IT departments. The Continuous
Improvement programme is managed by a
control group made up of senior management,
divisional management, departmental
management, divisional management,
The Th Continuous C ti IImprovement t organization i ti structure t t
departmental management, the works
council, and the Continuous Improvement
representatives team. Their task is to monitor
the progress of the Continuous Improvement
programme, and to ensure favourable
conditions for close cooperation by removing
barriers.
Good ideas are rewarded
Ideas contributed are fi rst logged by the
Continuous Improvement team concerned
according to standardised criteria, then
action is formulated, and reviewed by divisional
and departmental management.
Every measure that is implemented is
rewarded. The reward is received by the
Continuous Improvement team that contributed
and developed the proposal. The
amount of the reward relates to the annual
net benefi t that the improved measure
brings. It is paid to all team members in
Continuous Improvement control group/core team
The Company
equal parts. Implemented ideas that cannot
be measured in concrete fi gures are
rewarded according to a standardised
reward table, and those that cannot meaningfully
be implemented in a foreseeable
timeframe receive a recognition award.
Uniform, clearly structured checklists
for recording improvement ideas are available
to employees, for example in a Continuous
Improvement box at the main
entrance, in the workshops, foreman’s
offi ces and secretariats, and on the intranet
“For us Continuous Improvement is now
an integral component of the Buderus
Edelstahl corporate strategy”, says Jens
Mohr, “for which we set aside time and
resources to support and drive forward this
continuous process. The more intensively
we do this, the stronger Buderus Edelstahl
will become.”
Continuous Improvement contacts Continuous Improvement representative team
Human Resources ⇒ Kison
Controlling ⇒ Grünen
Quality Planning/ ⇒ Bartzsch, Vetter, Caspari
Process Engineering ⇒ Mauritz
Engineering ⇒ Veit, Daniel, Philipp
IT ⇒ Holland
Steel Mill Coordinator
Forge coordinator
Mohr, Johann, Rech, Hammer, Spengler,
Becker, Schmidt, Zimmermann, works council
Becker, Schmidt, Zimmermann
Administration coordinator
Spengler Rech Zimmermann
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 7

The Company
€ 15,000 for
children’s
projects
Donations instead of
Christmas presents
In 2007 Buderus Edelstahl donated
€ 3,000 to each of fi ve children’s
projects, instead of sending Christmas
gifts to customers. The cheques were
handed over at the end of December in
the main administrative block at
Buderus Edelstahl.
For several years now Buderus Edelstahl has
been providing fi nancial support to welfare
causes instead of sending Christmas presents
to customers. For example a donation
went to the children’s heart centre in Giessen
in 2005, and to 4 crèches in Wetzlar in
2006. Several projects will all benefi t in
2007. “We are doing this to promote young
talent”, emphasised Jens Mohr, Commercial
Director of Buderus Edelstahl, at the cheque
presentation ceremony. Together with the
Technical Director Karl-Peter Johann, he
took the opportunity to explain briefl y to
the representatives of the children’s projects
what Buderus Edelstahl is about – making
The new children’s kitchen in the Dandelion day nursery
8
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Susanne Pilz, Heike Grotstollen, Petra Schönfeldt, accompanied by the children Joline Keller (left ) and
Sophie Aranega from the “Dandelion” nursery, Karin Knoth, Marion Kunz and Roland Esch (from left to right)
appreciate the donation from Buderus Edelstahl. The cheques were presented by Karl-Peter Johann,
Anne Kuhlmann (1 st and 2 nd from the left) and Jens Mohr (third from the left)
input material for crankshafts and steering
knuckles, gear steel for wind power generators,
structural steels for bumpers, and
turbine and generator shafts for power
stations. But Buderus Edelstahl has nothing
to do with stainless steel coffee pots. The
smallest visitors, two children from the
Dandelion day nursery, listened with fascination
and amazement.
Climbing wall, car, video projector,
and more
The Dandelion day nursery in the Naunheim
district of Wetzlar was delighted with
the generous support, as was the Naunheim
parents’ association Patchwork, the Niedergirmes
Protestant Church Children’s
Panel, the Marienheim nursery and the
Aßlar crèche groups. The money is needed
urgently everywhere to improve childcare.
The Dandelion day nursery wanted to convert
its roof space and install a children’s
kitchen, said the leader Petra Schönfeldt.
The vicar Marion Kunz reported dire family
circumstances where the children are
neglected, do not get a hot meal or any
help with their homework when they come
home. She intends to use the money to
fi nance a new vehicle to support the Children’s
Panel and bring food to the needy.
New furniture and a video projector will be
provided to support the increasing need for
help with homework, says Suzanne Pilz of
the Patchwork parents’ association. And as
Karin Knoth reported, the children at the
Marienheim crèche will soon be able to
enjoy a new climbing wall. The mayor
Roland Esch accepted the donation on
behalf of the nursery groups of the town of
Aßlar, indicating he would like to invest the
money in early musical education for new
nursery groups for the under threes. Karl-
Peter Johann commented on the Buderus
Edelstahl commitment, “Thanks to the
re commendation of the Youth Offi ce
Manager Heike Grotstollen, we have been
able to distribute the donation very appropriately
to a range of projects to benefi t
the children. We are pleased about that.”

Project in Togo, West Africa,
successfully under way
Africa hammer celebrates
its second birthday
The Africa hammer forged by Buderus Edelstahl was set in place in Yohonou, Togo,
two years ago, on 16 April 2006. This work of art by the forging artist Andreas
Rimkus weighs 19 tonnes and is 4.5 metres long; it was brought to this village of
6,000 smiths by hope and effort. One initial order has already been completed –
500 hand forged “good luck hammers” for Buderus Edelstahl.
Buderus Edelstahl donated the unusual
hammer head in support of the “Generational
artwork – forging the future” sponsored
by UNICEF, on the initiative of the
artist Andreas Rimkus. The Africa hammer
is one of seven gigantic hammerheads to
be installed on all the continents of the
Earth, with a typical local tree planted in
the eye of each hammerhead. The trees will
form the handles of the continental hammers
when they are fully grown.
This world-spanning project has attracted
a lot of attention. For example the television
channel Arte has reported four times
on the Africa hammer and the village of
Yohonou, where the creation myth has it
that everyone is born a smith. Buderus
Edelstahl also supported Andreas Rimkus in
creating the documentary fi lm “The fl aming
tree” that is available on DVD in German,
English, French and Ewe.
“The Africa hammer has already set sev-
Master smiths present their hammers
eral things in motion”, says Andreas Rimkus
with satisfaction. There are plans for a children’s
house. In 2007 an optician from Düsseldorf
spent two weeks in Yohonou examining
the residents’ eyes to have spectacles
made for them in Germany. In March 2008
I am fl ying back to Togo with him.” Andreas
Rimkus was particularly pleased about the
order placed by Buderus Edelstahl for 500
traditional hand-forged hammerheads.
This gave the local population their fi rst
opportunity to export goods to Europe. The
forged products from Yohonou were a publicity
magnet at the Buderus Edelstahl
exhibition stand at Euromold 2007 in
Frankfurt am Main last December. The good
luck hammers with the inscription “Everyone
forges his own good luck”, are being
sold by Buderus Edelstahl for € 10 each to
support the project. The proceeds will go to
selected master smiths in Yohonou, who
will make special forgings for the proposed
museum of forging.
It’s about the children’s future
Jens Mohr, the Commercial Director of
Buderus Edelstahl, comments “The idea
that the hammers can give children all
around the world a pointer to the future,
and stimulate them to forge their own
good fortune pleases us so much that we
are continuing to support the project. The
children of Yohonou now have better prospects
thanks to the Africa hammer, and if
everything we are planning comes to fruition,
they can look to the future with confi
dence.”
The Company
Andreas Rimkus is pleased how well the tree is
growing
The hammerhead with its massive
dimensions was forged by the specialists at
the Buderus Edelstahl open-die forge on 17
and 18 March 2004 from a 26-tonne ingot.
“Not an easy job”, smiles Jens Mohr, “but
one we were pleased to tackle, as always
when required to achieve the almost impossible.”
The fi re tree growing through the Africa hammer
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 9

The Company
Classic water tower makes way for progress
The old water tower in the water supply area of the Buderus Edelstahl site was
demolished at the end of last year. The tower was shuttered and constructed in concrete
at a central location on the site in 1923, and has been out of service for more
than 20 years, latterly surrounded an all sides by water treatment plant. Its function
at the time was to maintain pressure in the company’s water circuits. The structure
was built in the contemporary style, incorporating aesthetic aspects as well as functional
features. Curves and struts gave the tower a balanced and harmonious appearance.
Strips running horizontally around the tank refl ected contemporary concepts of
architectural decoration for such a conspicuous location.
As the component cross-sections suggest,
the structure had signifi cant statical tolerance,
which was customary at the time.
However the use of reinforced concrete was
sparing. The tower was restored several
times over the decades, but damage had
gradually accumulated that would have
necessitated fundamental renovation.
The central water supply plant had historically
always been located at this point.
This central location had the advantage of
short pipe runs and low energy demand.
The demands on the output of the water
treatment plant have increased many times
since it was built, because of the increased
production volume. There was also a need
to constantly improve the quality of the
10
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
service water to be treated and disposed
of. A large cooling plant had to be installed
and constantly expanded over the years to
achieve constant low output temperatures
to ensure reliable technological parameters
for production. This enabled the strict
limits for service water discharged directly
into the river Dill to be reliably complied
with. Environmental aspects have gradually
become more important over recent
years, leading to further intensifi cation of
water treatment. Consequently the central
water treatment plant has increasingly encroached
on the water tower, fi nally completely
surrounding it on all sides. The
tower was then standing in the way of any
further expansion.
The decision to demolish it was not an
easy one. The tower was a familiar sight,
and was a distinctive visual feature of our
works; it was associated with history. The
conservation authorities also reviewed the
demolition application very critically and
thoroughly.
Before the tower could fi nally be demolished,
some very diffi cult problems had to
be solved. It could not be demolished in
situ, because of the surrounding plant and
pipework that had to remain in operation.
We enlisted the assistance of ATR, which
developed a concept that was both safe
and spectacular. The tower was to be lifted
off completely in two parts.
After thorough long-term project planning,
statical studies and model trials, work
commenced in mid December 2007. A
mobile crane with a load rating of 600
tonnes was delivered and assembled with
20 low loaders.
Each chain of the crane alone weighed
over 40 tonnes. It took four days to assemble
it, and required its own auxiliary crane
just for this purpose.
In the meantime ATR constructed a
supporting framework at the tower below

the tank with the aid of another auxiliary
crane; this supporting framework could be
lifted hydraulically, keeping the tank safely
braced. The frame was later to be
attached to the crane to carry the tank
after the other part had been separated.
Connecting rods passing through holes
drilled in the roof and tank created a link
between the supporting framework and
the lifting points of the slings above the
tank.
Several core drill holes were drilled
through the eight supporting pillars to
separate the upper part. The aim of this
procedure was to avoid having the upper
part in an undefi ned position on the crane
hook at any time, and to avoid any sudden
compensating or swinging movements. The
cores of the drill holes remained in place,
acting as fi xing until the lower part could
be lifted off.
An auxiliary crane mounted on the
tower worked constantly to transport fi tters
and tools to the platform at a height of
over 30 metres. There was no longer any
foot access to the tower at this stage.
On 28 December at around midday, the
balance installed in the mobile crane registered
a change in the preset tensile force.
The upper part of the tower had come
loose. 230 tonnes of concrete were hanging
from the crane hook, and were being
lifted very slowly. An auxiliary crane had to
constantly apply counterweights to adapt
to the changing deployment situation of
the Superlift. The upper part of the tower
was then soon deposited gently on the prepared
spot. Construction machines immediately
started work to break up the huge
concrete block and take it away. This took a
few hours.
Slinging the bottom part was a very dif-
The Company
Overall view (on the left) – The head of the tower hangs free (centre) – Wrecking the tower head (on the right)
fi cult operation for the slingers, conducted
in icy cold and with no hard standing. Huge
slings had to be attached to the structure
from a basket hanging from the hook of an
auxiliary crane. The personnel involved
were at limit of their physical endurance.
At midday on 30 December, this 200
tonne component had also been safely
deposited, and could be taken away for
recycling. The dismantling team celebrated
safe completion of the operation on the
spot, with a glass of champagne. After
many tense hours of strenuous effort,
every one was visibly relieved that the diffi
cult project had gone according to plan.
But the satisfaction was tinged with some
regret about the loss of the old tower. Tobias
Besser, Head of Technical Services at
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH, thanked all those
involved for their committed contribution.
But he recalled the achievements of those
who had built the water tower 84 years ago
using much simpler means.
The lower part suspended from the crane (on the left) – Excavators start the demolition work (centre) –
Thanks for a job well done (on the right)

The Company
Bernhard Pauly retired at the end of the year
Aircraft, travel, and time
Bernhard Pauly joined Buderus Edelstahl in 1970. He has now retired almost 38 years
later. His departure with record sales for bar stock and the stockholding service is
impressive, as is his career in the company. “I’m glad it all worked out like this”, he
says in the interview, and smiles – as well he might.
“Now I no longer spend Sunday thinking
about the tasks of the coming Monday. A
new quality of life”, observes Bernhard
Pauly, as he describes his plans with enthusiasm.
He talks of conversion work on the
house, of new space for an old hobby –
building model aircraft, which the experienced
former motor aircraft pilot now
wishes to devote himself to. Talks of trips
to the philharmonic orchestras in Vienna,
Berlin and elsewhere around the world, of
time and joint activities with his Hiltrud –
a very nice lady, his “better half” and also
his right hand; she undoubtedly contributed
a great deal over past decades to the
success of her husband and of Buderus
Edelstahl.
Prize exhibit: an eraser
Things were different when Bernhard Pauly
joined the Buderus Edelstahl time management
function in 1970. His fi rst tools were
a pencil split in the middle with a wooden
extension, and half an eraser given to him
12
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
by the then offi ce supervisor, with the solemn
admonition that it was the only eraser
he would be given here, and it had to last
until he retired. Because people who erase
a lot think too little beforehand, and people
who think too little are no use in the
long term.
Bernhard Pauly still has his eraser. Partly
because it was he who introduced EDP into
time management, which saved more than
just pencil costs. On the basis of his achievements,
he soon became Team Leader and
then Work Scheduling Manager at the
forge; in 1980 he was appointed Head of
Central Operations Scheduling. What followed
was the development of a CAQ system
unique at that time in the steel industry,
and a PS system – “two highlights of
my creation” – is what Bernhard Pauly calls
them. In 1988 he became Head of the then
Tool Steel Sales division, and was appointed
commercial attorney.
With the construction and relocation to
the “blue workshop” in 1991, the growth of
Michael Hammer, 45, has taken on overall management of
sales for Buderus Edelstahl GmbH with effect from 1 January
2008. Since August 1981 he has worked in various
sales functions at home and abroad for Buderus Edelstahl.
Since March 1995 he has been very successfully managing
the Open-Die Forgings sales sector, and is now also responsible
for the Steel Bar and Billets sales sector. This sector
was managed by Bernhard Pauly until he retired on
31 December 2007. Considering his new expanded role,
Mr Hammer says, “The worldwide sales prospects for our
very sophisticated products and the constantly changing
market conditions present great challenges for a sales team, and extremely interesting
tasks that I am thoroughly looking forward to.”
Bernhard Pauly
the tool steel and structural steel sectors
under Pauly’s leadership increased explosively
worldwide. “The number of employees
here grew very rapidly from 25 to more
than 60 people. An excellent team, a group
that worked very well; all our success was
due to them”, he emphasises.
Travelling the world
In the course of his long activity for Buderus
Edelstahl, Bernhard Pauly got to know the
metropolises of the world, travelling
through Europe, Asia, the USA and Canada.
Interesting experiences, valuable contacts
and occasional hilarious events remain as
good memories. One of the latter was a
three-day Indian wedding feast that he
attended dressed traditionally in a long silk
robe. “As I went up the stairs”, he says with
a smile, “I trod on the robe and suddenly I
was standing there in my shirt and black
socks and shoes.” But he soon found a solution
for this problem as well – the belt of
his trousers served to secure the unaccustomed
garment above his hips.
Bernhard Pauly takes a positive view of
Buderus Edelstahl’s future, “Buderus Edelstahl
is very well positioned and has a fantastic
future, particularly with the high
level of investment that is still ongoing.
Providing everyone pulls together, the
company will be unbeatable in the long
term, making its customers also unbeatable.”
Nodding, smiling and speaking from
experience that is what he says.
We say many thanks, Bernhard Pauly,
good luck, and all the best.

Fröbel school in Wetzlar welcomes donation
Buderus Edelstahl passes on
prize money
Last year the Hesse State Welfare Association (LWV) awarded Buderus Edelstahl a
prize for its exemplary company integration management. The associated prize
money of € 3,000 was handed over to the Development Association of the Fröbel
special needs school in Wetzlar by the Human Resource Manager Holger Kison and
the Works Council chairperson Heidi Koster on 27 February 2008.
The number of students at the Fröbel
School has grown by 50 % since the year
2000, says the school head Ingrid Lang. In
2004 a cluster of containers had been
installed to house three additional classes,
which is evidently not a satisfactory state
of affairs. The school has long sought a
solution to the space problem, and now
funds for building an extension have fi nally
been approved, the planning application
is to be submitted shortly. “We hope”, says
Ms Lang, “that we will have a suffi cient
number of classrooms and staff rooms
within a year at the latest.” With the limited
public funds available, the new buildings
could be equipped only with the bare
necessities. With the Buderus Edelstahl
donation the intention is to acquire equipment
and items such as table football or
an amplifi er and lighting equipment for
the school disco to equip the recreation
The students at the Fröbel school welcomed the donation
hall. Ingrid Lang thanked Buderus Edelstahl
for its support on behalf of the school
community, represented by members of
the Fröbel School Development Association,
the chairperson of the PTA, and the
school representatives.
The Fröbel School is a special needs
school for practical skills development,
with a department for the physically disabled.
The aim is to facilitate learning both
by the severely disabled and by mobile students.
The main focus is on individual
advancement of the students with their
various disabilities. Teachers, educators,
therapists and social pedagogues teach life
skills, cultural techniques and specialist
subjects, and develop the motor and sensory
abilities of the students.
Buderus Edelstahl is pleased to support
this commitment, and donated the prize
money received from the LWV to the Fröbel
The Company
Holger Kison, Heidi Koster, Jochen Schmidt, Chair of
the Development Association; Roland Bauer,
Treasurer of the Development Association; Doris
Boklage, Chair of the PTA (back row, from left to
right); Ingrid Lang, School Head; Eva-Maria Zlof and
Markus Reichel, School Representatives (front row,
from left to right)
School. Buderus Edelstahl was one of 10
companies in Hesse to receive an award, in
recognition of its particular commitment
to re-integrating sick and disabled people
into work. The health management system
practised in the company in combination
with a works agreement on integrating
seriously disabled people concluded
between the works council and company
management enables employees to be reintegrated
even after long illness, and provides
jobs designed and equipped to be
suitable for handicapped people.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 13

The Company
Discharging the residual steel
Industrial photographers at Buderus Edelstahl
Tough steel images
The German industrial photographer
Uwe Niggemeier and his American colleague
Mike Schultz visited Buderus
Edelstahl in Wetzlar on 25 February
2008. They photographed the various
production workshops to document the
art of steel processing.
View of the arc furnace
14
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Forging on the 55 MN open-die forging press
Uwe Niggemeier and Mike Schultz spent a
whole day going round the Buderus Edelstahl
works accompanied by Anne Kuhlmann,
the Commercial Management Team
Assistant. They photographed the closeddie
forge, the steel mill, the rolling mill, the
machine shop, and witnessed a 60-tonne
Harald Lackmann operates the horizontal boring machine during face milling
ingot being forged. Previously they had
both been able to watch a 150-tonne ingot
being poured in the steel mill.
The enthusiastic industrial photographer
Uwe Niggemeier, who has been documenting
European heavy industry photographically
for more than a decade, and exhibits

Tool steel undergoing heat treatment in the annealing shop
his works in Germany and Belgium, has
specialised in the subjects of steel and iron.
His American colleague Mike Schultz has
devoted himself to motifs from foundries
and forges for 20 years. Uwe Niggemeier
presents his work on his Internet site www.
stahlseite.de, which contains an impressive
collection of photographs from European
and American steel mills. The Internet site
of Mike Schultz, www.MSIphoto.net, also
presents an impressive record of the graphic
fascination of steel.
Removing slag during secondary metallurgy
Both of them are enthusiastic about
what they do. Uwe Niggemeier says it is his
hobby, and he fi nances his trips to the steel
mills from his own pocket. “Others invest in
big cars, I invest in my trips to the world’s
steel mills”, says the industrial geographer
born in 1964 who studied in Hagen. He
works for the Zollverein museum, an abandoned
mine in Essen that was designated a
world cultural heritage site by UNESCO in
2001, and as a guide for the iron and steel
museum landscape park north in Duisburg.
The Company
Forging grade ingot on the 55 MN open-die forging press
So much passion for the steel sides of life
also convinced Jens Mohr, Commercial
Director at Buderus Edelstahl, to readily
comply with Uwe Niggemeier’s written
request to be permitted to photograph in
Wetzlar. The results of the photographic
tour of the Wetzlar site will shortly be displayed
on www.stahlseite.de.
Jürgen Cross conducting an axial boring operation
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 15

The Company
Presence in Turkey expanded
Celikmetal boosts Buderus Edelstahl activities
in the Bosporus
Buderus Edelstahl has offi cially expanded its presence in Turkey in 2008 with the
company Celikmetal as its authorised stockholder. An important step – the Turkish
mouldmaking industry continues to grow steadily.
Buderus Edelstahl’s decision followed the
recommendation of Mehmet Pinar Aran.
The chartered mechanical and industrial
engineer with his company Aritas Ltd. has
been trustfully and very successfully managing
the activities of Buderus Edelstahl in
Turkey for two decades. Celikmetal has
established links with numerous customers
in the Turkish plastic mould steel and die
steel industry who wish to rely on supplies
from a local stockholding facility.
Rezep Çelik is the proprietor and Chief
16
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Executive of Celikmetal, and has built up
the company over the last 25 years with
great energy, ability and immense commitment;
he now manages three stockholding
facilities of his own with his own team.
They are all located near the airport on the
European side of Istanbul. The Celikmetal
team comprises 20 employees including
two process engineers who are essential for
detailed customer application advice. In
April 2008 the company is anticipating
approval of the largest investment to date
Michael Renk and Mehmet Pinar Aran at the
company presentation (from left to right)

Dirk Bockholt and Rezep Çelik on the exhibition
stand (left to right)
– construction of a central stockholding
facility with a 1,000 m 2 storage building
and crane capacity of up to 20 tonnes.
Joint presentation and
KALIP Expo 2007
The KALIP Expo held in November 2007 in
Istanbul enabled Aritas, Celikmetal and
Buderus Edelstahl to present themselves to
Turkish customers, and to use the forum for
a lively exchange. The number of exhibitors
at the KALIP Expo is growing continuously.
The organisers report that in 2007 there
were 145 exhibitors covering an exhibition
space of 12,000 m 2 , and more than 20,000
visitors, mainly from Turkey. There were
technical symposia to give all exhibitors
the opportunity of taking up current topics.
There was a most gratifying response to
the Buderus Edelstahl seminar, followed by
a very lively dialogue. For Buderus Edelstahl
this is a clear indication to continue its
presence in 2008.
“The growth rate of the Turkish mould
industry is impressive”, says Michael Renk
of Buderus Edelstahl. “With all the attention
devoted to the BRIC countries, industry
at Europe’s bridge to Asia is often
underestimated in its value to the EU. The
number of motor vehicles produced in Tur-
The Company
Hakan Kızılta¸s, Sales; Recep Çelik, CEO; Selin Sözen, Import/Export; Haçer Ibi¸so˘glu, Engineering; Engin Alaz,
Sales (from left to right)
key exceeded a million for the fi rst time in
2007. Daimler, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai,
MAN, Renault and Toyota amongst others
produced an export volume of more than
€ 10 billion.”
Buderus Edelstahl already contributed
to this development in the forging sector in
the 1970s, both by supplying die steel and
by intensive application advice. There are
now more than 100 small to large closeddie
forges in Turkey forging piece weights
Rezep Çelik at the start of the lecture
up to 200 kg. Mr Aran adds that the Turkish
forging sector in particular responds very
rapidly and fl exibly to customers’ requirements,
both with further production plant
and with organisational and operational
measures, well supported by our alliance:
Celikmetal, Aritas and Buderus Edelstahl.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 17

Tool Steel
Meeting face to face – this was also the
theme of the fourth meeting of the international
sales partners of Buderus Edelstahl
Steel Bar division, held from 28 – 30 June
2007 in the Hotel Lahnschleife in the beautiful
baroque royal seat of Weilburg. The
meetings held in 1996, 2000 and 2004 have
already created many valuable personal
contacts.
44 guests from 18 countries and three
continents responded to the invitation by
Buderus Edelstahl, and some of them travelled
great distances to take part in this
grand “family reunion”. They were greeted
by Jens Mohr, the Commercial Director of
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH and by Bernhard
Pauly in his then function of General Manager
Steel Bar Sales.
On the evening they arrived, the guests
took the opportunity of the champagne
18
Global Meeting 2007
Never before have we had so many communication options as now: telephone, fax,
e-mail – the possibilities of rapid information exchange are now almost unlimited.
The disadvantage is that people seldom meet face to face.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
reception to renew old acquaintances, and
make new contacts. “I am delighted to welcome
such a global network here. Some of
you have known each other for many years,
but the changes at Buderus Edelstahl have
involved new members in this forum, and
we extend a specially warm welcome to
these new friends”, said Jens Mohr in his
welcoming address. There was animated
conversation at the dinner afterwards
accompanied by good wine, bringing the
fi rst evening to a convivial close.
The substantive part of the global meeting
was on the agenda for the morning of
the second day. Jens Mohr opened the proceedings
with a presentation entitled
“Buderus Edelstahl on the world market –
now and in the future”. Dr Frank Hippenstiel,
Quality Assurance Manager, reported
on the production of large forging dimen-
International sales partners of
Buderus Edelstahl welcomed to
Weilburg
sions for plastic mould-making and the
closed-die forging industry. Peter Vetter,
Tool Steel Quality Planning Manager, used
case studies to illustrate the on-site facilities
for materials inspection, and Professor
Günter Mennig of the Institute of General
Machine Building and Plastics Technology
at the Chemnitz University of Technology,
whom Dr Hippenstiel had been able to
attract as guest speaker, presented a paper
Speakers who presented papers at the conference:
Dr Hippenstiel, Jens Mohr, Professor Günter Mennig,
Peter Vetter (from left to right)

on tribology in moulds for plastic production.
There was then a lively discussion touching
on the ongoing investments and associated
increase in capacity. Another subject
was the development of groundbreaking
tool steels, especially in view of the constantly
increasing cost of raw materials and
energy. Everyone agreed that the established
high quality standard of Buderus
ISO-B steels should be maintained. Other
questions related to focussed technical
“fi rst aid”. Peter Vetter put forward the view
that competent support and solutions
developed jointly with the customer that
were of practical relevance would serve to
foster further positive relations. For example
when there were signs of wear, the
service life of the die, die casting and plastics
processing tools could be signifi cantly
increased by judicious selection of modern
surface fi nishing measures.
In order to entertain accompanying
partners, Buderus Edelstahl arranged a trip
to Marburg with a tour of the old town,
and a convivial lunch together.
Jens Mohr and Bernhard Pauly greeted
three guests of honour to the offi cial dinner
on the evening of the second day – the
Mayor of the town of Weilburg, Hans-Peter
Schick, the Chairman of the Weilburg Castle
Concert Association, Dr Manfred Langner,
and the previous incumbent Gerhard
Würz. The high point of the evening was
the visit to the Weilburg castle concerts, of
which Buderus Edelstahl GmbH has been
one of the sponsors for several years. The
rain that fell on the way from the Hotel
Lahnschleife up to the castle church did
nothing to dampen the party’s high spirits.
The party made its way to the concert
under the protection of the blue nylon
umbrellas with the Buderus Edelstahl logo,
to hear Robert Schumann interpreted by
the Polish Chamber Philharmonic. One particular
pleasure was the A minor concert
for piano and orchestra, opus 54, with the
magnifi cent pianist Bernd Glemser. Shizuo
Kuwahara conducted the orchestra with
passion, leaving a lasting impression.
Next day, on the Saturday morning,
there was a tour of the Buderus Edelstahl
works in Wetzlar. The visitors were conducted
from the forge to the steel mill and
from there via the continuous fl ow workshop
and the heat treatment department
to the machine shop. The last stop was the
“blue workshop” where there was plenty of
goulash and refreshments to cater for the
guests. Thus refreshed, the group was then
invited to “line up for the group photo”,
before returning to the hotel in Weilburg.
On the day before their departure, everyone
came together again for an informal
and convivial evening with good food,
music and dancing. A marquee was set up
specially in the hotel grounds on the bank
of the river Lahn. It was a fi ne evening, so
the night was long, and breakfast on the
day of departure certainly came early for
some people. The guests set off for home
exhausted by the preceding three eventful
days, but in a very good mood. They took
home with them much new valuable information,
interesting contacts, and happy
memories of their visit to Central Hesse.
“Line up for the group photo” was the call after the works tour at Buderus Edelstahl
Tool Steel
With umbrella, charm, and without a bowler hat on
the way to the concert
Bernd Glemser at the piano during the concert in
the Weilburg castle church
Samba dancer
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
19

Tool Steel/Engineering Steel
Special steel bonds
Buderus and Bogner: A successful
international partnership over many years
“Bogner Edelstahl is Europe’s leading brand for special steel trading, logistics and
pre-processing” is how it is phrased in the company’s “vision”, which is more a
statement of fact than an aspiration, making Bogner the ideal partner for Buderus
Edelstahl.
The family company Bogner Edelstahl
GmbH was founded in 1950, and increased
its sales by 25 % to € 150 million in the
past fi nancial year. This was certainly to
some extent due to the favourable economic
climate and trends in the industry,
but Bogner with its workforce of around
250 is also a company that is constantly
developing. Its range of products is wide,
its service rapid and fl exible.
The product range includes engineering
steel and tool steel. Special stainless steel is
available both in bar and profi le form, as
pipes and the pipe parts, and as sheet and
strip. Preprocessing includes several options
– with a total of 20 saws for cutting tool
steel and steel bar, and facilities for milling
tool steel blanks. More than 600 individual
items can be cut to size, checked, packed,
loaded and delivered to customers every
day.
Recognised as a special steel specialist
These customers include very different
users. The Vienna Gasometer, the Linz Ars
Electronica Center, and Innsbruck town
hall have all been fi tted with special-steel
roofs. Stainless wire netting is incorporated
in the Essl art hall in Klosterneuburg, in the
fi lm academy in Vienna, and in the cladding
of Innsbruck airport. Special steel is
also used for the ski-jump on Berg Isel in
the Tirol.
Bogner Edelstahl started as a special
steel trading company in Vienna, which is
where the headquarters are still located.
Since 1950 the company has established
itself as a special steel specialist. The branch
in Wels was opened in 1976. The logistics
team loads more than 100 tonnes of special
steel a day from this central stockholding
20
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
facility. The pre-processing service has been
provided and expanded since 1993. Another
sawing centre for tool steel blanks was
established in Vösendorf in 1997.
Bogner is also an important sales agent
for Buderus
Jens Mohr, Commercial Director, knows the
advantages Buderus derives from its relationship
with Bogner, “The many decades
of partnership with Bogner Edelstahl are
characterised by constant growth. Bogner
has created the preconditions for growth,
especially through its acquisitions in the
former East Bloc. Traditionally Austria has
better contacts with these countries than
Germany. So we are pleased that Bogner
has also become our sales agent. The branch
in Poland is important to us, because it also
has the technical and space capacity for
our large steel ingots.”
Further development to secure supply
Apart from Austria, Bogner is principally
active with sales locations in Eastern
Europe: in the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Slovakia, Poland and Bosnia. In addition
to the new Romanian location in Sibiu,
the two branches in Poland and Bosnia
were also expanded in 2006. Two branches
in Bulgaria and Croatia will expand the
network to underpin customer supply.
In the in-house Bogner Edelstahl Academy,
employees are trained to consistently
increase the effi ciency and quality
of work. Bogner involves its employees in
the development of innovations. Ideas on
new services, products and processes can
be contributed in the “innovation club”.
The Bogner Wels location has been the central stockholding facility for Austria and Eastern Europe
for more than 30 years

Polish subsidiary with great capacity
One of the subsidiaries is Bogner Komexin
in Poland. It was created in 1997 in
Bydgoszez as a tool steel and high-grade
steel trading company. Komexin was integrated
into the Bogner group with the
acquisition of the majority shareholding by
Bogner Edelstahl GmbH and Bogner Petziwal
GmbH, and acquired the new name
Bogner Komexin Sp. z.o.o. It now has 25
employees. The product range includes
principally supplying cut and milled steel,
and increasingly premachining of moulds.
The tool steel service centre was opened in
Bydgoszez in 2001, and the rough milling
Fritz Bogner passed on the family business to his
two sons, Fritz and Georg Bogner, in 2006
and rough grinding services were expanded
in 2004. New CNC milling machines were
also commissioned to complement the
sawing service. These machines can machine
ingots weighing up to 16 tonnes.
Favourable background for joint success
So there are good reasons for Buderus to
work closely together with Bogner Komexin.
And the opinion is mutual. The Chief Executive
of Bogner Komexin, Tomasz Szopiński,
comments, “The preconditions for cooperation
with Buderus Edelstahl remain excellent.
The depth of Buderus’ product range
and the large range of dimensions enable us
Tool Steel/Engineering Steel
to establish more effi cient sawing processes.
The wide product range supports us very
much in acquiring new customers. The
important thing is that Buderus is always
willing to listen to customer problems, and
takes them to heart.”
It is clear that the Polish market for tool
steels, and especially for plastic mould
steels, will continue to grow in importance
with the increasing orders from countries
in the West for injection dies and extrusion
dies. Buderus Edelstahl will continue to
benefi t from this through its partnership
with Bogner Edelstahl and its eastern European
companies
Mariusz Davaj at his workplace in the Steel Service
department at Bogner Komexin The Bogner Komexin stockholding facility in Poland
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 21

Engineering Steel
Three-day trainee programme at Buderus Edelstahl
Finnish Polarputki Oy managers in Wetzlar
From 12 to 14 February 2008, three managers from the Finnish Buderus Edelstahl
agency Polarputki Oy attended a three-day trainee programme in Wetzlar. They
learned much about the production of forged steel bar, and its theoretical and
practical operational aspects.
Polarputki Oy Product Manager Sari Kokkonen,
Quality Manager Karri Kanervo, and
Key Account Manager Tuija Salomäki were
evidently impressed by the large amount of
information and insights they gained into
steel bar production and Buderus Edelstahl.
“We now have a better understanding of
the Buderus Edelstahl materials and
processing stages”, says Sari Kokkonen.
“All this will strengthen our position in selling
Buderus Edelstahl products to our customers.”
The trainee programme further strengthened
the cooperation between Polarputki
Oy and Buderus Edelstahl, which have been
working together 26 years. What started
22
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
off on a small scale in 1982 has developed
to the point that Buderus Edelstahl transferred
its Finland agency to Polarputki Oy
in 1989.
Wetzlar steel bar for Finnish gear and
machine building
The company Polarputki Oy located in Helsinki
has been supplying the Finnish gear
and machine building industry, shipbuilding
industry and power station construction
industry with steel since 1973. The
main products are gear steel and tempering
steel in bar form, and seamless pipes
sawn to length at customer request in
their own service centre. The modern cen-
Aerial photograph of Polarputki
tre extends to 17,000 m 2 , providing the
facility of also supplying smaller quantities,
and serving customers very effi ciently.
More than half the products are sawn
pieces, 500,000 of them were supplied to
Finland in 2007.
Since the summer of last year the company
has been capable of sawing discs up
to a diameter of 1080 mm, and moving
piece weights of up to 16 tonnes by expanding
its crane capacity. This refl ects the
increasing importance of the gear steel
market, because forged steel bar has long
been a signifi cant part of the Polarputki
product range. The company stocks and
saws it in the grades 18CrNi-Mo7-6, 42
CrMo4+QT and S355J2. Polarputki has a
workforce of 60, and generated sales of
€ 76.5 million last year.
“We are pleased about our good working
relationship with Polarputki Oy”, says Björn
Rech, Engineering Steel and Sales Depart-

ment Manager at Buderus Edelstahl. “For
us it is important that our partners can
identify fully with Buderus Edelstahl special
steels on the world market. As one of
Europe’s market leaders in the fi eld of large
scale gear building, it is our philosophy not
just to sell steel but to develop entire concepts
starting with melting and going
through production, sales and delivery by
our partner companies, through to supporting
our end customers.”
Large scale gear steel has a special
position
With comprehensive training and information,
it is possible to create ideal winwin
situations with partner companies,
emphasises Björn Rech who places special
importance on developing steel for largescale
gears within the positive overall
development of the steel market. “As well
as the increasing general need for industrial
and railway gears and the requirement
for new container ships with associated
gear systems due to the growing global
freight levels, another decisive factor
is the widespread installation of wind turbines
that are overwhelmingly equipped
with large-scale gear units.” Steady
growth is to be anticipated over coming
years, believes Rech.
To serve this growth as well as possible,
partner companies like Polarputki Oy
receive from Buderus Edelstahl thorough
product and production training in all matters
relating to special steel as a material.
The three-day trainee programme also provided
an opportunity for the Finnish managers
to reinforce personal contacts, as well
as just gaining information. “In addition to
visiting the steel mill and the forge, which
were undoubtedly some of the highlights
for our guests”, says Björn Rech, “there was
also an accompanying programme with a
tour of the old town, shopping and a bowling
evening with employees from Sales and
Engineering.”
The Polarputki stockholding facility
Engineering Steel
Group photograph with trainees: Björn Rech (Department Manager), Diana Spaja, Diana Schmidt, Tuija
Salomäki (Key Account Manager Polarputki Oy), Karri Kanervo (Quality Manager Polarputki Oy), Sari Kokkonen
(Product Manager Polarputki Oy), Sandra Reinders, Michaela Neuhaus, Christopher Bott, Reiner Fritsch (from
left to right)
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 23

Engineering Steel
Fifth international
gear steel
symposium in
Wetzlar civic hall
120 material and heat treatment experts
made their way to the fi fth international
gear steel symposium in Wetzlar civic hall
from 10 – 11 May 2007. The symposium was
again organized by ALD Vacuum Technologies
GmbH located in Hanau, and Buderus
Edelstahl GmbH. The fi fth symposium again
focused on materials and heat treatment,
emphasising the issues of “material and
process developments” and “changing
dimensions and shapes”. One innovation of
the symposium that originated in 1987 at a
meeting of the Drive Technology Research
Association in Wetzlar, was a guest presentation
on cutting tools. Technical Director
Karl-Peter Johann greeted the guests, some
of whom had travelled from afar, and gave
a short presentation on trends in the steel
market and developments at Buderus Edelstahl
GmbH and its fellow subsidiaries at
the Wetzlar location. The company’s active
investment programme to increase capacity
and the clear commitment that the
forged engineering-steel sector was one of
the pillars of the company’s approach, was
received positively. Dr Reinhard Walter,
Chairman of the Management Board, welcomed
the guests as the representative of
Kai Chittka and Dr Hippenstiel on the podium
24
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Kai Chittka, Martin Schulze, Dr Volker Heuer, Karl-Peter Johann, Dr Frank Hippenstiel, Karl Ritter,
Dr Klaus Löser (from left to right)
ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH. He outlined
developments at ALD Vacuum Technologies,
and briefl y presented the business
highlights since the last gear steel symposium.
The fi rst technical contribution was by
Kai Chittka from the Quality and Process
Engineering department at Buderus Edelstahl
GmbH. He reported on the “production
of case hardening steels, tempering
steels and roller bearing steels for greater
process reliability in treatment and machining”.
He described fundamental production
processes that ensure that these modern
special steel products constitute reliable
links in the supply chain. Kai Chittka used
practical examples such as program forging
and comparing mechanical values of steel
manufacturers and users to highlight the
uniformity of production of forged engineering
steel at Buderus Edelstahl. Karl Ritter,
European Sales Manager at ALD GmbH,
presented a paper on “experience with
vacuum heat treatment in series production
of gear units”, reporting on positive
experience with vacuum carburizing with
large components such as crown gears for
commercial vehicle rear axle gear units.
After the lunch break, that some delegates
used to discuss detailed questions in
Heinz Makovec of Böhler Edelstahl GmbH
gave a guest presentation Dr Hippenstiel giving his presentation

Attentive lecture audience
small groups, Martin Schulze, Engineering
Steel Quality Planning, started the second
block with a presentation on “the potential
for reducing heat treatment deformation
in steel production”. Here fi ne grain reliability
and preliminary heat treatment of
the steel bar or components each play a
key role in adapting the level of knowledge
in combination with in-house inspection
results. The subject of deformation/dimensional
and shape change was the principal
focus of the paper “deformation optimisation
using innovative heat treatment technologies
in the automobile industry”, delivered
by Dr Klaus Löser of the ALD Vacuum
Heat Treatment Division.
More recent or ongoing developments
in the fi eld of materials and heat treatment
were discussed in the last block. Dr Frank
Hippenstiel reported on “the metallurgical
basis for improving performance of materials
in gear making”. Improving the performance
of gear steel will play an important
role in the future, especially in view of the
increasing size of units in industrial drives,
and higher power-to-weight ratios in automotive
engineering. Dr Hippenstiel discussed
the micro-alloyed variants of existing
case-hardening steels, and also presented
a completely new alloying concept.
The fi rst day was concluded with a paper
by Dr Volker Heuer of the ALD Vacuum
Heat Treatment Division, on the subject of
“dry bainiting”, a new heat treatment process
developed by ALD Vacuum Technologies
in collaboration with Robert Bosch
GmbH.
The evening event in Wetzlar civic hall
served to provide relaxation after the fi rst
day of presentations, and to reinforce existing
contacts in the “family circle” of drive
technology material and heat treatment
specialists.
Before a tour of the Buderus Edelstahl
production facilities on the second day,
Heinz Makovec of Böhler Edelstahl GmbH
presented a paper on “effective processing
of gear components using high-technology
tools”. This very graphic presentation on
tool steels produced using powder metal
technology covered the entire process
Karl-Peter Johann (on the right) answers questions during the works tour
Engineering Steel
chain associated with a gear component.
This innovation of including a guest presentation
was very well received by the
delegates, and will doubtless be included in
the next gear steel symposium.
The participants never fail to be
impressed by the tour of the Buderus Edelstahl
production facilities, and so it was at
this gear steel symposium. The absolute
highlight was a barbecue awaiting the
guests of Buderus Edelstahl GmbH and ALD
Vacuum Technologies at midday beside the
ingot stockyard.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 25

Tool Steel
Bird’s eye view of busy exhibition stand
The display of good luck hammers from Togo
26
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Another successful year for Euromold
International meeting around
the Buderus Edelstahl tower
In December 2007, the Buderus Edelstahl
GmbH Sales and Quality team
again showed what a well oiled team
they are. Customers and business partners
meet Buderus Edelstahl every year
at the world trade fair for tool and
mould making, design and product
development, to talk together in a
pleasant atmosphere and plan joint
projects.
One subject at the meetings and also a
highlight of the company presence around
the Buderus Edelstahl tower, which made
the distinctive exhibition stand really visible
to visitors, was the new subsidiary Buderus
Edelstahl Zerspanungstechnik GmbH, which
has been part of the corporate family since
1 May 2007. This takeover has further expanded
the service capability of Buderus
Edelstahl. Customers and visitors were fascinated
by the extensive machine pool that
Zerspanungstechnik has to offer, securing
optimum preparation for mould-making in
future.
Good luck hammers from Togo
Another highlight was the hammers forged
in Togo that arrived punctually in time for
The Buderus Edelstahl exhibition team
the exhibition. They were presented on a
display developed specially for this purpose.
The hammers also symbolised the
social commitment of Buderus Edelstahl
both at home and abroad – placing an
order in far-off Togo on which the local
population can build for the future. The
unusual hand hammers prompted much
interest among visitors to the exhibition
who were impressed as they heard about
the Africa hammer project.
The Buderus Edelstahl exhibition stand
displays imposing large exhibits every year.
For example in 2007 it was the AF and EF
die holder blocks for a gearbox housing.
Constructing such exhibits is no mean
undertaking. They must be unloaded with a
mobile crane three weeks before the exhibition
starts, and stored there, greased and
packed, until they can emerge in their full
glory ready for the opening.
“Our programme at Euromold has again
been a great success”, observes Commercial
Director Jens Mohr with satisfaction.
“Many interesting discussions, news and
highlights in abundance – a very successful
exchange with our customers, partners
and friends.”

CR & T board meeting
discusses special steel in
commercial vehicles
The Corporate Research and Technology
board of Böhler-Uddeholm AG met in
Wetz lar In December 2007 under the direction
of the Managing Director Dr Knut
Consemüller and Dr Hribernik to discuss
the subject of special steel products in
commercial vehicles, and their development
potential. In addition to Dr Frank
Hippenstiel of Quality Assurance, some
customers of Buderus Edelstahl took part.
They reported on development trends and
joint projects. For example Dr Stefan Hock
of ZF Friedrichshafen AG presented a paper
on “Processing steel with high productivity
for high-performance components”. He
emphasised in particular the development
of power to weight ratios in commercial
vehicle transmissions. It is expected that
the demands on special steel products will
continue to increase for future generations
of cars and trucks. Thomas Landsherr of
MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG reported on
“Present development progress of front
axles for trucks and buses”, describing
material and component trends in the fi eld
of commercial vehicle axles. Here too there
is development potential for Buderus Edelstahl,
both in terms of materials performance
potential, and as regards generating
value added in special steel products with-
Buderus Edelstahl becomes
a member of the Drive Technology
Research Association (FVA)
Buderus Edelstahl has been closely associated
with the Drive Technology Research
Association (FVA) for many decades. Many
FVA research projects relating to drive
technology for vehicles and industrial
applications have been carried out with
test material from Buderus Edelstahl. Special
melts with innovative chemical compositions
are prepared for FVA projects, and
test materials are forged for university
institutes such as the IWT Bremen and the
FZG Munich. The best examples of this are
undoubtedly the projects associated with
high-temperature carburizing. A microalloyed
MnCr steel and a CrNiMo steel were
specially melted for the successfully completed
research project “Process reliability
in high-temperature carburizing of fi ne-
grain stabilised steels in atmospheric and
vacuum furnaces”. Buderus Edelstahl has
also been involved in an advisory capacity
in some committees accompanying the
project.
In September 2007, Buderus Edelstahl
was admitted as a member of the Drive
Technology Research Association, which
now numbers 170 members. The member
companies of the FVA incorporate a high
level of technical know-how and a high
quality standard. Buderus Edelstahl regards
itself as a technology leader in the fi eld of
case hardening and tempering steels in the
larger dimension range, and project work
will undoubtedly benefi t from its materials
expertise throughout the process chain
from ingot through billet to forging. There
Employees
Specialist group listening to the presentation
in the whole process chain. The latter is a
major concern of Buderus Edelstahl, and is
currently being considered by Dr Michael
Ahrens of Daimler AG. In his paper entitled
“Experiences with Nb+N micro-alloyed
MoCr steel”, he presented initial results
with micro-alloyed case hardening steels at
the CR & T Board Meeting.
The FVA membership certifi cate
are currently 100 research projects running
at the FVA in 21 active working groups; the
involvement of Buderus Edelstahl is currently
focused on the materials working
group.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
27

Employees
A report in this customer magazine alerted
Jennifer Schneider to the career path of
Materials Inspector. Her father was also at
Buderus Edelstahl at the time, and brought
28
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
Career profi les at Buderus Edelstahl
Introducing:
Jennifer Schneider
Supervisor in the heat treatment shop
She is 22 years old, and has been a Day Shift Supervisor in the heat treatment shop
at Buderus Edelstahl for a year. Although she is still young, Jennifer Schneider is
really an old hand in the Wetzlar production workshops. She came to the company on
work experience at the age of 15, and at 16 she started her training as a Materials
Inspector.
Jennifer Schneider at her place of work
the magazine home. Ms. Schneider applied
for a training place, and got one.
She then followed the progress of steel
as a material through the complete pro-
duction process, from melt composition
through to fi nal quality control. During her
three-and-a-half years’ training she familiarised
herself with all the important
departments, and acquired comprehensive
knowledge of the raw materials in steelmaking,
the chemical and physical effects
of alloys, using inspection and testing
instruments for metallography, analysing
and documenting the results, and checking
and determining material characteristics.

She successfully completed her training.
She then worked in various production
sections, completed an ultrasound
course, and in December 2006 became a
Day Shift Supervisor in the heat treatment
shop. A total of 64 employees work in the
heat treatment shop and the continuous
fl ow plant, which together form one
department; Jennifer Schneider works
with a team of fi ve on the day shift, all
men aged between 21 and 64. “I have
learnt to assert myself”, she says with a
smile. She was the only girl on her training
course as well.
That is changing too. “More girls have
started training at Buderus Edelstahl in
recent years”, says General Foreman Dieter
Waßmuth, Ms. Schneider’s boss. He
approves, and she has proved that a
woman can do the job as well as a man.
For some time the Böhler-Uddeholm AG
Management Academy (BUMA) has been
running one of the two parts of its management
succession and middle management
training course at the Hotel Mercure
in Wetzlar. One fi xture is always a works
tour of the Wetzlar location with Buderus
Edelstahl GmbH and its sister companies.
The international participants from the
very diverse companies of the four divisions
of the Böhler-Uddeholm Group, some
of whom are visiting Europe for the fi rst
time, are thus able to form their own
impression of steelmaking with ingots
weighing up to 150 tonnes, of the open-die
forging and rolling processes, and closeddie
forging. There was also a visit to the
heat treatment area necessary for special
steel production, and to the machine shop.
In addition to the works tour with expert
commentary by Dr Frank Hippenstiel (Qual-
“A woman in the team improves the climate
and morale”, he admits with a laugh.
“The style becomes gentler, which the
whole team benefi ts from.” So Dieter
Waßmuth was pleased to comply when
the General Manager Ralf Rech proposed
Jennifer Schneider for the job a year
ago.
Responsible task
When the forge has presented the various
heat treatment sequences it requires for
the day, Ms. Schneider starts her round,
checks and documents the temperatures of
the furnaces, discusses things with her
team, and stipulates when and how the
next work steps are to proceed. A responsible
job. It is precise heat treatment that
makes steel a high-quality product, enabling
it to acquire the critical factors
Böhler-Uddeholm Management Academy Stage 1
visits Buderus Edelstahl
ity Assurance) and Norman Geisse (Human
Resources), the participants could pose
special questions about Buderus Edelstahl
Group photo of the BUMA participants
Employees
such as elongation, yield resistance and
strength.
Jennifer Schneider has not regretted her
choice of career. From the start it has been
interesting and exciting, she reports. And
the future? She unfortunately had to abandon
her plan to visit engineering school to
advance her career and learn more, because
of lack of time – she also works every other
weekend, and there is a lot to learn in addition
to the working and training time. But
she has still not given up the idea. “I fi rst
have to make the space for it”, she thinks,
“then I will have another go.” At the
moment she is concentrating fully on her
current task, because “I very much enjoy
the work and dealing with people”.
in the course of an evening event after a
presentation on the history and products
of the location.
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 29

Employees
Series of talks on
“New developments in metal
forming” at the IBF
In the course of the series of talks “Recent
developments in metal forming” in the
winter semester 2007/08 at the Aachen
University of Technology, Dr Frank Hippen-
An almost fully machined threaded spindle
30
Deaths
Alter
Mayer, Otto 31. 8. 2007 82
Schupp, Erich 14. 9. 2007 79
Apel, Karl 2. 10. 2007 72
Greilich, Erich 4. 10. 2007 91
Strauch, Walter 3. 11. 2007 80
Claudy, Manfred 3. 12. 2007 68
Maxheim, Magdalena 9. 12. 2007 85
Neeb, Wilhelm 14. 12. 2007 95
Abendroth, Jürgen 14. 12. 2007 59
Manzano Alvarez,
Joaquin 4. 1. 2008 77
Roos, Wanda 5. 1. 2008 83
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008
stiel of Buderus Edelstahl Quality Assurance,
and Ralf Rech, General Manager
Forging, presented papers at the Institute
of Metal Forming (IBF). The paper entitled
Valentin, Kurt 12. 1. 2008 73
Martin, Helmut 10. 2. 2008 82
Wieth, Armin 13. 2. 2008 50
Treffenstädt, Erich 17. 2. 2008 86
Schulz, Richard 18. 2. 2008 80
Califano, Antonio 27. 2. 2008 67
Mäßer, Richard 27. 2. 2008 81
Hoffrichter, Günter 1. 3. 2008 80
Bernhardt, Willy 5. 3. 2008 84
Weber, Paul 7. 3. 2008 85
Ohm, Gerhard 16. 3. 2008 77
Sommert, Antonio 21. 3. 2008 76
Dörr, Alfred 26. 3. 2008 78
“Material and plant development trends in
the production of heavy open-die forgings”
sought to convey the technology of opendie
forging to the Aachen students, and to
highlight more recent materials aspects
and trends in plant technology. The example
of components such as generator shafts
and turbine shafts, and bottom moulds
were used to illustrate the demands on
heavy open-die forgings.
The principal focus in terms of material
is on adjusting particular functional properties
in terms of strength, toughness and
(if applicable) creep characteristics, and on
ensuring further processing characteristics
such as machining or etch-grainability in
the case of large plastic moulds. Developments
in the fi eld of plant engineering,
which are partly being driven forward
jointly with the IBF, are leading to an
increase in production constancy (quality),
to increased output (productivity), and to
better environmental compatibility.
The audience could clearly see that
although open-die forging is one of the
oldest production processes in the world,
no power could be generated without these
heavy open-die forgings. Many other heavy
machinery functions could not operate
without them. It also became evident that
there is still a great need for research,
for example in the fi eld of process simulation.
Long service
awards
40 years’ service
Wagner, Heinz 31. 1. 2008
10 years’ service
Bart, Waldemar 1. 12. 2007
Giese, Jens 2. 2. 2008
Klauer, Andreas 2. 2. 2008
Koch, Jörg 23. 2. 2008
Büchner, Nicole 2. 3. 2008
Hamann, Viktor 2. 3. 2008
Kubocz, Andreas 2. 3. 2008
Aschenbach, Alexander 2. 3. 2008
Geisse, Norman 9. 3. 2008
Friedrich, Rene 9. 3. 2008

Recommended reading
“Toolmaking in plastics
processing”
The 5th edition of the standard work “Toolmaking in plastics processing”, thoroughly
revised, appeared punctually for Euromold 2007. Two of the authors come from
Buderus Edelstahl, Quality Assurance Manager Dr Frank Hippenstiel, and Tool Steel
Quality Planning Manager Peter Vetter.
The fi rst edition of the book that appeared
in 1965 under the title “Mouldmaking in
plastics processing” was the fi rst to provide
information in a comprehensive form on
production-specifi c demands on plastic
processing tools. Developments have proceeded
rapidly since then. New plastics,
modern plastics processing technologies
and processes have greatly expanded the
possible applications.
The fi fth edition of the book published
by Carl Hanser Verlag was presented at the
tool- and mould-making trade fair Euromold
2007. The editor Prof. Günter Mennig
of the Institute of General Machine Building
and Plastics Technology at the Chemnitz
University of Technology succeeded in
presenting a thoroughly revised work. The
individual chapters were written by specialist
authors, including Buderus Edelstahl’s
Dr Frank Hippenstiel and Peter Vetter.
They devoted themselves to the topics
“Plastic mould steels” and “Heat treatment
and surface fi nishing technology”.
What has emerged is a modern work
dealing substantively with the state of the
art, bringing together a fund of information.
The book presents the most diverse
tools and their engineering design for all
the main types of plastics processing, and
the materials required for toolmaking. It
also examines from the technical and the
economic point of view the specifi c production
and treatment processes involved
in tool production and tool operation
including process monitoring through to
maintenance, error avoidance and/or rectifi
cation.
As a modern work of reference, “Toolmaking
in plastics processing” offers the
plastics engineer and other specialists in
the construction, production and operation
of plastics processing tools a practical
introduction to the subject.
G. Mennig
Toolmaking in plastics processing
Carl Hanser Verlag, 2007
ISBN 978-3-446-40778-7
730 pages. 46 colour and 702
b/w. illustrations
€ 29 [D]
Dates for 2008
Midest 2008
The World‘s leading
industrial subcontracting show
4–7 November 2008
Paris-Nord Villepint, France
EuroMold 2008
World Expo for Tool
and Mould Making, Design
and Product Development
3–6 December 2008
Frankfurt/Main Exhibition Centre,
Germany
Editorial information
News
Publisher:
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH
Editor’s address:
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH
Buderusstraße 25, 35576 Wetzlar
Tel. (0 64 41) 3 74-0
Fax (0 64 41) 3 74-28 82
Editor:
Jens Mohr (responsible for the content)
Texts: Tobias Besser, Dr Hubert Brunträger,
Veronika Franz, Dr Frank Hippenstiel, Anne
Kuhlmann, Sigrid Krekel, Peter Vetter
Photo acknowledgements/sources:
p. 8 top: Wetzlardruck, bottom: Dandelion day
nursery; p. 16 top: fotolia; p. 4, p. 14, p. 15 top
left and bottom left: Uwe Niggemeier; p. 15 top
right and bottom right: Mike Schultz; p. 22/23:
Polarputki.
Buderus Edelstahl GmbH holds the rights
for photos, plans and diagrams, unless otherwise
indicated.
Overall production:
Composition, design and lithography: Die Feder,
Konzeption vor dem Druck GmbH, Wetzlar
Printing: Druckhaus Bechstein GmbH, Wetzlar
Print run:
German 5,000, English 3,000 copies
Printed in Germany 1/2008
© 2008 Buderus Edelstahl GmbH
EDELSTAHL Info 1/2008 31