Annual Report 2012 Full version PDF Download - Bekaert

15 EMEA
Bekaert Annual Report 2012
Operations
Our continued pursuit for operational excellence
As part of its pursuit for operational excellence, and of
specific actions taken related to the cost savings program
announced in February 2012, Bekaert’s EMEA production
plants were able to reduce costs and improve the balance
between flexible and fixed costs more in particular.
Effective operational excellence programs also ensured
the successful start-up of manufacturing extensions in
Slovakia and Russia. Additionally in Russia, Bekaert teams
worked together with local wire rod suppliers to help
develop and improve a qualitative supply of domestic rod.
At the end of 2012, 80% of Bekaert Lipetsk’s wire rod
supply originated from local sourcing.
In line with the growing needs of the building industry in
Russia and the wider CIS, Bekaert announced in
September 2012 its plans to start the production of
Dramix® steel fibers in its Lipetsk plant in Russia. In the
meantime Bekaert is serving its customers there with
supplies ensured by other production plants in EMEA.
Bekaert’s manufacturing plants in Slovakia and the Czech
Republic performed well as a result of successful efforts to
optimize product quality, process efficiency and delivery
service. Furthermore our flat and shaped production
platforms in Belgium and the UK performed strongly.
Several investments were realized successfully to serve
innovation needs and quality improvements.
Our operations in France and the Netherlands expanded
their product portfolios with new solutions to
increase the performance levels and reduce the energy
consumption of combustion equipment, paper drying
installations and emitters, and heat exchangers.
Additionally the fiber technologies activities in Belgium
continued to develop new products and applications and
recorded stable sales in difficult markets.
Staying close to our customers
Our customers have strongly appreciated Bekaert’s
manufacturing proximity throughout the region as an
enabler of delivery flexibility to ever shorter planning
timeframes in the difficult year 2012.
Bekaert has been developing and manufacturing products
for tire reinforcement since 1952. This expertise of the
past 60 years has been celebrated with our customers in
2012. The anniversary illustrates, particularly in Europe,
the very long cooperation of Bekaert with the tire
manufacturers.
Adapting to change
Bekaert adapted to market downturns quickly, such as with
the restructuring of its stainless steel wire and sawing wire
activities.
Bekaert started up several projects in Belgium aiming at a
reconversion of idle industrial buildings and land and the
construction of a new office building which houses, as of
the beginning of 2013, all management and
administration of the global business platforms and the
regional management team for Europe.
We sold the Industrial Coatings activities to Element
Partners, a Pennsylvania, US-based equity fund. The
transaction covered, in addition to activities in Jiangyin
(China) and Spring Green (US), the production facilities
and all personnel in Deinze (Belgium).
Bekaert incurred a substantial amount of non-recurring
costs in EMEA. These non-recurring items reflect the costs
and provisions for the restructuring plans and asset
impairments in the European manufacturing platforms of
solar related activities mainly (€ -85 million) and the
positive impact of the gains on the sale of the industrial
coatings activities and of land, both in Belgium
(€ +10 million).
Steering compliance with standards and
regulations by leveraging advanced technologies
On 1 November 2012 the EU tire labeling regulation went
into effect. The tire label is a mark for automotive tires
and is valid for every tire sold in EU markets. It provides
important information about safety and environmental
aspects and covers 3 specifications: fuel consumption, wet
grip and noise classification. Bekaert’s tire cord products
with super, ultra and next generation tensile
strengths allow our customers to produce tires with a lower
weight and lower rolling resistance, thereby increasing
fuel efficiency. Bekaert's innovations in rubber
reinforcement thus help tire manufacturers improve their
tire rating.
A European
Union Council
Directive of 1999
banned the
conventional
battery cage in
the EU from 2012
and determined
the minimum sizes and comfort features for chicken
batteries in Europe. Bekaert was the preferred
supplier of many cage manufacturers in Europe who
target animal husbandry markets.