What our customers say about us
from left: S. Karrasch, M. Beermann, Dr. H. Mees, P. Diekena, Dr. P. Lutter, C. Anker, R. Shepherd, S. Kemmer
Success in a Team – thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG
| November 2024 |
“For us at tkSE, green transformation combined with highly efficient production processes is at the top of our agenda. As part of the implementation of our 2030 investment strategy, we are therefore taking on very complex challenges, such as making production as energy-efficient as possible by linking casting and milling operations through direct charging.
Bronk & Company, with its extensive experience in the metals industry, worked with the upstream and SCM teams to review our planning and steering processes and future operational IT systems. Taking into account the complex requirements of integrated planning, B&C’s experience was used to design the necessary change steps for a lean and digital process as well as the respective organizational structure. As a result, we will simultaneously achieve our efficiency goals and increase the performance of the organization.
Bronk & Company’s supply chain expertise and pragmatic approach enabled us to very quickly establish a close and trusting working relationship with all tkSE stakeholders from a wide range of areas. We are convinced that Bronk & Company is an excellent partner to support the challenging transformation processes on our way to carbon neutral steel production.“
thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG (tkSE) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of flat steel and stands for innovations and high-quality products for advanced and demanding applications. tkSE employs around 26,000 people and with an annual production volume of 11 million metric tons of crude steel it is Germany’s largest flat steel producer. Its capabilities range from customized materials to materials-related services.
Alexander Buckow – Co-Head Heraeus Remloy
| November 2024 |
“Our vision is to be the leading European partner for neodymium-iron-boron magnetic materials. Thanks to our optimized supply chain and innovative recycling strategies, we ensure the sustainable and environmentally friendly provision of our products. In this way, we are making Europe more independent of the import of rare earths and deliver a significant contribution to the energy transition, electromobility and digital transformation. At the same time, we are protecting our planet for future generations.
To achieve these goals, we are currently commissioning an innovative melting and casting plant. During the ramp-up phase, we brought in additional expertise from Bronk & Company to support our team. On the one hand, we were able to supplement our metallurgical know-how quickly, and on the other hand, we were guided in systematically prioritizing and solving the special challenges of running-in the process and the equipment.
Thanks to the expertise and hands-on approach of the B&C team, we were able to tackle the important issues with the required level of detail and accelerate the ramp-up of the new facility.“
Heraeus Remloy is a start-up within the Heraeus Group that recycles magnetic materials. Heraeus is a family-owned global technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany. The group bundles a wide range of businesses in the four business platforms: Metals and Recycling, Healthcare, Semiconductor and Electronics, and Industrials. Customers benefit from innovative technologies and solutions based on a broad material expertise and technological leadership.
Dennis Stindt – Head of Transformation & Business Excellence SHS Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KG
| September 2024 |
“As a steel producer with established structures, SHS-Stahl-Holding-Saar and its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl are constantly working to further optimize the internal logistics processes (which includes rail and road operations) and design a vital economic. Currently the overall economic situation is creating additional pressure on costs and competitiveness. Our aim was to identify efficiency potential in the logistic and transport operations and derive appropriate measures. For this complex task we called in the experts from Bronk & Company to support us. Together, we first created data transparency in our heterogeneous system environment. The consultants from Bronk & Company and our team then jointly analysed the logistics system in its entirety and derived specific measures in the areas of process steering, asset structure and process design.
The B&C team’s extensive experience with complex programmes and especially with logistics processes was of great value to us in order to achieve specific results. The B&C experts’ approach of combining practical solutions with a deep understanding of our logistical requirements contributed significantly to the success of the project.”
SHS Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KG has been established in 2010 and acts as the operational Management Holding, actively managing tasks of Saarland´s steel industry. The most prominent companies in the group are Dillinger and Saarstahl. Together these two companies produce more than 5 million tons of crude steel per year, employ about 13,000 people and generate a turnover of nearly EUR 4 billion.
Maria Tigerstrand – Head of Supply Chain Management Avesta Works (Outokumpu)
| December 2024 |
“Our fully integrated stainless steel mill in Avesta has a big variety of material flows inbound, outbound and across our site. Next to the closely managed prime product flow through our different production stages, we also need to monitor and manage complex flows to and from internal and external service providers and suppliers.
The team of Bronk & Company has supported us by conducting an in depth investigation of our inventory management processes through our mill‘s value chain from raw material entry to the shipment of finished goods. Among other things we focused on the internal scrap flows, not only with regard to processes & physical movements, but also with respect to supporting IT systems and responsibilities. With their industry specific know how, the consultants knew where to look at and which questions to ask. As a result of the investigation, our local Avesta team together with Bronk & Company created a comprehensive process map of the as-is situation. Based on this survey we jointly identified the most important improvement measures for implementation.
The cooperation between Avesta SCM team, local IT, production representatives and the consultants of Bronk & Company was smooth and highly efficient from day one. The consultants showed a deep understanding of our production processes and corresponding IT landscape. As a consequence with their project approach and support we identified the most pressing issues in a short amount of time and developed tailored approaches to improve these issues.“
Outokumpu Oyj is a global leader in stainless steel and the inventor of stainless steel. The company has a century’s expertise in making advanced materials and employs some 8,500 professionals in more than 30 countries. The head office is located in Helsinki, Finland, and the company’s share has been listed in the Nasdaq Helsinki since 1988.
Hans Toebes – Managing Director FCMD GmbH
| August 2023 |
“The team from Bronk & Company (B&C) analyzed FCMD’s business model in close collaboration with our experts and identified potential for strengthening the focus on our contract processing business and its visibility in the market. With their industry and methodological expertise, the B&C team helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and developed solutions for further improvement. In a second step, we conducted a market study together with the B&C team to evaluate the market for large-scale processing. Based on this, specific sales approaches were derived as well as necessary further developments of our business model. We would like to emphasize the excellent cooperation and the “hands-on” mentality of the B&C consultants.“
FCMD GmbH, based in Hattingen, Germany, is part of Groupe CIF (France), which also includes the well-known companies FERRY-CAPITAIN and CMD. Groupe CIF sees itself as a supplier of components and complete drive train solutions for the mining, cement and steel industries, as well as the energy sector and infrastructure equipment.
Diemtar Hemsath – Member of the Management Board Georgsmarienhütte GmbH and CFO Business Unit Steelmaking
| May 2021 |
“As part of a long-term program to secure the future of our company, we worked with Bronk & Company to take a close look at our entire value chain. Together with B&C’s supply chain experts, we turned over all the “stones” in production. We also questioned our administrative workflows and processes with a focus on planning and controlling.
We were aiming at uncovering the hidden potentials that lies in our value chain and to derive measures to leverage these potentials. With the help of B&C’s industry experts and a powerful internal team, we systematically developed and executed the resulting program. Over a period of three years, we have jointly achieved very successful optimizations in almost all business areas:
- In the production area, from the optimization of scrap supply in the steel mill to efficiency improvements in the dispatching process of our trucks as part of our yard management.
- In the administrative area, from the optimization of product cost accounting to the digitalization of our sales accounting processes.
B&C has accompanied us in a professional and cooperative way in all phases of our program. Our team has benefited from the expertise of the B&C team not only through “theoretical concepts”, but also in particular when it comes to implementation.“
Georgsmarienhütte GmbH is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of bar steel, semi-finished products and bright steel with an annual production volume of 1 million tons crude steel. It is part of the Georgsmarienhütte Group (GMH Group), an association of over twenty medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria, Australia and the USA. Georgsmarienhütte GmbH employs around 1,275 people.
Christian Bieber – Head of Logistics and Warehouse Technology Klöckner & Co Deutschland GmbH
| August 2021 |
“Bronk & Company has successfully supported us in a multi-country project to optimize our higher value added services. The project aimed at creating a common view on available production capacity across borders and on increasing these capacities. Starting point for this optimization was the harmonization of business processes along the whole order life cycle from customer inquiry to shipment. Furthermore, the performance of our production systems was to be improved.
With their industry knowledge and methodological competence, B&C quickly identified & analyzed the relevant processes in different production sites as well as in the connected administrative areas. Future business processes were shaped right after. The experienced B&C consultants were able to draft solutions and identify suitable IT software providers that fit perfectly to the defined requirements.
Next to the actual success of the project, the cooperation with the B&C consultants went smoothly as they were constantly competent, objective and target focused. Even in case of conflicting views and opinions, they professionally sorted these out and created commonly accepted solutions without compromising the project targets.”
In the steel and metal distribution, Klöckner & Co is one of the world’s largest producer-independent companies. Thanks to our modern service centers, we rank among the top suppliers of high-quality processed steel and metal products.. As a pioneer of the digital transformation in the steel industry, our target is to fully digitalize and largely automate the supply and service chain and to become the leading digital one-stop-shop platform for steel, other materials, equipment and processing services in Europe and the Americas. Klöckner & Co Deutschland GmbH operates a distribution and service network of 11 sites and supplies more than 10 000 customers.
Dr. Boris Wernig – Managing Director Eisenbau Krämer GmbH
| August 2021 |
“In 2020 we started a programme with Bronk & Company to increase efficiency in many areas of our company. Due to Covid-19 and the subsequent drop in demand in all business areas, we extended the activities into a full-scale restructuring programme.
We received valuable support from the Bronk & Company team here. After defining our new strategic position, together with B&C we described the necessary steps for a comprehensive turnaround. Simultaneously, the B&C consultants translated the realization steps necessary for these concepts into workstreams and progressed these workstreams successfully with our managers and employees. In addition B&C carefully planned and executed the internal as well as external communication to all our shareholders.
The consultants of B&C, with their practical & industry experience and driven by strong commitment, managed to sustainably implement the mindchange in the organization as well as motivate our employees to adjust their daily processes. By doing so, we could comprehensively tackle the difficult situation the company was in and made an important step towards ensuring the continued existence of our company. This convinced me very much!”
EBK a globally renowned producer of longitudinally welded heavy-walled steel pipes in large diameters. In three production sites ca. 300 employees produce pipes with a variety of technical customer specifications for projects all over the world.
Holger Jahn – COO Ralf Bohle GmbH (Schwalbe)
| March 2021 |
“Together with Bronk & Company, we recognized that the actual success of our company as well as further growth must be secured through a comprehensive restructuring of our production and planning processes and systems. Especially for the production in Jakarta and Vietnam.
B&C worked out an adequate program with the managers and employees. Due to well appreciated interculture competences, the new requirements were communicated to each site and the implementation progressed measurably with a high degree of sustainability. Another important aspect was the introduction of relevant KPIs for all processes in order to ensure goal-oriented management and control of the entire company.
B&C not only convinced us with consistency and speed, but also contributed significantly more than one might generally expect from a consulting team! All project participants were able to benefit from the necessary technical and interdisciplinary input which set the foundation for the next rocket stage of our growth story.”
Ralf Bohle GmbH is a company that produces tires and tubes for bicycles and wheelchairs under the brand name Schwalbe. In Europe, Schwalbe is the market leader. The joint ventures in Indonesia and Vietnam employ around 3 800 people.
Jonathan Weber – Member of the Board SHS Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KG
| June 2022 |
“The consultants team of Bronk & Company, together with our inhouse experts, analyzed our existing logistical system for supplying material to our production sites and performed viability checks of new potential setups to support us in reaching our climate goals. The cooperation with Bronk & Company experts worked extremely well on all stakeholder levels and delivered the required results in time and quality.
We found a reliable partner in Bronk & Company to deal with SCM tasks and topics on our transformation path.”
SHS Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KG has been established in 2010 and acts as the operational Management Holding, actively managing tasks of Saarland´s steel industry. The most prominent companies in the group are Dillinger and Saarstahl. Together these two companies produce more than 5 million tons of crude steel per year, employ about 13,000 people and generate a turnover of nearly EUR 4 billion.
Thomas Leven – Managing Director Mannstaedt GmbH
| October 2023 |
“For us at Mannstaedt and the GMH Group, sustainability and the best possible use of our resources is a key issue. This is why the topic of output, i.e. the avoidance of waste, is of great importance to us, and not only since energy and material prices have risen.
Together with the team from Bronk & Company, we analyzed the topic of increasing output in our processing plant and identified potential in the area of sawing. Specifically, this means reducing process-related waste deep in the value chain where the material has already been processed a lot. Together with our experts, the B&C team automated the previously manual process of saw planning (“cutting plan optimization”) and developed an IT tool for us with which we can optimally “marry” the very different customer requirements and primary materials. Where we used to manually generate a cutting plan in the best possible way, an algorithm now ensures that the plan always delivers the optimum result under the given circumstances. Both customer requirements (quantity, deadline, packaging pattern, etc.) and production conditions (system limitations, space constraints, etc.) are integrated.
The success in this area of our plant has motivated us to take a close look at other areas of the plant in an ongoing project with B&C.”
Mannstaedt GmbH is a global leader in the production of hot-rolled special steel profiles and offers profiles making the seemingly impossible possible. The competence is based on decades of experience – from engineering to metallurgy, roll design and hot rolling to further processing. With approx. 700 employees, up to 250,000 t of special profiles can be produced per year. Mannstaedt GmbH is part of the Georgsmarienhütte Group (GMH Group), an association of over twenty medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria, Australia and the USA.
Uwe Oppitz – Managing Director Rhenus Ports GmbH & Co. KG
| June 2022 |
“As we have manifold links into the steel industry, we have developed a lot of ideas on how to support companies in the course of decarbonization along the necessary transformation path to climate neutrality. Bronk & Company lend us a helping hand to build a structured business model based on our ideas, which provides a comprehensive and quantified approach to proving the economic viability of our concept. This enabled us to start into the realization phase with our partners from solid ground.
The team of Bronk & Company showed strong industry as well as process building skills and managed to mold the complex matter into a well structured and flexible model in no time. Chapeau!”
Rhenus Ports GmbH & Co. KG is a member of Rhenus Group, which is one of the leading global logistics service providers with an annual turnover of EUR 7.0 billion. Rhenus has 37,500 employees across 970 sites worldwide. The Rhenus Group offers solutions for a wide range of industries along the entire supply chain, including multimodal transport, warehousing, customs clearance and innovative value-added services.
Dr. Guido Stebner – CTO Vetropack Holding AG
| March 2023 |
“Vetropack Group decided to launch a comprehensive cost optimization program in all sites. To this end, Bronk & Company supported a pilot project at two sites of the business unit Austria / Switzerland. Within a short period of time, the B&C team established the necessary program management structures and processes at group level and supported the collection and as well further development of measures in target-oriented workshops together with the employees and managers of the two plants in Austria. As a result, the roadmap for the realization of the site-specific performance improvement programs was successfully released.
The cooperation with Bronk & Company was well received by all parties involved. The consultants managed to motivate the entire Vetropack team for setting up a very important building block for the group to secure future competitiveness. With Bronk & Company we have found a reliable partner to support the group-wide implementation of our Performance Improvement Program.“
Vetropack Group is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of glass packaging for the food and beverage industry, with around 4,000 employees and net revenues of CHF 899.4 million in 2022. Vetropack has state-of-the-art production facilities as well as sales and distribution offices in Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Italy, the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
Carsten Schmickler – Managing Director EUROPIPE GmbH
| October 2024 |
“As an international manufacturer of large-diameter pipes for pipelines, our business is characterized by a large number of projects with highly individual customer requirements. We lay the foundation for successful projects in the project initiation phase by preparing customized offers for our customers. The bidding process for new projects is very complex and requires the smooth interaction of many different departments – from sales to engineering, planning and purchasing. These departments need to work together very efficiently.
To make our processes even faster and more agile, we brought in the experts from Bronk & Company. Together with an internal interdisciplinary team, the B&C consultants worked out and documented the future target process in detail. As part of the project, process instructions and document templates were created, which will help us to further develop the process in the long term.
The expertise and hands-on mentality of the B&C team helped us tremendously to address the right issues at the necessary level of detail, resulting in real added value for us.“
EUROPIPE GmbH is a manufacturer of large-diameter longitudinally welded steel pipes for gas, oil, hydrogen, CO2 and water pipelines. With a capacity of 1.0 million tons per year, EUROPIPE is one of the largest players in the Western Hemisphere.
