Page 52 - VAK_Broschuere_II_18.indd

Technical Papers
Material expertise is required
The steel manufacturers them- selves – companies like Arce- lorMittal, thyssenkrupp and Salzgitter – have also recognised the opportunities offered by direct online trading and operate web shops of their own. Potential customers are, for example, the roughly 36,500 small and medi- um-sized metalworking companies with their 465,000 employees. The typical steel builder needs to nd the next order almost as soon as he gets back from the build- ing site. When tenders are invited for a warehouse or staircase, for instance, he should be familiar with the material costs. The tradi- tional procedure involves the steel builder submitting an inquiry to the trader via fax or phone – not unusually including a request to be phoned back and the waiting time associated with this. He only receives an answer during normal business hours anyway. Days can as a result go by before a steel builder can submit a binding offer. In an e-shop like the one operated by Salzgitter, products needed for the design in question can be compiled online, prices can be obtained immediately and estimates can be made.
The Amazon principle of buying conveniently online whenever and wherever the customer wants – at home at half past two in the morning or on Sunday morning while on a skiing holiday – is
the model in B2B business too. Not all online material traders go as far as thyssenkrupp in this context, however. The latter’s new e-shop materials4me focusses not only on professionals but also on ambitious
DIY enthusiasts. In doing this, Germany’s biggest steel manu- facturer is competing with such cross-sector platforms as Amazon, Alibaba and Google, all of which offer materials like steel and alu- minium, albeit only a very limited selection of standard products without any major service.
Steel is not a standard material, however; it is instead a structural material that can be put to many different uses and is available in Germany in about 2,000 at steel or long versions. Steel products are alloyed, rolled and shaped in accordance with the custom- ers’ requirements. Users regularly expect steel mills to come up with new solutions to problems and steel manufacturers open up new markets for their customers by supplying innovative products. The business therefore requires intensive consultation, so that steel trading and service opera- tions are very diverse.
Opportunities for newcomers to online trading
Whereas major steel traders like Klöckner or steel manufacturers like thyssenkrupp operate their own online shops, a shop of their own is often too complicated and too expensive for smaller traders. For customers, it is in addition too time-consuming to have to search different shops in order to compare offers. Newcomers to online trading establish contact between as many traders as pos- sible, including smaller ones, and customers.
“There are in general surprisingly many successful entrepreneurs in the steel trading business who are open to change and are looking for new opportunities for pioneer- ing activities”, says Stefan Grethe. Before the young entrepreneur established an online marketplace for steel in 2014 with the start-up company Mapudo in Düsseldorf, he worked for the thyssenkrupp steel trading operations. “As project manager, I analysed the customer and order portfolios of nine sales companies in Europe, the USA and Asia and discovered: the situation is the same all over the world and there is considerable digitisation potential in stock-holding steel trading.”
The response to Grethe’s answer from the steel industry varied. “Many found the approach very good, while others thought it came too early or rejected the concept categorically.” Even large market players like the global steel pipe manufacturer Vallourec are among the partners in the online marketplace for materi- als today. “It is very evident on the supplier side that steel and non-ferrous metal traders have become much more open to the idea of selling via online mar- ketplaces”, Grethe is pleased to report. The customers come from many different industries, from tters to steel and metal builders and from medium-sized indus- trial companies to large indus- trial maintenance groups. “What they all have in common is that they need to procure materials quickly and simply, in order to have more time for activities that add value”, the Mapudo founder says and points out that develop- ments in the second half of 2017 in particular were very encourag- ing; the total transaction volume
ITAtube Journal No2/July 2018
52