"We put application security before delivery capability"
Security of supply is of key importance to many Mannesmann Line Pipe customers. Managing Director Andreas Betzler explains what lies behind the company's own delivery capability and why quality is nevertheless more important.
The war in Ukraine has shown how heavily our economy depends on the supply of energy. What conclusions should we draw from this?
Betzler: German industry is highly capable and maintains supplies of
energy, food and water even in times of crisis. However, essential for this are fair competition on the international level and affordable energy. This is why – as in the case of Uniper, for example – decisive political action is also required in difficult times.
In addition, forward-looking infrastructure projects for the German and European economy must be implemented in a timely manner with reliable partners. The current LNG projects show that this is possible, given the political will.
Has Mannesmann Line Pipe itself been affected by the issue of supply security?
We have always sourced our pre-material from German steel and rolling mills. Our supply chains are firmly anchored here and we want to keep it that way. Thanks to HFI welding, we are fortunately not dependent on direct oil or natural gas imports for our energy supplies. So the issue has not affected us or our ability to supply our customers.
But security of supply doesn't only depend on one's own energy supply.
We have long-standing and dependable partnerships with our suppliers of steel, plastics, cement and energy. This not only ensures the reliable fulfilment of supply contracts, but also safeguards the high quality of our materials and products.
We put application safety, i.e. maintaining high quality to the strictest international standards, before delivery capability. Reducing quality in favor of lower purchase prices would undermine the durability of our products, which are used for building safety-
relevant systems such as pipelines and stadium roofs. Thanks to our
safety-minded approach, we achieve maximum dependability and safety in use and, ultimately, supply security for our customers' customers.
For standard dimensions of gas and water pipes we maintain stocks that can be accessed extremely quickly in an emergency. In the event of damaged or burst pipes or even flood disasters, we have been able to mobilise our pipes worldwide within a very short space of time.
Andreas Betzler, Mannesmann Line Pipe Managing Director
After training as a bank clerk and successfully completing a degree in business administration alongside his work, Betzler initially worked for Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) in Duisburg for almost 13 years. In February 2016, he was appointed to the Management Board of Mannesmann Line Pipe, where he is responsible for Purchasing, Controlling, IT, Human Resources and Accounting as well as Sales & Marketing.
Mannesmann Line Pipe was able to deliver at very short notice to the LNG terminals in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel and also in Eemshaven. A real stroke of luck for customers!
The project in Eemshaven in particular was realised in record time, from the initial idea to the commissioning of the pipeline – a feat only possible because a team of employees worked on this key project with top priority and short decision-making paths. Incidentally, the client Gasunie presented us with a supplier award for this.
What part did production technology play in this?
Once again, we benefited from the reliability and speed of our plant. Just one example: we produce the steel pipes for a medium-sized 25 km pipeline in two shifts in a single working day. With the subsequent plastic coating, we can deliver such a pipeline, in its completed state, in just two production days. We were even able to boost our production capacity at short notice for the LNG projects just mentioned.
The issue of supply security will also affect the water supply sector from now on.
In many countries, water is already a scarce resource. Both nationally and internationally, raw and drinking water resources will have to be increasingly networked via transport pipelines in order to offset regional and seasonal droughts and water shortages. With this in mind, intelligent water strategies are needed for the storage, treatment and distribution of industrial and drinking water.
Things will become interesting when significant quantities of water are needed for the production of green hydrogen in connection with the energy transition. Where will these quantities come from and who decides how they are distributed? Will green hydrogen be produced where water is available or where renewable electricity is generated? When water becomes an important basis for clean electricity, it is again a matter of reliable and secure distribution and supply.
Forward-looking infrastructure projects for the German and European economy must be implemented in a timely manner with reliable partners.«Andreas Betzler, Mannesmann Line Pipe Manager
Where do you see the biggest challenges for Mannesmann Line Pipe and its customers?
Unstable and changing supply chains, the impending energy transition and also digitisation call for drastic adjustments at very short notice to established processes, structures and business models that have so far been considered written in stone. Like us at Mannesmann Line Pipe, many of our customers are in the throes of rapid transformation. This harbours certain risks, but also of course great opportunities.
Always setting the right course well ahead of time is certainly not easy for all concerned. That is why we continue to seek ongoing dialogue with our suppliers and customers and are well connected for all relevant developments in the market.
Green steel, transparency in terms of carbon footprints and digital documentation will be key factors going forward. Concurrently, our customers are calling for high-quality products for transporting new media and for new applications.
However, with our more than a century of expertise as a technical innovator and our highly skilled employees, I believe we are ideally equipped to take on these challenges and actively shape the changes that lie ahead of us and our customers.
What would you like to see at the political level?
COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have made it clear to us that Germany and Europe must again become less dependent on geopolitically unreliable sources. Almost all areas are affected: energy imports, electronic products, chip production and medicines. The price of a product or service must no longer be the only decisive factor. Sustainability, environmental compatibility and social standards must also be given greater consideration when public and critical private sector contracts are awarded.
Supply bottlenecks and delivery failures, combined with an economic downturn, soon come at a much higher price – not only economically, but also politically.