Totally driven

Sandvik is a leading developer and manufacturer of products in advanced stainless steels and special alloys for the most demanding environments, as well products and systems for industrial heating. Its worldwide business activities are conducted through representation in 130 countries. The group has 50,000 employees and annual sales of approximately £8.9 billion.

Sandvik Materials Technology is one of five business areas within the Sandvik Group. It has offices and manufacturing plants located throughout the world but from a UK perspective, the company is located in Halesowen in the West Midlands. “This central position allows access to visit, discuss and deliver materials to our customers and work together to find the best possible material solutions,” explains Kevin Burden, manager of the SMT Distribution Centre in Halesowen. “At the UK distribution centre, we stock stainless steel ranging from seamless tube and pipe to welded tube and pipe, solid round bar and hollow bar, hydraulic and instrumentation tube, fittings & flanges.”

For complete tubular systems assembly the company has one of the largest stocks of fittings, flanges and elbows – such as butt weld fittings, forged fittings and threaded fittings in a wide specification and size range. For traceability purposes, all products are supplied with mill test certificates.

The company supplies austenitic grades 304/L and 316/L plus duplex grade Sandvik SAF2205 and Super Duplex Sandvik SAF2507, as well as hydraulic and instrumentation tubing in Sandvik 254 SMO* (UNS31254), 2RK65 (UNS N08904) and Sanicro 28 (UNS N08028). To supplement local stock availability, Sandvik has access to global stocks, ensuring a complete product supply and working with a local transport company means that material is delivered when the customer needs it.

However, Sandvik is not just about stock and supply capabilities – it also has an experienced technical team of industry specialists ready to help, assist and advise customers. A number of in-house services, such as cutting for bar, are also available. Customer visits are an ideal opportunity to discuss any project specific requirements ranging from size and material grade specification through to the length of tube, individual industry specific testing and subsequent packaging requirement – all of which can make a significant difference to an order.

The end user's needs are the focus of all activities and new alloys are tailored to special requirements and developed in close cooperation with the customer. The R&D Centre based in Sweden, identifies needs and creates solutions – and this can mean devising new materials for known end uses, finding new applications or improving the properties of existing materials.
Sandvik's markets are varied – from nuclear, power generation, marine and offshore, through to defence, aerospace, electronics and automotive. In addition, it serves a number of foundries, machine shops and engineering companies throughout the country.

The UK Distribution Centre recently received two business system awards. The first is in recognition of recording an impressive 500 accident free days. Safety is seen globally as a number one priority and the company is committed to maintaining a safe working environment for its employees.

The second was for the operation of an efficient business system, covering best practice, safety and employee awareness. “To form a stable foundation for continuous improvement we standardise our work to consistently meet our customers' needs in a safe, environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner,” Mr Burden concludes. “The approvals are in recognition of all the hard work put in by the team.”

Sandvik Materials
www.sandvik.com

* 254SMO is a trademark owned by Outokumpu Oy