TMK-Artrom

SERVING CUSTOMERS THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES

TMK-ARTROM

The Romanian Road to Sustainable Steel Pipes

CEO Adrian Popescu talks about the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the innovative improvements TMK-Artrom has made to better serve customers of the steel pipes industry Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold

I

n recent years Romanian steel pipes manufacturer TMK-Artrom has evolved markedly.

Based in the south of the country in Slatina, capital of Olt County, the firm has been a heavyweight player in the steel industry for decades – it is a leading manufacturer of seamless steel pipes for industrial applications across the board. Within these industries, engineering and automotive are two of the most prominent receivers of the company’s products and services.

TMK-Artrom specialises in the

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production of mechanical tubes, pipes for hydraulic cylinders, pipes for automotive and energetic applications, as well as many other types of pipes, with 80 percent of its products being exported beyond Romania to places such as other European countries, the US, Canada, North African countries and so on.

Production processes such as heat treatments quenching and tempering, normalisation, stress relieving, annealing, normalising and tempering and others allow the company to cater to a variety of industry requests,

fuelling its annual production capacity of around 200,000 tonnes of pipes.

Such products are then shipped to locations in and beyond Europe, making TMK-Artrom an organisation with a truly international reach.

The firm is backed by a workforce of around 1,500 employees, while TMK Resita, its raw material supplier, has a further 750 staff on its books.

On top of this, group division include TMK Italia srl (Italy), TMK Europe GmbH (Germany), and TMK Industrial Solution (USA).

MANUFACTURING

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TMK-ARTROM TMK-Artrom was founded in 1982 under its previous name “Intreprinderea de Tevi Slatina”, and has been in the full swing of manufacturing since 1988. Renamed to “Artrom SA” a few years later, it then joined the TMK Group that resulted in the name it is known by today.

TMK-Artrom has therefore driven decades of steel pipe manufacturing, and its current CEO, Adrian Popescu, has had the privilege of working alongside the company for more than 35 years.

Indeed, Popescu has watched TMK-Artrom come a long way since he moved into the company’s core senior team in 1992. For the now CEO, the change that the company has undergone represents a necessary adaptational advancement within the industry.

“Over the past years, we have realised that an extremely important

and current change is shaping all our business processes as well as the company’s market positioning. It is absolutely necessary to be a modern company, own the latest production technology, and manufacture high quality tubular goods,” he says.

But even as methods of production shift and move forward, he reinforces a single value that has been around since the company’s beginning and will remain despite global changes in industry.

“Our team is stable and works together in the same direction, like a real family. That is why we often say, ‘Artrom is not our job, it’s our home’. I always say that a stable management team can make or break the company, and I believe more stability creates more devoted workers,” Popescu adds.

The CEO believes that keeping the company as modernised as possible with regards to technology

Karl Deutsch The privately owned company KARL DEUTSCH from Germany offers products for non-destructive materials testing (UT-MT-PT).

The robust and reliable ECHOGRAPHPAUT-RPTR for our customer TMKARTROM is an advanced full-body ultrasonic rotating pipe testing system that uses the advanced ECHOGRAPHPAUT phased-array electronics to meet the most demanding requirements regarding volume and surface inspections of seamless tubes.

Current high level industry standards such as API-5CT/-5L can be fulfilled as well as extended testing tasks for gapless oblique defect detection up to 75° in heavy-walled pipes.

New probe holder design for rapid coupling and advanced inspection modes as parallel firing allow highest productivity.

www.karldeutsch.de

PIPE PRODUCTION TMK Group has its main production units located in Russia, Romania and Kazakhstan. The total production capacity of the entire organisation exceeds three million tonnes of steel pipes annually.

TMK-Artrom specialises in the production of seamless steel pipes for industrial applications such as carbon, low alloy and alloy steels, as well as hot rolled and cold drawn.

Such products include: • Mechanical tubes • Boiler tubes and for high temperature service • Pipes for low temperature service • Pipes for gas and water installations • Precision pipes for the automotive industry • Pipes for coupling stock production for oil and gas industry • Pipes for hydraulic cylinders • Inside skiving and roller burnishing pipes for hydraulic cylinder production • Outside grinded tubes – tubes for piston rods or telescopic cylinder production • Pipes cut in small parts with precise lengths for the automotive industry and other applications

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MANUFACTURING

High-Speed Phased-Array-Testing of Heavy-Walled Seamless Pipes for our Customer TMK-ARTROM Testing Tasks: Longitudinal, Transverse, Oblique (0 – 75° gapless), Laminations, Wall Thickness Robust and Reliable, Steel-Mill-Compatible, Rapid Ultrasonic Coupling using Advanced Probe Holder Design, High Productivity Full Body Inspection of Tubes with Plain and Uncut Ends Advanced ECHOGRAPH-PAUT Testing Electronics with more than 800 Parallel Phased Array Channels enabling Advanced Inspection Modes such as Parallel Firing and Scalable Parallel Evaluations ECHOVIEW Software for Fast Data Processing and Management Meets High-Level Industry Standards such as API-5CT and API-5L

In-House Design | Made in Germany | www.karldeutsch.de

Green Land activity as a maintenance, repair and overhaul company started with a partnership with URB, a very known brand with a long tradition of good quality bearings. As a strategic partner of URB we dedicated all our efforts to promote URB brand, firstly in Romanian market and in the last years, in some other countries, too.

Our efforts have driven us in unintended territory of fighting against fake bearings, but we fought this battle backed by one of the most important metallurgical plant from Romania and in the same team with Rulmenti SA, the producer of URB brand.

Because we value trust and transparency in our

business endeavor, we hope to create around us an ethos of reliable partnerships including our distributors network. Over the years we added to our business other strong ties with some other brands like FKL, a Serbian producer of bearings for agricultural machinery and SLF, a German producer of bearings for precision equipment. Also, we have added some other products to our portfolio like hydraulic hose from Gates and Gost type bearings. These bearings are used mainly in metallurgy and are produced by SVPZ in Russia. Our plans for the future include the developing of recently started cooperation with renown FAG & INA bearings producer.

SC Green Land SA

Str. Sperantei, Nr. 86, Bragadiru, Ilfov Tel: +4 (0) 374640227 office@greenland.com.ro www.greenland.com.ro

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TMK-ARTROM

Zaninoni I.F.A. Zaninoni IFA SpA, founded in 1979, has always focused on the transport of steel products, machinery and equipment. Based in Bagnatica (BG) the warehouses cover an area of about 25.000 m2.

The services offered are: • Shipping (conventional, containerized, ro-ro) • Land transports • Air Freight • Combined transport door-to-door • Customs operations • Insurance • Storage (labelling, packaging) • Processing material.

www.zaninoni.it

Adrian Popescu, CEO

and methods, at the same time as it being led by a devoted team and workforce, places TMK-Artrom above its competition.

STANDING STRONG However, the past year has presented challenges to many industries globally.

With the COVID-19 pandemic ever present, sectors such as steel manufacturing have had to adapt to the fall in demands and incorporate new methods of production to fit new restrictions and practical requirements.

“Now it is an unfavourable period for all companies in our sector,” Popescu says. “We are used to downturns, but this is not a classic one. It is occurring at a time of very low consumption and a considerable global production overcapacity that is challenging the business model of the industry’s companies.”

Adapting to a new reality is difficult for companies that have established themselves over many 6 | EME Outlook issue 38

decades – however, Popescu believes that through modernisation and implementing new ways of working, TMK-Artrom will continue as a lead protagonist in its own industry.

“As a key player in Romania, TMKArtrom must participate in the sector’s transformation,” he says. “There will be winners and losers.

“Even if the situation in the European market remains challenging with low demand, overcapacity and low prices of pipes, TMKArtrom is accelerating its profound transformation based on solid strengths – the trust of its customers, key positions in the major markets, the expertise of our teams, the power innovation, and a strong commitment.”

Currently, there are two other factories in Romania that produce similar goods as TMK-Artrom. This not only makes Romania one of the leading European countries in the production of seamless steel pipes, but also creates a high level of

Reika GmbH & Co. KG Two REIKA RingSaw®s CSM 105 are in production at TMKARTROM since I. Q 2020 for highperformance cutting of heat-treated steel tubes. The RingSaw®s cut tube ends, samples and partial length. The new line is perfectly designed for quenched and tempered thick-wall steel tubes.

Reika’s hungry RingSaw®s: • High speed cutting of high tensile steel tubes • Rectangular, precise cut • Free from ugly burrs • Effective solution also for thick-walls • Low tool cost • Short, heavy chips, easy to remove • No pipe magnetisation • Low noise emission • Ergonomic/safe machine operation

www.reika.de

MANUFACTURING

t: +39 035 6667811 e: info@zaninoni.it www.zaninoni.it Today as yesterday, aware of customers’ needs, Zaninoni IFA S.p.A. proposes itself as a reliable, expert and constantly updated partner, to effectively find the right balance between costs and timing for each type of shipment, from groupage service to Project Cargo.

We integrate our freight forwarding activity with a customs advisory service and the preparation of related documentation thanks to our staff, expert and constantly updated in the customs field, and to the collaboration with important national and international partners.

Our experience in the field of iron and steel shipments began in 1979, the same year of our foundation thanks to the first contacts with the main Italian ironworks and steelworks, which then became strong and lasting collaborations.

For 40 years, the logistics of iron and steel industry has been our flagship. Our highly qualified staff has decades of specific experience in handling these materials and is able to manage traffics in import, export and cross-trade thanks to a network of national and international partners who share our same dedication to this market.

From raw materials to semi-finished and finished products, we offer optimal and highly customized logistics solutions by combining all types of transport, according to Customer and product necessities.

Sea: We manage sea and river-sea shipments in import, export and cross-trade, taking care of loading/unloading operations and related customs/documents formalities.

Air: Our air department is able to carry out any type of transport, including door-to-door and chartering services, and perform all kinds of customs formalities.

The wide and consolidated experience of a well-trained team guarantees the best technical and economical solution in a “first class service” context.

Land: We organize with experience and professionalism road transport by complete, normal and exceptional trucks, groupages in import and export, in a context of perfect logistic organization including collections, movements, customs formalities, drafting of shipping documents, insurance and eventual control of delivery restrictions.

Warehouse: At our headquarter in Bagnatica (BG), we operate in an area of about 25.000 square meters of both covered warehouses and yards and is equipped with bridge cranes and fork lifts. Thanks to a team of highly qualified employees and eventually cooperating with specialized suppliers.

More Bite More Efficiency

RingSaw Reika GmbH & Co. KG

Tiegelstraße 3 58093 Hagen - Germany Homepage: www.reika.de E-Mail: info@reika.de Fax: +492331 9690-36 Tel: +492331 9690-0

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TMK-ARTROM competition between those respected companies to manufacture at the best possible quality at the most competitive price.

And this competition has only increased since the industry downswing as a result of COVID-19.

However, for TMK-Artrom, recent years have seen it enter extensive modernisation and transformations that have given it an upper hand.

The company transitioned from producing commodity pipes to those of premium grade; a change that sufficiently increased the value of its primary products. The firm also added customised sizing to its seamless pipes orders as to better suit customers’ needs, giving them yet another advantage over alternative industry competition.

These internal changes have been well timed and have helped TMKArtrom to weather the storm of COVID-19.

“We are permanently anchored to the realities of the market, and we try to anticipate the needs of our clients so that our commercial relations develop continuously,” Popescu says.

“Our clients have understood that in TMK-Artrom they have a reliable partner, always focused on their needs, and always open to finding suitable solutions.”

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE The company’s recent investments have followed innovative new paths of industry production methods, not only making TMK-Artrom more efficient with a higher quality of product, but notably making the production process far more sustainable than it ever has been.

For instance, during 2018 it completed a substantial investment (€36 million) in the completion of a new heat treatment complex loaded with state-of-the-art technology.

The system has given TMK-Artrom the ability to perform various heat treatments, like quenching and 8 | EME Outlook issue 38

TMK-ARTROM: SEVEN KEY ATTRIBUTES FLEXIBILITY - production versatility with orders as small as five or 10 tonnes with just-in-time delivery, as well as customisation of pipe size, prompt post-sale services, and company site visits if required.

RARE PRODUCTS - heat treated tubes customised to customer requirements, including quenched and tempered long tubes with a wall thickness up to 60 millimetres.

HIGH PRECISION PRODUCTS - for highly specialised uses: produced in micron tolerances, a dozen times higher than industrial commodity pipes.

VERTICALLY INTEGRATED - a seamless steel pipes plant integrated upstream with a modern steel plant, and downstream with three trading entities well positioned to serve clients in the largest markets worldwide: Europe (including North Africa), the Americas, and the Middle East.

LOCATION - the geographical location provides efficient plant-to-plant and plant-to-port connections.

MODERN - around 200 million USD worth of collective investments for the modernisation and efficiency-enhancing of TMK-Artrom and TMK Resita, commissioned over the last 15 years, enabling the delivery of high quality, precise, premium products, in the top tier of the pipe industry globally.

MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE - the core senior team has over 30 years of experience in the industry. Management has an in-depth understanding of all aspects of the business, including production processes, the supply chain and the needs of the customer portfolio.

MANUFACTURING

Tools & Technology Solutions for a Demand-oriented Surface Quality

Systems and Markup Solutions – always at your disposal.

Roller Burnishing Smoothing Surface Finish

Use the INK MAINTENANCE JET coding and marking systems to code and mark products and surfaces from a wide variety of industries (STEEL, WOOD, RUBBER and PLASTIC) with texts, linear barcodes, data matrix codes, logos, product information, sell-by dates, batch numbers, data for traceability, quality assurance and counterfeit protection.

Deep Rolling Increasing fatigue life of a component

INK MAINTENANCE JET together with REA JET wins customers over with its many years’ expert knowledge and state-of-art coding and marking technologies – for inks, paint or laser.

Skive Burnishing Internal processing of cylinder tubes Contact us: ECOROLL AG Werkzeugtechnik Phone: +49 5141 9865 0 | Mail: mail@ecoroll.de Fax: +49 5141 881440 | Web: www.ecoroll.com

Mob +40728 875 027 | +40721222684 | Tel +4021 346 41 41| Fax +4021 346 46 49 EMail office@sistememarcare.ro www.sisteme-marcare.com

PARTNER FOR INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS

www.trieurodata.ro | office@trieurodata.ro Automation and process digitization • Industrial robots • Cobots • Industrial software • Sensors, monitoring, sampling control • Actuation technology equipment • Data collection, transmission, storage and processing systems • Handling systems and production logistics • Assembly technologies • Security systems

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TMK-ARTROM tempering for lengthy industrial pipes with a much larger wall thickness (up to an impressive 60 millimetres), a rarity amongst other European producers and nor only. Where the lengthy pipe was previously less durable through necessity of thin walls for its design, the new complex allows for far more durable quality of metal that makes such pipes to have a better structure.

On top of this, the heat treatment complex metal production process uses sustainable technology that

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS Since the outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent obstacles that multiple industries have faced, Popescu considers the relationship between supply chain partners to be of a particular importance.

“The company’s success is ensured by long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with partners, customers and suppliers,” he says.

“We aim to develop responsibility-based relationships with partners, customers, and contractor based on principles of good faith, honesty, accountability, transparency, professionalism, mutual trust, and respect between all partners.

“Together with all its partners, Artrom provides customers with as much transparency as possible on the supplier channel. This is not only in terms of technical capability, but also in terms of how the supplier is active in the market from an environmental, social, and health and safety point of view.”

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drastically lowers CO2 emissions in comparison to prior methods, while also being more economical with its average fuel consumption.

“All the investment from the recent years in TMK-Artrom aim to increase the share of high valueadded products in the company’s total sales,” Popescu adds. “These investments were aimed to increase the productivity and profit of the company and increase the number of customers by reaching alternative areas of the market where only

premium producers are accepted.

“Thanks to this, we can now proudly say that TMK-Artrom products have reached several hundreds of customers located in 75 countries on five continents.” Popescu says.

Alongside such substantiated investments, the company has started an exciting ecological shift towards production for the electric vehicles market. The newer pipes produced by the heat treatment complex holds a greater physical endurance and industry potential than those pipes

MANUFACTURING

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION CAPACITIES, UPDATE OUR METHODS AND MARKET REQUIREMENTS, AND ADVANCE OUR TECHNOLOGIES...” that were formed via the original methods of production.

In addition to these movements towards sustainable industry methods, the company also aims to help the EU reduce the total amount of CO2 emissions through the goods that it produces.

Here, TMK-Artrom is preparing its pipes for transport of hydrogen in Europe and not only, hydrogen representing an alternative to traditional fossil fuels that can sufficiently cut back environmentally damaging waste and emissions.

And within its own supply chain, key supplier TMK Resita utilises a process which means that TMK-Artrom

products effectively contain around 98 percent recycled materials.

As for the near future, the company aims to increase the sales of premium products and its presence in what is a competitive European market that is increasingly being penetrated by non-EU participants who are subject to less stringent production measures and costs.

However, Popescu is confident that the company’s mixture of quality steel and new more ecological and efficiency methods of production will carry sales forward in Europe and further afield. On top of this, the firm is also focused on keeping up with the latest innovative trends within the

steel industry.

“We will continue to increase our production capacities, update our methods and market requirements, and advance our technologies so that we can continue to offer the products our customers’ need,” Popescu concludes.

Tel: +40 372 498 102 office.slatina@tmk-artrom.eu www.tmk-artrom.eu

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TMK-ARTROM Draganesti street, no. 30, 230119, Slatina town, Olt county, Romania Tel: +40 372 498 102 office.slatina@tmk-artrom.eu www.tmk-artrom.eu PRODUCED BY EME OUTLOOK MAGAZINE