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Valuing quality, the environment and human resources AFV Beltrame
The Beltrame group, headed by AFV Beltrame SpA, with its over 50 per cent of market share, is the European leader in commercial rolled section manufacture. Industry Europe speaks to its sales director, Mr Fornelli as Barbara Rossi reports.
AFV Acciaierie Beltrame is the oldest Italian company operating in the iron and steel industry and can boast of a tradition over a century old. Nowadays, thanks to the acquisitions of its main competitors, the company has undergone a very rapid growth and evolved into the family led Beltrame group, at the forefront of technology and innovation in the industry. AFV Acciaierie Beltrame was founded at the end of the 19th century by Antonio Beltrame, forefather of the fifth generation of the Beltrame family who wholly own and lead the group today. AFV Acciaierie Beltrame SpA, as well as in its core business of commercial rolled section manufacture, is also engaged in the production of steel for the construction industry, including reinforcing bars, and in the production of special bars for shipbuilding and earth moving machines.
The headquarters of the group are in the north-eastern Italian town of Vicenza, but the group comprises several companies, including Stahl Gerlafingen, based in the Swiss town of the same name, Laminés Marchands Européens (LME) headquartered in the north of France, but with production sites also in Belgium and Luxembourg, and Donalam Srl based in Calarasi, south-eastern Romania. Merchand bars manufacture is mainly based in Vicenza, Turin and at the LME sites, while steel manufacturing for the construction industry is a specialism of the Swiss plant and the production of round special steel SBQ for various sectors is carried out at the Romanian site. The industries supplied with the Beltrame group products are extremely varied, ranging from construction, agriculture, shipbuilding and earth-moving equipment to some automotive sub-sectors and niche market fields.Nowadays the Beltrame group has just under 3000 employees, a productive capacity of 4 million tonnes a year and, with its 50 per cent of market share, is the Italian and European leader in its field. In fact, the group sees Europe as being its domestic market and it also distributes its products in North Africa and the Middle East. Overall the group, headed by AFV Acciaierie Beltrame SpA, can count on four steel plants, respectively based in Vicenza and Turin (Italy), Gerlafingen (Switzerland) and Trith-Saint Léger (France), as well as on fifteen rolling mills, located in different countries ( two in France, one in Belgium, one in Luxembourg, one in Romania, two in Switzerland and the rest in Italy). Presently the merchand bars manufacture accounts for about 60 per cent of its output, with the remaining 40 per cent coming from its other lines of production.
Diversification is key
As well as being a leader in Europe and an important supplier in North Africa and the Middle East the group also distributes its products in other areas, but only on a spot business basis, as logistical and transport costs, as well as exchange rates, play a fundamental role in the final cost of the kind of products manufactured by Beltrame. For this reason the company is planning to start production in other continents, so as to be able to be supply potential users of its products in other parts of the world. An area in which the company has already started investing for this purpose is South America, specifically Argentina, and it is also considering commencing production in the Far East. This decision has also been taken because of the limited scope for volume growth obtainable in mature markets, such as Europe. In order to pursue this future growth and expansion in lower-cost geographical areas Beltrame is open to joint venture, acquisition and partnership possibilities.
Mr Fornelli says “We are paying maximum attention to industrial development, such as new technology leading to increased quality, but at the same time we are also valuing environmental friendliness and human resources, because trying to compete at the lower and cheaper level of the market
is not feasible in Europe. Although we are a heavy industry company, we recycle metal and scrap in our industrial processes and we try to be as environmentally friendly as possible.” Beltrame is very concerned with pollution prevention and waste minimization , constantly controlling emissions and effluents into air, water or soil. This is probably one of the reasons why Beltrame, which is ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 certified, is one of the few merchand bars manufacturers to be a successful supplier in northen Europe countries, where the environment is high on the agenda.
With regard to improved product quality, Beltrame has technical laboratories, which will shortly be completely renovated and thanks to which it can develop and manage customer tailored solutions. In terms of human resources, Beltrame is about to launch a pilot project in partnership with some Italian universities to train iron and steel industry specialised engineers. Alongside this Beltrame, which has its own published ethical code, regularly carries out internal staff development courses in various subjects, both to improve the skills of its workforce and to foster a group spirit and a sense of belonging within this multicultural group. n
