The pipe is right Pipelife

THE PIPE IS RIGHT

As one of the world’s leading suppliers of plastic pipe systems, Austrian company Pipelife is present in 27 countries. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to Pipelife Norway’s export manager Trygve Blomster to learn more about how this solutions-focused operation is enjoying a strong performance across global markets.

Pipelife manufactures and markets a wide range of high quality pipe systems with its products used in a great variety of industrial applications. A privately owned company, Pipelife’s headquarters are located in Vienna, Austria and it employs nearly 3000 people across its 27 sites worldwide. It also operates subsidiaries in 26 countries, giving it an unrivalled global footprint and a fantastic foundation of experience and local knowledge.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014, Pipelife was founded in 1989 and steadily and strategically grew through expansion into new markets and acquisitions. Initially focusing on the European market, including eastern Europe, the company made its first step into the US market in 2000, with various acquisitions including companies in Russia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic soon following. Pipelife Norway’s export manager Trygve Blomster told Industry Europe, “We have always identified acquisitions that will truly enhance our existing setup by making sure the locations, the people and the capabilities are is a good match. By finding companies whose skills and experience are complementary to Pipelife, we can grow in a way that adds value for our customers. This has been our strategy since we started in 1989 and it continues to yield excellent results for us and our customers.” People and pipes

Mr Blomster is clear that one of the most important and consistent aspects of the company’s ongoing success is its people. He said, “Our success is mainly determined by the qualifications and motivation of our employees. We are dedicated to the principle of investing in the quality of people first, which truly underlines the importance we place on our workforce. To achieve this, we work on the four leadership principles of Inspire, Commit, Empower and Deliver – together, these create an atmosphere of optimism and enthusiasm and ensures the development of efficient processes that are delivered on time and on budget.”

He continued, “We always go the extra mile for our customers, with our products and our services. By investing in our people, we know that we are always delivering the best possible result to our customers and, as a private company with no real hierarchy, we listen to everyone’s ideas and can act quickly. It’s a potent mix as it means that we can react quicker than our competitors and provide an excellent service across all our markets.”

Quickly satisfying the needs of customers is what drives Pipelife forward. With its centralised R&D department located in the Netherlands working closely with a network of local application teams in all its markets, Pipelife has the resources required to quickly turn a customer request into a reality. The company regularly launches new products to suit local requirements, as well as offering products across markets to suit globalised businesses. Mr Blomster continued, “We are currently working on an exciting new product development for expanded diameter pipes. This is in the evaluation stage at the moment but we predict that our range will increase to a three metre diameter pipe. It’s our main topic of development right now and it is likely to be included in our range in 2015.”

Positive projects

Offering a wide range of plastic pipes for applications including wastewater, irrigation and drainage, soil, cable protection and gas, Pipelife’s core industry sectors are construction, utilities and civil engineering. The company also works extensively with large-scale industrial applications for its long length, large diameter pipes and it provides a broad range of technology and materials for extrusion, injection moulding, roto-moulding and assembly.

Pipelife has recently been awarded two major projects, in Algeria and Uruguay, with a collective value of half a billion Norwegian Krona. With both projects harnessing the company’s extensive knowledge of delivering pipes for the water cooling of power plants, this particular area of application is set to be a key ingredient in Pipelife’s ongoing success. Mr Blomster concluded, “Working with large international power plants has been an important part of our business for some years and, as we continually add to our portfolio with larger diameter pipes, we know that we can continue to add value to these exciting projects in the coming years. We also see the increased importance of the role of multiple pipelines across various industry sectors and, as we understand the market so clearly, we know that we can work with our customers to provide sophisticated solutions.” n