Responding to market changes; customers provide insight and opportunities.

Conversations with your customers are always useful, no matter the branch you are in. If we look at Steel Solutions and its role as a logistics service provider, during these conversations, topics sometimes arise that put you to think.

              Warehouse Steel Solutions

Exactly one of these conversations was the inspiration of this piece. Pretty recently, the EU has started an investigation to Stainless steel products from China and Taiwan. According to the accusing party, these products were sold on the European market at rock bottom prices. Investigation should make clear whether this is a case of antidumping or not?

If the investigation results in a ‘yes’ to this question, the price of steel will rice enormously due to EU import taxes. That could lead to a great deal of problems with a number of our customers. If the prices of steel go up, demand for these products will automatically drop. A decreasing demand will result in material remaining in stocks for a longer period of time and absence of arrival of new material. No delivery of goods and no supply of new material of course has an impact on a logistics company such as Steel Solutions, because the demand for logistics services will decrease as a result of this all.

But our customers can’t wait in despair. If the moment comes, that goods from the Chinese and Taiwanese market are too expensive, new suppliers of similar material have to be found elsewhere. Countries that are possibly interesting new suppliers are India, Korea and Vietnam. And our customers are already on the move. They cannot wait for these sanctions to come into force. When they do, alternative suppliers have to be available.

This is not only an opportunity for our customers, but also for us. Our customers are on the search for new suppliers of steel, sheets as well as coils, in other, perhaps unknown, countries (businesswise). That is where Steel Solutions comes in. Her existing network of steel producers, processors and transporters create endless possibilities to offer assistance to her clients in this new logistic situation. And if Steel Solutions herself doesn’t have this knowledge yet, this would be an excellent opportunity to explore the market and find out what options there are for it’s customers in these unknown business territories. That would be a win-win situation; Steel Solutions expands its network which will benefit present and future collaborations and the customers do not have to put energy into finding the best parties that will guarantee a good course of the logistic process. They will only need Steel Solutions for that. They will organize and coordinate the logistics process in such a way, that it will meet al the customers’ requirements and that the customer doesn’t have to worry about anything.

That is what we call responding to market developments. Logistic service providing is not just about monitoring a rise in transport prices or finding new warehouse opportunities. It is about the entire steel market and all the developments and changes that are a part of that. Even if those changes and developments, at first sight, don’t seem to have anything to do with the logistic branch. They could still have great impact on our customers and via them, on us. It is our job to make sure that the logistic service that we provide, matches the changing demands of our customers so that their business can continue without the extra worries.

 

Warehouse Steel Solutions

 

 

Dutch Version;

Reageren op veranderingen van de markt; klanten bieden inzicht en mogelijkheden.

Klantgesprekken zijn altijd nuttig ongeacht in welke branche je werkt. Maar als we kijken naar Steel Solutions en de rol als logistiek dienstverlener, komt er tijdens een klant gesprek wel eens een onderwerp ter sprake dat je aan het denken zet.

Precies zo’n klant gesprek is dan ook de aanleiding voor dit stuk. De EU heeft redelijk recent een onderzoek gestart naar Stainless steel  uit China en Taiwan. Volgens de aanklagende partij zouden deze materialen op de Europese markt tegen bodemprijzen verkocht worden. Onderzocht wordt nu of er sprake is van antidumping.

Als na het onderzoek het antwoord op die vraag ‘ja’ blijkt te zijn, zal de prijs voor deze staal producten aanzienlijk stijgen door import belastingen die door de EU daarop geheven gaan worden. Dat zou bij een deel van onze klanten grote problemen kunnen opleveren. Bij een stijging van de prijs, volgt automatische een daling van de afname. Dalende vraag naar goederen heeft als gevolg dat voorraden langer blijven liggen en dat de toevoer van nieuw materiaal uitblijft. Geen uitlevering van materiaal maar ook geen toevoer van nieuw materiaal heeft natuurlijk een impact op een bedrijf als Steel Solution aangezien de vraag naar logistieke diensten dan automatisch afneemt.

Maar onze klanten kunnen niet bij de pakken neer gaan zitten. Op het moment dat invoer van staal producten, zowel platen als coils, uit China en Taiwan te duur wordt, moet er elders gezocht worden naar nieuwe leveranciers van gelijkwaardig materiaal. Landen die mogelijk als nieuwe leverancier interessant zijn, zijn India, Korea en Vietnam. En onze klanten zitten niet stil. Ze kunnen niet afwachten of deze sancties wel of niet gaan komen. Als ze komen, moet er al een vervangende leverancier beschikbaar zijn.

Dit is een kans niet alleen voor onze klanten maar ook voor ons. Onze klanten gaan op zoek naar nieuwe leveranciers van staal materiaal in andere, misschien wel onbekende, landen (op handelsgebied). Dat is waar Steel Solutions kan helpen. Met haar netwerk van staal leveranciers, bewerkingsbedrijven en transporteurs zijn de mogelijkheden eindeloos om klanten te hulp te schieten in een nieuwe logistieke situatie. En mocht de kennis bij Steel Solutions niet in huis zijn, dan zijn dit uitgelezen kansen om de markt te verkennen en de mogelijkheden te onderzoeken voor de klant. Dat is een win-win situatie; Steel Solutions breidt haar netwerk uit, wat huidige en toekomstige samenwerkingen alleen maar ten goede komt en de klant hoeft geen tijd, energie en moeite te steken in het vinden van de juiste partijen om ervoor te zorgen dat alles goed verloopt. Ze hoeven slechts een partij onder de arm te nemen, Steel Solutions. Die gaat vervolgens het logistieke proces zo indelen en coördineren dat alles voldoet aan de klanteisen en dat de klant zich nergens zorgen over hoeft te maken.

Warehouse Steel Solutions 

Dat is nou inspelen op de markt ontwikkelingen. Het gaat bij logistieke dienstverlening niet alleen om stijging van de transportprijzen of het uitbreiden van warehousing mogelijkheden. Het gaat om de hele staal markt en alle ontwikkelingen die daarbij horen. Ook ontwikkelingen die op het eerste oog misschien weinig met de branche te maken lijken te hebben, kunnen grote gevolgen hebben voor onze klanten. Het is dan onze taak om ervoor te zorgen dat onze dienstverlening overeenkomt met veranderende wensen van de klant en te zorgen dat de zaken door kunnen gaan zonder extra kopzorgen. 

 

“Accelerate when you get the chance and extend your lead”

An article from the Dutch magazine "Hét Ondernemersbelang" earlier this year.

There is still no rust on ‘the man of steel’: Wibo Feijen

The world of steel is a tough one. Who doesn’t have a fighter’s mentality is not going to make it. When you work your way up from the bottom of the staircase as an employee of an expediter, and become the owner of three successful businesses in the steel industry, you can be classified as a tough one yourself. It’s about relinquishing and accelerating and a boy’s dream which came true for Wibo Feijen. The Man of Steel and more.

 

Wibo Feijen is Director and Major Shareholder (DMS) of Steel Solutions and owner of SLE Global Logistics BV and Maasterminal Maastricht BV. A logistical tripod. Steel Solutions is a real specialist in steel which helps its customers in the most efficient way to get steel products from the mills to end-users all around the world. SLE Global Logistics is an expediter, who engages in road transport in all of Europe. But it also is an absolute specialist in overseas logistics solutions for customers who import or export (not only steel) goods. Maasterminal Maastricht offers extensive warehouse capacity for storage and transhipment of all sort of goods besides steel. These warehouses are used as a distribution centre for customers.

 

Expansion

Wibo got to know the world of steel thanks to his father, who, until 1988, was DMS of Feijen Staalservice BV in the Beatrix harbour (in Maastricht). Together with his father and brother he later became owner of a steel company in Belgium, which was sold in 2002. Several years later, he started working for a small shipping agent in the Beatrix harbour, the start of an impressive acceleration. “The Beatrix harbour is the biggest steel cluster in all of Europe. Steel sometimes has a distant overseas origin. That is why both of the warehousing steel terminals were realised at the Ankerkade and offer excellent solutions for the transport of steel. With a lot of service possibilities for its customers.”

 

Taking the lead

And Wibo continued. A management buy-out allowed him to take the lead in 2012. “I noticed that it wasn’t just the transport of steel goods that needed good organisation from harbours to customers, but also everything around it. The steel mills and end-users require a chain direction, someone who has a clear overview of the playing field and can quickly and efficiently serve the market and respond to changes. Hence, added value. As a logistic coordinator for international steel processors, I started focussing on this chain direction. This is because my customers overseas require a partner who knows the market and demand. We now connect supply and demand, we make the steel market more transparent and we are growing as a ‘connector in steel’. All these activities have been accommodated in a separate company: Steel Solutions BV.”

 

Smart combinations

There are however also clients who solely have a logistical question. These are to be answered by SLE Global Logistics. Wibo Feijen emphasizes that this company is not just about steel, but about the logistics of completely different goods as well. “This creates a whole new clientele, with new products. This offers the possibility of smart logistics, such as the transport of heavy steel goods and different lighter goods in one container. Containers namely have a maximum payload. Looking at the fact that steel is, in many cases, indivisible, space arises for (sometimes voluminous) lighter products, that can be transported in the same container. In this way, SLE Global Logistics optimizes the container space available and could one container freight be the solution for multiple customers. Regardless if it is a big or a small customer, whether they import / export a lot of containers or only very few, they have a lot or very few cargo to transport, everybody receives the best possible service.

 

Extend the lead.

That is how he extended the lead. Step by step he succeeded to go from Steel Solutions, a steel distributor in Europe, to a multi logistical leading group of companies, which offer their logistic services to companies worldwide. Nowadays, those services are going beyond steel products only. “We are always looking for possibilities to bundle loadings, looking for combinations of different types of cargo. SLE Global Logistics is strong in overseas logistics, especially in the intercontinental import and export in which we want to grow. We are consciously looking for logistical orders outside of the steel sector.”

 

Leading group

Since the start of this years, a third rider became part of this group; Maasterminal Maastricht BV. This company exploits two conditioned warehouses situated at the Juliana canal in the Beatrix harbour, accounted for 20.000m2 in total. The large storage and handling capacity, own covered docks for dry loading and unloading of inland vessels at all times and its own railway connections, enable Maasterminal Maastricht BV to offer its services on a wide market. “To reserve this warehousing capacity exclusively for the steel industry would be a shame. Therefor both terminals are also available for companies in the region outside of the steel branch who are looking for smart multimodal solutions.” Especially companies with project cargo and break-bulk, like machines, paper, wood and ferrous metal, who are looking for temporary storage, are more than welcome.

 

Let’s accelerate.

These three frontrunners are the result of good entrepreneurship. Of stepping on the gas at the right moment, of quick thinking, acting and responding. While undertaking, you have to have a team of people who support you in order to succeed. They have to understand the strategy and they have to be able to think and act along. Now that the transformation has been made to three companies, it is expected of each of them to put food on their own table and to live up to their leading position. It’s about learning to see and take their own chances on the market. “Don’t wait in the bunch, waiting for others to act, but choose your own plan of attack. Accelerate when the time is right and try to finish first”, teaches Wibo Feijen. “It is a strategy which requires adaptation of the entire organisation.”

 

Change of DNA.

In order to lead the entire process in the right direction, management is required, rather than entrepreneurship. Now, entrepreneurs and managers as we all know them have different DNA. Wibo: “Entrepreneurs undertake, managers manage. You can see that as soon as a manger takes over a company, there is little innovation. As undertaker, you however have little time to occupy with management. So to manage your progress, you need to attract good managers or hire external expertise.

 

Step on the gas

He chose both. Internally, the right managers have been put on the right place and an external HR agency is hired to accompany the organisation as a team leader with the transformation to a winning combination. The change of culture and the right accompaniment should lead to three companies in which specialization is leading. Wibo: “I strongly believe in the power of specialism and the advantages of smaller companies within one big organisation, where they jointly benefit from scale advantages. The employees also have to learn to see the benefits of this new way of working and the chances that come with that. Because even as three separate companies, we remain one family which supports each other. But if the opportunity arises, step on the gas en break away from the bunch. That is the only way to be successful.”

Steel-e-Motion

Steel-Solutions B.V.

A few years ago, bike couriers in big cities like New York and London started to deliver their packages on so-called fixies, fixed-gear bikes. A new sub-culture developed and grew to be one of the biggest urban trends of bike trends of this moment. The purity and simplicity of this bike have seduced Steel-Solutions to make this fixie into an art piece.

By now, fixies have taken the shape of a new hip trend. Riding a fixie bike has become more popular worldwide. But it is not this trend that made Steel-Solutions enthusiastic. It was the efficient character of the bike; pure, no bells and whistles.  The authenticity which represents the bike. Steel-Solutions is not just a trend, not just a story that you forget. As this bike, Steel-Solutions represents the same characteristics. It is a foundation, it is honest and pure.

But how does this reflect in our business? How does this create an advantage for our clients? On the pictures you can see the words “Steel-e-Motion”. The steel market is constantly moving. Products go from one place to another and that is done with different means of transportation. Steel is always moving and as a logistics service provider, Steel-Solutions takes care of all these logistics trajectories. The market is moving, supply and demand are constantly changing, and Steel-Solutions is changing with them. We are constantly looking for the best

“Steel-e-Motion” also gives away how we take care of these trajectories. It is not just business, it is about doing something for someone else. It is about emotion and passion for steel. And not just for our own company. It is about putting passion in everything you do to make sure that you partners and clients get the best of your services and products every single time. 

How did we linked this vision and the fixie? We bought our own fixie and had it customized by Jeroen vanden Boer to fit Steel-Solutions’ company image.

 “For Steel-Solutions I started with a steel (!) framed fixie of the Italian brand Olmo. This particular fixie originates back to the 80’s. I completely stripped it, sandblasted the fork and the framework and coated it with fresh blue paint. I reused as much of the retro and original components and combined those with a new bike chain, rims and tires. To top it off, I added the beautiful orange and blue colours and the logo of Steel-Solutions that make it their bike”.

One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity.

Steel-Solutions B.V.

The reason for writing this blog was an article from “Nieuwsblad Transport” of last November 12^th. Title of the article; ”City throws away logistic future”. Antwerp, one of the biggest transhipment harbours of Europe, has turned into a big industrial area with an even bigger problem. The traffic jam problem is enormous and according to logistics companies trucks are stuck in traffic at least 1.5 hours a day, every day. The breaking point has been reached. Where companies first choose Antwerp to settle because of the logistics advantages, they now have started to leave the city. Companies are leaving the industrial heart of Antwerp. The long travel times which are caused by the traffic jams are anything but profitable. Companies have decided to take matters into their own hands because they are barely able to keep their heads above water. There have been news report that Corneel Geert Transport Group is looking for possibilities in Genk. Wim Bosman already made this step before him.

Companies see Antwerp more as a bottleneck, rather than as an opportunity. The current beltway has been there for the past 45 years. At first this beltway was a one of a kind but now it is completely out dated and inadequate to cope with current traffic flows. New plans of improving the accessibility of both the city itself and the harbour, stand on hold till this very day.

Steel-Solutions read this article with great attention and remembered it. Why? Because Steel-Solutions responded to this problem in an early stage and moved its distribution centre from harbours to more ideal locations such as Maastricht and Born. Through our own inland waterways and railway-tracks, we can transport containers as well as break-bulk to our own distribution warehouses. From these warehouses are we able supply the entire European inland.

 

This makes it that we experience no logistical barriers. There are no long waiting times and there are hardly any traffic-jams. Both of our locations have tri-modal transport possibilities (rail, road and barge). The accessibility and availability of these tri-modal services make Steel-Solutions an excellent logistic partner.

The Man of Steel doesn’t stop developing.

    Steel Solutions BV

Steel Solutions separates Meuse Terminals and continues to develop itself as a chain director.   The Man of Steel doesn’t stop developing.   Steel Solutions knows where the business is done in the land of steel. This chain director currently has the international steel industry as its playfield, an annual 1,5 billion ton industry. The company makes good use of challenges and chances  which are offered by the changing steel industry. But it must be said that these chances lie elsewhere in Europe, rather than just the Netherlands and rather than just Maastricht, which is still the largest concentration of steel companies of the country.       Because of the growth in our role as chain director which conducts business in the world wide steel industry, a whole new global work terrain has developed, sketches Director Wibo Feijen. Steel- Solutions has gone through some turbulent developments in the past years. “Our new business concept depends less on the capacity of our terminals in Maastricht because we are now collaborating with terminals in the rest of Europe and beyond. This means that we have to create a new future for our own terminals. It would be a shame to reserve this available storage and transhipment capacity solely for the steel industry, especially now that the import of steel to Europe is left behind. That why we decided use our terminals for other purposes rather than our own company. A new company, Maasterminal Maastricht BV will make these terminals accessible for third parties who are looking for smart multimodal solutions in the region. Steel Solutions continues to develop itself in the niche market for steel, where clients  like to do business with us, “The Men of Steel”.   Maasterminal Maastricht. In Maasterminal Maastricht BV, both of the Steel Solutions’ terminals at the Ankerkade are incorporated. These terminals account for 20.000 m2 of storage capacity, transhipment and VAL activities. They are located near the Juliana canal with covered docks and railway connection. Maasterminal Maastricht BV will be offerings its terminals across sectors. “We are continuing to specialize in logistics”, says current Director Operations Gijs van Lier, who will running this company. “The opportunities to bundle the logistics of different kind of products, we hope that we will be working with different companies, add value in the entire logistics chain and give the terminals a new future as logistical link between diverse modalities.

Quick scan.   The market’s problem. >> It will take years before the demand of steel products on the European markets will rise again. The European Steel industry thus faces huge overcapacities. Apart from that are clients constantly increasing their demands regarding costs, efficiency and stock. Smart direction requires to value added services in the logistics chain.   Our vision. >> Optimisation of the supply chain is the factor of success to be able to grow in the steel business. We have to develop innovative products and services in order to develop in new markets.   Our solutions. >> Steel solutions will continue to develop in the worldwide (super smart) chain direction of steel. The tested recipe of the bundling of steel suppliers has proven to be successful. This recipe will be extended with other products and goods, rather than just steel product, under the new Maasterminal Maastricht BV.

Logistics Day Limburg 2013, Steel-Solutions represented.

Steel-solutions B.V.

The 10^th of October 2013 was the day of “Logistics Day Limburg”. This years’ theme was the Logistics Labour Market. This makes it no coincidence that the province launches it “Human Capital Agenda Logistics Limburg”. An interesting event which was visited by Steel-Solutions Operational Director Gijs van Lier. The location this year was theatre “De Maaspoort” in Venlo.

There was a busy schedule for this interesting day. There was a large collaboration with schools from the entire region that provide logistics studies. Fonthys Hogeschool, Zuyd Hogeschool, Open University and the Maastricht University all participated.

The day started off with several presentations, concerning a wide range of topics. “The international chain of fresh products”, “Sustainable operational excellence, communities of practice”, “Fleet management and telematics services” and “Fresh and green retailing, consumer behaviour in the supply chain”.

After a lunch, the program continued with a short clip, made by Logistics students. Something that stood out in this clip was the small amount of female students in the Logistics branch, one to be exact. The only girl that was displayed on the big screen, made Steel-Solutions proud. It was none other than Steel-Solutions’ own Logistics intern Tanita Kawade. She has been an intern at Steel-Solutions B.V.  since February 2012 and is motivated to learn everything there is to know about logistics and warehousing. Her ambition is to grow into a warehouse manager and she is well on her way at Steel-Solutions.

Than it was time for the launch of “Human Capital Agenda Logistics Limburg” including a panel discussion. After that, representatives of several HCA projects shared their knowledge. Some of the on-going projects concerned;

-          Customs and trace compliance in the inland.

-          Orientation program for school dropouts; a program which enables better throughput of human capital between jobs and study programs.

-          Exploiting and maintaining human capital

-          Strengthening (eu)regional knowledge.

Iinteresting project that focus on logistics of goods and knowledge and the development of human capital, without which a logistics company could not exist. And the market situation indicates that this human capital is not being used to its full potential. A lot of truck drivers are sitting at home, waiting for the economy to rise again. When that happens, there will be too little people to work in the logistics sector. “Logistics is not sexy enough” is the message. The image of logistics should change so that people are motivated to work in the branch. The first changes have already been made in the base of the (future) work, the education. Schools realise how important it is that enough people get motivated to satisfy the future needs of Logistics. Steel-Solutions has acknowledged this for years. For many years we have been working with study-projects  for youngsters and do we offer an interesting and challenging place for graduates. It is good to see that Steel-Solutions is contributing already to making Logistics more interesting for future graduates and has learned a lot from this day. All in all it was an interesting day to attend for Steel-Solutions. 

A growing company, a bright future for you?

Steel-solutions B.V.

 At the end of September, Dutch headlines showed us that the crisis in Holland may be over. The national market is yet to show us this recovery. A lot of companies are still struggling to see their business rise. The effect of the crisis however depend on the branch, as well as your market area of interest.

Steel Solutions is a company which has done extremely well in its first year of existence.  Business is going good but we are honest by saying that it could go better. That is something we have in our own hands. As you know Steel-Solutions has the ambition of becoming a big logistic key player on the European market. In order to achieve this, Steel-Solutions knows, you need a broad network and a lot of knowledge. Steel-Solutions already has a lot of knowledge and the network is growing every day. But great ambitions require big thinking. And thinking big we do.

Since a couple of weeks, Steel-Solutions is looking for new human resources. To achieve the European ambitions, more manpower and a broader network are required. Therefor we are looking for a new co-worker, an “Worldwide Overseas Freight Expediter” to be exact.

What exactly are we looking for?

 

(official vacancy)

Are you an agent at heart and are you looking for a new challenge in a highly dynamic environment? Steel-Solutions is looking for a Worldwide Overseas Freight Expediter with at least 5 years’ experience,  a good topographical knowledge and an extended relevant worldwide expedition network.
 

Location: Maastricht, Fulltime.

General job description;

-          The planning, arranging and booking of sea, rail and air transports worldwide.

-          The accepting of, handling of and searching for transport (bookings).

-          Your work area; worldwide.

 

Place in the organisation;

-          The expediter operates within the department Overseas Logistics, location Maastricht.

-          The expediter falls under the hierarchical superior of this department.

Job content;

The expediter is responsible for the timely and correct implementation of the following tasks:

-          The planning and booking of transports via modal-shift (road, rail, air, water) in the most efficient way possible.

-          The accepting of, handling of and searching for transport (bookings).

-          The outsourcing of transports.

-          The composing of customs- and transport-documents.

-          Daily deliberation with the warehouse regarding available loading capacity and load and unloading times.

-          Having intense contact with clients, agents, shipping companies and carriers on the service to deliver in order to maximize customer satisfaction.

-          (price) Negotiation with clients, agents, shipping companies and carriers.

-          The settlements of complaints and damages.

-          Executing administrational and registration tasks.  

-          When necessary, execute replacing tasks within the organisation.

The expediter is qualified to enter into financial obligations with clients, agents, shipping companies and carriers.

 

Function demands;

Education/ experience level.

-          HBO (bachelors) working- and thinking level.

-          Relevant knowledge of international transport and expedition branches.

-          Relevant knowledge of customs aspects/regulations, Incoterms 2010, transport conditions and the associated liabilities.

-          Demonstrational successful experience in a similar expediter function of at least 5 years.

Social skills;

-          Be able to correctly and professionally speak to both internal and external relations.

-          Have a commercial, customer- and service oriented attitude.

-          Consult with internal co-workers as well as officials.

-          Work and consult within a team, being a real team player.

-          Have a hardworking mentality with a problem solving and organising ability.

-          Be able to think in possibilities and solutions.

Other;

-          Have a flexible work attitude.

-          Be able to work under pressure and with tight deadlines (stress resistant)

-          Have excellent geographical knowledge.

-          Be accurate.

-          Have control of the Dutch, English and German language, spoken en written.

-          Have control of the French language is preferred.

-          Have skills in working with automated planning (systems) and the MS Office package.

-          Have an own relevant worldwide expedition network is a must. 

 

We offer;

-          Working conditions package.

-          Pension arrangements.

-         Training opportunities.

-          Career possibilities.

Steel-Solutions B.V. is a dynamic and growing company with a mission; “within the next 5 years, grow to become the most important steel distributor of Europe”. Our corporate culture can best be described as informal and direct, with a lot of space for personal initiative. Would you like to be part of that and are you the type of person that really want to go for it? Apply now by mailing to p&o@steel-solutions.nl. Would you like additional information? Please contact Mr. Gijs van Lier (06-16477376), Director Operations.