The issue of Tubular News now in your hands is the biggest that we have ever produced. This reflects not only the many exciting developments now taking place at OSTP, but also the priority we put on communicating them via our magazine. In a recent survey, OSTP customers rated Tubular News as their single most important news channel. We are highly pleased with this result and will continue developing our publication to make it even better reading in the future.
You will soon notice two special themes – the German marketplace and our new Outokumpu Duralite™ LDX 2101® Piping System. In 2009, the German tube market largely resembled that found elsewhere; fragmented and uncertain, with new projects almost disappearing and distributors emptying their stocks. Times were tough, but towards the end of the year we saw a slow stabilization. Let us hope that this continues in 2010.
In times like these, the need to add extra value to customer service becomes more important then ever. This fact remains our guiding light at OSTP, and you will find many ‘added-value’ examples on the following pages. Outokumpu Duralite™ LDX 2101® Piping System is one. When markets are depressed, everyone looks to save money, and this is what lightweight LDX 2101® does. Finnish Metso is just one case. A Spanish chemical plant has also upgraded to Duralite™ and cut its pipe wall thicknesses by 50%. The cost savings of this switch are not hard to imagine.
Improving delivery precision is also a key focus of our efforts. Shift-change meetings are practiced at many of our works as part of our Route to World Class program to help us live up to customer expectations. Shift-change reporting helps define customer delivery demands. As a result, lead times have been cut and delivery accuracy rose to levels above 95% in February 2010.
Application Engineers are a new OSTP breed whose skills and enthusiasm are helping customers make the right material and dimension choices. Here again, we are strengthening this much-appreciated service.