52
Westerly Breeze aids round world ambitions
Lars Nordin
Managing Director – Distribution and Industry
Norma Group
Last March we reported on the merger of “While there are less units being produced in to a ‘Norma Distribution Centre’ primarily
Swedish clamp group ABA with once arch Germany now, we have higher content,” servicing the German distribution and
German rivals Norma, to form the new 350 explains Nordin, “and we are confident that industrial market. “We have now consolidated
million euro, European market leading trend will continue with more complex the inventory for ABA, Gemi and Norma
Norma Group. This January Phil Matten, exhaust systems requiring more sophisticated brands at Marsberg, including the drainage
again, met with Lars Nordin, managing clamping technology and the continued couplings and NormaConnect. That has
director of Norma’s Distribution and impetus to reduce costs by replacing rubber delivered substantial improvements in the
Industry Division, at the group’s and steel in other automotive systems with leadtimes and reliability we provide our
headquarters in Maintal, Germany. The plan plastics.” German customers.” The Group has also
was to catch up on the integration of the strengthened its position in the German
new group - it didn’t take long before the In Nordin’s own division, Distribution and industrial market through the acquisition of
discussion turned to another dramatic step Industry, two of the leading growth providers two distributors, one selling ABA brand, the
in global clamping technology leadership. have been drainage couplings and the other Norma.
NormaConnect® pipe connection range.
“We had an absolutely fantastic 2007 Norma offers a comprehensive program for Sales growth and manufacturing rationalisation
organically,” says Nordin, “Really good.” A connecting cast iron and steel, as well as has placed increasing demands in production,
primary contributor to the group’s success was plastic pipes. It is a range that has contributed particularly at Maintal where expansion has
higher Norma content per vehicle in German strongly to growth throughout Norma’s already reached the boundaries of the
built vehicles. European operations, and made a major extensive site. The operation now works three
impact in developing markets, particularly shifts, following the absorption of Gemi
Russia. “Construction is booming there, both production, and on DIN specification clamps
new build and renovation, so it was an concentrates on 9mm band production, with
excellent opportunity for this range. Once 12mm production in a separate plant in
something is approved the demand Eastern Germany. “We have also seen
really kicks in, as we also saw with a continued efficiency results from the work of a
heavy duty clamp that we produce in Japanese consultant Norma brought in around
Poland – we were literally shipping three years ago,” explains Nordin. “Set up
truck loads into Russia.” In fact the times have reduced from three to four hours
Russian sales more than doubled for to less than 20 minutes on most machines,
Norma, and the group has now with straightforward size changes taking just a
introduced its own engineers to provide few minutes.”
support through its three main Russian
distributors. So post-merger, European performance has
In its primary European markets the been extremely pleasing. “3i, our investors,
new group has inevitably needed to have been very satisfied with this aspect of
eradicate some overlaps. The most our business but soon began to pose the
notable has been in the manufacture of DIN question about how we would make it a truly
standard clamps, which ABA was producing global company, with a strong customer base
in northern Germany under the Gemi brand. in China, in Asia and in the USA.”
“We have closed Marsberg as a factory,”
says Nordin, “and transferred the In Asia, for the Chinese, Japanese and India
production of Gemi clamps to
markets, the new group already had a clear, if
Norma production
nascent, strategy. “We had some good
facilities, here at
projects in Asia,” says Nordin, “but in the US
Maintal and
we really did not have the right product. It
elsewhere in
was clearly essential to supply to US standards
Germany.”
The Marsberg
– correct steel qualities, inch dimensions and
site has,
band widths. We could argue that European
however,
technologies were more advanced but if they
been retained
didn’t match the market requirements we
and converted
were not going to succeed.”
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