For almost 50 years Steinmüller Engineering Services has been raising the bar in boiler pressure parts for power generation – but there is so much more to the firm
Written by Ben Lobel & Produced by Stuart Shirra
Steinmüller in South Africa is a well-known company specialising in service, maintenance and manufacturing offerings in pressure parts for boilers. Since its establishment in 1962, the Group has been providing a comprehensive range of technical, engineering, maintenance and project management services, as well as plant and equipment hire and various innovative technologies. The company’s mission states that it aims “To deliver value, innovation and customer focused service by applying state-of-the-art methods in our business performance in order to extract maximum return on investment for both shareholders and clients.”
Steinmüller counts companies and project houses in selected market segments in the power generation, chemical and petrochemical, paper and pulp, mining and mineral beneficiation, and steel and allied industries among its clients.
OUT AND ABOUT ON POWER STATIONS
“We have a permanent presence at around 11 power stations, doing either maintenance or bringing the stations back into service,” says Business Development Consultant, Bob Stevens. The company has grown in stature over the years.
Its most recent venture is a new factory that opened in July 2009 and has already expanded from the original 27,000 square metres to the present 55,000 square metres. The new facility is manufacturing pressure components for the national power utility’s two new power stations, Medupi and Kusile.
“Manpower is up to over 800 already and we are bringing in an exciting new piece of kit, an induction bender system which will be used for bending HP piping,” adds Stevens.
The current focus on pressure parts is a precursor to the next stage - the capability of working in the realm of high pressure feedwater heaters, which in turn will be followed by looking at pressure vessels of up to 40 tonnes. Steinmüller’s vision is to eventually conquer the 120 tonne pressure vessel market.
The company is clearly not short on ambition and vision. Stevens explains how this is expected to play out? “The key to the future is good management and skilled artisans. We have a variety of projects, including our internal training facilities that are going full-bore to equip our artisans and graduates with the necessary skills and knowledge.”
Skilled staff is in short supply the world over, and according to Stevens, Steinmüller spares no effort in looking after and keeping the best personnel.
“We make a conscious effort to discuss the future of the company, where we intend going and where people would fit in. This is an ongoing process aimed at showing our people that the company is making progress and instilling in them the desire to move with it.”
A HIGH STANDARD OF HEALTH AND SAFETY
Health and safety is of critical importance in the engineering and construction industry. “We have a sophisticated safety system in place because we simply cannot afford to leave people’s lives to chance out on the sites and in the works,” says Stevens. “The environments where work is fraught with danger, but we anticipate the risks as far as possible. We are credited for engineering and manufacturing to ISO9001-2008 standards and we have been accredited with PED so that we can export to Europe,” he adds.
Stevens goes on to highlight what keeps Steinmüller ahead of the competition. “It’s the technology that sets us apart. We have a strong engineering arm and tremendous backing from our associate companies overseas, as well as support services in engineering and nuclear. Steinmüller is also a financially sound company.”
Innovation is certainly a high priority in this company as it is constantly striving for new opportunities and investments to raise the bar. In terms of the future, Steinmüller’s target is clear: “We’ll be sitting down to do our strategic planning on how to realise our ambition of trebling our turnover in the next five years,” says Stevens.
Steinmüller is the epitome of a company with growth and improvement at its heart, and Construction Digital wishes this dynamic firm all the best for the future.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: Steinmüller Engineering Services
CEO: Hermann Brümmer
OPERATIONS: Pressure parts for boilers in power generation
ESTABLISHED: 1962
EMPLOYEES: 3,000
www.steinmuller.co.za
View Digital Corporate Profile of Steinmuller in Construction Digital February 2010