Expanding the supply relationship with Europe’s largest home appliance manufacturer

What began at the end of 2009 with the first serial deliveries of strip-coated FolaSal® coils to the Nauen site has grown into a permanent and successful connection over the years: The cooperation between Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and BSH Hausgeräte GmbH.

With more than 58,000 employees in 2016 BSH produced household appliances in 41 factories around the world with a product portfolio that ranges from stoves, ovens and exhaust hoods, to dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and freezers, all the way to small household appliances such as vacuum cleaners,  automatic coffee makers and food processors. The company posted sales of 13.1 billion euros, representing a 7 percent increase over the previous year, and its continuous growth course from the previous years continued unabated. BSH consequently continues to be Europe’s largest household appliance manufacturer and the second largest in the world.

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH has been a part of the BSH Group’s growth since 2009. Together with the sister company Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlservice GmbH with its two sites in Schwerte and Karlsruhe, Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH meanwhile supplies the BSH factories in Lodz, Dillingen, Giengen, Traunreut and Bretten in addition to the factory in Nauen. And soon the new BSH site in Wroclaw will also be on board. The delivered material is primarily strip-coated steel (FolaSal®). The slugs cut from the Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH coils are finished into side and front walls for washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and dishwashers. But hot-dipped and electrolytically galvanized sheet and hot rolled strip from Salzgitter can also be found in a very wide range of BSH appliances.

In order to be accepted as an attractive supplier over the long term, it is necessary to recognize trends at the right time and react to changing conditions on short notice. One example here is the trend toward material thickness reductions. This requires ongoing enhancement of the facilities and processes. Both Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlservice GmbH have already responded to this trend and made or approved investments in the reliable production of thinner coils and sheets. This should be one of the cornerstones for further development of the successful and cooperative work between the Salzgitter Group and BSH Hausgeräte GmbH.