Universal Eisen & Stahl, a member of Salzgitter Group, employs almost 300 people in Europe and is a leading distributor of carbon steel plates. Its French subsidiary Universal Aciers is located in the Lyon region and markets almost 20,000 tons of metallurgical products every year.
In view of the growing business volume, Universal Aciers in 2020 decided to invest in the construction of a new building in a new location and plans to move there in spring of 2021. The modernization of its production facilities is also part of their investment plan. The acquisition of a modern oxy-fuel cutting machine is necessary to improve productivity and to continue to guarantee fast delivery times for a growing customer base (deliveries throughout France within 24/48 hours, from individual plates to entire truck loads, with dimensions up to 4,000 x 16,000 mm).
Upon recommendation by the Universal Group, Dominique Vendels, Manager of Universal Aciers, contacted ZINSER France in September 2020 for this new project. After our offer caught his attention, ZINSER organized a customer visit to the premises of Eiffage Métal in Lauterbourg (Alsace) in November 2020. Accompanied by Caroline and Andreas Niklaus, President resp. Managing Director of ZINSER France, Mr. Vendels and Mr. Fontana – Customer Manager at Universal Aciers – were able to see a ZINSER oxy-fuel cutting machine at work and talk to the managers of ZINSER France.
After this convincing demonstration, ZINSER visited Universal Aciers in December. This was an excellent opportunity to discuss with Mr. Vendels and his team, to answer various technical questions and to see their current and future installations.
Mr. Vendels sums up the reasons for his final decision as follows: “Price wasn’t the sole decision-making criteria for us, but also the quality of ZINSER’s customer service, their intervention lead times and the time until a technician can be on site. Since we are not specialists in oxy-fuel cutting, the reliability of the machine and its supplier was also of great importance to us. ZINSER guarantees us a quick response time for remote maintenance or on-site support in the event of a machine failure. In addition, we particularly appreciated being in direct contact with the company’s senior management, and staying in constant contact throughout the project. In addition, the machine offered by ZINSER is scalable and can be adapted to other requirements we may have in the future. “
The ZINSER oxy-fuel cutting machine for Universal Aciers in brief
- ZINSER oxy-fuel cutting machine 2325 with CNC5010
- Effective cutting area 3.000 x 14.000 mm, material thicknesses up to 200 mm
- 3 oxy-fuel torches with capacitive height control, double torches, manual bevel setting
- High frequency marking unit
- Preparation for a potential upgrade to plasma cutting at a later stage
- Cutting table with exhaustion and filter unit
