Knowledge-based quality leadership
Interview with CEO/COO Dr. Helmut Kaufmann
AluReport: You have been preaching the importance of knowledge-based action at AMAG for more than 16 years - and show no signs of stopping. Can you explain why?
HK: If you look at our strategic position and our publications outlining it, the answer soon becomes clear. We’re positioning AMAG as a sustainable, profitable premium supplier of rolled products, cast alloys and ready-to-install components for selected product markets, where possible with a high proportion of secondary aluminium that is supplemented with sustainably produced primary aluminium from the Alouette smelter in Canada. We stand for high innovative power and can react swiftly and flexibly to meet customers’ requirements, including both new and future customers. We stand for quality and an extensive, wide-ranging product portfolio. And, last but by no means least, we stand for stability and reliability. These are all things we can only achieve by acting on a sound basis of knowledge. We invest a lot of money and human resources in developing this knowledge and putting it into practice in our day-to-day business - and our customers really value this.
AluReport: Why do you believe that’s what the market needs? Why not offer slightly less at a slightly lower price?
HK: Or offer slightly more at a slightly higher price? A recent edition of Automobilwoche magazine (Source: Automobilwoche special edition, December 2023, p. 16) featured the results of a survey of automotive manufacturers and suppliers, including questions about the most important factors in their purchasing decisions. The top-ranked criterion was quality, followed by management of geopolitical and trade-related risks. Supply chain resilience, sustainability, CO2 emissions and environmental risks were also in the top five. AMAG impresses with high performance in all of these areas. This is why leading procurement specialists don’t expect us to be the lowest-cost option as well.There’s also knowledge-based procurement: and our services in terms of quality with very low complaint numbers as well as our delivery performance and our sustainability efforts are repeatedly recognized with awards. Our production sites in Austria, Germany and Canada mean that we operate in geopolitically stable, peaceful regions. All of these factors, combined with our stable ownership situation and stable financial situation, makes us an easily calculable, reliable element in a potentially fragile supply chain. That’s worth a lot nowadays. As a result, we’re often the best value offer - but not the cheapest.
AluReport: So, quality is the number one criterion. It can have many facets. Would it be fair to say that AMAG’s roughly 1,000 customers have very different ideas of what “quality” means?
HK: This brings us back to the importance of knowledge. We can only reliably and reproducibly provide our extensive product portfolio in outstanding quality if everyone involved in our internal process chain knows exactly what they’re doing and why. A mistake at any single step in this complex process chain can cause a product to be rejected. Everything has to be just right to produce premium products. You might recall that, in the last issue of AluReport, we placed particular emphasis on the microstructure of materials. Developing an understanding of the links between a material’s microstructure and a product’s characteristics is a difficult process. So too is translating theoretical knowledge into reality in the course of production. But that’s what we have to do if we want to reproducibly achieve outstanding quality - and, above all, offer product innovations and modifications to meet customers’ requests. But let’s imagine that we find ourselves inside a product, right at the heart of it: we can see the microstructure, understand it, see its benefits and then make our way back out. At some point, we’ll reach an area close to the surface and then, eventually, the surface of the material. Things are very different there: two parts made from the same alloy can vary significantly, depending on how they were produced. It’s like a diver emerging from the North Sea: off the coasts of Germany and Denmark they’ll see sweeping beaches; off the coast of England they’ll see the steep cliffs of Dover and, in Norway, they’ll see rugged fjords - but it’s all still the North Sea. This zone close to the surface and the surface itself are hugely important in determining a product’s characteristics, so we can’t afford to neglect them. That’s why we’ve dedicated this issue to the topic of surfaces: to demonstrate just how much knowledge AMAG possesses.
AluReport: What role does the new surface treatment line, which AMAG has just commissioned, play in all this?
HK: It’s definitely an advantage if we’re able to combine our knowledge with state-of-the-art machinery! In this specific case, we’ve replaced an etching line with a modern, versatile surface treatment line to consolidate and expand our leading position on surface-critical products.
AluReport: What do you mean by surface-critical products?
HK: When it comes to surface finishing, the first thing that comes to mind for most readers will probably be a product’s visual appearance. This is certainly true for products with decorative applications. We consider ourselves a quality leader with over 30 years’ experience in the production of reflective products, including for the lighting industry, architectural applications, automotive trim, cosmetic packaging and much more besides. But surfaces need to do more than just look good: they’re important for bonding, welding, soldering, varnishing and even when forming parts. Surface-critical products are often specialist products that not just anyone can manufacture. As a premium provider of specialist products, this is a specific focus for AMAG.
AluReport: You’ve often said that other AMAG products also benefit from surface-critical products. What do you mean by that?
HK: Looking at AMAG’s product portfolio generally, I would say that all products benefit from the fact that certain products are subject to specific requirements. For more than 30 years, all of our products have benefited from the fact that premium reflective finishes require an ultra-clean production environment and have to be handled with the utmost care. Shiny, lustrous products simply can’t be rolled in a dusty, smoky environment. And, if these products aren’t handled carefully or packaged properly, their beautiful surfaces will soon become scratched. It all starts in the foundry, though: inclusions in the rolling slabs will cause the finished products to be rejected. So, as I said, the entire process has to be just right! Let’s consider another example: when manufacturing aviation components, our machinery - and especially our heat treatment furnaces - have to operate within extremely tight process windows. Given that countless products pass through each machine, heat-treated tread plates might undergo treatment in an aviation-certified furnace, which also means highly reproducible quality for these products. AMAG’s extensive product portfolio at a single site, covering all alloy families, wide-ranging industries and all process steps, from recycling to the foundry to the packaged rolled product, creates a unique pool of knowledge. I would argue that this is globally unique.
AluReport: So, you believe AMAG stands for in-depth knowledge paired with state-of-the-art machinery and, as a result, for the highest quality?
HK: Thank you, I couldn’t have summed it up better myself!
AluReport: Finally, let me ask a more personal question, about the decorations on the wall in your office. Is there a meaning behind the koi carp?
HK: Yes, there is. In Japanese legend, koi carp are symbols of strength, endurance, courage, determination and progress, as well as success, happiness, independence and freedom - key qualities and attributes that a good entrepreneur should have. My ceramic koi also seem pretty cheerful and happy. They motivate me.
By the way, the plant is witch hazel. A little magic would be useful from time to time.
