Robrecht Himpe

Leading a team of 68,000 steel people in 27 European countries is Robrecht Himpe, EVP Flat Carbon Europe. Here, he tells us about speed, efficiency, breakthrough initiatives and about "one of our main assets - our customers"


Mr Himpe, what top 2 measures have Flat Carbon Europe taken to respond to the global economic crisis?


"First of all, we made a strong customer focus: during our numerous customer contacts, we listened to how we could help our customer through this difficult period. Our short lead time offer helps the customer to reduce inventory, and our geographical presence assures him an excellent reactivity on his requests. Our customers want to be with ArcelorMittal as we can guarantee local presence and a strong backing by a local mill. Compared to the pre-crisis situation, we extend volume flexibility as well in an important way and in both directions.


Secondly, there was a strong focus on cost reduction. We concentrated production in more efficient mills and we made remarkable progress in fixed cost reduction in a low volume environment, a key element to become competitive on the export markets"


What key challenges do you foresee in the coming months?


"We keep a close eye on market share, as we believe ArcelorMittal is well placed with its global footprint and its size to extend market share, even in this volatile environment.


Speed remains a very important asset, because the current environment is changing rapidly. It requires more intensive work on forecasting and scenario building. We keep working with very low inventory and have to anticipate well in order to follow the market.


Cost will impact further profitability in a significant way as there will remain a global overcapacity in all markets for a considerable period from now. It will be key to remain with an absolute low cost once we come back to higher volumes".


Can this crisis be an opportunity to be more efficient in the way we work?


"Absolutely. The current downturn forces us to become better, to be more efficient and to act quicker. We adapted our main processes: instead of running on quarterly or on monthly basis, they now run on weekly basis. Within one week the complete cycle between demand of final product and raw materials is updated. We take as well opportunity of specific raw material offers where we adapt quickly the plant working points to achieve the lowest cost. The complete organization has become an order of magnitude more agile, an important asset we will foster with care for the future."


Raquel Córdoba