The leader of the metal industry - UGMK
OJSC UGMK was founded only 13 years ago. In such a short period of time on the market it made its presence noticeable. The company’s successful growth can be attributed to its drive for achieving better results in the fields of quality and customer service.
Current achievements
OJSC Ukrayinska girnycho-metalurgiyna kompaniya (UGMK) was established in 1998. The company’s objective was to deliver steel products in any quantity to the wide range of consumers. Moreover, the company offered related services. In 2002 the UGMK company opened its First Metal Supermarket. The concept was so successful that in a short period of time a whole chain of metal supermarkets grew all over the country. In 2006 the company entered several foreign markets establishing The International Metal Trading Network that includes such enterprises as UGMK (Ukraine), RGMK, Ltd (Russia), UGMK (Belarus), GCB Centrostal Bydgoszcz SA (Poland), UGMK-Georgia (Georgia), UGMK Central Europe (Czech Republic).The company has established its own metal trading network in Poland with the help of JSC GS Centrostal-Bydgoszcz, which is the biggest metal trader in Poland with 25 retail centers and offices all over the country. In 2009, OJSC UGMK launched The First Online metal supermarket (www.ugmk.ua) in Ukraine. It became the first virtual marketplace that consolidated an inter-regional metal trading network into a single trading system. In a short period of time the UGMK company managed to establish partnerships with major companies-consumers of steel. In Ukraine and CIS UGMK cooperates with producers of railway cars and machinery as well as with shipbuilding and repair companies. In August 2002 the company implemented a quality management system in conformity with international standard ISO 9001:2000. The company has successfully passed an independent international certification audit, conducted by SGS (Geneva, Switzerland). In 2009, UGMK has received a certificate in quality management in accordance with international standard ISO 9001:2008. The company has been on the market for 13 years and it continues to develop.
Competitive advantage
The company’s competitive advantage is the opportunity to cooperate with major manufacturers of steel products. Thanks to that OJSC UGMK has the ability to deliver a wide range of high quality steel products and to satisfy the emerging demand. The company has the largest trading network in Ukraine. One of the strategic advantages of the company is qualified personnel. The employees are able to adapt to changing market conditions and ensure the company’s ability to react to market requests. The company employs more than 1000 people. The availability of a wide range of steel products, good infrastructure and prompt deliveries of products allow OJSC UGMK to provide the customers with solutions for any of their needs. The company’s experience in the field of steel industry and timely delivery makes it possible to win international tender projects. So far the company supplied steel for construction and operation of oil and gas pipelines: NAK Naftogaz Ukraine, Ukrnafta, PAO Ukrtatnafta. OJSC UGMK provides steels for construction and renovation of stadiums for Euro 2012, for subways and bridges from mills such as Arcelor Mittal Krivoy Rog, Alchevsk Iron & Steel Works, Dneprovsky Iron&Steel Works named after F. Dzershinsky, and many others. The company delivers materials for several shipbuilding plants among others to Kherson Shipyard, Illichevsk Shipyard; to a railway car building plant Kryukov Railway Car Building Works; and to several machine building plants such as Novokramatorsky Machine Works, Sumy Machine Building Scientific Production Association named after M.V. Frunze, Umanfermmash, Chernivtsi Machine-Building Plant. OJSC UGMK is a strategic partner and an official representative of the ISD Corporation, which is one of the leading steel companies in Central and Eastern Europe Region. OJSC UGMK represents the largest Ukrainian manufacturers of steel products on the market: OJSC Alchevsk Iron & Steel Works; OJSC Dneprovsky Iron&Steel Works named after F. Dzershinsky; OJSC Kramatorsk Iron Works aft.Kuybyshev; OJSC Dniepropetrovsk Tube Works. Additionally, OJSC UGMK is a partner of several companies in the European Union which are members of the ISD Corporation: Huta Stali Czestochowa Sp. z o.o. (Poland) and ISD Dunaferr Zrt (Hungary). The product range of OJSC UGMK includes more than 2000 different steel products, particularly, rebar, i-beam, rod, hot-rolled plates, squares, circles, flats, angles, water and gas tubing, hot-rolled seamless tubing, channels, L-bars, cold rolled strips, rails, etc. In addition to steel supply, the company is also experienced in manufacturing metal constructions. The metal construction network includes such plants as Zaporozhia Production Complex (Ukraine) and Container Production Plant (Poland), Steel Coils Processing Center (Lodz, Poland) and Siding Production Plant (Bydgoszcz, Poland). The share of export is about 5 per cent of all steel deliveries made by the company. The deliveries mostly include flats and structural shapes. OJSC UGMK export steels to several countries in Eastern Europe and the CIS: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Moldova, and Belarus.
Future plans
The company’s mission is to supply steel manufactured by foreign and domestic steel producers on the Ukrainian market. The company’s customer oriented approach, variety of its sales offer and high quality of services guarantee consumer satisfaction. Despite its many achievements, OJSC UGMK does not stop developing and looking for new solutions and opportunities. The company’s development strategy covers a number of areas. The enterprise aims to increase its operating efficiency, to optimize processes through the use of modern information technology and systematic market research of major products and services. The company strives to expand its network of regional offices, to diversify its products and services and to increase sales. Continuous improvement of the quality of services is another area targeted by the OJSC UGMK. The management is striving to form a team of highly qualified specialists creating the conditions for promoting the creative potential of employees by providing professional development opportunities and career growth within the company. Another major goal of the company is the improvement of management system in accordance with international standard ISO 9001. From a simple trading company OJSC UGMK has grown into the largest chain of metal supermarkets in Ukraine and worked out customer service standards that apply to all its retail centers. OJSC UGMK has adopted a more customer-oriented approach, paying special attention to each customer. The company continuously improves customer service processes by introducing new services and expanding the range of available products. Today OJSC UGMK is a leading metal supplier on the Ukrainian market. It is a company with the largest network of its own stores. Nevertheless, the company does not plan to stop growing. UGMK is planning to open new regional offices and strengthen the company’s position on the domestic market. Also one of the main priorities of the company is to expand the geographical reach of sales to new foreign markets, particularly the markets of Moldova, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. OJSC UGMK strive to become the leading distributor in the steel sector. OJSC UGMK has both retail and wholesale customers. The company is customer-oriented and cares about the needs of each client. A working relationship with a client is considered as partnership, which provides the possibility to interact and address relevant issues. To increase customer satisfaction and to facilitate the ordering process, OJSC UGMK has introduced a system of standards for convenient steel purchasing, which is valid for all customers in all the supermarkets that belong to the UGMK chain. OJSC UGMK provides the steel consumers in different regions of the country with standardized services and assured quality of steel products. In 2002, OJSC UGMK has become a winner of the national “Gold brand” competition. In 2009 OJSC UGMK was added to the list of TOP 500 richest companies in Ukraine, according to the rating of the “Gvardia” journal.
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