You know what. They know how - Grupo Condesa
Since the company began its production activity under Donato Iribecampos leadership, Grupo Condesa has grown from a small, family business to a corporation that spreads its manufacturing facilities in six countries. Its market share in Spain stands at 37% and has a 20% share of the European market. In total, Grupo Condesa has 2000 workers and its current turnover is 1000 million euros per year. Without further ado, here is Grupo Condesa’s recipe for success.
The Father of Success
Donato Iribecampos began his activity as a small manufacturer in his hometown- Mondragón (Spain), where in 1954 the present Grupo Condesa (Conducciones y Derivados S.A.) was founded. As the company’s growth continued with new acquisitions and the expansion of existing facilities, he was focusing its activity on manufacturing steel tubes. What is more he was providing its Clients with an ever- broadening menu of complementary services combined with the highest level of Customer support. From 1992 until 2004 Condesa was associated with Arcelor. In 2004 Condesa bought Arcelor’s tube manufacturing plants in Europe, Arcelor Tubes and Aceralia Tubos: Perfil en Frío (Spain), Zalain Transformados (Spain), Mieres Tubos (Spain), Alessio Tubi (Italy), Longtain (Belgium), Tubes de Fresnoy (France), Lorraine Tubes, ex- Tubeurop and ex- Exma Production, (France), SRW (Germany), Industube (Morocco). The group has now become leader of the European Market for carbon welded steel. Today, Grupo Condesa is made up of 12 manufacturing companies (in Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Morocco), 4 general service companies (in Spain), 21 sales offices (in Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland and United Kingdom), 3 sales agents (Gran Canaria, Ireland and Switzerland). Today, this is a solid and expanding Group, the result of a combination of several initiatives based on a number of clear objectives: To become a leading international company through excellence, quality, experience and know how, to resolve the problems of their Customers and in this way, move forward and develop together. Collaboration and coordination between the different members of the Group generate synergies that allow them to tackle large markets with guarantees and with an excellent capacity to respond to Customers’ needs. Thanks to their large international network, they are always very close to their Customers, attending to their needs and providing solutions at each moment in time.
Its product line strategy
Grupo Condesa is one of the largest European manufacturers of carbon steel tubes, profiles and stainless steel tubes. They are offering high value added solutions and products for many of the leading brand names in the most important sectors: automotive, construction, furniture, public works, providers of executive charter services. The company provides their Clients with almost six decades of experience and quality standards with an unmatched safety record. Their success during the last several years was enormous. The major aspects of Grupo Condesa’s international performance are their product development, their extensive marketing and the human approach to high technology. The Group produces 1.4 million tonnes per year and its current turnover is 1000 million euros. But what caused this giant strength? For sure a very special way of acting of the company is its product line strategy. While most major companies produce different products with sometimes negligible differences in their respective specifications, Grupo Condesa invests all its efforts into the development of a few really good products, thus making the best of one single device and giving the Customer the possibility of choosing rapidly without the need of a thorough documentation. It is often said that the best business portfolio is one that fits the company’s strengths and helps exploit the most attractive opportunities. Develop growth strategies for adding new products and businesses to the portfolio, whilst at the same time deciding when products and businesses should no longer be retained. In their opinion: “The evolution means there is no going back. Progress and a will to succeed urge us to move forward just a little bit more every day- they said- For that reason, Grupo Condesa wishes to share its international growth and convey a new and unified image as the leading company in this sector, with an increasing range of products with better features at the service of their Customers”. They see investment and development opportunities based on their global focus and business concept. From their central base in Vitoria (Alava), and with their vast experience within Central Europe they are in a perfect position to obtain strong growth rates in fragmented market segments and significant progress in transformation to market based systems.
The company’s products which are most directly related to their core competencies are:
- Structural Hollow Section - offers a wide range of tubes of different shapes (round, square, rectangular and elliptical), manufactured according to different processes according to the application. The use of steel tubular sections provides for strong, light and profitable structures and as a result offer a host of possibilities in terms of application (expressive capacity). The use of these products also facilitates designs with a greater aesthetic appeal.
- Precision Tubes - provided by Condesa are supplied with BKM finish (welded and sized), GBK (annealed) and NBK (normalised). With regard to the geometric forms, tubes may be round, square, rectangular, oval, semi-oval, elliptical and special, among others. The most common applications are in the furniture and camping industries, the auxiliary automobile industry, carpentry, lock-making, structural elements, the construction of machinery and equipment or greenhouses.
- Stainless Steel Tube - produced by Condesa Inox, manufactures stainless steel austhenitic and ferritic grades, supplying tubes for decorative construction, general uses and automotive markets.
- Cold Drawn Tube - is obtained from welded hollows from which the internal weld is removed and one or several of special cycles are applied.
- Gas and General Use Tube - this product supplied by Condesa has high mechanical strength and for this reason perform better under tensile stress, pressure, compression, etc., and greater resistance to external impact and attacks. In terms of health, tubes made with galvanised material are considered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be the most suitable type of tube for drinking water.
- Profile Tube - In order to manufacture these special welded sections, Grupo Condesa not only uses the most modern processes and technologies, but also a qualified and experienced team of specialists equipped with the latest generation of computer technology. This allows them to do more than just supply tubes or sections. They said that they can offer tailor-made solutions for each requirement and if necessary, work together with their Customers on the definition of the product to satisfy their needs. With regard to materials and qualities, this company works both with carbon, black, semi bright, cold or galvanised steels, and stainless steel, atmospheric corrosion resistance steels, etc. It is also possible to work with several grades of steel, including materials with high yield strength, etc.
- Carpentry Tube - tubular steel sections are of great interest for the construction industry due to shorter installation times, strength, duration and rigidity, as well as ease of use, leading to high overall economy. Moreover, their attractive appearance gives them great aesthetic appeal. There are different kinds of carpentry sections: Series A, B and C for carpentry and lock-making and D Series for carpentry with seals.
- Tubes and Profiles for Greenhouses - Grupo Condesa has two kinds of tubes and sections designed for the framework of greenhouses for the banana, horticultural and flower sectors: on the one hand, hot rolled tubes and hot dipped galvanised tubes, and on the other, Sendzimir galvanised tubes.
- Open profiles - with regard to the state of the steel used in the sections, they can supply their Clients with black steel, pickled, cold formed, sendzimir galvanised, hot dip galvanised, stainless steel and pre-lacquered.
- Equipment and Crash Barriers - the metal crash barrier manufactured by Grupo Condesa is a semi-rigid type and its use has a direct effect on increasing safety on roads, dual carriageways and motorways. This company aims to provide an overall solution for the supply and installation of metal crash barriers.
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