TPi November 2013

■ What is the longest you’ve worked without sleep and/or what is the worst crisis you have faced, or your proudest moment? Honestly speaking, I don’t see crisis, I see only opportunities. It doesn’t mean that we cannot face problems but most of the time they pass very quickly when you don’t lose your focus and when you believe in your potential to overcome the problems. However, one situation that I will not forget was when the Brazilian currency devaluated a lot and, of course, this was bad for our businesses, since we import seamless tubing from our mills. ■ How do you see the tube and pipe industry changing over the next five to ten years following the global recession? What do you think the industry can learn for the future from the past few years? I see the tube and pipe industry changing its way of working. In the past our customers used to buy tubes but now, they are looking for solutions and not for a simple tube and pipe. Companies with the ability to supply semi-finished products, pipe spools etc will have a better chances to grow. Additionally to this, safety, environment issues, possible liabilities etc are becoming more and more important and tube producers will have to adapt their way of working, taking these facts into consideration. If a student or young person wanted to get involved in the industry as a young engineer then they have to learn to understand the real needs of his or her customers. It will be necessary to focus activities on the customer’s specific focus. In short, it will be necessary to meet a customer’s individual needs. The student or young person has to be familiar with industrial processes of all segments in the industry, aiming to support customers in the best way possible. ■ What advice would you give to someone trying to make it in the tube industry?

■ What’s the most enjoyable thing about working in your current role? The most enjoyable activity about my job is that I feel useful in helping customers to take the best decision in terms of material choice. Furthermore, another point that I consider as very important is my role as coach. It is really gratifying to support young talents in the team. Sandvik is a great company that has a huge respect for all stakeholders as well as the environment, ethics and safety. Sandvik is a company that invests a lot in internal and external training. We follow market trends closely and, based on this, we have implemented a training strategy that allows our collaborators to be in line with market needs. Being a Sandvik employee, you feel that you are important. My role as a sales manager is very stimulating, since I have to be active and fast in my decision making. Furthermore, I am in contact with several different people during the work daily and this is important for my career plan. Additionally, Sandvik is famous worldwide for providing technical training to customers. Our reputation in this matter is very good. Our customers look at Sandvik as a company that acts as a university, helping people to understand better about materials and their possible applications. ■ What is the toughest aspect of your job? And what is the most difficult thing about being in a position of responsibility at a large company like Sandvik? The toughest aspect of my job is when you do your best supporting a customer and at the end of the day, their decision is based on pure price, without taking into consideration that using a Sandvik material, the customer will have lot of advantages as well as the customer will always have a safe good quality product and will work with a company that has an open mind, team spirit and fair play as the most important values. Furthermore, as a manager of Sandvik, you have to be in line with our social responsibility. This demands my total involvement in our daily businesses. ■ What’s the most exciting or challenging project you have worked on during your career so far and why? My most exciting experience was when Sandvik succeeded in selling a lot of tube and pipe in SAF 2507 to fabricators involved in the Petrobras projects (downstream and upstream). It was an exciting challenge because we were able to prove to Petrobras and other customers that our Super Duplex was the best choice for several applications.

Angelo Martines joined Sandvik 31 years ago and started his career in 1982 as a quality engineer at a wire mill in Brazil. He was promoted to quality manager and process engineering. In 1993, he left the quality department in order to work in commercial and technical support to wire customers. In 1999, he was appointed as

global product manager for nickel alloys wire. In 2001 he left wire in order to become the South American tubular products manager. He worked in this position until January 2012. After StepChange, he became sales manager of BU DS in Brazil. He is 55 years old, married and has one daughter. He is a metallurgical engineer. After graduation he started to study a Masters in materials but did not finish it. However, he has also graduated in Business and Industrial Administration (two-year course), in Industrial Marketing (seven month course), Executive MBA with emphasis on knowledge management (150 hours), and more recently in the International Management Program (Duke University, USA, 200 hours).

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November 2013 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL