business & market news
12
Tube PrOducTs InTernaTIOnal October 2012
Steel pipe supplier named as a fastest
growing company
American Piping Products, Inc (APP),
a US pipe supplier, has been named
as the seventh fastest growing private
company in the St Louis area by the St
Louis Business Journal. APP was the
only steel pipe supplier to make the list.
“Our entire organisation is thrilled to
be ranked so high on this esteemed
list,” commented Al Rheinnecker, CEO
of APP. “Each of our 65 employees
directly contributed to our outstanding
performance. We are proud to be a leader
in the St Louis business community and
the steel pipe business at large.”
Companies were ranked by per cent
revenue growth, 2009-2011, and
American Piping Products saw 138.10
per cent growth throughout the three-
year period. In 2009 the company
reported $63mn in revenue, followed by
$103mn in 2010 and $150mn in 2011.
american Piping Products, Inc
– USA
Forgemasters expands
as technology improves
Sheffield Forgemasters has capitalised
on its technological expertise and
pioneering work into engineering
research and development by launching
a new company. The creation of Sheffield
Forgemasters RD26 Ltd underpins
landmark developments, which have
enabled the 200-year-old company to
become a leader in the manufacture
of high-technology components for a
diverse range of markets.
RD26 Ltd is headed by Professor Jesus
Talamantes-Silva, supported by a highly
qualified team, and working with visiting
PhD students and graduates from UK
universities. The new company will
service Forgemasters’ internal work and
aims to take on an increasing volume of
external contracts.
Dr
Graham
Honeyman,
chief
executive of parent company Sheffield
Forgemasters International Ltd (SFIL),
said, “Research and development is the
fastest growing area of this company
and is fundamental to the strategy of
the business. The launch of RD26 Ltd
is the culmination of many years’ hard
work by Professor Talamantes-Silva
and his team to break new ground in
engineering technologies and it marks
the next stage in Forgemasters’ growth.”
The new company, SFIL’s seventh
subsidiary, frees up the research and
development division to offer its services
externally, a process which has already
begun with enquiries and quoted work
into new markets, including civil nuclear
projects and the design
of large-scale pressure
vessels to the US.
Professor Talamantes-
Silva, managing director
of RD26, said, “What
we have created at
Sheffield Forgemasters since the
management buyout in 2005 is a
unique facility to conduct research and
development work on live projects.
There are few places in the world which
can offer this kind of opportunity to
refine systems away from the academic
sphere and across such a broad series
of manufacturing processes. The
resources here are enabling us to take
on increasingly technical challenges
and to look at entirely new ways of
creating components, which allows for
greater manufacturing efficiency and
stronger, lighter, more complicated end
products.
“Our markets are diversifying all of
the time and we have created new
processes for manufacture in civil
nuclear, such as the integral forging of
nozzles into ultra-large components,
the delivery of highly complex castings
for offshore oil and gas exploration
and we are now working with some of
the world’s most renowned engineering
companies to deliver collaborative
research and development work. We
have found that clients are keen to work
with us right from the design level and
to engage with that part of the process
rather than simply handing the project
over. The research and development
facility enables us to be much more
flexible in defining the characteristics
of each component and tailoring the
manufacture process to suit.”
RD26 will also continue to provide
research and development support for
SFIL’s technology transfer agreements
with emerging economies, such as those
undertaken for India’s BHEL and TAYO
power generation giants – contracts
valued at more than £30mn.
Professor Talamantes-Silva, who is a
visiting professor at the University of
Sheffield, also sits on the research board
at Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing
Research.
Dr Honeyman was named winner of
the 2012 Bessemer Gold Medal by
The Institute of Materials, Minerals and
Mining (IOM3) after judges decided his
work has promoted the manufacture of
engineering components of national and
international importance.
sheffield Forgemasters International
ltd
– UK
Professor Talamantes-Silva and team
