Mr. Weiss, SMS is today a company with more than 14,000 employees at locations in more than 30 countries and has generated sales of more than four billion in the past year. If you remember your childhood, what was SMS like at the time?
Heinrich Weiss: I grew up directly next to the company in Hilchenbach. Siemag, the company's name at that time, was my adventure playground, so to speak, and in the afternoon after school I got a glimpse into many departments and simply helped out where I could. Of course, the orders and projects were always a topic at our dining table, so that I naturally grew into the task. Siemag was a family company in the best sense of the word, with employees who have been working with us for many years and in some cases over several generations. I decided early on that I wanted to spend my life with these people.
In 1971, at the age of only 28, you took over the management of the company. How did you turn a medium-sized company in the Siegerland region into a global player in metallurgical plant engineering?
At that time, even in Germany, we were only the number three among the rolling mill suppliers, and my father already knew that Siemag alone was too small to be able to compete internationally in the long-term. For this reason, negotiations were held at that time for a merger with Schloemann, which was then completed at the end of 1973. SMS was then strong enough to realize major projects like those in China in the 1970s and 80s.
From the very beginning, my goal was to make SMS a full-liner in order to be able to offer our customers solutions over the entire process chain. That is why we have expanded our portfolio whenever we have seen a strong opportunity. Along the way, we were able to expand our technological leadership, too. The last step in this direction was the takeover of Paul Wurth. Today we see how important this was, because this is how we can lead climate-neutral metal production.
At the same time, we have developed from a purely mechanical engineering company to a system supplier. The first important step was the setting-up of the own electrical and automation systems at the beginning of the 1990s. At the turn of the millennium, we started to expand our service business. Inspired by a trip to Silicon Valley, I finally initiated the development of our digitalization competence. This integrated approach enables us to support customers today throughout the entire lifecycle of their plants.
Through the years, SMS has always combined technological leadership with the culture of a family business. For me, this means: quick decisions, little bureaucracy, and keeping people motivated through a positive working environment.
You have already mentioned the major projects in China in the 1970s and 80s. What was the significance of these orders at that time?
In 1904, SMS delivered the first rolling mill to China. When the country carefully opened up to the Western world after years of isolation, we were able to establish a basis of trust with those responsible in the first talks. We convinced them that we would be the best partner with respect to technology and order execution. Of course, the implementation was a huge challenge in many respects – without the modern means of transport and communication, as we know them today.
I am proud that SMS has contributed significantly to China's rise to the world's largest steel nation. At the same time, we have also benefited enormously from this. For this reason, too, I am convinced that a disentanglement of the world economy and a de-coupling from China would cause enormous damage to both sides.
At the end of the 1980s, CSP® technology propelled our growth – proof of why technological leadership is so important. However, we must not forget the courage that Nucor showed at the time. We were only able to test the CSP® technology on our pilot plant and, together with Nucor, demonstrated the potential it offers. Our corporate cultures in this partnership matched very well – like us, Nucor had the philosophy of a medium-sized company.
Looking back, what made SMS successful?
The success factors have remained the same over the last 50 years: entrepreneurial responsibility, trust in our employees, constant technical innovation, focus on the wishes of our customers and, last but not least, maintaining a global perspective – this philosophy has shaped us from the very beginning and will continue to do so. A major advantage compared to many of our competitors was that we have always taken a long-term perspective. In view of the size of the projects, trust between the owners of our customer companies and the plant supplier is crucial – a private company has the advantage here.