Bekaert Corporation Costing Structures in a Global Economy

I have chosen the subject of this paper to be my current employer, Bekaert Corporation. For the past five years I have handled the inside sales administrative responsibilities for the greater majority of Bekaert’s domestic industrial steel wire sales, this has provided me a unique insight on the way Bekaert conducts business. I have developed relationships with the quality and production engineers as well as planning and financial personnel that are essential for Bekaert to survive in the US Economy as well as the world.

Let us begin with a brief explanation of what Bekaert does and its position in the global manufacturing marketplace. Bekaert Corporation is a global market leader in advanced solutions based on metal transformation and coatings, and the world's largest independent manufacturer of drawn steel wire products. Bekaert is a global company with headquarters in Belgium, employing 27,000 people worldwide. Bekaert serves customers in 120 countries, and we pride ourselves in pursuing sustainable profitable growth in all of our activities this is part of our mission statement, this is displayed amply in our 4.6 billion euros in combined sales in 2011. (Bekaert Corporation, 2010). We pursue this growth in two ways:

• Implementing a measured leadership strategy in the business segments and markets where we are active

• By working for success together, with our customers, suppliers and other business partners, within our organization, and throughout the divisions and regions

We believe through sustainable profitable growth we will be able to safeguard the future of this company. This will allow Bekaert to become the preferred supplier within our selected business segments. The major competitors for Bekaert in the United States are Belden Incorporated, Encore Wire Corporation and Global Wire Limited.

Bekaert produces drawn steel wire for a wide variety of products, for example as a producer of steel cord products for tire reinforcement - one in every four tires in the world runs on Bekaert steel cord (Bekaert Corporation, 2010). We also produce steel fibers that are used to reinforce over five million cubic meters of concrete every year. Bekaert participates in various businesses in all kinds of markets, from automotive to construction and from utilities to heavy equipment. This company is built on two core standards: advanced metal transformation and advanced materials and coatings. This unique combination of competencies is Bekaert’s strength. Our basic raw material is wire rod, steel wire about the thickness of a finger, which we convert by mechanical deformation and heat treatment into wires that can be as fine as 1/50th the thickness of a human hair. These wires are then turned into cable and cord, woven or knitted into a cloth or processed into ultra-fine filters and fibers, for a wide range of industrial applications. We also develop coating technologies