WELDING SUPPLIER LAUDED FOR GROWING MARKET SHARE

The 2009 Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Market Growth Leadership was recently presented to Castolin Eutectic. Though there has been a low demand for welding equipment and consumables owing to the market recession, the company has not only sustained its market share but also slowly grown it by focusing on value addition for the customer through development of specific application and end user solutions.

While several manufacturers have lost market share with declining demand from key end users like automotive, construction and shipbuilding, Castolin Eutectic diversified and increased market penetration in other industries such as power generation and offshore. The company is the leading consumables supplier for repairs and maintenance by welding, coating and brazing technologies to several ongoing power projects and the offshore drilling and exploration activities in western and eastern Europe.

Last year, the company's share, which was stable in the first two quarters of 2009, saw a marginal rise over the third quarter and beyond thanks to the deeper penetration strategies implemented by the company.

"Castolin Eutectic has been growing its portfolio and reach by constantly seeking orders in new industries and setting up CastoLab® Services and distribution centers in the western and eastern European regions," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Archana Chauhan. "Besides trying to minimize its production – logistic costs and utilize its resources efficiently to achieve economies of scale, the company has tried to secure partnerships with key clients to increase productivity by providing application designed ranges of high quality consumables for repairs and maintenance."

Currently, Castolin Eutectic has one of the widest ranges of high alloyed electrodes, cored wires, wearfaced welded plates / tubes, atomized powders and brazing alloys for repair and maintenance applications in industries such as cement, glass, steel, oil, automotive, and waste and recycling. These high-quality, proprietary alloy formulations are developed after many advances and studies in materials science, metallurgy, wear protective coatings and their related processes. These specialized alloys are designed to perform beyond the limits of standard conforming welding consumables available on the retail shelves.

Castolin Eutectic's product portfolio, specifically designed for repairs and maintenance, now includes a new generation of cost effective NanoAlloy cored wires and atomised powders for the power, cement, steel and recycling industries where higher deposition rates and exceptional wear resistance under harsh service conditions is vital.

"An important reason for Castolin Eutectic's increased market share last year was its personalized approach to corporate promotion and advertising," notes Chauhan. "The company has direct contact with most of its key end-user industries wherein the salesman and the technical support team contact industry participants and provide them with technical and application expertise."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has demonstrated excellence in capturing market share within its industry through unique products. The award recognizes the fastest measured rate of change of market share within an industry – how fast a company increases its penetration of a market, in terms of revenues or units as specified. The recipient has demonstrated strategic excellence in product innovation, marketing and sales strategies that have resulted in the largest gain in market share over the past 2-3 years. To choose the recipient of this award, the analyst team tracks market share gain, increase in sales, and brand awareness efforts within the industry. This is accomplished through interviews with market participants, end-user studies, and extensive secondary research.

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