TPI March 2021

“With the thermal 3D cutting machines for pipes, vessels and structural steel that Müller Opladen manufactures we reached our sales targets in 2020 despite the Corona virus. This shows how robust our company is and customers appreciate our 3D cutting expertise and state-of-the-art machines.”

INTERVIEW Jan Sulimma, sales director, Müller Opladen

very similar firmware on all machines worldwide and the very user-friendly Corobs HMI interface. The same applies to our powerful 3D Profile PLUS software for programming and automatic nesting of the pipes. What advantages does the customer get from Müller Opladen and Watts Mueller being together? Well, maybe first of all it gives you trust and confidence if you buy something from the company with a great track recorded in the industry, but there are plenty of other points: we can always give the customer the best fitting solution for his individual application; we combine now the best and most high-tech cutting machine technology from Germany with the most advanced and flexible logistics solutions from the US. Right now, with a weaker dollar our entry level Watts Mueller ECO series has a very competitive price. We can provide worldwide around the globe and around the clock service and support to our customers.

What kind of company is Müller Opladen and what types of machines do you specialise in? Müller Opladen is now more than 100 years old and is a third generation family-owned, traditional German machine building company. Together with our US company – Watts Mueller – we are the biggest CNC pipe profiler manufacturer worldwide. Since the 1950s we have built more than 1,500 pipe profilers, which are working in 75 countries around the world. We have essentially invented and pioneered all major developments for pipe profilers since the beginning of the concept, so we have more experience and tradition in pipe profiling than anybody else in our opinion. How did a pipe profiling company based in Germany build such strong links with a US company? We had been actively competing with Watts Specialties in the US market since 2013 and had known each other as fair competitors. In 2016 Dave Collins, the old owner of Watts Specialties, looked for a long-term solution for his retirement. When you hand over your company it is like giving your baby or kid to another family. So, you want to make sure it is in very good hands. Watts approached us and we quite quickly reached a good agreement. Müller Opladen bought into Watts Specialties, which transformed into Watts Mueller (www.watts-mueller.com). What are the advantages of Müller Opladen and Watts Mueller being together? We create a lot of synergy. First of all in marketing and sales worldwide. So we reach the market now through our distributors with a wider and more specialised product range. But as well in development, design and engineering we see already a lot of synergy effects like we are using a

61

www.read-tpi.com

March 2021 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL