Frost & Sullivan Lauds Castolin Eutectic for Outstanding Strategies That Resulted in Deeper Market Penetration during the Economic Downturn

LONDON, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2009 Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Market Growth Leadership is 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.

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While several companies 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. 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, atomised 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 specialised 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 in 2009 is 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."

These well experienced "consulting" teams reach out 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to customers and maintain the company's brand image in its key targeted industries. Castolin Eutectic also participates & advertises in specific events, congresses or exhibitions conducted by these industry players. Additionally, it participated in the Essen welding fair in 2009, where it was the part of the Messer group, showcasing a selection of repair and maintenance applications.

Of course, the company's network of self owned units also ensures direct sales and helps provide sufficient technical support to all its customers personally. While its competitors sell products through distributors, who also stock consumables of other companies, Castolin Eutectic are responsible to develop application-specific procedures, processes & products and to transfer necessary technical support to customers. Further, its CastoLab Services offer repairing subcontract options to customers lacking their own maintenance or welding departments. Since the company has its own operations in several regions of Europe like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, it can provide a rapid response service to customers.

Overall, for its outstanding customer-specific portfolio of repairs and maintenance consumables, its ability to grow market share during an economic downturn, its unique strategy of personalized promotion to grow brand recognition and the value added services it offers through CastoLabs, Castolin Eutectic is the worthy recipient of the 2009 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Market Growth Leadership in the repairs and maintenance consumables market.

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.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Castolin Eutectic

With more than 2000 people worldwide, Castolin Eutectic is the leading company in fighting wear and providing specialist coating, repair and joining solutions in harsh operating conditions. We provide products with application know-how to customers and are increasingly moving to becoming a service based business. More than 100 years of experience in welding, brazing and thermal spraying technologies stands for professional and innovative solutions. Castolin Eutectic is your partner with industrial expertise in surface protection, repair and joining solutions. To find out more about us, please visit www.castolin.com or www.eutectic.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.awards.frost.com.

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan