STEMA/PEDAX are one of the few players in the market supplying total systems: our range of products includes all types of machines for processing reinforcing steel.

The STEMA stirrup bending machines straighten, bend and cut reinforcing steel in coils from 6-18 mm – and the unique Rollmaster produces welded mesh in carpets up to 40 mm in diameter. The straightening and shearing systems from PEDAX process steel bars up to 60 mm diameter. And the Mafix machines cut and bend conventional steel wire mesh.

This perfect match was created in 1997 by Stema Engineering of Kvistgård, Denmark and Peddinghaus of Bitburg, Germany. A new company named Pedax Bitburg Maschinenbau GmbH was founded by Mr. Deichmann, Mr. Specht, Mr. Blos and Mr. Gleich, taking over the activities from the old Peddinghaus Bitburg in 1997.

STEMA/PEDAX is characterised by reliability of operation and uncompromising quality, which we are proud of.

Heavy-duty machines with high capacity, beneficial service intervals and particularly long service life guarantee our customers minimal Total Cost of Ownership.

At the same time, the ease of operation and the well-arranged material flows provide benefits in day-to-day operation and considerably less scrap. The result: an attractive Return on Investment rarely to be found in the market.

STEMA/PEDAX create this uncompromising quality by producing important components such as shears and bending heads themselves in the event that it is not possible to source them from outside in the same good quality.

Quality is the essence of good business. For example, the very first Steelmaster stirrup bending machine from Stema, which was supplied to Kalmar in Sweden in 1985, is still in operation in Malta.

The very first stirrup bending machine Stema sold in 1985 was a Steelmaster. This machine was supplied to the well-known civil engineering firm Skanska in Sweden where it was set in operation in a pre-cast factory in Kalmar. Here, the machine was serviced by our technicians on a continuos basis until the company decided to shut down the factory, which was no longer profitable.

The robust design and high quality of the Steelmaster machine meant that it was still attractive to the second-hand market. Therefore, it was overhauled at Stema in Kvistgaard where our engineers went over the machine from a to z.

It was subsequently sold to the Blokrete Ltd. in Malta, where it is still in daily operation. The Stema service engineers carry out all check-ups on the machine, for which almost all spare parts are held in stock and despatch them immediately. And should a special need arise, we can always manufacture all parts.

Therefore the useful life of the reliable Steelmaster from Stema is expected to be above average - guaranteeing the owner an exceptional Return on Investment.

STEMA/PEDAX harnesses its growth in line with a global strategy. We want to be close to customers and be represented in all important markets of the world - partly through our own subsidiaries and partly in co-operation with local partners and agents. This means that STEMA/PEDAX now ranks among the 3 world leading companies in our line of business.

You will find us in more than 40 countries – and, as a customer, you are able to experience a sales and service organisation of great ability: partly to guarantee complete after- sales-service and partly to be an active partner able to provide the technical advice necessary for optimising and developing your business.

USA and Canada are also important markets to STEMA/PEDAX, and we have reinforced our local presence by appointing Penntech Industrial Tools in Pittsburg our new national machine- and sparesparts distributor for USA and Canada. We are furthermore present in the USA with our own STEMA/PEDAX service manager, working out of Atlanta and available for service back-up to all STEMA/PEDAX customers in USA and Canada.

All technical service and support is carried out from Atlanta and Pittsburg where there is also a central stock of spare parts ready to reach all customers in North America within 24 hours.

The all-important costs per ton - and how to handle them effectively

The market situation in North America is marked by a demand for increasing efficiency due to falling profit margins. The prices of steel have gone up, but the selling prices for processed reinforcing steel have not kept pace.

That is why STEMA/PEDAX attaches great importance to economic studies, in which you as a customer know your costs per ton of cut and bent reinforcing steel. You can obtain precise calculations based on different machine options and layouts in your production flow. We also provide for intensive training of your operators so that they make full use of the advantages associated with our computer-controlled machines.

The US government has also introduced an economic program, which will have a positive effect on STEMA/PEDAX-customers: companies who invest in making their production plant more effective can achieve additional pay-back amounting to $ 100,000 in the first year.

You soon discover that STEMA/PEDAX is more than just a machine supplier. Our long experience and know-how have made us partners with whom you can develop your business.

For instance, we provide economic studies, in which you as a customer know your costs per ton of cut and bent reinforcing steel. You can also obtain precise calculations based on different machine options and layouts in your production flow. We find the solutions which best match your needs.

We also provide for intensive training of your operators so that they make full use of the advantages associated with our computer controlled machines. It is precisely the effectiveness of employees that has become a major point of focus – and, to a large extent, companies are changing over to performance-related wage systems.

Good co-operation results in growth. Zipp in Slovakia and Express Reinforcements are examples of successful companies who have expanded their production machinery as customers of STEMA/PEDAX over the past 13-15 years and who, today, enjoy a strong position in their respective markets. Other companies, such as Fundia, started off with high output and have since developed their businesses even further in co-operation with STEMA/PEDAX.

The company Express Reinforcements was established in 1984 with the clear objective to exploit a niche on the market: delivery of reinforcing steel with a 24-hour service to the customers.

In the beginning, production was approx. 100 tonnes a week, but the strategy was growth via acquisition of competitors. The newly acquired companies have since been modernised and expanded and today there are 5 factories producing in Great Britain. The 230 employees achieve an output of almost 3,000 tonnes a week.

Express Reinforcements is known for its quality, dependability and excellent service. The company’s success stems from its capability to deliver the goods – right on time.

Most of their machinery is less than 5 years old and at least 75% of the equipment comes from STEMA/PEDAX, which is represented by almost all models contained in the range of products. For instance, 10 Twinmaster automatic stirrup benders, 2 Cadormatic shearlines, 2 Unicut straightening machines, plus 2 of the new Rollmaster machines. In addition, the company purchased its first STEMA/PEDAX machine back in 1988, which is still producing in the rebar shop in Midlands.

The Heathrow airport’s terminal T5 is the biggest project Express Reinforcements have ever been involved in. The mammoth project was jointly secured by Laing-O’Rourke, who have erected the buildings, and STEMA/PEDAX, who have supplied the machines for the big rebar shop. In the shop 190,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel are to be processed and supplied to the building site - just-in-time. A huge task when you think that the total consumption of reinforcing steel for the whole construction industry in Great Britain amounts to approx. 700,000 tons.

The Slowakian Construction Group, Zipp, was a state-owned corporation for 20 years, but was privatised in 1994. At the same time, the company began to grow, which resulted in many export orders. Primarily to its neighbouring country the Czech Republic but also to Germany and Austria.

This enterprise has co-operated with STEMA/PEDAX since 1990, a period which has seen constant expansion of production at the pre-cast concrete factory in Bratislava.

Zipp has normally purchased 1 machine a year – and today has 9 stirrup bending machines from STEMA/PEDAX in operation. They are supplied via our local agent, who also has service facilities.

Large orders for the construction of halls, factories, blocks of offices and malls have generated an increasing need for processed reinforcing steel at Zipp. The group employs over 2,000 people today.

In this part of Europe, construction levels are high and by virtue of its local presence STEMA/PEDAX has approx. 40 machines and several lines in operation in many different factories.

Just-in-time delivery of processed reinforcing steel on site provides logistical and economical benefits. Savings in handling and intermediate storage are made, just as the construction site operates more efficiently because the steel does not take up large amounts of space.

STEMA/PEDAX has participated in the creation of many different solutions which guarantee just-in-time delivery. For example, based on production close to, or on, the same construction site. We have also developed a small, complete rebar shop with 1 shearline and 2 bending machines in a 40’ container, ready for production on-site.

On a larger scale, STEMA/PEDAX have highlighted their capabilities by supplying a complete on-site production plant, with more than 30 systems and a monthly capacity of up to 20.000 tons, erected close to the site of the new T5 Terminal at London Heathrow Airport.

When you go outside Europe, where cutting and bending of reinforcing steel is carried out in highly effective factories, you really need to be creative.

Good construction economy is to a high degree a matter of just-in-time delivery, no matter where in the world the business takes place. And how do you cope with "in the middle of nowhere" – or if it is only produced for a certain period?

You order a complete rebar-shop in a 40-feet container: the new solution from STEMA/PEDAX is easy to unpack, mount and connect. We have everything – except for one thing: electricity!

The container is arranged in such a way that it contains a complete stationary shearing line – model Mini-Shearline – with control, storage system, in-feed conveyor, hydraulic shear, measuring table, collecting pockets, 2 bending machines and a bending table.

In practice the roof of the container is swung aside pneumatically and the sides are collapsed. When the weather is bad the roof is put back in place again so that production can continue under cover.

The Mini-Shearline is computer controlled: the number of bars and the required length are keyed in. The bars are taken from the storage system and placed on the feeding conveyor after which the automatic cutting process starts.

The mobile container-rebar shop is a perfect solution for both out-of-the way places and on large building sites where there is a need for just-in-time delivery.

The majority of STEMA/PEDAX customers are small or medium-sized companies– and their many challenges have made us flexible and creative in our daily work. This capacity to adapt is very important to be able to create large scale solutions.

Creativity played an important role when STEMA/PEDAX secured the contract to supply a complete rebar shop with over 30 systems in connection with the construction of the new T5 Terminal at London Heathrow airport.

We submitted an overall solution in co-operation with Laing O´Rourke and Express Reinforcements, in which we offered to erect a separate plant- fully manned with engineers – close to the construction site. Its location solved the traffic problems which characterise the motorways around London and the big airport. The plant is able to supply 210.000 tons of reinforcing steel for the project, just-in-time.

A solution which guarantees just-in-time delivery of 210.000 tons reinforcing steel

The construction of the new T5 Terminal at Heathrow airport London is an example of STEMA/PEDAX's ability to enter into a close dialogue with the customer – displaying flexibility and creativity and, together with their rebar specialists and site managers, creating a solution that provides the biggest possible advantages.

Offering the customer a complete production plant in the immediate vicinity of the airport area has become the “Eureka, I have found it!” solution, which makes the whole difference: now you avoid driving through heavy traffic with loads of cut and bent reinforcing steel because you produce it on site.

Most of the steel can be delivered just-in-time – thus saving handling and intermediate storage. At the same time, inconveniences such as items which “disappear” and unnecessary handling of items not required for immediate use are avoided.

The construction work is carried out by our partners in the project, Laing O'Rourke, - and STEMA/PEDAX have been chosen as suppliers of all machines for the plant - partly because we are able to offer the full range of quality machines and partly because we have the unique Rollmaster 40W, which can produce Rollmat in diameters up to 40 mm.

Experience shows that Rollmat can reduce the number of man-hours for handling by up to 75%, and it is a great "money maker" on a project in which the total consumption of reinforcing steel is expected to reach 210.000 tons. (in comparison 150.000 tons were used for the Øresund bridge). Each Rollmat measures 12 x 100 m and weighs over 5 tonnes. No less than 12 Rollmaster 40 W machines are in operation at the plant to produce the carpets, which makes the operation the largest rebar shop in Northern Europe.

This plant represents a total solution since it also boasts a maintenance section which, in line with customer wishes, we have manned with two technicians. They are specialised in STEMA/PEDAX-machines and, at the same time, act as a means of liaison with the customer. Furthermore, a small stock of spare parts has also been established on site.

This construction project employs an overall workforce of 5.000 - 6.000 and is scheduled to be completed in 2007. For more information see the article in our Newsletter on T5.

STEMA/PEDAX have developed a supplier role acting today as a constructive partner to our customers. Here, it is decisive to stop, look, listen and enter into discussion. This gives us the opportunity to understand the customer’s business and thus propose the best solutions.

This co-operation can begin right from scratch, as was the case when Baduc SA in Romania opened its new rebar shop in 2002. STEMA/PEDAX entered the scene already at the planning stage, submitted a proposal for the production system together with a layout and invited the directors of the company to visit users in other countries to see our machines in operation.

This whole process has led to the establishment of a strong relationship between Baduc SA and STEMA/PEDAX. This co-operation is characterised by confidence, respect and seriousness. And the new rebar processing plant is amongst the most modern and most competitive rebar shops in Europe.

Baduc SA in Romania is one of the most modern and competitive rebar shops in Europe. It opened in August 2002 and is the result of the close co-operation between the Romanian company and STEMA/PEDAX.

Initial discussions began in 2001 at the BAUMA fair in Munich followed by a planning phase, which, amongst others, consisted of visits to STEMA/PEDAX customers in other countries. We jointly drew up the requirements for the new rebar shop as regards equipment and worked out an optimal layout which would guarantee continuous work flow.

The machinery envisaged consisted of the STEMA/PEDAX models Combiline – for the cutting and bending of bars – and Twinmaster 16 for production of stirrups and straights from coils. Together with the machines, thorough training of the operators followed. All this has given Baduc SA the best possible opportunity of capturing market shares in the field of cut and bent reinforcing steel.

Baduc SA’s choice of STEMA/PEDAX as a supplier is due primarily to the quality of the machines and their operational reliability. The comprehensive technical advice and consultation provided by STEMA/PEDAX’ has, however, also played an important role. Understanding is close, inspiring and based on trust – always focusing on the customer’s needs, a fact which is absolutely decisive for gaining success.

aduc SA achieved excellent results in the first year after production start-up.

Customer orientation is a core value at STEMA/PEDAX. We are much more than a supplier. You can count on us as a constructive partner who analyses the needs and opportunities of your company in depth and who finds quality solutions to strengthen your business in the future.

Our most important value is to perceive possibilities and be innovative. When we work with creativity, we strengthen our customers’ ability to be competitive. And internally our employees’ satisfaction grows as they meet and cope with new challenges all the time.

Respect and trust is an essential feature in our customer relations, and of utmost importance if we are to be accepted as a serious partner. Therefore, we attach great importance to discussion – and keeping our word!