Bilfinger Berger - Industrial Services

In Scandinavia, there is an increasing tendency among companies in the process industry to outsource their production facilities to specialized service providers. Bilfinger Berger recognized this trend early and is now market leader.

A few clouds dot the morning sky as Jan-Erik Kukkonen climbs to the highest platform at the Stenungsund Borealis location near Gothenburg. From a height of 76 meters, the engineer has a view of one of the largest and most modern petrochemical industrial plants in Scandinavia – to the layman a complex tangle of pipes, boilers and silos.

Kukkonen points toward the harbor where ships are unloading propane, butane and other gases, “those are the raw materials that are processed in the cracker,” – Kukkonen’s arm swings to the left – “into ethylene and propylene.” His arm then moves back to the right “and over there, the mixture becomes polyethylene, from which cables, pipes and other plastic products are manufactured.” Finally, he points to a railroad track that separates the two production areas: “Those tracks used to form a boundary: Although both areas were a part of Borealis, there was nearly no exchange between the maintenance teams. From today’s perspective, that’s inconceivable.”

Jan-Erik Kukkonen is a Maintenance Manager at Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services,which operates a lucrative and growing business in Scandinavia. An important building block for this success: the outsourcing contract with plastics manufacturer Borealis. Here, for about €15 million annually, Bilfinger Berger keeps pumps, valves, boilers, compressors, control panels and ventilators up and running – with the maintenance team transferred from Borealis.

Engineer Kukkonen describes the key component of the business model: since the 140 specialists from Borealis were transferred to Bilfinger Berger, there are no longer any boundaries between the various sections of the plant. It is now perfectly natural for mechanics and electricians to work in all areas of the expansive plant grounds. “But they operate much further afield than that”, says Kukkonen and points across to chemicals company AkzoNobel, which also relies on Bilfinger Berger personnel for its maintenance work. “Some of our people will even spend weeks or months at a time on an oil platform off the Norwegian coast or they will take part in a general inspection at an industrial plant in Finland.” Kukkonen then directs his listener’s attention to a production building on the outskirts of Stenungsund, the Maintenance and Competence Center. Here, service specialists are trained and prepared for new tasks with different customers.

The model’s appeal is quite obvious: When companies from the chemical and petrochemical, pulp and paper, steel or aluminum industries outsource their maintenance teams to Bilfinger Berger, a professionally managed pool of specialists in a variety of disciplines is created. The scope of their activities ranges from long-term assignments in ongoing maintenance projects to onetime special jobs including those arranged at short notice. For the companies doing the outsourcing, fixed costs for maintenance staff are transformed into variable costs. Savings of 20 percent or more are the norm and, at the same time, the availability of the plant increases. “Ours is very much a cost-driven industry”, explains Borealis Manager Lars Tore Brimsland, “we are competing with providers from countries with labor costs that are much lower than in Scandinavia.” Outsourcing is therefore an attractive tool for increasing efficiency. “The fact is that our business is production of polymers, not the maintenance of plants”, he comments. “In light of the growing complexity, we are practically being forced to give repair work to specialist companies.”

In recent years, Bilfinger Berger has expanded significantly in Scandinavia and established itself as a market leader in industrial services through both acquisitions and organic growth. About 4,000 employees generate a volume of nearly €500 million. The industrial services provider is represented at about 30 locations in both Sweden and Norway. They have just successfully entered the Finnish market. “Outsourcing projects are the area in which we can most clearly differentiate ourselves from the competition. It is an area that allows us to profile ourselves as a strategic partner for our clients”, says Thomas Töpfer who is responsible for Industrial Services on the Executive Board of Bilfinger Berger.

An important basis for strategic partnerships with industrial clients is frank and open communication according to Morten Mathisen, Head of Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services in Scandinavia. The level of transparency is so high that even cost estimates are revealed within the partnership. “And as market leader”, emphasizes Mathisen, “we are also obligated to be number one in the area of safety and environmental protection. Our clients demand trouble-free operation of their production processes and that is our commitment.”

(Text: Stefan Scheytt, Photos: Uffe Holm)