Managing Director Sabine Lueg takes us through how Lueg's latest addition will enhance the service it provides to customers…
How’s business?
The business is doing well. Unfortunately it’s a little quieter before Christmas as almost every year.
For anyone unfamiliar with Lueg, what is the company best known for?
Lueg is a family business in the second generation. We are best known for the production of stamping parts, eg washers, made of stainless steel, special alloys, non-ferrous metals and steel. Our strengths are short lead times, with fast and flexible solutions to customer needs. You can order from one part up to one million parts.
You’ve recently acquired a new machine – how will that enhance what Lueg can offer its customers?
Until now we’ve produced our products on eccentric presses. We process coil material and – for small batches - metal strips. The new machine is a new exciting technology for us. With this machine we are able to process metal sheets, eg for perforated plates, meshes or special shapes. The tool costs are very low compared to our progressive tools. One advantage is that this allows us to offer small batches and prototypes for lower costs. It will enable us to respond to varied customer demands even more flexibly than before.
You’ve recently had a big anniversary – how has the firm changed over the years?
We had our 50th anniversary in 2016. Since then we educated our first technical apprentice successfully. We have 12 employees from four nations and we are proud of the experience of our staff - there are employees in production who have been working with us for 30 years now. We are looking to move into new markets, establish contacts with networks and expand our business.
What kind of markets does your product get distributed to?
We supply our products into various sectors, for example wind and solar-energy, shipping industry, sanitary, plant construction, agricultural machinery, construction industry, medical engineering and more. Our largest customers are traders.
What proportion of the Lueg business is in export?
This year it’s about 15%. It could be more.
You offer products in a lot of materials – are you seeing any trends?
Our main business is the processing of stainless steel and special alloys. There are always times where there is a greater demand on one special material, but actually I don´t see any trends in the stainless steel market. But if you think of electromobility, I guess that the focus will be on copper in future.
What do you offer over the competition?
Most of our competitors supply mass-produced goods and batches of several millions. We are one of the few companies who can offer small batches in short lead times with competitive prices – even in special alloys.
Any final thoughts for our readers?
Yes. We will exhibit at the Fastener Fair in Stuttgart, 19-21 March 2019. You are welcome to visit us.
