As a merchant and distributor of special steels, IMS Group is a supplier to industrial manufacturers in the transport, energy or chemistry sectors. IMS Group’s teams are present all over the world and deliver certified steels (Duplex stainless steel 4418 and RNIMD-8 type 30 steel, for instance) which comply with the standards in force in the various customer sectors. As Johanel Terrien, commercial manager within IMS Group, explains, “we provide major industrial manufacturers, such as NOV BLM or General Electric, with special materials. When used within nuclear plants or on Offshore sites all over the world, our products must be certified by international certifying bodies such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Veritas (BV), Det Norske Veritas (DNV), etc. In order to meet this requirement expressed by our customers, we asked Cetim’s teams to carry out tests on our products in the presence of representatives of these companies.”
Quality and responsiveness
These materials are often transported by ships which supply oil rigs and, once machining is complete, they must be delivered in due time to their recipients. This requirement affects the entire value chain of the product. As Johanel Terrien explains, “for us, timeliness and responsiveness are essential elements which are as important as the quality and traceability of the tests. Our competences and our quick-reaction ability have allowed us to implement a real long-term strategic partnership with Cetim’s teams. The test laboratory intervenes at regular intervals on our usual fabrications and also on an ad hoc basis and in emergency situations, for example when doubts as to the quality of some particular materials have to be cleared in the event of a dispute with our suppliers or prime contractors. With such a quick-response ability, we are in a position to rapidly release the products and supply our customers.”
