BUTTING’s stainless steel pump housing product range covers 160 different components in lengths ranging from 44.5mm to 900mm. The principal materials worked are the chromium-nickel steels 1.4301 and 1.4404. For more demanding requirements, particularly for use in corrosive media in the chemical industry, special materials such as the high-alloy steel 1.4539 and titanium grade 2 are used. Production at BUTTING is now managed week by week on an individual basis, according to customer needs, with logistics handled via a consignment warehouse at the customer’s main site. On average, two truckloads of products leave the Knesebeck plant every week. Upon arrival at the consignment warehouse, the pump housings are stored temporarily before being routed on into the worldwide manufacturing process according to demand. Information from the consignment warehouse is used to provide a direct back-link to Knesebeck, warning when specified minimum stock levels are reached and generating an automatic production order. These components are manufactured by BUTTING on a continuous basis on efficient machinery, starting with high-grade longitudinally welded stainless steel pipe. This pipe, produced to extremely fine tolerances, is then ground to produce special external surface finishes, before being trimmed by laser to meet the needs of the different component variants. This laser cutting enables BUTTING to maintain the most demanding tolerances in terms of shape and length, without the risk of stressing the components in the subsequent CNC adjustment to fit the pump housing.