ThyssenKrupp Materials NA Inc., the parent company of ThyssenKrupp Services’ materials services operations in the NAFTA region, has taken over retroactively as of 1 August 2007, the US web-based retailer of metals and plastics OnlineMetals.com, headquartered in Seattle. The purchase includes all inventories and the IT platform for product marketing. OnlineMetals.com will be integrated into the ThyssenKrupp Materials NA distribution operations as an autonomous business unit focused on online processing of small orders and thus complementing the existing stock-keeping wholesale business model. The distribution model will allow access to customer segments on which classical wholesalers do not focus their operations. OnlineMetals.com ships internationally and has a broad customer base in North America. It offers a broad range of metals and plastics including stainless, aluminum, copper, brass, titanium, tool steel, special alloys, carbon steel, composite products and industrial plastics. It also specializes in standard precut shapes and sizes, materials processing and just-in-time deliveries. The business model and IT platform will within the foreseeable future contribute toward rounding off the materials marketing operations on the European markets and hence support business with small-order customers.
