David Sutherland was elected president and CEO of IPSCO Inc. in
January 2002 during one of the worst downturns ever experienced in
the North American steel industry. Very
few Canadian companies have been successful penetrating the enormous
American market.
IPSCO has not only
been successful in
that venture, but in
the process has
transformed itself
from a relatively
small Canadian pipe
company that made
steel to a NAFTA-wide steel company
focused on infrastructure and energy tubu-lars. Today, IPSCO is the leading producer
of steel plate and energy tubulars in all of
North America.
The company has targeted North
America, where its focus, differentiation
and value-chain-oriented strategy will
have maximum effect. The core effort of
this strategy is to clearly differentiate
IPSCO from other steel manufacturers
through superior execution of a customer-focused commercial strategy, reliable delivery to market, consistently
high-quality product, a growing emphasis on value-added products, technical
leadership and strong financial performance.
IPSCO builds brand presence in its primary markets in order to support and
extend its ability to differentiate “who
we are” and “what we do” from others in
the marketplace.
The company’s strength derives not
only from the intrinsic competitive abilities of each of the activities along its
value chain, but also from the synergistic combination of its facilities, resulting
in better service to its customers, good
penetration in competitive markets and
a set of alternatives that provide a strong
defense in difficult markets.
HOW TO REACH: IPSCO Inc., www.ipsco.com or (630) 810-4766