Kind & Co., stainless steel works

What Kind & Co., stainless steel works does

Kind & Co., Edelstahlwerk, GmbH & Co. KG is a fully integrated specialty tool steel mill founded in 1888 and headquartered in Wiehl-Bielstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of GMH Gruppe SE & Co. KG, a diversified German steel conglomerate founded in 1994, with 251-500 employees. The company's principal activity is the development, processing, and finishing of alloy and tool steels, with specialization in warm working steels (Warmarbeitsstähhle) for die casting, extrusion, and drop forging applications.

The production technology is built around a pure inductive melting process that uses 100% sorted scrap (sortenreine Schrotte) as raw material input, minimizing alloy additions and achieving a near-100% recycling rate. This metallurgical base supports a product portfolio spanning standardized tool steels certified to DIN EN ISO 4957, proprietary in-house developed Premiumwerkstoffe tailored to individual customer tooling requirements, and downstream product forms including blocks, hot-rolled, forged, and cast products. Downstream services comprise saw cutting from finished warehouse stock, custom heat treatment in chamber or vacuum furnaces, turning, milling, drilling, component finishing per customer drawing, and a dedicated extrusion die refurbishment center (Umbüchszentrum).

The business model is enterprise B2B, sales-led, with a direct sales organization including a Sales Director and Commercial Director. Pricing is quote-based with no public disclosure of rates, and customers engage through general inquiry and offer request forms. End-customers span eight industrial segments: automotive, railway technology, energy and raw materials, agricultural and construction machinery, mechanical and plant engineering, transport and logistics, forms and tools, and aerospace. The company is positioned within the GMH Gruppe's "Green Steel" proposition, leveraging its 100% scrap-based inductive melting to address growing demand for low-carbon tool steel under EU decarbonization procurement frameworks.

Name

Kind & Co., stainless steel works

Legal name

Kind & Co., Edelstahlwerk, GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://kind-co.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1888

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Kind & Co., Edelstahlwerk is a fully integrated specialty tool steel mill in Wiehl, Germany, producing warm working and premium steels from 100% sorted scrap via inductive melting. It serves automotive, railway, energy, machinery, and aerospace customers with tailored grades and downstream processing services, operating as a subsidiary of GMH Gruppe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tool Steel Manufacturing

NAICS

Rolled Steel Shape Manufacturing (331221)

SIC

Iron & Steel Foundries (3320)

akta.pro primary industry

Hot Rolling & Primary Mills (Plate, Hot-Rolled Coil/Sheet, Strip) (IMAKABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Steel Casting (Continuous Casting, Ingots, Semi-Finished Slabs/Billets/Blooms) (IMAKABAD)

Keywords

• Tool steel manufacturing
• Warm working steels
• Inductive melting steel
• Steel processing services
• Custom alloy steel

Headquarters

HQ city

Wiehl

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Tool Steel Products: Manufacture and sale of standardized tool steels per DIN EN ISO 4957 and proprietary premium tool steels. Products include blocks, hot-rolled products, forged products, and cast products for industrial applications.
2. Processing Services: Comprehensive metalworking services including saw cutting from finished warehouse stock, custom heat treatment in chamber or vacuum furnaces, turning/milling/drilling operations, and finished component manufacturing per customer drawings.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Kind & Co., Edelstahlwerk is a fully integrated steel mill that manufactures tool steels from 100% sorted scrap using a pure inductive melting process. The company specializes in warm working steels (Warmarbeitsstähle) for die casting, extrusion, and drop forging, offering both standardized grades per DIN EN ISO 4957 and proprietary premium materials (Premiumwerkstoffe) developed in-house. In addition to raw steel products, the company provides full processing services including saw cutting, heat treatment, machining, and finished component production.

Product overview

Kind & Co., Edelstahlwerk is a fully integrated steelworks producing tool steel from 100% sorted scrap using inductive melting. The company offers a portfolio of products centered on warm working steels (Warmarbeitsstähle), including custom tool steel, standard tool steels per DIN EN ISO 4957, and proprietary premium steels developed in-house. Services include direct manufacturing, saw cutting, heat treatment (chamber or vacuum furnaces), machining (turning, milling, drilling), component finishing, and an extrusion die center. The product line is complemented by comprehensive material analysis and process optimization consulting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Tool Steel (Massgeschneiderter Werkzeugstahl) Tailored tool steel solutions for secure and modern material solutions for economic and reliable production processes, produced from 100% sorted scrap using inductive melting. Targeted at industrial manufacturers requiring specialized tool steel.
• Warm Working Steels (Warmarbeitsstähle) Specialized warm working steels for die-casting, extrusion, and drop forging applications, developed in-house and meeting DIN EN ISO 4957 standards.
• Premium Steels (Premiumwerkstoffe) Proprietary premium materials developed in-house, tailored to customer-specific requirements for tools with special loads and stress conditions, extending tool service life.
• Standard Tool Steels (DIN EN ISO 4957) Standardized tool steels manufactured according to DIN EN ISO 4957 specifications for general industrial applications.
• Steel Processing Services Comprehensive metalworking services including saw cutting from finished warehouse stock, custom heat treatment in chamber or vacuum furnaces, turning/milling/drilling operations, component finishing per customer drawings, direct manufacturing, and extrusion die refurbishment (Umbüchszentrum).

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 100% recycling rate achieved through inductive melting process using 100% sorted scrap

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Erasteel (Eramet): Specialty steelmaker focused on high-speed steels, tool steels, and cold-work tool steels, including ASP powder metallurgy grades. Direct peer: competes in tool steel for cutting and forming tooling with similar end-use customers.
• Daido Steel: Japan-based specialty steel producer with strong tool steel (SKD, SKH series) and high-speed steel offerings plus die-steel refurbishment. Direct peer for premium-grade hot-work and cold-work tool steels.
• Swiss Steel Group (Schmolz + Bickenbach / Swiss Steel): European specialty long-products producer with tool steel, engineering steel, and stainless long products. Direct peer for industrial tool steel grades consumed by automotive, machinery, and engineering customers.
• Deutsche Edelstahlwerke: German specialty steelmaker producing tool steel, high-speed steel, and engineering steel from sites in Siegen and Witten. Direct peer given overlapping German footprint and tool steel / engineering steel portfolio.
• ASSAB International (Ovako/Dearborn consolidated): Global tool steel distributor and producer serving die, mold, and tooling customers. Direct peer: same tool steel grades (e.g., ASSAB 8407 equivalent to DIN 1.2343 hot-work tool steel used in die casting) and customer workflows.
• Buderus Edelstahl (now part of voestalpine HPM): Historically a German tool and specialty steel maker with direct overlap in hot-work and cold-work tool steel grades; comparable customer base across automotive and machinery tooling.
• voestalpine High Performance Metals (Böhler/Uddeholm/Assab): Global market leader in high-performance tool steels (cold-work, hot-work, high-speed) and specialty steel powders. Direct peer: same core product category (Werkzeugstahl) targeting the same die casting, extrusion, and forging tooling customers.
• Ovako: European specialty steel producer focused on engineering steel, bearing steel, and tool steel for demanding industrial applications. Direct peer for forged and rolled specialty bar / billet products used in tooling and mechanical engineering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/109640552431468

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kind & Co., stainless steel works