Boehler-Uddeholm AG

Well I'm sure one of the reasons steelmaker Boehler-Uddeholm has their headquarters where they do is the location, 30 seconds from the on-ramp to a freeway. I'm about five miles from Vienna's city center in a five-story office building complex divided into sections-such as Boehler-Uddeholm being located in Building 2 section B.

CEO Claus Raidl's secretary says they never received my introductory material but corrals Georg Reiser, Head of Corporate Human Resources, to meet with me. Revenues last year were 2.1 billion revenues with 9,200 employees. The Austrian government owns 25%.

Boehler-Uddeholm is the result of a merger 10 years ago between companies with the resulting name. That's about when this glass and steel building was built and, how long Boehler-Uddeholm has leased space in it. The company occupies two floors with almost 60 employees working here. There's a cafeteria in the building and it's shared with the other tenants. Smoking is allowed in the workspace, there's no recreational facilities, no corporate art collection and it's a 15-minute drive to Vienna Airport.

I can't see CEO Claus Raidl office or the boardroom because they're both being used. The building stands on the site of a former animal slaughterhouse facility. Being a specialty steelmaker, Boehler-Uddeholm supplies steel to companies with special needs such as Victorinox, the world famous maker of pocketknives.