SIJ named once again as one of the top innovators in Slovenia

SIJ has once again been recognised as one of the most innovative Slovenian business groups, with Acroni and Razvojni center Jesenice winning the gold medal for the innovation “Integrated modernization of a rolling mill and rolling model upgrade”, and Metal Ravne winning the silver medal for the innovation “High-class high-alloy toll steel for working in cold conditions”. Such excellent grades for SIJ innovators were awarded by the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry that gave national acknowledgements to the most innovative companies on 17 September 2014.

Numerous activities in the field of research and development as well as investments in new technologies and production modernization represent an extremely important platform for further growth of the SIJ Group. For a constant quality improvement of different types of steel and in order to upgrade their production processes, SIJ has been investing into research and development a lot, being aware of the fact that innovations are crucial for development of the most demanding special steels which play the most important role in achieving greater added value and successfully following specific needs of the customers.

 

Innovators from Acroni Jesenice

The new rolling mill for rolling of heavy plates and pre-strips is one of the key aggregates in Acroni. It can achieve pressures that are much higher compared to the old mill, roll even 2.5 metre wide plates (only 2 metre in the past) and enable the production of steel plates with high added value using different tools. For the best possible yield of this investment, Acroni’s innovators have developed a rolling model that calculates optimal rolling as regards steel type, product type and requested final characteristics. It is self-adaptive which means that it is constantly learning and correcting parameters that are being used in calculations. This combination of the mill and the developed model gives Acroni a huge advantage over their competition because they can produce plates with lower thickness and greater width made of heavier steels; and at the same time it enables fast implementation of new products. The latter is of a crucial importance in order for SIJ to adapt the production process in Acroni to the specific needs of customers, and at the same time to provide high-grade steel products in the shortest possible time.

 

Innovators from Metal Ravne

SIJ has made a huge supply switchover in Metal Ravne, starting to produce high-class high-alloy tool steel OCR8W which is being used for cutting tools and forming tools used in cold conditions. The newly developed steel OCR8W is more competitive than comparable steels because it has higher wear and tear resistance and it assures long life span also in the most demanding conditions. By developing OCR8W steel, SIJ will accelerate also the development of new products in its companies and other companies in the Koroška region, where a successful cooperation has already been established in this field. In SIJ’s company that produces industrial knives – Noži Ravne – even more accomplished cutting knives are being developed in cooperation with Metal’s experts, while in the company on the site mills are being developed.

High-class high-alloy steel OCR8W is sold by the company Metal Ravne mostly in the EU, and the most interest for this steel is being shown by Germany.

More informations:

dr. Denis Mancevič, izvršni direktor za korporativno komuniciranje
E-pošta: denis.mancevic@sij.si

Anja Potočnik, korporativno komuniciranje
E-pošta: anja.potocnik@sij.si