SSAB involved in Industrial Data Excellence program in Finland

Besides SSAB, other participants in the InDEx program include Cargotec, Konecranes, HT-Laser and Tieto and Business Finland is providing 40% of the program funding. InDEx aims to build a data community and common data platform for industry in Finland. Looking ahead, this will enable growth and new jobs. It’s important to get machinery and devices to communicate seamlessly with each other.

There are two different ways in which related to steel can be utilized in the customer’s production process – firstly in machine adjustment and secondly in production support processes. In machine adjustment, data relating to steel thickness, strength and other mechanical and also chemical properties can be utilized in cutting and bending, for example. “An example of this is that a bending machine will know the steel thickness and strength and so can employ the correct bending force. The existing process requires test bending at the start of each production batch. This time could be saved since the machine has direct access to the data. This would cut lead times and improve bending quality. Customers could also use the saving to reduce batch size, which in turn brings added flexibility. Not only that, but the right processing of a product means greater work safety,” says Niko Korte, Director of Digital Business Development at SSAB.

“As for production support processes, we worked together with Kemppi, a Finnish company providing welding solutions, to create a joint service where steel material certificates are automatically integrated into the welding process documentation during welding. Customers benefit from automation and improved traceability. This is also a new business model where the material and equipment suppliers approach the customer together,” Korte adds.

For further information, please contact:
Niko Korte, Director Digital Business Development, SSAB,
niko.korte @ ssab.com, tel. +358 50 314 4544