At a conference held in Linz, Austria on May 15, 2007 - a gathering also attended by SteelOrbis - Siemens VAI Metal Technologies gave an overview of its research work in the mining and metal industries and, in addition, gave information on how the services and solutions it offers to the iron and steel industry will be shaped in the coming years.
Siemens VAI Metal Technologies, an affiliate of Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services, offers full solutions to its customers under four segments (Mining, Iron & Steel, Rolling and Processing, Metal and Mining Services) in 50 countries with a total of 7,500 employees. The firm, which distinguishes itself from its competitors through the full solutions it offers, defines itself as a long-term solution partner that can provide its customers with full solutions by being present in all the processes from raw material to end-product.
Environment-friendly and energy-saving systems, whose importance increases in the iron and steel industry day by day, are being developed by Siemens and create added value. COREX and FINEX technologies, which are alternatives to conventional blast furnace technologies; MEROS (Maximized Emission Reduction of Sintering) technologies, which lower gas emission during the sintering process; water-refining plant technologies, and energy-saving furnace charging units and conveyors, may all be indicated as examples of the systems in question.
Siemens VAI Metal Technologies also announced that the different ratios of the product and service solutions it offers to the iron and steel industry will have changed by 2010, adding that "mill modernization/capacity increase" and "service/maintenance" work will be in the foreground, instead of "new plant construction/replacement". Accordingly, it is foreseen that the share of "mill modernization/capacity increase" in its total business will increase to 30 percent from the current 25 percent, and that the share of "service/maintenance" will rise to 33 percent from the current 16 percent. On the other hand, the company foresees a decline from 59 percent to 37 percent in the share of "new plant construction/replacement" in its total business.