ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, was a prominent presence at the recent Blechexpo in Stuttgart and was focusing strongly on the digitalisation of supply chains.
According to Antoine Van Schooten, chief marketing officer for industry and digitalisation at ArcelorMittal Europe (Flat Products), the company is engaged in various projects surrounding digitalisation including automated and digitalised order processing from the offer to the customer to the completion of the purchase, followed by online tracking.
ArcelorMittal's engagement with the digital world includes its online platform, fronted by SteelUser.com, an internet-enabled supply chain that embraces product guides, ordering and tracking, warehouse management, delivery and invoicing. The company has also exploited cloud technology through its Digital Twin initiative (exchanging quality-related data with customers) and uses drones for inventory management and its SteelAdvisor app to provide customers with up-to-date product data. There is also an app to track shipments for logistical optimisation purposes.
Rudolf Egbert, managing director of ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany (Flat Products) commented, "Now we are working – together with our customers – to develop the existing opportunities of the digital supply chain and to introduce new opportunities and to create individual solutions."