Russian steelmaker NLMK has invited international engineering group Fives to Russia to present its breakthrough technologies.
Fives and two other firms – energy companies Engie and Dalkia – were formally invited by the French embassy in Russia and together with Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador to Russia, paid a visit to NLMK's Lipetsk facility on 18 November where they were able to discuss future co-operation.
Top brass from NLMK and Fives were present at Lipetsk, including the former's president Grigory Fedorishin and managing director Sergey Filatov. On Fives' side, Guillaume Mehlman, president of the steel and glass business lines, and Philippe Cruiziat, executive vice-president of the steel business line, were also in attendance along with Jean-Francois Legrain, country manager in Russia and CIS, and Marina Denissova, deputy country manager in Russia and CIS.
Mehlman said he was greatly impressed by what he saw at Lipetsk and the fact that the facility delivered more than 2.5Mt of iron per year.
During the meeting, Fives presented its latest technologies to NLMK's top management, focusing on the growing demand for new grades and high-end products and providing an overview of its experitise in technological processes, breakthrough technologies and digital solutions, including real-time quality management software, Eyeron.
Fives was recently contracted by NLMK Europe Strip to provide consultancy services for quality improvement, defect analysis from upstream to downstream, surface inspection system fine tuning and technical support assistance.
In 2017, Fives participated in NLMK’s strategic development workshop where it shared process expertise and information on mechanical, thermal and induction technologies and how they can help steelmakers reduce operational costs.
