Danieli's innovative metals technology presses ahead in China

A leading global supplier of metallurgical technology and equipment, Danieli, which is headquartered in Italy, highly values the Chinese market, where the company has gained a strong foothold. It has 1,200 employees in the country, including engineers and project managers, as well as those involved in production, assembly and after-sales services.

Francois David Martino, CEO of Danieli China, shares his insights into his company's success in the Chinese market.

Could you give a brief introduction of Danieli?

Ranking among the world's top three companies in the steel industry, Danieli provides a full range of technological solutions, from raw materials to finished products.

Founded in 1914, Danieli has established plants and offices in 23 countries, and it has nearly 10,000 employees and 100,000 square meters of production workshops worldwide. With an extensive production and service network, the company generated more than $3 billion in global sales last year.

It has spent approximately 150 million euros ($170.3 million) a year on research and development over the past decade, reinforcing its leading position as a technological powerhouse in the industry.

The group has four manufacturing centers - one is located in Changshu, Jiangsu province, and the others are in Italy, India and Thailand.

What opportunities and challenges does Danieli face in China?

China is the most important and the most competitive market in the world, with more than 50 percent of the worldwide steel production.

Today the Chinese steel industry is looking for solutions to reduce energy consumption and polluting emissions and it is transitioning to meet high-quality steel demand.

This is a big opportunity for Danieli, as its technologies exactly address the demand for innovative, flexible and green solutions.

Our unique position, as a steel producer and at the same time as a solution provider, allows us to offer advanced solutions in a bid to meet our customer's needs and follow the industrial development guidelines issued by the Chinese government.

Danieli China, headquartered in Changshu, is the group's most important hub for design, manufacturing and R&D in Asia.

Since Danieli China was put into operation in early 2008, it has delivered shipments to steel manufacturers from China and abroad, including industrial leaders in the country such as Bao Steel in Shanghai and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group in Hubei province.

To date, the company has fulfilled more than 700 contracts in the country.

What do you think of digitalization's role in the Made in China 2025 initiative? What is Danieli doing to meet the trend?

In the plan, China envisions its industry will be able to understand and manage big data applications, with smart plants optimizing resources and reducing emissions.

At Danieli, we have a business unit comprised of more than 1,000 engineers fully dedicated to automation and digitalization for the metals industry.

We have already started to deliver full robotic and digital solutions for our customers in China.

What are Danieli China's visions and goals?

By improving its competitiveness and efficiency and penetrating the market with new and innovative solutions, Danieli China aims to increase its sales by 35 percent to 350 million euros over the next three years.

We want to bring to the Chinese market our disruptive innovations in the endless processing field, including the Danieli Universal Endless concept for flat steel products and MicroMill Danieli endless casting and rolling technology for long steel products - also known as DUE and MiDA technologies in the industry - together with our electrical furnaces with high reliability and low energy consumption.

This is a very challenging target in a market that is not growing in size and sees local players learning fast and becoming more and more important.

Our vision is to be recognized by our customers as the most trustworthy and reliable partner for their success. To this end, we work relentlessly to deliver our brand values.

How does your company achieve its goals?

Our strategy is based on three main pillars - growth, achieved through new products and new solutions; speed, focusing on improved execution efficiency; and performance, promoting a "continuous improvement" philosophy throughout the company.

We also want to increase our focus in terms of customer services and to promote our dynamism in R&D, the life blood of Danieli.

Without innovation, you have no chance of survival in the industry; Danieli has always been a trendsetter in this field.

Customers are the ones who make us exist and grow. They are the source of inspiration and motivation for Danieli.

We are fast, flexible and adaptive, which is something that is well recognized in the steel industry. This industry, like the automotive sector, knows that time to market is crucial.

Does Danieli China also look to overseas projects?

Indeed, Danieli China is more and more focusing on overseas investment and opportunities, especially those brought by the Belt and Road Initiative.

We have recently won with our Chinese partners important overseas projects, which will be publicized soon.

As a foreign-funded company, how does Danieli China attract professionals?

Danieli China is mostly a Chinese company, as all its employees in China are Chinese, except for around 30 expatriates. At Danieli, we care about our people. They are a bigger and more valuable asset (than our facilities).

Continuous training and career development for our personnel are our priority, because if we take care of our staff, they will in turn take care of our customers.

When every single member of our staff makes the effort to become the best in their field and works on that in the long term, Danieli too can become the best in class.

(China Daily 03/22/2019 page18)