This article was was originally published in issue 5 2025 of Materia Magazine

The traditional metals industry is known for high emissions and energy use, making sustainable production challenging. At the same time, the sector supplies raw materials to many other industries and must respond to their evolving needs. Strategic sectors like electric vehicles and aerospace requiring increasingly precise and high-quality steel products are driving technological advancement.

Reliable electrification as the foundation for fossil-free production

Traditional blast furnace-based steel production is one of the largest sources of the industry’s emissions. Transitioning to steel produced using direct reduced iron in electric arc furnaces and hydrogen offers potential for significant emission reductions. The joint HYBRIT project by SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall has demonstrated that a fossil-free value chain, from ore to steel, works at a semi-industrial scale. It is estimated that moving from coal- and blast furnace-based steel production to hydrogen reduction and melting iron in electric arc furnaces could reduce Finland’s total carbon dioxide emissions by about 7%.

This new production method requires reliable and fossil-free electricity. Electricity availability must be guaranteed, as production must continue uninterrupted around the clock, regardless of weather conditions or energy price fluctuations. This requires not only sufficient capacity but also intelligent energy management solutions that enable consumption optimization and flexible adaptation to peak loads. Reliable electrification is the foundation of fossil-free steel production, and ensuring it requires close collaboration between energy producers, technology suppliers, and industry.

ABB Finland supports its customers in meeting these challenges by offering top-tier electrification technologies. These solutions help optimize energy use, improve productivity, and meet changing market demands. The cluster provides comprehensive electrification solutions, covering everything from pre-design and technical implementation to extended automation and digital solutions.

“We help ensure reliable and flexible energy supply in all conditions. ABB’s Energy Management System enables forecasting of energy consumption, leveraging price fluctuations, and planning production according to energy availability. Additionally, ABB’s energy-efficient motors, process optimization software, and solutions that improve electric arc furnace efficiency, such as ArcSave electromagnetic stirring technology, support companies in achieving their goals, whether it’s boosting production, increasing energy efficiency, or improving quality,” says Petri Vuolukka, ABB’s Industry Lead for Metals, Battery, and Mining.

Digitalization brings a new dimension to the green transition in terms of energy savings and emission reductions. While traditional methods focus on hardware upgrades, digital solutions offer new opportunities for process optimization even when other means have already been utilized.

Adapting to customer needs

The metals industry must be able to respond quickly to rapidly changing market demands. Alongside traditional structural steel, there is a growing need for specialty steels, required in sectors such as automotive, renewable energy solutions, and more. To remain competitive, companies must move toward customized products while balancing cost pressures and sustainability requirements.

Automation brings not only efficiency but also precision to production. By leveraging digital solutions, manufacturers can achieve the highest quality standards, reduce material waste, and optimize production processes. ABB’s solutions are designed to integrate flexibly with existing infrastructure, enabling production development without major investment costs.

In specialty steel production, precision is especially critical. Even small deviations in process parameters, such as speed, can cause issues with product quality. Automation ensures flawless synchronization at every stage of production. ABB Ability™ System 800xA uses advanced algorithms and real-time measurement data to continuously monitor and adjust strip speed and tension, preventing operational and quality issues such as uneven winding, tears, and thickness variations.

Developing production processes and the ability to renew are key as the metals industry strives to meet increasing quality requirements and changing customer needs. Digitalization is a crucial driver here: it supports building core competencies, improves process agility and precision, and enables the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data. This accelerates the development of new materials and processes, shortening time-to-market for products.

Achieving these goals requires a close connection between production and business strategy. ABB Ability™ Manufacturing Operations Management for Metals provides an effective solution by acting as a bridge between these areas and offering real-time visibility across the entire production chain. The software helps improve information flow, production planning and control, reporting, and process optimization throughout the production chain. At the same time, it supports continuous improvement and helps reduce costs, strengthening companies’ competitiveness.

AI is changing the dynamics

Artificial intelligence brings a new kind of intelligence to production, supporting operators, particularly in challenging situations, to improve process consistency, efficiency, and safety. When AI is integrated into control room software, it provides real-time recommendations, optimized workflows, and predictive insights that support rapid, data-driven decision-making. This enables operators to manage tasks more efficiently and respond flexibly to changing conditions.

AI helps overcome traditional challenges in knowledge transfer by complementing human expertise with data-driven recommendations and industry best practices. A good example is the Industrial Knowledge Vault developed jointly by ABB and Microsoft. It brings together key documentation, such as standard procedures, user manuals, and maintenance data, and uses generative AI to assist users and maintenance teams.

Supervisors can utilize AI to automatically create step-by-step workflows by leveraging all available documentation and data. Workers, in turn, have access to all relevant information for each task, ensuring work is done safely and correctly from the start. The system supports the collection and utilization of tacit knowledge and is especially helpful for new employees.

AI increases productivity. By serving as a centralized knowledge repository, AI streamlines information access, helping make data-driven decisions and maintain operational consistency and production continuity.

The competitiveness of the metals industry is built on the ability to renew. Electrification, automation, and digital solutions are strategic investments in sustainable, flexible, and safe production. Together, they enable the transition toward a lower-emission and more competitive industry that meets both environmental and market demands.