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In 1999, the ideal steel making plant began operations at the Wakayama Steel Works. This event marked a dramatic change in the history of Japan's steel industry. Basic oxygen furnaces, indispensable equipment since 1960, have been continually refined as Japanese industry progressed. However, the current and future requirements of oxygen converters differ from those that were in operation in the 1970s, when the Japanese economy was concentrating on growth. The new requirements include environmental friendliness, higher efficiency, and a level of quality that is high enough to meet diverse needs.
The new steel making plant, called "Shin Seiko" (which means new steelmaking process), fuses the three factors. But it is only a beginning, part of ongoing efforts to continually achieve an ideal that is evolving. |
Kiyohito Fujiwara has been involved in this project since the construction planning stage. He is now chief of the Steelmaking Technical Office of Sumikin Iron & Steel Corporation. Mr. Fujiwara says, "The role of this plant is to develop an innovative process that predicts the oxygen converter of 20 years in the future. Although six years have passed, this steel making plant is not at all outmoded. It will no doubt continue to be a model plant for another 10 years."
What makes that possible is the combination of state-of-the-art equipment with the pride and enthusiasm of the people who work there. |
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