ArcelorMittal Belgium: standards as a foundation for innovation and sustainability

As one of the largest steel producers in the world, ArcelorMittal Belgium is building the future of heavy industry on a daily basis. From sites in Ghent, Liège, Geel and Genk, the Organisation is constantly working on new industrial installations, renewal projects and innovative processes. Standards are indispensable here - they support both technical design choices and the strategic transition to more sustainable production. For ten years ArcelorMittal has relied on the expertise and support of NBN for this.

Standards in practice: from steel production to process safety

At ArcelorMittal Belgium, the engineering department plays a key role in investment projects: from the construction of new installations to the modernization of existing lines. These projects are done at the request of internal 'customers' such as the blast furnaces, steel or sinter plants.

Carl Vandenbroucke, PMO and project manager, explains:

"Our engineers use standards in various fields - from mechanics and electricity to civil works. Our internal factory rules also increasingly refer to Belgian, European or international standards."

In addition to the study department, OCAS, the research center close to the Ghent site, is also an important player. Material standards are developed and validated there.

Carl continued:

"We used to write a lot of our own standards. Today, we consciously choose to refer to external and recognized standards as much as possible. This increases transparency and simplifies audits."

The NBN standards portal as a stable tool for a complex organisation

Since 2015, ArcelorMittal Belgium has been a loyal customer of the NBN, and an active user of the NBN standards portal. Every day, employees consult the standards they need in technical, administrative and safety-related processes.

Anja De Croock, administrative assistant and in charge of portal management:

"I manage logins, accesses by department and reports. I don't work with standards content myself, but the portal is clear and easy for me to use."

Also according to Carl, everything is going smoothly:

"For our engineers, the portal is a convenient search engine. You quickly find the right standard. We've actually never really had any technical problems."

In an international environment like ArcelorMittal, multilingualism is a must. In Flanders, English is the standard, but for colleagues across the language border, the French version of a standard is often essential.

"It's a real plus that the portal offers multilingual access to standards in different language versions. That is a real added value for us," says Carl.

In addition, the portal also provides access to standards from outside Europe. Consider, for example, the U.S. NFPA fire safety standards, which can be easily purchased through the platform.

From heavy industry to process industry: a fundamental shift

At ArcelorMittal Belgium, the shift from classic heavy steel production to process-based chemical plants is in full swing. This shift is partly driven by ambitious sustainability goals, but also by increasingly stringent environmental legislation.

Carl clarifies:

"We are originally a heavy industry with high carbon emissions. But those are falling sharply. One of our big innovations is Steelanol, a plant that converts industrial gases to ethanol. That is no longer a traditional steel plant, but a full-fledged process plant. A totally different world."

That switch requires new expertise as well as new standards:

"Whereas process aspects used to be only a small part of our projects, today process safety is a full-fledged discipline within our engineering department. The government is also watching. For example, the federal government conducts regular audits, around FOD WASO (welfare at work), among others."

Carl emphasizes that this external scrutiny reinforces the importance of good standards access:

"If you want to quickly and definitely verify compliance with the right standard, a reliable portal like the one provided by NBN is absolutely indispensable."

Cooperation with NBN: correct, fast and reliable

Both Carl and Anja are extremely satisfied with the cooperation with NBN.

"If we have questions, we get clear answers quickly," says Anja. "Contact is smooth, and that's important in a large organisation."

We can also count on NBN for less common questions, such as purchasing U.S. standards.

"When we needed NFPA standards, we were able to move quickly," adds Carl. "The portal works intuitively and we rarely need support. That in itself says a lot about its usability and reliability."

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