Japanese JP Steel Plantech Co. (Steel Plantech) and Italian Siemens VAI Metals Technologies s.r.l. (Siemens VAI s.r.l.) entered into a new co-operation in the field of endless rolling technology based on Steel Plantech’s EBROS® technology.
EBROS® stands for „Endless Bar Rolling System“ and is a proprietary technology of Steel Plantech for continuous on-line welding and joining of hot billets as they are transferred directly from continuous casters or reheating furnaces to the rolling mill. This allows the efficient manufacture of bars, wire rods and shapes by means of continuous non-interrupted rolling. EBROS® enables endless rolling with a consequent substantial increase in productivity, material yields and plant utilization factor, and also can grant consistency of product quality.
Two variations of EBROS® will be offered in the future Under the new license agreement Siemens VAI confirmed that its technology currently advertised as „ERT“ is based on Steel Plantech’s EBROS® technology, which opened the possibility for broadening the co-operation between the parties. Under the new EBROS® license, Siemens VAI s.r.l. will be allowed to combine EBROS with own developments and market this technology under the new trade name „ERT-EBROS®“.
In parallel, Steel Plantech and its other licensees will continue to offer the original EBROS® system, which has been successfully implemented in various steel mills in the past, with Steel Plantech’s own further developments. In the future, customers will thus have a choice between Steel Plantech’s original EBROS® and Siemens VAI s.r.l.’s ERT-EBROS®.
Co-operation on EBROS® in the past
EBROS® was originally developed in the 1990s by NKK Corporation (now JFE Engineering Corporation, JFEE). In 2000 NKK licensed EBROS® on a non-exclusive basis to the former VAI Industries (UK) Limited, and two EBROS® projects were successfully implemented in the course of this co-operation at Ovako (Finland) and Xingtai (China).
In 2002 the EBROS® business and technology was transferred from NKK/JFEE to Steel Plantech. Also the long product business of the former licensee VAI Industries (UK) Limited was transferred to Siemens VAI s.r.l. (former VAI Pomini). Following these transfers, Steel Plantech and Siemens VAI s.r.l. now agreed on a new contractual basis for their co-operation in the field of EBROS®. The co-operation with Steel Plantech’s other EBROS® licensees will not be affected by the new agreement with Siemens VAI s.r.l.
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