Digital marketplaces have been growing for years in the consumer sector

Top 7 Reasons to Transact Steel on an Online Marketplace


Digital marketplaces have been growing for years in the consumer sector. According to [Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20over%202.14%20billion,global%20digital%20buyers%20in%202016.), more than 2.14 billion people globally will buy products and services online this year compared with 1.66 billion five years ago. Although businesses are following suit with [87 percent of B2B buyers making online purchases](https://info.mirakl.com/the-next-generation-of-b2b-buying), the trend has yet to penetrate the steel industry with any sort of depth.

Why is that the case? Many of the reasons that consumers and other industries are rapidly shifting to online marketplaces apply to the steel industry as well. Steel suppliers, service centers and manufacturing companies will continue to feel competitive pressures that demand greater value at lower cost.

As the end consumer demands more customized products and services at lightning speed, all parties throughout the supply chain will be pushed to be faster and more efficient. Moving management of steel purchases to an online marketplace is one significant way to meet those growing market challenges.

#### 1. Grow Transparent Relationships

One of the key factors of success for any business is strong relationships. Steel companies that have trusted relationships with suppliers, vendors, partners, and customers are poised to rise above the competition.

By joining a true online marketplace, buyers, sellers and service centers can easily expand those relationships to become more transparent than ever. Steel companies have conventionally dealt with the same organizations for years.

By participating on an online marketplace, steel organizations can enhance their existing relationships by connecting digitally, and leverage the marketplace network to find additional supply partners. It's imperative that the marketplace provide transparency to its members ensuring insight into who you are transacting with. This is critical to building future relationships.

Being able to access product and pricing information directly from a multitude of steel suppliers can help purchasers truly identify the best prices, find alternative supplies for hard-to-source materials,and shorten the time it takes to fulfill orders.

In addition, the synergy and transparency created by having industry colleagues just a message away can mean creative solutions to problems, win-win material deals and discounts, and a renewed sense of industry camaraderie. Tapping into the resources and expertise found in online marketplaces can help steel companies become more agile and, ultimately, more competitive.

#### 2. Access Real-Time Pricing and Availability Data

Traditionally, steel purchasing processes involve outdated printed materials, spreadsheets, emails, and one-on-one conversations. This time- and labor-intensive process can be extremely inefficient, especially as multiple exchanges may need to occur to pinpoint actual steel prices and availability in the midst of multiple negotiations.

One of the biggest reasons to manage steel purchases on a marketplace is access to real-time data. As soon as suppliers post available materials, they are visible to all potential buyers. When an order is committed, that material listing immediately reflects new quantities and availability. Decisions and negotiations can be made more quickly, and the buying and selling process is streamlined, saving time and reducing costs for all parties involved in the transaction.

#### 3. Facilitate Sustainability

A great deal of waste in the steel industry results from an inability to match ready supply with ready demand. By moving purchasing to an online marketplace, steel producers and distributors can turn inventory more rapidly, find buyers for excess materials, and reduce waste. For those purchasing steel, that can mean access to great prices as well as the ability to source alternative materials that may be able to meet or exceed manufacturing specifications while being more environmentally responsible.

In addition, the elimination of manual, paper-heavy processes reduces the number of printed catalogs, price sheets, faxes, and quickly outdated pricing and availability reports, which also impacts a company’s sustainability efforts.

For the industry as a whole, moving purchasing to an online marketplace means a better use of resources, a reduction of the industry’s carbon footprint, and a significant contribution to overall sustainability and environmental responsibility.

#### 4. Build Side-By-Side Comparisons and Analysis

Since multiple steel producers can be accessed simultaneously, an online marketplace facilitates single-page analysis and side-by-side comparisons of product availability, quantity options, and pricing offers.

This eliminates the time- and labor-intensive shuffling through multiple pricing guides, catalogs and spreadsheets to ensure that comparable materials or quantities are being compared. For those making purchasing decisions, the process becomes clearer, easier and more efficient. In many cases, using an online marketplace means access to a greater number of options as well.

Member organizations can easily have real-time discussions and negotiations through an online platform, making decision-making faster, more accurate, and less stressful.

Finally, online marketplaces can provide a purchasing history in one location so that organizations can analyze the paper trail and better control spending when necessary. Spending thresholds and preferred vendors can be more easily tracked and managed.

#### 5. Track and Manage Logistics Digitally

Logistics play a large role in how quickly steel can be shipped from producers to service centers or manufacturers. Online marketplaces have integrated systems that allow those using the platform to track and manage all shipments from one system, making it easy to see when items have shipped, whether there are delays, and how quickly materials can be expected.

This reduces or eliminates the age-old guessing game of how to schedule production and manufacturing as well as the many phone calls often required to check on order status. Having access to a transportation network can mean faster and less expensive shipping options.

#### 6. Get Ahead of the Competition

Since the majority of the players in the steel industry have yet to make the move to online marketplaces, those who take the initial step will be significantly ahead of the competition. Although marketplaces will become more and more valuable as additional members join, there are enough front-runners for current participants to realize many of the benefits already.

More importantly, getting purchasing processes and workflows updated to accommodate online marketplaces early will mean that those companies will be well-positioned to take advantage of every new member who joins down the road. For those purchasing steel, joining early means that every new supplier can potentially provide materials at a better price or offer hard-to-source items that can boost production. For those selling steel, early participation means ready access to a rapidly growing and attentive audience of new potential customers.

#### 7. Experience Easy, Low-Cost Entry

Joining an online marketplace is a relatively easy and low-cost investment for those in the steel industry. Existing platforms are built and maintained by those running the marketplace so moving purchasing operations is usually a matter of signing up for an account.

Standard user interfaces are easy to navigate, allowing buyers to quickly sort and search available materials, prices and suppliers. For those selling steel, uploading product and pricing information can be relatively easy when compared with the time it takes to create and distribute printed catalogs. More importantly, all this information can be updated continually, providing real-time details to prospective customers at every moment.

Marketplaces are often able to integrate into a company’s back-end systems, streamlining operational processes even further.

These top reasons for managing steel purchases on a digital marketplace should make it clear that organizations need to take the first step. The benefits and advantages are clearly worth the small investment, opening up access to potential customers, suppliers and partners who can help companies grow in agility, responsiveness and competitiveness. To learn more, visit felux.com or contact Scott Begin at [sbegin@felux.com](mailto:sbegin@felux.com) to learn more.


Seed round led by Expa will help drive innovation giving the traditional, paper-based, $2 trillion steel industry access to a new way to buy and sell steel

Seed round led by Expa will help drive innovation giving the traditional, paper-based, $2 trillion steel industry access to a new way to buy and sell steel, seamless way to connect with new buyers and sellers, and manage their supply chain

Felux Raises $5.1M in Seed Funding to Digitize the Steel Industry


**Cleveland, O.H. – August 23, 2021** – [Felux](https://www.felux.com/), the fastest growing B2B marketplace and supply chain platform for steel and industrial materials, today announced the company has raised $5.1M in seed funding led by [Expa](http://www.expa.com), with participation from [8VC](https://8vc.com/) and [Lightbank](https://lightbank.com/).

Felux aims to transform the traditional offline, trillion-dollar steel industry by helping to bring commerce and inventory online through a digital solution to manage supply chains, purchasing, procurement, financing, and logistics. Most industry inventory today lives in legacy systems, PDFs and paper documents significantly reducing suppliers’ ability to create a seamless purchasing experience with their customers. The Felux platform will offer buyers and suppliers the ability to connect directly with thousands of potential new customers, and provide technology to manage sourcing and procurement, facilitate logistics, financing, and payments for both sides of the market.

Felux is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth and utilization. In the past 12 months it has facilitated more than $90 million in transactions. The platform now has over 1,500 customer locations ranging from Fortune 500 companies, steel mills, service centers, brokers and traders, and manufacturers located throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

> “The era of digitization in the steel industry has arrived. Over the last 12 months, we have been tirelessly building tools for the industry to help suppliers and buyers get their inventory and catalogues online, manage logistics and get access to best in class financing rates. Because of this, we have been able to create a consumer-like purchasing process for an extremely complex transaction and offline industry. As a result, we are seeing more frequent transactions from our customers, suppliers getting larger margins on deals, and buyers finding new suppliers with better pricing even with the global supply chain crunch and rising steel prices the industry is facing,” said **Dallas Hogensen, Co-Founder and CEO of Felux**.

Supply chains in the steel industry are extremely complex and as a result, many suppliers and manufactures have been hesitant to adopt new technology because they are expensive, outdated, hard to use and lack the ability to integrate both payments, financing, and logistics into one platform. Traditionally, most of the industry has had to use email, fax and paper driven processes to handle the procurement, purchasing and payments of goods. Felux’s platform is free to buyers and alleviates the pain of sourcing, manages all correspondences, and allows users to price against several suppliers in real-time. It also allows suppliers to upload inventory directly to the marketplace via email, helping save time, money and get access to new customers.

> “Compared to other industries, such as media and retail, digitization in the steel and metal industries is still lagging behind. But it also means that the first mover will gain a clear competitive advantage,” said **Roberto Sanabria, Managing Partner, Expa**. “Felux is at the forefront of truly changing the way one of the world’s most important industries does business. We are thrilled to partner with the Felux team and support their vision of deploying agile technology that supports large-scale digitization of a backbone industry.”

**About Felux:**

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Felux was founded in 2019 by Dallas Hogensen, CEO and Chris Day, COO to make commerce better for everyone in the industrial world. Today, Felux is the fastest growing B2B marketplace in the steel industry and has over 1,500 customer locations that cover 95% of the United States, with a presence in Canada and Mexico. Felux customers include Fortune 500 manufacturers, steel mills, and several of the top 50 steel service centers and processors by size. In both 2020 and 2021, Felux was recognized as one of the top technologies in the global metals space, by S&P Global Platts.

Felux is helping the steel industry digitize the supply chain by providing tools and software to help manage digital commerce, customer relationships, buyer and supplier discovery, logistics services and financing options all in one platform.

To learn more, please visit [www.felux.com](https://www.felux.com/)


Understanding why human capital is critical for success in the steel industry

Acquiring and Retaining Talent for Tomorrow


Finding the right people is important for any company today. The pace of technological developments; the fierce competition for high-quality, low-cost products; and the ever-increasing demands of the end consumer to drive the most successful companies to a new level of performance.

As a result, companies need to have a new breed of employees both at the helm and in the ranks: professionals who are ready to learn and pivot as well as workers who are engaged and dedicated to an organization’s overall mission. All aspects of human resources continue to evolve, from finding and training the best and the brightest to holding onto that talent for the long run.

> "Employees will demand that companies provide them with the training and development to keep up."

#### Labor Outlook for the Steel Industry

According to the [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/OOH/construction-and-extraction/structural-iron-and-steel-workers.htm), the overall employment outlook in the steel industry is projected to grow 11% from 2018 to 2028, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The projection is based on the fact that construction of major projects like high-rise buildings is expected to continue while the need to maintain and repair older infrastructure will increase.

Globally, the demand for steel is projected to grow through 2025. According to BusinessWire, developments such as the increasing rate of high-speed trains in countries like China, Japan and India have boosted construction of special rail roads. In fact, the global spending in the construction sector is expected to reach $14 trillion by 2025, further enhancing the demand of crude steel and the talent to support that production.

#### Seeking Talent in Unexpected Places

Although the old-fashioned ways of acquiring talent, including job posting, networking, and working with educational institutions, are still popular and effective, the age of technological and global connectivity introduce a wealth of other avenues of acquiring top-notch talent. Here are some possibilities for the steel industry:

- [Association for Iron and Steel Technology](https://www.aist.org/home.aspx): Professional associations can be an excellent place to discover individuals dedicated to a particular industry. Attending conferences or participating in other association activities can not only introduce you to seasoned professionals but also to exceptional students and young talent.
- LinkedIn: Social media platforms like LinkedIn provide a space to network online on an ongoing basis. Use these platforms not only to fill a current position but also to keep an eye out for prospective talent. Posts, blogs and other information posted on LinkedIn can help you get to know an individual’s particular strengths and specialties.
- Within Your Supply Chain: Just like in any industry, steel professionals tend to move between organizations and even job functions. As the supply chain becomes more transparent in upcoming years, look for talent up or downstream of your particular business.
- Those Seeking You: Whether your company is in a position to hire or not, remember that job seekers are keeping an eye on you. Peer reviews rule in just about every area of life today and that includes job-related decisions. According to a report by [The Muse](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/58percent-of-millennials-plan-to-change-jobs-for-more-learning-opportunities.html), 85% of those surveyed said a company’s reputation is important or very important when they are considering a job. This reputation includes not only a general industry perception, but more importantly what employees are saying on social media and as part of online review platforms.

#### Retaining Top Talent for the Long Haul

Finding and filling a position with the steel industry can be a significant investment. According to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) [Human Capital Benchmarking Report](https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Documents/2016-Human-Capital-Report.pdf), the average cost-per-hire in the United States is $4,129. Depending on your ability to retain top employees, this cost can quickly add up.

The good news is that, contrary to popular belief, employees are actually staying at their jobs longer than in past years. According to research from the [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/tenure.pdf), the average tenure for an employee in 2018 was 4.2 years. This is a marked increase from 1983 when the average employee tenure was around 3.5 years. Some of the top reasons that employees remain at the same company include:

- [Global Diversity](https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/diversity/): According to Glass Door, roughly two-thirds of passive and active job seekers say that diversity in the workplace is important to them. In our ever-shrinking global economy, the ability to attract and retain employees from different cultural and geographic backgrounds can be a significant competitive advantage.
- Upskilling Opportunities: As technological advances such as artificial intelligence and machine learning speed forward, employees will demand that companies provide them with the training and development to keep up. According to [McKinsey](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages), an average of 400 million jobs could be displaced by automation on average by 2030. Businesses that can help employees upskill and stay relevant and valuable into future decades will successfully retain talent.
- Locale Flexibility: In an increasingly digitally connected world, the physical location of a job must become a factor in retaining talent. More professionals that do not need to be tied to a physical location will want the flexibility to work where and when they prefer. For those jobs that require a physical location, the opportunity for international experiences is in high demand. In fact, a survey by the [Boston Consulting Group and The Network](https://money.cnn.com/2014/10/05/pf/working-abroad/index.html) found 64% of people worldwide say they would move internationally for the right job.

#### Conclusion

The global steel industry is positioned for steady growth into future, which will fuel demand for top talent within a wide variety of companies. However, as digital disruption and technological developments continue to advance, companies must be able to pivot in how they are seeking, acquiring, and retaining the best and the brightest. Making these changes in how human capital is viewed and treated will help steel companies rise to the market challenges of tomorrow.


Understanding the key components for the industry

Nearly every industry today is pursuing sustainability initiatives in an effort to preserve the world around us, be responsible corporate citizens, and meet the public demand to do so. The steel industry is no different.

A Sustainable Future for Steel


According to the [World Steel Association](https://www.worldsteel.org/steel-by-topic/sustainability.html), “steel products are vital to meet society’s needs, and as producers of steel, it is our role to meet the demand for steel in a responsible way.”

Steel has the advantage of being infinitely recycled without losing its core properties. It also tends to be used in structures, equipment, applications and buildings that have long lifespans. Both of these factors, along with others, gives the steel industry an advantage over other more disposable, less recyclable raw materials.

#### Moving Toward a Cyclical Economy

Ideally, all sustainability efforts within industry focus on four stages of a material’s overall lifecycle: reduce, reuse, remanufacturer, and recycle.

In the first stage, initiatives are focused on reducing the amount of raw materials required to produce steel in the first place, including energy, and innovations that help make lighter, stronger steel for various applications. [Helping companies efficiently source and access the type and amount of steel needed](https://www.felux.com/) for specific products is also critical.

Anytime items can be reused without significantly changing their form contributes to overall sustainability within the industry. This can include actions such as buying and selling equipment, repairing an asset, or repurposing a machine or building.

Remanufacturing durable steel products is the third stage within this cyclical economy and may involve rebuilding or restoring a piece of equipment to like new condition. The final stage is recycling steel products, which requires disassembly and melting steel down to its core properties in order to create a completely new steel material.

> "Sustainability will continue to be a key driving factor in overall profitability as well as public image."

#### Reducing Steel’s Carbon Footprint

According to the [World Steel Association](https://www.worldsteel.org/publications/position-papers/steel-s-contribution-to-a-low-carbon-future.html#:~:text=The%20greenhouse%20gas%20of%20most,global%20use%20of%20fossil%20fuel), 1.85 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) were emitted for every tonne of steel produced in 2018, which generates between 7% and 9% of direct emissions from the global use of fossil fuel. Although CO2 emissions has been an industry focus for decades, it comes with special challenges in the steel industry.

First, global steel production has more than doubled since the turn of the century, primarily due to growth in developing countries, according to a report in Global Efficiency Intelligence. A particular country’s carbon footprint is significantly affected by whether they use electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production or blast furnace–basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) production as well as how much scrap-base production is performed.

According to a study by [Global Efficiency Intelligence](https://www.globalefficiencyintel.com/us-steel-industry-benchmarking-energy-co2-intensities), which was supported by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation, Italy and Spain had the lowest CO2 emissions while China had the highest. The United States had the fourth lowest level of emissions related to steel production.

Second, because the industry has made significant strides during the last 50 years, there are limited opportunities to continue based on existing technology and systems. According to the World Steel Association, the industry has reduced its energy consumption per tonne of steel produced by 61% and has also found ways to successfully capture and use waste energies already.

And, third, existing policies and standards can be improved to better support future CO2 reduction opportunities. For example, steel recycling is limited by the long life of end products such as heavy equipment or buildings. However, up to half of the steel scrap today is generated within the manufacturing process for consumer goods. Better policy can capture that opportunity.

In addition, the [World Steel Association](https://www.worldsteel.org/publications/position-papers/steel-s-contribution-to-a-low-carbon-future.html#:~:text=The%20greenhouse%20gas%20of%20most,global%20use%20of%20fossil%20fuel.) notes that blast furnace slag, which is a byproduct of producing steel, can be used by the cement industry to reduce that industry’s CO2 emissions significantly. Industry standards can be changed so these materials are better recognized and appreciated by other industries with sustainability goals.

#### Addressing Supply Chain Sustainability

Efficiencies along the supply chain can help improve the sustainability of the steel industry as well. New innovations and technologies can help strengthen and improve the application for steel materials.

“Along the value chain in the steel industry, raw materials will undergo different mechanical and chemical processes such as forging and welding,” writes Diane de Beaudrap in [Steel Available](https://www.steelavailable.com/en/path-sustainable-supply-chain-steel-industry/). “The surface, strength, chemical composition, temperature, and so forth will be inspected and monitored. Sensors and cloud computing can then be a starting point for manufacturers to go digital.”

As players across the steel supply chain work to increase overall transparency in terms of price and supply, companies can do a better job of allocating production resources. Integration improves efficiency and profitability as well as affects sustainability and better use of resources.

#### Life Cycle Analysis

The [World Steel Association](https://www.worldsteel.org/steel-by-topic/life-cycle-thinking.html) has developed a life cycle model that includes social, economic and environmental components, blended together to address overall sustainability. In order to understand the impact that an end-product made from steel has on the environment, businesses need to consider every step within its life cycle.

This model begins by looking at the initial resources, energy and emissions involved in producing steel in the first place. It then examines the initial use, including the return of pre-consumer scrap. Once the finished product is released, the life cycle model considers its entire useful life, including reuse and re-purposing stages. Once the product reaches the end of its life, the model examines the resources it takes to disassemble and recycle steel components so they can begin the cycle again.

In 1996, the organization began a life cycle inventory study, which has been expanded each year. The [2019 study](https://www.worldsteel.org/en/dam/jcr:c4159749-afab-4476-a09f-59efca686e9e/LCI%2520study_2019%2520data%2520release.pdf) reports that it includes more than 99% of steel technologies worldwide and covers over 20% (364 million tonnes) of the steel production by company on a global basis. It is a comprehensive report that starts with raw materials at the beginning of the steel life cycle through to its final disposal.

The study looked at 24 separate steelmaking process steps including coke making, hot strip mill, and rebar, to name a few. The four categories the study examined were global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential and photochemical oxidant creation potential.

Organizations can use the results of this study to compare and contrast different steel materials in terms of sustainability and their overall effect on resources and the environment and make material decisions accordingly.

#### Conclusion

As companies operating in the steel industry move forward, sustainability will continue to be a key driving factor in overall profitability as well as public image. Understanding the different components of sustainability within the industry as a whole can help you find ways to make changes in your own organization in terms of how you source, purchase, use, reuse, remanufacture, or recycle this critical material.


Understanding how temperature changes the color and properties of metal

Heat has the power to affect and alter many of the materials in our natural world. As steel is heated to various temperatures, its color and properties change. These transformations allow this metal to be used in a wide variety of applications to make our world a better place and improve life throughout society.

The Versatility of Steel


According to [ASM International](https://www.asminternational.org/documents/10192/1849770/ACF180B.pdf), “Steel is such an important material because of its tremendous flexibility in metal working and heat treating to produce a wide variety of mechanical, physical, and chemical properties.”

#### Definitions and Classifications of Steel

Before embarking on a discussion of how temperature changes the color and chemical properties of steel, it’s important to define and understand the basics of this amazing material.

Within industry, steel is defined as “an iron-based alloy, malleable in some temperature range as initially cast, containing manganese, usually carbon, and often other alloying elements. In carbon steel and low-alloy steel, the maximum carbon is about 2.0%; in high-alloy steel, about 2.5%. The dividing line between low-alloy and high-alloy steels is generally regarded as being at about 5% metallic alloying elements.”

This definition is then expanded to the practical understanding within the steel industry of the thousands of compositions and applications of steel that are possible. Although the specific number is impossible to accurately calculate, the five classes of steel generally accepted are: carbon steels, alloy steels, stainless steels, tool steels and special-purpose steels, which are usually proprietary in nature. Industry designation systems and subsequent grading of steel is done by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

> “The annealing process involves bringing steel to a particular temperature, holding it there for a certain period of time, and then cooling it to room temperature.”

#### Phases of Steel

“In metallurgy, the term phase is used to refer to a physically homogeneous state of matter, where the phase has a certain chemical composition, and a distinct type of atomic bonding and arrangement of elements,” explains a document published by the Industrial Metallurgists.

Three phases exist for steel: ferrite, cementite, and austenite. Steel producers arrive at each phase through temperature changes. Ferrite is essentially iron, and at room temperature, conventional steels are a mix of this material and cementite. However, when steel is heated to above 1340 degrees Fahrenheit, the cementite dissolves and forms the austenite phase. Eventually, the steel loses its magnetic charge at this temperature.

#### How Metals Are Transformed Through Heat

According to [Metal Supermarkets](https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/how-heating-metal-affects-its-properties/#:~:text=Hardening%20is%20applied%20to%20steel,it%20in%20oil%20or%20water.), metals are transformed through heat in terms of electrical resistance, thermal expansion, structure, and magnetism.

#### Electrical Resistance

Electrical currents pass through metals at different levels of resistance. Heat speeds up electrons as they absorb energy, which actually increases electrical resistance.

#### Thermal Expansion

Like most things, steel expands at higher temperatures. Heat actually boosts the movement of atoms within the metal.

#### Structure

Heat changes the allotrope structure of metals by atom relocation, which affects the hardness, strength and other properties of steel. For example, when iron is heated past 1,674 degrees Fahrenheit, it absorbs carbon. This affect hardens the steel product, which can then be used in high carbon steel applications like tool steel.

#### Magnetism

The iron component of steel holds the magnetic properties found in the metal. As steel is heated to 1,418 degrees Fahrenheit, it will lose its magnetization.

#### Changes in Color and Appearance

The different temperatures of steel will also bring the material through a change in coloration. According to [Sciencing](https://sciencing.com/give-steel-different-colors-10012425.html), “working with steel and modifying its color involves setting up a sufficient heat source, heating the steel to the desired color, then quenching and tempering it.” Here are the typical color changes steel will go through at various temperatures:

- At 480 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns brown.
- At 520 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns purple.
- At 575 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns blue.
- At 800 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns grey.
- Above 800 degrees Fahrenheit, steel produces incandescent colors.
- Between 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns an increasingly brighter shade of red.
- Between 1600 degrees Fahrenheit and 1900 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns orange and then yellow.
- At 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, steel turns bright yellow.

Once you achieve your desired color, remove the steel from the heat, quench it in oil and temper it as soon as possible.

#### Heat Treatment Affects Steel Properties

According to [American Machine Tools](https://www.americanmachinetools.com/heat_treating_metals.htm#:~:text=There%20are%20five%20basic%20heat,heating%2C%20soaking%2C%20and%20cooling.), five forms of heat treatment affect the properties of steel.

#### Hardening

Steel is hardened by heating it to a specific temperature and then cooling it rapidly in brine, oil or water. Although this process boosts the strength of steel, it also increases the brittleness. Hardened steel is used for everything from shovels to surgical instruments.

#### Tempering

Because of the effects of the hardening process, most producers will want to temper the heated metal to a particular temperature before allowing the steel to cool on its own. Tempering steel, which requires lower temperatures, reduces the brittleness that occurs with hardening. Tempered steel is popular for construction and mining applications.

#### Annealing

The annealing process involves bringing steel to a particular temperature, holding it there for a certain period of time, and then cooling it to room temperature. This process relieves internal stresses of the metal as well as softens steel, makes it more ductile, and refines the grain structure. Changing the rate of cooling will change the softness of the steel. Cooling is usually done by burying the steel in sand or ash by allowing a heated furnace to cool down with the steel inside. Sheet metal that has gone through a stamping process are frequently annealed.

#### Normalizing

This process requires heating steel to a higher temperature than either the hardening or annealing requires, followed by soaking it for uniform heating and air cooling. Normalization relieves internal stresses from machining, forging, or welding steels, and they are harder and stronger than annealed steels.

#### Case Hardening

During this process, a low-carbon steel is heated to a given temperature along with another material that decomposes and leaves carbon on the steel surface. When rapid cooling occurs, the outside layer is hard but the inside is soft. The process is excellent for applications that require resistant surfaces such as gears and cams.

#### Conclusion

Steel is perhaps the more versatile metal available today. It can be easily changed, strengthened and altered with heat treatments to provide a wide range of solutions for applications throughout industries and around the world.


How to use this professional social media platform to build your business

Social media tops the list in many modern-day marketing plans. With so many platforms available that provide direct access to so many different groups of people, it’s hard to ignore the opportunities that social media avails. For businesses in the steel industry, one of the best platforms is LinkedIn.

Linking In To Steel Marketing Opportunities


Originally a virtual place to post and find jobs, LinkedIn had evolved to a truly professional social media platform that’s focused on fostering business-to-business relationships.

#### Share Your Brand on a Company Page

LinkedIn provides an easy-to-use template to create your company page. Remember that the fields on the template are designed to help prospects and other interested LinkedIn members find you. Think about how people would be searching for what your company has to offer and complete these fields accordingly.

Be sure your page is consistent with your overall brand, using the same graphics, colors and style as you use on your website and other marketing materials. Be sure to have one individual that’s responsible for keeping your LinkedIn page up-to-date and active, always looking for ways to post useful information and respond to inquiries and opportunities that come in.

> "Focus on providing excellent content that addresses your potential clients’ pain points and position you and your employees as experts and thought leaders in the field."

#### Highlight Real People

Although some companies may not want to provide easy access to their top talent, the reality is that in today’s transparent, online world, people who want to be accessible are. You might as well use that fact to your advantage by showcasing your best and brightest.

Make it a priority to link individual employee profiles with appropriate pictures and current job responsibilities to your company page. Everyone likes to work with real people, and sharing the strengths of your team can only make your organization look more appealing. In addition, have your employees solicit positive recommendations from supervisors, peers and other professionals in the steel industry. Showcasing staff members who are individually praised by others in the industry sends a powerful message about your overall company. Be sure each member of your team claims a custom URL that includes their name so they can be easily found on LinkedIn.

Ideally, your company has done some behind-the-scenes work to foster a positive, engaging and attractive culture, allowing your LinkedIn page to reflect that ethos. You don’t want to try to control what your employees post and share; however,  you can encourage them to highlight the ways they support your company’s overall mission through their own professional identities, especially in the summary section of their profiles.

#### Post Stellar Content, Not Shameless Promotion

LinkedIn is designed to be a marketplace where professionals can share problems, solutions, information, and trends related to business. Often, that will include new hires, fresh business relationships, great investment opportunities, and more customers. However, as a company, you want to focus on providing excellent content that addresses your potential clients’ pain points and position you and your employees as experts and thought leaders in the field. It’s a big mistake to be constantly selling on a platform like LinkedIn; no one likes blatant advertising.

LinkedIn is designed to help boost the best content. If you post something that gets some initial traction, LinkedIn will spotlight that content in an appropriate category, which can lead to thousands more seeing your information. In addition, you can use the “sponsored updates” feature, which allows you to pay to post useful content onto an individual's LinkedIn feed. Although this feature is similar to other "pay-per-click" advertising tools, you can drill down to particular companies, job titles or skills.

This feature helps reduce the irrelevant advertising noise, connecting companies and people that will be interested in one other professionally. Remember to promote useful content as part of your sponsored update, not pure advertising.

#### Find Target Audiences Easily

LinkedIn provides users with extremely specific categories to sort, and many dedicated users provide accurate professional demographics to help the process along. For example, you can target purchasing executives at manufacturing companies of a particular size simply by checking the appropriate boxes. LinkedIn will deliver the prospect list easily into your hands.

Once you have a prospect list, LinkedIn makes it easy to introduce your company and nurture relationships with those who are interested in staying in touch. The platform allows you to easily provide things like email updates, share customer problem/solution stories, or make offers for webinars or white papers. LinkedIn is designed to help you lead prospects down your marketing funnel in an organized and intentional manner.

#### Build Relationships

In our growing digital world, it’s easy to get away from real relationships. However, there’s always going to be a real human need to connect with others who share areas of interest. On LinkedIn, those shared areas of interest will be business-related, and the platform offers tools to help foster conversations and gather ideas.

Most professionals are happy to share a perspective or answer a question, which makes LinkedIn a great place to discuss industry news, gauge current needs, or test product or service ideas. Be sure to engage your customers, prospects, and shareholders intentionally — you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

#### Create and Join Groups

LinkedIn groups are an excellent way to bring together smaller groups of people from a diverse background focused on a single topic or area. Take some time to find groups that are relevant to your industry, company, service, or product, and ask to join. First, read conversations to get a feel for what people are saying and doing in regards to that particular topic. Second, add your own helpful thoughts and perspective to the conversation. Remember that it’s about building real relationships. And, third, if you can create your own group that meets a related need or addresses a similar topic; then, invite your new-found virtual colleagues to join your group as well.

#### Conclusion

LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for steel industry professionals to make business-to-business connections that can lead to additional business, new relationships, and ongoing growth. Understanding how to use the features of this tool can help you add a great deal of value to your overall marketing program.


Why it’s critical to apply cutting-edge technology to this age-old market

Like in just about every other sector of the economy, the steel industry faces greater uncertainty as the ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic continues throughout the global marketplace. The current situation follows a period of apparent slowdown in the steel industry.

Digitizing the Steel Industry


According to [Metal Bulletin](http://https//www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3912360/2020-PREVIEW-Another-year-of-slowing-finished-steel-demand-falling-prices-before-next-years-revival.html), steel consumption outside of China has continued to disappoint, falling by 1.4% in 2019 compared with the previous year. Although Chinese steel demand did rise during this period, it still marked a slowdown from the previous year as well.

These market factors, however, provide only the backdrop to an industry primed for digital disruption. During the next several years, steel industry players can expect to see the digital revolution, which is widely apparent in a growing number of markets, occur in the metals markets as well. Here are the reasons why.

#### Digital Platforms Becoming Market Standard

A simple glance around easily shows that digital technologies are well on their way to infiltrating every aspect of both work and personal lives. Although most of us may see more technology as consumers today, more businesses and entire industries are already migrating to online ecosystems. Steel will be no different.

According to industry expert Richard Oppelt, a principal director for [Accenture Strategy](https://www.accenture.com/us-en/blogs/blogs-digitizing-steel-market), digital technologies are powering online marketplaces and ecosystems in virtually all consumer and industrial markets today.

And their conspicuous success in delivering the value promised by the early dotcoms should serve as a red flag to both producers and distributors in the steel market,” Oppelt writes. “In the not-too-distant future, digitally-enabled commercial platforms will disrupt the existing steel business. It’s a matter of when, not if. Acting now could be the difference between survival and extinction.

> "Data will gain more and more value compared to the physical product itself, and the top value creators will stand out from the rest by how effectively they capture and leverage data."

#### Demand That Order Takers Become Value Adders

Historically, the steel industry has been a simple provider of assets. Producers make and sell steel, period. In today’s digital economy, however, the winners in any industry have to grow beyond being an asset-focused business. Customers are demanding added value throughout just about every marketing, and expectations of what’s acceptable rise on a daily basis.

Dr. Markus Reiffershcheid, vice president of research and development at [SMS group](https://www.sms-group.com/sms-group-magazine/overview/digitalization-in-the-steel-industry/), writes about how this will occur through Industry 4.0, which is an “ongoing process capturing the entire network of value creation. It comprises the vertical (internal) and the horizontal value creation chain (from the supplier through to the customer) and will eventually lead to a fundamental transformation of both.”

In order to embrace the opportunity, steel companies will need to find ways to share and access data and systems throughout the supply chain.

#### Harnessing the Power of Data Will Be Competitive Advantage

Over the last decade, the cost of computational power and data collection has continued to drop. At the same time, technological advancements such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, sensor technology, and data scanners have increased. The result has been a rapid acceleration of data collected throughout plants, facilities and organizations. Although most of that data is not being analyzed and used optimally at this point, the potential lies in wait.

In a [McKinsey report](https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Metals%20and%20Mining/Our%20Insights/Unlocking%20the%20digital%20opportunity%20in%20metals/Unlocking-the-digital-opportunity-in-metals_Jan-2018.ashx), the industry analyst notes, “In the past, the most important driver of the competitiveness and value creation for a metal production company was its structural position on the cost curve. Going forward, data will gain more and more value compared to the physical product itself, and the top value creators will stand out from the rest by how effectively they capture and leverage data.”

Being able to compile comprehensive, accurate data across the supply chain as well as within the company itself has the potential to give steel companies powerful information to make smarter business decisions in terms of asset investments and management as well as labor and resource allocation.

#### Expectation of Price Transparency

It’s already apparent in the consumer world that price transparency is the expectation today. That expectation will continue to move into the business-to- business environment as well. Steel prices have not traditionally been easy to anticipate as they are determined not only by actual supply and demand, but by forecasted supply and demand.

According to Horacio Falcao, INSEAD senior affiliate professor of decision sciences, and Alena Komaromi, financial services professional, “Price opacity used to be the norm, but the arrival of the internet – with mass information sharing and price comparison sites – changed the consumer world for good.”

Falcao and Komaromi go on to recognize that “although the B2B realm is somewhat more complicated due to the customized nature of the deals, there are plenty of examples of price disclosure in corporate transactions.” This trend will continue within the steel industry in coming years.

#### Battling Supply Chain Inefficiencies

Conventional steel production and processes can be notoriously slow due to lengthy set-up times, minimum production runs, and inventory management issues. Each stage of the production process has the potential for greater efficiency. The challenge, however, is identifying those areas where the investment in digitization and change will result in the greatest return.

According to [World Steel](https://www.worldsteel.org/zh/dam/jcr:d61867da-604d-4ad3-b5ac-60bc2103d153/Industry+4.0+and+the+Digital+Future.pdf), Industry 4.0 provides the roadmap, which focuses on greater visibility into the supply chain, horizontal integration, and a reduction in work-in-progress and working capital in the form of excess inventory.

Companies must embrace the digital tools available today to reduce lengthy delivery times and become more flexible in terms of order changes and minimum runs. Ideally, a secure means of accessing and adding data throughout the supply chain is created so that there is transparency from raw materials through the customer’s final product.

#### Conclusion

Digitization of the steel industry is already in the early stages, and once the momentum picks up, there will be no turning back. Producers must find ways to implement needed systems, embrace digital processes, and standardize data collection and analysis in the near future.

According to McKinsey, the stakes are high, “Our research suggests metal producers that harness the full potential of a digital transformation can increase their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margins by up to 6 to 8 percentage points.”
