Innovations are an important part of SSAB’s operations focusing on sustainable growth and the development of fossil-free steel. One of the key areas of innovation is steel production side streams, where Innoman’s experts brought new ideas and ways of working. A key objective was to plan systematic and long-term innovation work over a ten-year time span.
Preliminary guidelines were drawn up for developing a 2035 strategy as a basis for the future strategy work for SSAB’s by-product business. Business development, product development and sales representatives from Finland and Sweden participated in the work. The preparation of the new strategy is very topical in a situation where SSAB is transitioning exclusively to fossilfree steelmaking over the next 10 years.
Innoman experts coached SSAB’s team on the new way of working in six workshops during spring and autumn 2024. The objective was to build a new way of working, in order to create a long-term strategy by applying learning methods based on Innoman’s Innovation Path model.
“In a way, the main result is this process itself. All the workshop face-to-face discussions, assignments and home assignments provided a lot of background information, created new approaches and ideas and provided feedback for future design work. This was an excellent learning process for all of us”, says Marko Mäkikyrö, Director, By-product sales and development.
Marko Mäkikyrö, Director, By-product sales and development at SSAB, and Erik Grånäs,
Head of by-product sales, discuss the development of innovation activities with
Pekka Berg, Arto Ranta-Eskola and Jyrki Suomala from Innoman.
©Innoman/ Linda Lipponen, Lifu.
“We have assessed the different options for the by-product business in a structured manner. In particular, the scenarios and roadmaps that we have systematically created are very useful. Now we are in a much better position to discuss different options for the future of our business with internal and external stakeholders”, says Erik Grånäs, Head of by-product sales.
“The work done will help the company’s top management to make wise decisions that support long-term responsibility and the inclusion of by-products in the change work. Not only by focusing on getting rid of them, but even by seeing them as a resource that can deliver even greater CO2 savings and end-user satisfaction”, emphasizes Jaakko Louhisalmi, Business Development Manager.
Marko Mäkikyrö, Director, By-product sales and development at SSAB, and Erik Grånäs,
Head of by-product sales, discuss the preliminary content of Strategy 2035 with
Pekka Berg, Chairman of the Board of Innoman Ltd.
©Innoman/ Linda Lipponen, Lifu.
Commitment and real change
The participants were very committed to the work from the very outset. This is the first requirement for success. The second is genuine change, i.e. after working, there must be no return to the old operating model, but the new approach must be adopted as part of everyday life. We strive for permanent change in all development activities, and it has been a pleasure to follow the participants’ will and success in this, says Pekka Berg, DSc (Tech.) at Innoman.
Arto Ranta-Eskola, D.Sc. (Tech.), who has worked for more than 20 years in leadership positions in R&D&I operations at Rautaruukki and SSAB, also participated in the development work.
A clear understanding of short- and long-term options and an action plan are concrete results of the work done. From the Innoman team’s point of view, the participants showed strong commitment and worked hard throughout the process, Arto Ranta-Eskola says.
Mapping the raw material use of future steel by-products in different industries and analyzing the uncertainties related to the mapping are convincing results. The process also took into account the human aspects and belief systems of internal and external stakeholders, says Docent Jyrki Suomala, DSc (Econ.), Head of Neurobusiness at Innoman.
Time is money
The work was professional and carried out optimally, taking into account limited time resources. I am pleased with the work we have done. The limited time was realized already at the beginning of the process, so it did not “interfere” with our work, says Director Marko Mäkikyrö.
The right combination of scientific approach and practice
SSAB’s Marko Mäkikyrö has collaborated with Innoman’s experts for years – in academia with Aalto University students and on an expert level with Innoman. In particular, the unique combination of academic knowledge and practice help to bring about change is appealing.
Innoman’s consulting work differs from many other consultants in that it is strongly based on researched knowledge but is nevertheless very practical. The collaboration received an enthusiastic response from our team. Innoman’s support for change and continuous development is especially important to us. In the future, we at SSAB may consider implementing the Innovation Path model also in operations other than by-products, says Marko Mäkikyrö, who is also a Doctor of Technology.
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