48°16′26″N 14°20′00″E / 48.27389°N 14.33333°E / 48.27389; 14.33333
138-622: Voestalpine AG – stylized as voestalpine – is an Austrian steel-based technology and capital goods group based in Linz , Austria . The company is active in steel , automotive , railway systems , profilform and tool steel industries. As of 2017, it is one of the few profitable steel companies in Europe. 45 percent of its workforce is based in Austria. The Linz hot strip mill is a "fully integrated steel works" operated by voestalpine Stahl GmbH,
276-412: A BOS process is manufactured in one-twelfth the time. Today, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel, but they use a lot of electrical energy (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap electricity. The steel industry
414-531: A brittle alloy commonly called pig iron . Alloy steel is steel to which other alloying elements have been intentionally added to modify the characteristics of steel. Common alloying elements include: manganese , nickel , chromium , molybdenum , boron , titanium , vanadium , tungsten , cobalt , and niobium . Additional elements, most frequently considered undesirable, are also important in steel: phosphorus , sulphur , silicon , and traces of oxygen , nitrogen , and copper . Plain carbon-iron alloys with
552-713: A carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD. There is evidence that carbon steel was made in Western Tanzania by the ancestors of the Haya people as early as 2,000 years ago by a complex process of "pre-heating" allowing temperatures inside a furnace to reach 1300 to 1400 °C. Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in South Asia is found in Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu ,
690-444: A change of volume. In this case, expansion occurs. Internal stresses from this expansion generally take the form of compression on the crystals of martensite and tension on the remaining ferrite, with a fair amount of shear on both constituents. If quenching is done improperly, the internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools. At the very least, they cause internal work hardening and other microscopic imperfections. It
828-430: A company called Voest-Alpine Stahl AG. In 1990, Österreichische Industrieholding AG (Austrian Industry Holding AG) became Austrian Industries AG as it took the first steps toward privatisation. In 1993, three companies formed from Austrian Industries AG-- Voest-Alpine Technologie AG , and Voest-Alpine Stahl AG, and Böhler-Uddeholm . Privatisation began in 1995, when Voest-Alpine got listed on Vienna Stock Exchange . and
966-490: A factor in determining whether vertical integration is successful. There are many problems and benefits that vertical integration brings to an economic system . Problems that can stem from vertical integration can include large capital investments needed to set up and buy factories and maintain efficient profits. Rapid technology development can increase integration difficulties and further increase costs. The requirement of different business skills venturing into new portions of
1104-428: A ferrite BCC crystal form, but at higher carbon content it takes a body-centred tetragonal (BCT) structure. There is no thermal activation energy for the transformation from austenite to martensite. There is no compositional change so the atoms generally retain their same neighbours. Martensite has a lower density (it expands during the cooling) than does austenite, so that the transformation between them results in
1242-565: A few days previously that were kept in ice remained in perfect condition. In 1924, Clarence Birdseye patented the "Birdseye Plate Froster" and established the General Seafood Corporation. In 1929, Birdseye's company and the patent were bought by Postum Cereals and Goldman Sachs Trading Corporation . It was later known as General Foods . They kept the Birdseye name, which was split into two words (Birds eye) for use as
1380-710: A halt on VÖEST program. The controversy spilled into the U. S. Senate, causing delays in Marshall Plan financing for VÖEST. VÖEST received its new slabbing mill but the new hot strip mill was delayed by the opposition of the Pentagon, which feared that VÖEST product would be sold to the Soviet bloc. The Pentagon removed their objections in January 1952, conforming to the consensus of other US agencies. The hot and cold strip mills were, at last, put into operation in 1953. By
1518-583: A hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel . Tungsten slows the formation of cementite , keeping carbon in the iron matrix and allowing martensite to preferentially form at slower quench rates, resulting in high-speed steel . The addition of lead and sulphur decrease grain size, thereby making the steel easier to turn , but also more brittle and prone to corrosion. Such alloys are nevertheless frequently used for components such as nuts, bolts, and washers in applications where toughness and corrosion resistance are not paramount. For
SECTION 10
#17327808306751656-445: A hard but brittle martensitic structure. The steel is then tempered, which is just a specialized type of annealing, to reduce brittleness. In this application the annealing (tempering) process transforms some of the martensite into cementite, or spheroidite and hence it reduces the internal stresses and defects. The result is a more ductile and fracture-resistant steel. When iron is smelted from its ore, it contains more carbon than
1794-434: A higher than 2.1% carbon content are known as cast iron . With modern steelmaking techniques such as powder metal forming, it is possible to make very high-carbon (and other alloy material) steels, but such are not common. Cast iron is not malleable even when hot, but it can be formed by casting as it has a lower melting point than steel and good castability properties. Certain compositions of cast iron, while retaining
1932-403: A large share of farm receipts, formerly assumed to go to the operator's family". Under production contracts, growers raise animals owned by integrators. Farm contracts contain detailed conditions for growers, who are paid based on how efficiently they use feed, provided by the integrator, to raise the animals. The contract dictates how to construct the facilities, how to feed, house, and medicate
2070-452: A major retailer, and Essendant , a dominant wholesaler. Before a wave of deregulation at the end of 20th century, most electric utilities were vertically integrated and provided electric generation , transmission , distribution , and sales. These were not just conglomerates with a common accounting department: there was just one profit center in sales, and costs of transmission and distribution were not separated. Partial deregulation in
2208-412: A narrow range of concentrations of mixtures of carbon and iron that make steel, several different metallurgical structures, with very different properties can form. Understanding such properties is essential to making quality steel. At room temperature , the most stable form of pure iron is the body-centred cubic (BCC) structure called alpha iron or α-iron. It is a fairly soft metal that can dissolve only
2346-636: A part of the steel division of voestalpine AG. In addition to Linz the most important plants are in Leoben in Styria and in Krems in Lower Austria . It had a large plant at Liezen in Styria which closed in the 1990s. Voestalpine is responsible for 10% of all Austrian CO 2 emissions , which makes it the biggest emitter in the country. The name of the company amalgamates its two principal components,
2484-473: A portion of the syndication revenues in order for a show to gain a spot on the schedule if it was produced by a studio without common ownership. In response, the studios fundamentally changed the way they made movies and did business. Lacking the financial resources and contract talent they once controlled, the studios now relied on independent producers supplying some portion of the budget in exchange for distribution rights. Certain media conglomerates may, in
2622-809: A similar manner, own television broadcasters (either over-the-air or on cable), production companies that produce content for their networks, and also own the services that distribute their content to viewers (such as television and internet service providers). AT&T , Bell Canada , Comcast , Sky plc , and Rogers Communications are vertically integrated in such a manner—operating media subsidiaries (such as WarnerMedia , Bell Media , NBCUniversal , and Rogers Media ), and provide " triple play " services of television, internet, and phone service in some markets (such as Bell Satellite TV / Bell Internet , Rogers Cable , Xfinity , and Sky's satellite TV and internet services). Additionally, Bell and Rogers own wireless providers, Bell Mobility and Rogers Wireless , while Comcast
2760-497: A slower information processing rate, with the side effect of making the company so slow that it could not react quickly. Birds Eye did not take advantage of the growth of supermarkets until ten years after the competition did. The already-developed infrastructure did not allow Birdseye to quickly react to market changes. In order to increase profits and gain more market share, Alibaba , a China-based company, has implemented vertical integration deepening its company holdings to more than
2898-534: A small concentration of carbon, no more than 0.005% at 0 °C (32 °F) and 0.021 wt% at 723 °C (1,333 °F). The inclusion of carbon in alpha iron is called ferrite . At 910 °C, pure iron transforms into a face-centred cubic (FCC) structure, called gamma iron or γ-iron. The inclusion of carbon in gamma iron is called austenite. The more open FCC structure of austenite can dissolve considerably more carbon, as much as 2.1%, (38 times that of ferrite) carbon at 1,148 °C (2,098 °F), which reflects
SECTION 20
#17327808306753036-453: A steel's final rolling, it is heat treated for strength; however, this is relatively rare. Steel was known in antiquity and was produced in bloomeries and crucibles . The earliest known production of steel is seen in pieces of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia ( Kaman-Kalehöyük ) which are nearly 4,000 years old, dating from 1800 BC. Wootz steel
3174-734: A subject of a debate between the Department of State , which advocated nationalization , and the U. S. Army , represented by Mark W. Clark , who stood for privatization. The diplomats prevailed, and the Austrian government was allowed to nationalize the former German assets at will. The mills of Linz were nationalized in July 1946 as the VÖEST ( V ereinigte Ö sterreichische E isen und St ahlwerke, United Austrian Iron and Steelworks). VÖEST decided to dispose with three of its six blast furnaces . One
3312-477: A subsequent step. Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with the desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make the austenite form of the iron-carbon solution more stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature, and vanadium also increases hardness while making it less prone to metal fatigue . To inhibit corrosion, at least 11% chromium can be added to steel so that
3450-505: A supply chain. Operational routines also become more consistent and certain as the management of these firms gradually merge. Vertically integrated firms rarely need to worry about the sufficiency in their supply of materials because they generally control the facilities that provide them. A vertically integrated company also creates high barriers of entry into their respective economy, eliminating most potential competition. Implementing vertical integration can be beneficial in that it reduces
3588-451: A system in which mass production was most efficient. The model called for the manufacture of additional devices, all of which had carefully-curated designs by Ford engineers. Instead of passing these instructions and duties off to external manufacture firms, vertical integration was exercised within the corporation. This allowed for manageable division of labor, decreased costs in delay and exchange of goods, and organized updates of each firm in
3726-416: A trademark. Birdseye was paid $ 20 million for the patents and $ 2 million for the assets. Birds Eye was one of the pioneers in the frozen food industry. During these times, there was not a well-developed infrastructure to produce and sell frozen foods. Hence Birds Eye developed its own system by using vertical integration. Members of the supply chain, such as farmers and small food retailers, could not afford
3864-468: A vertically integrated strategy has helped Apple become a leading platform company; integrating their software (through APIs for third-party application developers) with their own hardware, across all the devices and services they offer. Vertical integration allows Apple to control production from beginning to end. Other companies may follow the Apple model, but may not see success for some time, both due to
4002-672: Is continuously cast into long slabs, cut and shaped into bars and extrusions and heat treated to produce a final product. Today, approximately 96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is produced as ingots. The ingots are then heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled into slabs, billets , or blooms . Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rods, and wire. Blooms are hot or cold rolled into structural steel , such as I-beams and rails . In modern steel mills these processes often occur in one assembly line , with ore coming in and finished steel products coming out. Sometimes after
4140-461: Is a UK-based cold roll-forming company which was acquired by voestalpine AG in 1998. The company is based in Oldbury , and makes metal products for the construction and manufacturing industries. It was established in 1931 and is now (since 2014) known as voestalpine Metsec plc. Voestalpine Signaling UK, previously known as CDSRail, produce diagnostic and monitoring infrastructure for rail. It
4278-533: Is a form of vertical integration when purchasing departments take over the former role of wholesalers to source products. For vertical integration to succeed, managers must be able to adapt their managerial approach to compliment the changes in functional activities that their vertical shift accompanies. Managers should make sure that their firm can take advantage of existing functional knowledge through organisation, and simultaneously allow new functional knowledge to develop. However, environmental possibilities can be
Voestalpine - Misplaced Pages Continue
4416-458: Is a more efficient business with lower costs and more profits. On the undesirable side, when vertical expansion leads toward monopolistic control of a product or service then regulative action may be required to rectify anti-competitive behavior. Related to vertical expansion is lateral expansion , which is the growth of a business enterprise through the acquisition of similar firms, in the hope of achieving economies of scale . Vertical expansion
4554-432: Is also known as a vertical acquisition. Vertical expansion or acquisitions can also be used to increase sales and to gain market power. The acquisition of DirecTV by News Corporation is an example of forwarding vertical expansion or acquisition. DirecTV is a satellite TV company through which News Corporation can distribute more of its media content: news, movies, and television shows. The acquisition of NBC by Comcast
4692-636: Is also very reusable: it is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally . The noun steel originates from the Proto-Germanic adjective * * stahliją or * * stakhlijan 'made of steel', which is related to * * stahlaz or * * stahliją 'standing firm'. The carbon content of steel is between 0.02% and 2.14% by weight for plain carbon steel ( iron - carbon alloys ). Too little carbon content leaves (pure) iron quite soft, ductile, and weak. Carbon contents higher than those of steel make
4830-416: Is always the main element in steel, but many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels , which are resistant to corrosion and oxidation , typically need an additional 11% chromium . Iron is the base metal of steel. Depending on the temperature, it can take two crystalline forms (allotropic forms): body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic . The interaction of the allotropes of iron with
4968-449: Is an example of an industry in which without vertical integration, would not be able to develop efficiently. In order to implement a telecommunications system that connected cities across a nation reliably, vertical integration was called upon. This strategic move ensured that the wiring, manufacture, and management of the system was consistent and functional across a state. Apple has used the vertical integration strategy for 35 years and
5106-839: Is an example of backward vertical integration. For example, in the United States, protecting the public from communications monopolies that can be built in this way is one of the missions of the Federal Communications Commission . Scholars' findings suggest that a reduction in inefficiencies caused by the market vertical value chains, including downstream prices or double mark-up, can be negated with vertical integration. Application in more complex environments can help firms overcome market failures (markets with high transaction costs or assets specificities) Scholars also identified potential risks and boundaries which may occur under vertical integration. This includes
5244-403: Is common for quench cracks to form when steel is water quenched, although they may not always be visible. There are many types of heat treating processes available to steel. The most common are annealing , quenching , and tempering . Annealing is the process of heating the steel to a sufficiently high temperature to relieve local internal stresses. It does not create a general softening of
5382-403: Is desirable. To become steel, it must be reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added. In the past, steel facilities would cast the raw steel product into ingots which would be stored until use in further refinement processes that resulted in the finished product. In modern facilities, the initial product is close to the final composition and
5520-405: Is extracted from iron ore by removing the oxygen through its combination with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon which is then lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This process, known as smelting , was first applied to metals with lower melting points, such as tin , which melts at about 250 °C (482 °F), and copper , which melts at about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F), and
5658-408: Is heat treated to contain both a ferritic and martensitic microstructure to produce a formable, high strength steel. Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel involves special alloying and heat treatments to stabilize amounts of austenite at room temperature in normally austenite-free low-alloy ferritic steels. By applying strain, the austenite undergoes a phase transition to martensite without
Voestalpine - Misplaced Pages Continue
5796-855: Is now Cognor Stahlhandel, still based in Linz and part of the Cognor Group, a division of Zlomrex S.A. Capital Group. In April 2007, voestalpine made a bid for 20.95 percent of the Austrian tool steel producer Böhler-Uddeholm , which was created in 1991 from the merger of Böhler Group and Swedish Uddeholm Group, the latter acquired by Voest-Alpine Stahl AG in 1990. The combined company was one of three created from Austrian Industries AG in 1993. By June, voestalpine held 55 percent of voting stock after "the largest acquisition in Austria’s industrial history", worth two billion Euros . In March 2008, voestalpine said it owned 90.24% of Böhler-Uddehom and intended to buy
5934-691: Is often considered an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development . In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers had fallen to 224,000. The economic boom in China and India caused a massive increase in the demand for steel. Between 2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several Indian and Chinese steel firms have expanded to meet demand, such as Tata Steel (which bought Corus Group in 2007), Baosteel Group and Shagang Group . As of 2017 , though, ArcelorMittal
6072-473: Is one method of avoiding the hold-up problem . A monopoly produced through vertical integration is called a vertical monopoly : vertical in a supply chain measures a firm's distance from the final consumers; for example, a firm that sells directly to the consumers has a vertical position of 0, a firm that supplies to this firm has a vertical position of 1, and so on. Vertical integration is often closely associated with vertical expansion which, in economics ,
6210-587: Is one of the most successful companies in the technology industry. Apple centered its business strategy on its own development of integrated hardware, software, and latterly services. They design most of their products in-house, and do not allow their hardware and operating system to be licensed out, which allows the company to apply its company vision to its products. Large companies such as Apple are more likely than smaller companies to employ vertical integration, as they have more resources to manage each stage of production (e.g. major expansion and funding). Implementing
6348-488: Is one of the world's most-recycled materials, with a recycling rate of over 60% globally; in the United States alone, over 82,000,000 metric tons (81,000,000 long tons; 90,000,000 short tons) were recycled in the year 2008, for an overall recycling rate of 83%. As more steel is produced than is scrapped, the amount of recycled raw materials is about 40% of the total of steel produced - in 2016, 1,628,000,000 tonnes (1.602 × 10 long tons; 1.795 × 10 short tons) of crude steel
6486-402: Is partnered with Verizon Wireless for an Xfinity-branded MVNO . Similarly, Sony has media holdings through its Sony Pictures division, including film and television content, as well as television channels, but is also a manufacturer of consumer electronics that can be used to play content from itself and others, including televisions, phones, and PlayStation video game consoles. AT&T
6624-402: Is removed and a corporation has the power to control all firms in its supply chain. One benefit is that the implementation of vertical integration can yield increased profit margins or eliminate the leverage that other firms or buyers may have over the firm. It allows improved coordination between production and distribution firms and decreases the cost of exchange of goods between firms within
6762-667: Is the roll forming division of voestalpine AG. The company has supplied parts for the aerospace industry since 1949 and for Boeing airplanes since 1969. It also supplies NASA and McDonnell Douglas . Products also include model train tracks and gymnasium bleachers . At first the company made aluminum parts for airplane structures, but in the late 1980s, Roll Forming added preparing parts for assembly. The company still uses this process for Spirit AeroSystems , which puts together stringers for many of Boeing's larger planes. Other locations for Roll Forming are Jeffersonville, Indiana and Farrell, Pennsylvania . Roll Forming agreed to
6900-481: Is the first ever vertical integration where a mobile phone company and a film studio company are under same umbrella. Vertical integration through production and marketing contracts have also become the dominant model for livestock production. Currently, 90% of poultry, 69% of hogs, and 29% of cattle are contractually produced through vertical integration. The USDA supports vertical integration because it has increased food productivity. However, "... contractors receive
7038-491: Is the growth of a business enterprise through the acquisition of companies that produce the intermediate goods needed by the business or help market and distribute its product. A firm may desire such expansion to secure the supplies needed by the firm to produce its product and the market needed to sell the product. Such expansion can become undesirable from a system-wide perspective when it becomes anti-competitive and impede free competition in an open marketplace. The result
SECTION 50
#17327808306757176-547: Is the world's largest steel producer . In 2005, the British Geological Survey stated China was the top steel producer with about one-third of the world share; Japan , Russia , and the United States were second, third, and fourth, respectively, according to the survey. The large production capacity of steel results also in a significant amount of carbon dioxide emissions inherent related to
7314-468: The Bell System , Apple , the U.S. entertainment studios, the U.S. meat industry, Ford Motor Company , CVS , and Amazon demonstrate vertical merging. Other examples like Alibaba and EssilorLuxottica cover vertical integration in other nations. During a hunting trip American explorer and scientist Clarence Birdseye discovered the beneficial effects of " quick-freezing ". For example, fish caught
7452-583: The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 . VÖEST assets became the principal Austrian recipient of the Marshall Plan aid but access to American cash came only after a protracted political battle within Austrian establishment. Geoffrey Keyes had to recruit steel expert William E. Brewster to sort through the Austrian proposals. Brewster supported the Austrian four-year plan but its key opponent Franz Nemchak called it "a colossal stupidity" and demanded
7590-655: The Golconda area in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka , regions of India , as well as in Samanalawewa and Dehigaha Alakanda, regions of Sri Lanka . This came to be known as wootz steel , produced in South India by about the sixth century BC and exported globally. The steel technology existed prior to 326 BC in the region as they are mentioned in literature of Sangam Tamil , Arabic, and Latin as
7728-492: The Mountain West , Great Plains , and Southeast . An economic theory is a framework that defines how a particular economic system functions. Economists develop principles in which an economy adheres to, which provides insight onto the relationships between economic events, markets, companies, and the government. In economic theory, vertical integration has been studied in the literature on incomplete contracts that
7866-599: The cementation process was described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574 and was in use in Nuremberg from 1601. A similar process for case hardening armour and files was described in a book published in Naples in 1589. The process was introduced to England in about 1614 and used to produce such steel by Sir Basil Brooke at Coalbrookdale during the 1610s. The raw material for this process were bars of iron. During
8004-419: The hardness , quenching behaviour , need for annealing , tempering behaviour , yield strength , and tensile strength of the resulting steel. The increase in steel's strength compared to pure iron is possible only by reducing iron's ductility. Steel was produced in bloomery furnaces for thousands of years, but its large-scale, industrial use began only after more efficient production methods were devised in
8142-605: The iron ore pits in Erzberg and a steel mill in Donawitz. The company also owned smaller businesses and railroads in the Mur River valley and in Lower Austria ( Krems and Schwechat ). Alpine, chaired by Karl Wittgenstein , peaked in 1912, when it owned four coal mines, two iron ore mines and six metallurgical plants. In 1922, fifty-six percent of Alpine Montangesellschaft, then owned by Fiat (see Camillo Castiglioni ),
8280-474: The "Little Three", Universal Studios , Columbia Pictures , and United Artists , produced and distributed feature films but did not own theaters. The issue of vertical integration (also known as common ownership) has been the main focus of policy makers because of the possibility of anti-competitive behaviors affiliated with market influence. For example, in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. ,
8418-445: The 17th century, it was realized that the best steel came from oregrounds iron of a region north of Stockholm , Sweden. This was still the usual raw material source in the 19th century, almost as long as the process was used. Crucible steel is steel that has been melted in a crucible rather than having been forged , with the result that it is more homogeneous. Most previous furnaces could not reach high enough temperatures to melt
SECTION 60
#17327808306758556-475: The 17th century, the first step in European steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace . Originally employing charcoal, modern methods use coke , which has proven more economical. In these processes, pig iron made from raw iron ore was refined (fined) in a finery forge to produce bar iron , which was then used in steel-making. The production of steel by
8694-573: The 17th century, with the introduction of the blast furnace and production of crucible steel . This was followed by the Bessemer process in England in the mid-19th century, and then by the open-hearth furnace . With the invention of the Bessemer process, a new era of mass-produced steel began. Mild steel replaced wrought iron . The German states were the major steel producers in Europe in
8832-497: The 1920s when the Ford River Rouge Complex began making much of its own steel rather than buying it from suppliers). Vertical integration can be desirable because it secures supplies needed by the firm to produce its product and the market needed to sell the product, but it can become undesirable when a firm's actions become anti-competitive and impede free competition in an open marketplace. Vertical integration
8970-481: The 19th century. American steel production was centred in Pittsburgh , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , and Cleveland until the late 20th century. Currently, world steel production is centered in China, which produced 54% of the world's steel in 2023. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), largely replaced earlier methods by further lowering the cost of production and increasing
9108-455: The 45% Vossloh share in VAE was bought by Voest-Alpine for €140 million, and in 2003 VAE Group GmbH became a subsidiary of voestalpine Bahnsysteme division. In 2001, the name of Voest-Alpine Stahl Group changed to voestalpine AG in order to fit the standard naming pattern of Austrian public corporations. During 2006, Voestalpine decided to dispose of its steel trading group. Voestalpine Stahlhandel
9246-588: The Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions. Steel industry Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon with improved strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Because of its high tensile strength and low cost, steel is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world. Steel is used in buildings, as concrete reinforcing rods, in bridges, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, bicycles, machines, electrical appliances, furniture, and weapons. Iron
9384-710: The Allied bombers levelled most of Linz, too. During 1945, Allied-occupied Austria was partitioned into four occupation zones; the heavy industries of the former Reichswerke concentrated in the American (Linz) and British (Erzberg) zones. The future of Linz was debated in 1945–1946. Local government of Styria and the British objected to reconstruction of Linz works, calling it the white elephant , too far from coal and ore reserves, and too large to be economical. The American authorities at first concurred and suggested to reduce
9522-608: The Arabs from Persia, who took it from India. It was originally created from several different materials including various trace elements , apparently ultimately from the writings of Zosimos of Panopolis . In 327 BC, Alexander the Great was rewarded by the defeated King Porus , not with gold or silver but with 30 pounds of steel. A recent study has speculated that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though, given
9660-547: The Linz works to eight coke ovens under Alpine-Mountain management, dismantle the furnaces and use the parts for the needed repairs in Donawitz (Styria). The Soviets voted to dismantle Linz altogether. The Austrian national government carefully persuaded the Americans to save Linz. In the summer of 1946, when allied negotiations on Linz reached a stalemate, the Americans decided to restore Linz unilaterally, regardless of British or Soviet opinion. Tactics of reconstruction became
9798-470: The Linz-Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in 1952, and other oxygen steel making methods. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limited impurities, primarily nitrogen, that previously had entered from the air used, and because, with respect to the open hearth process, the same quantity of steel from
9936-614: The Nazi leadership openly broke with the steel barons and settled for state control over iron and steel production. In the same year Hermann Göring expressed his desire to control Austrian iron reserves at Erzberg. After the Anschluss state-owned Reichswerke Hermann Göring purchased a 13% share in Alpine, and for the next six months wrestled with the VS over control of the company. In March 1939,
10074-487: The Supreme Court ordered the five vertically integrated studios to sell off their theater chains and all trade practices were prohibited ( United States v. Paramount Pictures , Inc., 1948). The prevalence of vertical integration wholly predetermined the relationships between both studios and networks and modified criteria in financing. Networks began arranging content initiated by commonly owned studios and stipulated
10212-473: The U.S. The vertical merge allowed CVS-Aetna to regulate more of the healthcare and delivery chain and gave them the ability to provide higher quality care to consumers. One of the most significant advantages to this integration is the reduction in costs for healthcare. Amazon.com has been criticized for being anti-competitive as both an owner and participant of its dominant online marketplace. In office products, Sycamore Partners owns both Staples, Inc. ,
10350-493: The US in 1978 ( PURPA ) forced the utilities to buy electricity outside if the rates were competitive; this gave rise to independent power producers . The other deviation from the vertical integration model were local distribution companies in some towns and regions. In the US 250 vertically integrated companies provided 85% of electrical generation. As of 2022, this "public utility" model was still utilized in some US states, mostly in
10488-582: The United States. The Birmingham, Alabama plant opened in 1992, followed by the Cheyenne, Wyoming plant in 1997, now the company's headquarters. As a result of two 2004 acquisitions, Nortrak has other U.S. facilities in Pueblo, Colorado ; Newton, Kansas and Chicago Heights, Illinois ; and Seattle , Washington . Roll Forming Corp., incorporated in 1947 and headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky ,
10626-486: The VS stepped aside and the Reichswerke acquired 70% share of Alpine in exchange for a 10% share in the new plant in Linz . In June 1939, its name was changed to Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring . The Reichswerke continued acquisitions and outright confiscations, and soon controlled around half of Austrian heavy industries. In 1944, the peak year for Alpine, its sales reached 371 million ℛ︁ℳ︁ , 16% of
10764-621: The VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke) in Upper Austria , established through nationalization in July 1946, and the ÖAMG (Österreichische-Alpine Montangesellschaft) in Styria , established in 1881. The Alpine Montangesellschaft (English: Alpine Mining Society) was founded in Vienna on 19 July 1881, as a vehicle of consolidating Austrian iron and steel assets. Some of these assets were later depleted, abandoned or sold. The core assets that remained concentrated in Styria :
10902-505: The VÖEST and the ÖAMG committed to building their first 30-ton oxygen converters. They were put into operation in November 1952 and May 1953 and temporarily created a surge in steel-related research. Thirty-four thousand businesspeople and engineers visited the VÖEST converter by 1963. The LD process reduced processing time and capital costs per ton of steel, contributing to the competitive advantage of Austrian steel. However, errors made by
11040-475: The VÖEST and the ÖAMG management in licensing their technology made control over its adoption elsewhere impossible and, by the end of the 1950s, the Austrians had lost their competitive edge. VÖEST was merged with Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft and other companies in the 1970s, and the resulting company took the name Vöest-Alpine AG. Restructuring of Austria's nationalised industries by 1988 produced
11178-457: The addition of heat. Twinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel uses a specific type of strain to increase the effectiveness of work hardening on the alloy. Vertically integrated In microeconomics , management and international political economy , vertical integration , also referred to as vertical consolidation, is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of
11316-401: The alloying elements, primarily carbon, gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile , or soft and easily formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other elements, and inclusions within the iron act as hardening agents that prevent
11454-411: The animals, and how to handle manure and dispose of carcasses. Generally, the contract also shields the integrator from liability. Jim Hightower , in his book, Eat Your Heart Out , discusses this liability role enacted by large food companies. He finds that in many cases of agricultural vertical integration, the integrator ( food company ) denies the farmer the right of entrepreneurship. This means that
11592-436: The austenite grain boundaries until the percentage of carbon in the grains has decreased to the eutectoid composition (0.8% carbon), at which point the pearlite structure forms. For steels that have less than 0.8% carbon (hypoeutectoid), ferrite will first form within the grains until the remaining composition rises to 0.8% of carbon, at which point the pearlite structure will form. No large inclusions of cementite will form at
11730-471: The austenite is for it to precipitate out of solution as cementite , leaving behind a surrounding phase of BCC iron called ferrite with a small percentage of carbon in solution. The two, cementite and ferrite, precipitate simultaneously producing a layered structure called pearlite , named for its resemblance to mother of pearl . In a hypereutectoid composition (greater than 0.8% carbon), the carbon will first precipitate out as large inclusions of cementite at
11868-494: The boundaries in hypoeutectoid steel. The above assumes that the cooling process is very slow, allowing enough time for the carbon to migrate. As the rate of cooling is increased the carbon will have less time to migrate to form carbide at the grain boundaries but will have increasingly large amounts of pearlite of a finer and finer structure within the grains; hence the carbide is more widely dispersed and acts to prevent slip of defects within those grains, resulting in hardening of
12006-455: The combination, bronze, which has a melting point lower than 1,083 °C (1,981 °F). In comparison, cast iron melts at about 1,375 °C (2,507 °F). Small quantities of iron were smelted in ancient times, in the solid-state, by heating the ore in a charcoal fire and then welding the clumps together with a hammer and in the process squeezing out the impurities. With care, the carbon content could be controlled by moving it around in
12144-462: The company did not do well because of high energy prices and cheaper foreign steel. During 1986, Voest-Alpine sold its interest to R.S.R. Corporation. In addition, Voestalpine AG owned a portion of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI), whose Voest-Alpine Industries subsidiary had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Siemens purchased VAI parent VA Tech in 2005. Metsec plc, previously known as Metal Sections and TI Metsec ,
12282-399: The cost of entering the market and taking on the currently successful incumbent, but also by innovating their products to make them more appealing in the marketplace than the current incumbent. Vertical integration requires a company to focus not only on its core business, but also on several difficult areas such as sourcing materials and manufacturing partners, distribution, and finally selling
12420-405: The distance that separates the suppliers and customers from the resources or information, which can then boost profits and efficiency. There are internal and external society-wide gains and losses stemming from vertical integration, which vary according to the state of technology in the industries involved, roughly corresponding to the stages of the industry lifecycle. Static technology represents
12558-464: The e-commerce platform. Alibaba has built its leadership in the market by gradually acquiring complementary companies in a variety of industries including delivery and payments. One of the earliest, largest and most famous examples of vertical integration was the Carnegie Steel company. The company controlled not only the mills where the steel was made, but also the mines where the iron ore
12696-452: The economies of melting and casting, can be heat treated after casting to make malleable iron or ductile iron objects. Steel is distinguishable from wrought iron (now largely obsolete), which may contain a small amount of carbon but large amounts of slag . Iron is commonly found in the Earth's crust in the form of an ore , usually an iron oxide, such as magnetite or hematite . Iron
12834-532: The end of 1953, the first phase of reconstruction was complete. In the summer of 1948, VÖEST, ÖAMG and Swiss Roll AG agreed to co-develop the basic oxygen steelmaking process proposed by Robert Durrer (itself a development of Henry Bessemer 's 1858 patent). By June 1949, VÖEST developed an adaptation of Durrer's process, the LD (Linz-Donawitz) process, (German: LD Verfahren; U.S. names: Oxygen Converter Process, Basic Oxygen Furnace Process, BOP, OSM). In December 1949,
12972-614: The entire value chain, but do not do everything in-house (e.g. assembly of iPhones by manufacturing partner Foxconn ). From the early 1920s through the early 1950s, the American motion picture had evolved into an industry controlled by a few companies, a condition known as a "mature oligopoly ", as it was led by eight major film studios , the most powerful of which were the "Big Five" studios: MGM , Warner Brothers , 20th Century Fox , Paramount Pictures , and RKO . These studios were fully integrated, not only producing and distributing films, but also operating their own movie theaters ;
13110-556: The farmer can only sell under and to the integrator. These restrictions on specified growth, Hightower argues, strips the selling and producing power of the farmer. The producer is ultimately limited by the established standards of the integrator. Yet, at the same time, the integrator still keeps the responsibility connected to the farmer. Hightower sees this as ownership without reliability. Under marketing contracts, growers agree in advance to sell their animals to integrators under an agreed price system. Generally, these contracts shield
13248-648: The finest steel in the world exported to the Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Arab worlds at that time – what they called Seric Iron . A 200 BC Tamil trade guild in Tissamaharama , in the South East of Sri Lanka, brought with them some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from the classical period . The Chinese and locals in Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka had also adopted
13386-579: The fire. Unlike copper and tin, liquid or solid iron dissolves carbon quite readily. All of these temperatures could be reached with ancient methods used since the Bronze Age . Since the oxidation rate of iron increases rapidly beyond 800 °C (1,470 °F), it is important that smelting take place in a low-oxygen environment. Smelting, using carbon to reduce iron oxides, results in an alloy ( pig iron ) that retains too much carbon to be called steel. The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in
13524-513: The form of charcoal) in a crucible, was produced in Merv by the 9th to 10th century AD. In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel, and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that used partial decarburization via repeated forging under a cold blast . Since
13662-493: The fuel to company-owned retail stations, for sale to consumers. Standard Oil is a famous example of both horizontal and vertical integration, combining extraction, transport, refinement, wholesale distribution, and retail sales at company-owned gas stations. Telephone companies in most of the 20th century, especially the largest (the Bell System ) were integrated, making their own telephones , telephone cables , telephone exchange equipment and other supplies. The Bell System
13800-403: The government sold its last shares of the company in 2003. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 of Voest-Alpine Technologie, which was the parent company of the former Voest-Alpine plant-building unit Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau , split from the larger company in 1956. During 2001, Voestalpine bought Polynorm, a Bunschoten, Netherlands manufacturer of auto parts, in exchange for $ 118 million. At
13938-599: The hardenability of thick sections. High strength low alloy steel has small additions (usually < 2% by weight) of other elements, typically 1.5% manganese, to provide additional strength for a modest price increase. Recent corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations have given rise to a new variety of steel known as Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS). This material is both strong and ductile so that vehicle structures can maintain their current safety levels while using less material. There are several commercially available grades of AHSS, such as dual-phase steel , which
14076-411: The high cost of equipment, so Birdseye provided it to them. Until now, Birds Eye has faded slowly because they have fixed costs associated with vertical integration, such as property, plants, and equipment that cannot be reduced significantly when production needs decrease. The Birds Eye company used vertical integration to create a larger organization structure with more levels of command. This produced
14214-401: The integrator from liability for the grower's actions and the only negotiable item is a price. In the United States new automobiles can not be sold at dealerships owned by the same company that produced them but are protected by state franchise laws. Ford Motor Company vertically integrated due to high demand for their Model T automobile. With the development of Model T, the company required
14352-439: The main production route. At the end of 2008, the steel industry faced a sharp downturn that led to many cut-backs. In 2021, it was estimated that around 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions resulted from the steel industry. Reduction of these emissions are expected to come from a shift in the main production route using cokes, more recycling of steel and the application of carbon capture and storage technology. Steel
14490-450: The most part, however, p-block elements such as sulphur, nitrogen , phosphorus , and lead are considered contaminants that make steel more brittle and are therefore removed from steel during the melting processing. The density of steel varies based on the alloying constituents but usually ranges between 7,750 and 8,050 kg/m (484 and 503 lb/cu ft), or 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm (4.48 and 4.65 oz/cu in). Even in
14628-446: The movement of dislocations . The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.14% of its weight. Varying the amount of carbon and many other alloying elements, as well as controlling their chemical and physical makeup in the final steel (either as solute elements, or as precipitated phases), impedes the movement of the dislocations that make pure iron ductile, and thus controls and enhances its qualities. These qualities include
14766-434: The now merged company. Within healthcare systems, horizontal integration is generally much more prominent. However, in the United States, major vertical mergers have included CVS Health 's purchase of Aetna , and Cigna 's purchase of Express Scripts . The integration of CVS Health and Aetna resulted in the combination of one of the nation's largest health insurance companies with a pharmaceutical company seen all across
14904-406: The potential competitor, the enhancements to horizontal collusion, and development of barriers to entry. However, it is still debated over if vertical integration expected efficiencies can lead to competitive harm to the market. Some conclude that in many cases that the efficiencies outweigh the potential risks. Contrary to horizontal integration , which is a consolidation of many firms that handle
15042-449: The product but only locally relieves strains and stresses locked up within the material. Annealing goes through three phases: recovery , recrystallization , and grain growth . The temperature required to anneal a particular steel depends on the type of annealing to be achieved and the alloying constituents. Quenching involves heating the steel to create the austenite phase then quenching it in water or oil . This rapid cooling results in
15180-442: The product. Another major success of Apple's, is the forward integration with their retail stores, allowing them to sell their products directly to customers (helping customers to buy and use Apple's products and services), additionally helping them to control the prices of their products, and thus to maintain high-profit margins when they do. Apple is also known as one of the world's leading "orchestrators" as they exert control over
15318-759: The production methods of creating wootz steel from the Chera Dynasty Tamils of South India by the 5th century AD. In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace, driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Since the technology was acquired from the Tamilians from South India, the origin of steel technology in India can be conservatively estimated at 400–500 BC. The manufacture of wootz steel and Damascus steel , famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge, may have been taken by
15456-844: The purchase by Voest-Alpine Krems in 2000, giving the Voest-Alpine Stahl AG subsidiary its first manufacturing facilities in the United States. In the 2010s, the company made a $ 740 million investment in a HBI plant outside Corpus Christi, Texas . Groundbreaking took place in April 2014 and production activity commenced on 28 September 2016. During 2022, the majority stake of the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal . During 1978, Voest-Alpine and other European companies started Bayou Steel Corporation, incorporated in Louisiana in 1979. The first mill opened in LaPlace, Louisiana in 1981, but
15594-426: The quality of the final product. Today more than 1.6 billion tons of steel is produced annually. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations . The modern steel industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world, but also one of the most energy and greenhouse gas emission intense industries, contributing 8% of global emissions. However, steel
15732-410: The rest. In February 2018, voestalpine started constructing a steel mill in Linz , Austria specifically utilizing 6 MW hydrogen fuel technology instead of coal, which started in late 2019. During 1990, Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme and Nortrak Railway Supply Ltd. of Richmond, British Columbia , Canada formed a joint venture called VAE Nortrak North America, Inc. , which later added operations in
15870-631: The same part of the production process, vertical integration is typified by one firm engaged in different parts of production (e.g., growing raw materials, manufacturing, transporting, marketing, and/or retailing ). Vertical integration is the degree to which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers. The differences depend on where the firm is placed in the order of the supply chain. There are three varieties of vertical integration: backward (upstream) vertical integration, forward (downstream) vertical integration, and balanced (both upstream and downstream) vertical integration. Disintermediation
16008-506: The simplest case, where the gains and losses have been studied extensively. A vertically integrated company usually fails when transactions within the market are too risky or the contracts to support these risks are too costly to administer, such as frequent transactions and a small number of buyers and sellers. The following are several case studies of vertical integration in play. Many examples center around American industries, where major companies like General Foods, Carnegie Steel Company ,
16146-455: The steel processes to the next generation. Oil companies , both multinational (such as ExxonMobil , Shell , ConocoPhillips or BP ) and national (e.g., Petronas ) often adopt a vertically integrated structure, meaning that they are active along the entire supply chain from locating deposits , drilling and extracting crude oil , transporting it around the world, refining it into petroleum products such as petrol/gasoline , to distributing
16284-401: The steel. At the very high cooling rates produced by quenching, the carbon has no time to migrate but is locked within the face-centred austenite and forms martensite . Martensite is a highly strained and stressed, supersaturated form of carbon and iron and is exceedingly hard but brittle. Depending on the carbon content, the martensitic phase takes different forms. Below 0.2% carbon, it takes on
16422-561: The steel. The early modern crucible steel industry resulted from the invention of Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Blister steel (made as above) was melted in a crucible or in a furnace, and cast (usually) into ingots. The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer 's process in 1855, the raw material for which was pig iron. His method let him produce steel in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel came to be used for most purposes for which wrought iron
16560-434: The supply chain can be challenging for the firm. Another problem that may stem from vertical integration is the collapse of goals among the various firms in a supply chain. With each firm operating under different systems, integration may cause initial problems in management and production. Vertical integration also proves to be dangerous when monopolistic problems arise in a capitalistic economy. When this happens, competition
16698-426: The supply chain produces a different product or (market-specific) service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need. It contrasts with horizontal integration , wherein a company produces several items that are related to one another. Vertical integration has also described management styles that bring large portions of the supply chain not only under a common ownership but also into one corporation (as in
16836-598: The supply chain. Vertical integration enabled Ford Motor Company to be self-regulating and self-sufficient. EssilorLuxottica , the company that merged with Essilor and Luxottica , occupies up to 30% of the global market share as well as representing billions of pairs of lenses and frames sold annually. Before the merger, Luxottica also owned 80% of the market share of companies that produce corrective and protective eyewear as well as owning many retailers, optical departments at Target and Sears , and key eye insurance groups, such as EyeMed , many of which are already part of
16974-561: The technology of that time, such qualities were produced by chance rather than by design. Natural wind was used where the soil containing iron was heated by the use of wood. The ancient Sinhalese managed to extract a ton of steel for every 2 tons of soil, a remarkable feat at the time. One such furnace was found in Samanalawewa and archaeologists were able to produce steel as the ancients did. Crucible steel , formed by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon (typically in
17112-508: The time, the company stated its goal to be a 15 percent share of European auto-body parts. In 1998, Voest-Alpine Stahl and Vossloh AG joined to purchase 90 percent of VAE Group. The Austrian manufacturer of railroad switches , turnout systems and related products was founded in 1851. as Hugo-Hütte by Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck and owned by Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft from 1889 until that company's 1973 merger with Voest-Alpine AG, and had been independent since 1990. During 2002,
17250-491: The two parties will negotiate tomorrow about how to divide the returns of the investments. Since the owner is in a better bargaining position, he will have stronger incentives to invest. Hence, whether vertical integration is desirable or not depends on whose investments are more important. Hart's theory has been extended by several authors. For instance, DeMeza and Lockwood (1998) have studied different bargaining games, while Schmitz (2006) has introduced asymmetric information into
17388-525: The upper carbon content of steel, beyond which is cast iron. When carbon moves out of solution with iron, it forms a very hard, but brittle material called cementite (Fe 3 C). When steels with exactly 0.8% carbon (known as a eutectoid steel), are cooled, the austenitic phase (FCC) of the mixture attempts to revert to the ferrite phase (BCC). The carbon no longer fits within the FCC austenite structure, resulting in an excess of carbon. One way for carbon to leave
17526-472: The whole mining and steel sales of the Reichswerke. The Reichswerke announced its plans for a new steel mill in Linz before the takeover of Alpine, as an incentive for VS to extract more ore at Erzberg. Linz had a special place in Nazi system, and the steel project received full financial commitment of the state. On 13 May 1938, the ground breaking ceremony for the Hermann Göring Werke in Linz
17664-766: Was acquired by voestalpine AG in 2008. On 9 March 2016, the World Bank Group announced the debarment of Isando -based Voestalpine VAE SA (Pty) Ltd and its affiliates for a period of 27 months. The punitive measure was applied following the failed disclosure of relevant information in the company's bid for a contract under the Multimodal Transport Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo . The debarment of Voestalpine VAE SA (Pty) Ltd and affiliates qualifies for cross-debarment by other Multilateral Development Banks under
17802-535: Was completed with the takeover of Danube shipping companies and local construction businesses. The steel mill was completed during the conflict and was generously subsidized by the state. Between 1943 and 1944, when the Ruhr was heavily bombed (see Battle of the Ruhr ), Hitler demanded a sharp increase in steel production in Austria. Göring launched a huge and unmanageable expansion campaign and spared no expense, all in vain:
17940-504: Was developed by Oliver Hart and his coauthors. Consider a seller of an intermediate product that is used by a buyer to produce a final product. The intermediate product can only be produced with the help of specific physical assets (e.g., machines, buildings). Should the buyer own the assets (vertical integration) or should the seller own the assets (non-integration)? Suppose that today the parties have to make relationship-specific investments. Since today complete contracts cannot be written,
18078-718: Was developed in Southern India and Sri Lanka in the 1st millennium BCE. Metal production sites in Sri Lanka employed wind furnaces driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel. Large-scale wootz steel production in India using crucibles occurred by the sixth century BC, the pioneering precursor to modern steel production and metallurgy. High-carbon steel was produced in Britain at Broxmouth Hillfort from 490–375 BC, and ultrahigh-carbon steel
18216-575: Was dismantled and sold to SSAB (then known as Norrbottens Järnverk AB) in Luleå , Sweden ; the proceeds were used to purchase coal in Poland . The supply of coal allowed VÖEST to restart its pig iron smelting operation in June 1947; the first pig iron was shipped to Sweden. Two other furnaces were earmarked for sale to Czechoslovakia ; Mark Clark objected to this deal since 1946 and it finally fell apart after
18354-403: Was extracted, the coal mines that supplied the coal , the ships that transported the iron ore and the railroads that transported the coal to the factory, the coke ovens where the coal was coked, etc. The company focused heavily on developing talent internally from the bottom up, rather than importing it from other companies. Later, Carnegie established an institute of higher learning to teach
18492-509: Was formerly used. The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process ) was an improvement to the Bessemer process, made by lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus. Another 19th-century steelmaking process was the Siemens-Martin process , which complemented the Bessemer process. It consisted of co-melting bar iron (or steel scrap) with pig iron. These methods of steel production were rendered obsolete by
18630-536: Was held. Paul Pleiger was appointed chief of the Reichswerke in Linz for his services to the Nazis during the Anschluss. The synergy of steel works in Linz and ore reserves at Erzberg, vertically integrated into the Reichswerke, made it virtually independent of the steel elite of the Ruhr . The works in Linz were viewed as a hub of a future steel conglomerate spanning over the whole Central Europe. The integration
18768-438: Was produced globally, with 630,000,000 tonnes (620,000,000 long tons; 690,000,000 short tons) recycled. Modern steels are made with varying combinations of alloy metals to fulfil many purposes. Carbon steel , composed simply of iron and carbon, accounts for 90% of steel production. Low alloy steel is alloyed with other elements, usually molybdenum , manganese, chromium, or nickel, in amounts of up to 10% by weight to improve
18906-757: Was produced in the Netherlands from the 2nd-4th centuries AD. The Roman author Horace identifies steel weapons such as the falcata in the Iberian Peninsula , while Noric steel was used by the Roman military . The Chinese of the Warring States period (403–221 BC) had quench-hardened steel, while Chinese of the Han dynasty (202 BC—AD 220) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, thus producing
19044-569: Was purchased by Hugo Stinnes for the German giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VS). After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership and the German steel barons clashed in a conflict over the rate of economic growth: the Nazis demanded rapid buildup of industrial capacity while the big business feared overproduction and preferred to keep status quo . In the first half of 1937
#674325