Innovation permeates everything we do at ArcelorMittal: from the scientific expertise of our research and development (R&D) department to getting employees in other functions throughout the group to think about what they could do differently.

“Innovation means change and adaptation...[It] is about bringing fresh thinking and a new perspective to everything we do. It is about challenging conventional wisdom and finding creative solutions.”

Lakshmi Mittal, CEO, ArcelorMittal

Our innovative thinking leads to improved performance, increased sustainability and solutions to global challenges. Here are a few of our innovation highlights.

• ArcelorMittal won the Best Process Innovation award in American Metal Market’s (AMM) 2011 Awards for Steel Excellence. The award was for our S-in motion project, which showed how the weight of a vehicle could be reduced by using Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) and existing manufacturing processes, without compromising the strength or safety of the vehicle.

• The innovation and construction development (ICD) team within our distribution solutions team works with clients to develop innovative solutions to construction challenges. When French architect Claude Vasconi required flooring with particular acoustic and aesthetic features for a sustainable high school in Toulouse, the ICD team and ArcelorMittal Construction worked with him to develop Cofradal 200, composite flooring that met the project’s requirements.

• ArcelorMittal’s distribution solutions segment, through its construction business unit, has developed Protea, a groundbreaking low-cost, high-quality housing system for use initially in South Africa. The modular system can be assembled by four people in just four days and is fire and earthquake-resistant.

• Our research centre in Asturias, Spain, has developed an overhead crane training simulator based on virtual reality techniques and 3D technology. The trainee works with 3D images using stereoscopic glasses to practise realistic work scenarios and ensure they are fully competent before working on site.

While innovation in the steel industry can often be technical, innovation at ArcelorMittal is not restricted to our technical departments.

When the global economic crisis forced us to cancel the biennial Automotive Symposium in Cannes in 2009, our US customer teams decided to stage a series of “innovation days” at our automotive customers’ premises instead. As it turned out, the impact of the alternative solution beat the original approach.

In Brazil, a workplace-based anti-tobacco campaign provided access to doctors, psychologists, nutritionists and nurses, patches and chewing gum to help ArcelorMittal employees overcome their addiction to cigarettes. Levels of smoking dropped to 0.1% and absenteeism caused by smoking-related problems fell accordingly.

As well as helping to improve the quality of life of our employees through innovation, we use innovative ideas to attract and retain high-quality employees.

In 2011 ArcelorMittal University won one of five Excellence Awards from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) for its core leadership and management skills training. The university offers our employees the chance to take control of their career development plans with a range of training courses online and at our campuses in Luxembourg, the Czech Republic and South Africa.