SERVICE OUTSOURCING - A STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY

摘要

This paper outlines the advantages in cost efficiency, quality, environmental compliance and competitiveness that outsourcing to strategic partners can bring to the steel industry today. For the steel industry, service outsourcing began in the early 1900's as a satellite activity, traditionally focusing upon the reclamation of metal from existing slag dumps. Small local contractors ran this activity, generating real value for the host mill by delivering internal scrap at a price below that of externally purchased scrap. Outsourced providers today have evolved from these early companies engaged in peripheral activities to the managers of core activities operating at the heart of the steelmaking process. Such additional activities include; total slag management, specialised Heavy Transport; slab management; scrap control and by-product processing. The use of mill service outsourcing is now increasingly recognised by steelmakers as an effective method of reducing costs through the conservation of capital and management resources. The paper, through illustrated examples, tries to outline the commercial and technical strategic opportunities that steel mills can enjoy through correct outsourcing of activities.