In current competitive, complicated and fierce times, simply depending on excellent products can't satisfy the roll industry to be the first, the only way is to improve the innovation ability and continuously create the products which meet the demands of the market. To GC people who always put product innovation into the first, innovation is not only promoting core competitiveness but also on behalf of culture concept "people-oriented, with sincereness, constantly innovation". Therefore, in early May this year, the company set up several project teams of which the two vice chief engineers Mr. Zhou Qinzhong and Mr. Zhang Wenjun take charge. The R&D and innovation work in new products 2012 started. Meanwhile, the company set up a technology innovation team that the technical department lead and all the workshops coordinate. According to the feedback from the users, they innovate the original technology and improve the combination properties to meet the constantly changing demands of the market.
On R&D, in order to speed up and adapt to new situations and requirements in the next National Twelfth Five-Year Plan of national steel industry, to meet the demands of key domestic projects like automobile plates, steel ship plates with high strength, and steels with excellent quality used in modern equipment industry and national defense etc., to meet the constant demands of home-made rolls with high quality & properties for speeding up rolling technology and varieties quality development of steel industry, especially to meet the urgent demands of current steel enterprises at home and abroad after the financial crisis on reducing costs to promote development, the company set up a leading group of which the general manager Mr. Shao Lijun take charge, coordinated by three vice managers Mr. Shi Huanqing, Mr. Chu Xinglin, and Mr. Liu Zhiming. The key R&D plan 2012 contains "large-size centrifugal back-up rolls of hot strip mill by means of casting instead of forging" and "large roll rings of large H section mill by means of monobloc casting".
For carrying out the projects on schedule, there are several temporary work teams due to different tasks, mainly consist of technological parameter and document team; inspection and test report team; casting process control and necessary auxiliary tool and mould team; equipment transformation and maintenance team of centrifugal machine; heat treatment process and supervision team; purchase team on various raw & vice materials and instruments; intellectual property authentication and patent application team and so on. Each team contains chief and auxiliary principals. That ensures each step operate successively.
At present, the two projects, "large-size centrifugal back-up rolls of hot strip mill by means of casting instead of forging" and "large roll rings of large H section mill by means of monobloc casting", are successively carried out. Before the end of May, the project group had already finished theory authentication, and initially ensured relevant written technical proposals; meanwhile, before June 15, the project group finished purchase on various raw & vice materials and instruments as well as mould manufacture and sci-tech check novelty; before June 20, the two projects had completed the first trial work. In the recent days, the project group will start heat treatment and test work on the trial products of the two projects. It's expected that before the end of August, the project group will complete relevant improved proposals on process and authentication of the trial products, and complete all the R&D tasks before the end of October.
On technology innovation, the leaders focus on the change of roll market as well as the users' demands, and stably carry out innovation work on improving original technology and raw materials alongside with developing new products.
On improving original technology, recently, the company successfully manufactures super ICDP rolls through adjusting each alloy rate of worklayer and improving cooling casting process according to the users' feedback that the ICDP rolls have poor wear resistance, poor anti-accicent properties and so on. After the initial test and evaluation by the quality control department, the new super ICDP rolls have less hardness drop, improved wear resistance and anti-accident properties etc.. It's expected that they will meet the strict requirements of the customers. At the same time, GC also positively cooperate with Laiwu Steel Group to develop large-size adamite roll rings of large H section mill with high properties. In the past, this kind of roll rings were dependent on import, because the home-made ones couldn't meet the requirements of the customers with hardness only about 45HSC. According to it, the company R&D fog quenching heat treatment process instead of original wind quenching heat treatment process. The result is that the barrel hardness is up to 55-65HSC after improving heat treatment process and can completely meet the requirements of Laiwu Steel Group. It's advantageous for the company to further explore the domestic and international markets.
On new products, the current medium and small size rolls of bar mill and wire-rod mill are generally SGA and SGP cast rolls. The traditional rolls have worse wear resistance and lower rolling tonnage per millimeter. However, the domestic market urgently needs new ones with high properties. According to the market situation, the company R&D small-size high Cr cast iron rolls and small-size HSS rolls of medium and small size bar mill and wire-rod mill on the basis of large-size centrifugal high Cr steel and HSS rolls. That updates the products, improves the rolling tonnage per millimeter of medium and small size rolls of bar mill and wire-rod mill, reduces the rolling costs and further explores the worldwide markets.
As the development of the market economy especially China joining in WTO, GC has been facing serious challenge of enterprise internationalization, high and new technology development intensified. Whether can develop smoothly in the new times concerns the future of GC. So, GC will have a prosperous future only to continuously improve the ability and innovate the products and technology.