Corus, part of the Tata Steel group, has realized $600 million of internal performance improvements, generated through specific projects.
Corus chief executive officer (CEO), Philippe Varin, has mentioned in his message to the Tata Steel shareholders in the company’s annual report that it was achieved through specific projects in each of Corus’ main divisions as well as company initiatives on continuous improvement.
In the strip products division of Corus, the project Ijmuiden 2010 was on schedule with upgrading facilities to improve quality, product range and productivity.
“Similarly there has been an increase of our production in Port Talbot, and the new Llanwern 2 programme at CSP UK has the immediate aim of reducing fixed costs by a sizeable margin,” he said.
The long products division’s project Starsign, a strategic initiative to improve and enhance capability in the rod, rail and sections business. In the long-term it aims to increase and expand production capabilities such as 120 rails.
Further, Corus recorded a liquid steel production of 20.3 million tons compared to 18.8 million tones during 2006 and prior to the acquisition. Deliveries were at 23.1 million tons as against 21.6 million tons in 2006.
Post-acquisition, Tata Steel took substantive measures to ensure a smooth integration process with Corus.
An operating model to govern management collaboration and decision making on such areas such as finance, strategy, IT, HR, continuous improvement. A joint executive committee comprising executive leadership of both entities, provides high level direction and guidance.
Also, to ensure that synergies in operations were identified and implemented for a pre-defined bottomline, enabling mechanisms like focused integrated teams, a strategy and integration committee, an integration programme office and an external independent party was engaged to audit implementation plans and track synergy realisation.
