High-tech mechanical engineering solutions need high-tech steels

There is a close interlinkage and interdependence between the mechanical engineering industry and the steelmaking industry. Mechanical and plant engineering, on the one hand, use steel as an input material for their products and, on the other hand, produce tools and machinery used for the processing of steel. However, the mechanical and plant engineering industries can only comply with the exacting demands of their customers, if a constantly high material quality is assured. Being the most important mechanical engineering material, steel plays a prominent role in the overall investment goods industry. The production of ever higher-grade steels opens up new fields of application and contributes to savings in cost and material. The close collaboration between steelmakers and companies of the German mechanical engineering industry has been bringing about innovative developments on a regular basis. This collaboration is of strategic importance, as it is always difficult to make up for ground lost in the early phase of a development. The importance of the products provided by the steel industry and the mechanical engineering industry for the prosperity and competitiveness of the society is, however, frequently underrated by the public. This, last but not least, is reflected by the innovation-inhibiting tendencies in governmental policy.