65% of all Group companies have their own research and development departments. At the Group level, the persons responsible for R&D within the individual divisions are networked by way of a Research Committee and the “Synergy Platforms,” Group-wide researcher meetings that take place on a regular basis. Communication with the Management Board is conducted through the Research Board that meets twice a year.
voestalpine participates in various consortia in order to find solutions to various issues involving process and product development. It is represented in all steel-related professional associations and bodies both in Europe (e.g., EUROFER, German Steel Institute – VDEh) and worldwide (e.g., World Steel Association). As an active member of ESTEP (European Steel Technology Platform), voestalpine is a participant in all of its working groups in order to play a role in the environmentally-friendly and sustainable development of steel production. Within the scope of its membership in EUROFER, voestalpine is working on the issue of energy efficiency.