Corus hosts ‘best practice’ briefing in future steel technologies
16 Sep 2003
Corus, the international metals company, hosted a World Class Network (WCN) seminar in association with Birmingham’s Technology Innovation Centre (tic) on future steel technologies at the company’s Automotive Service Centre in Wolverhampton last Thursday 11 September.
The WCN seminars programme was established in partnership between the tic at the University of Central England and the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Birmingham-based Accelerate programme. The main objective of the programme is to promote best practice for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the West Midlands, which are involved in the design, production and/or distribution of steel to the automotive sector.
The event at Corus was the first in a new series of themed WCN events under the ‘World Class Xtra’ banner. The day’s topic - ‘Automotive Technologies for the Future’ – was designed to update SMEs on the future trends and technologies in the processing and distribution of steel for all tiers of the automotive industry.
“We were delighted that Corus agreed to host the briefing on future steel technologies at its world leading site, which has recently been awarded the latest ISO/TS 16949: 2002 quality approval standard,” said Chris Bragança, tic programme manager for the WCN. “Today’s visit to Corus provided our delegates with a fantastic opportunity to gain a first-hand look at how the rigorous quality standards of a market leader are both obtained, and maintained, to meet the exacting levels of quality demanded by today’s automotive industry.
Mr Bragança added: “The participants walked away from today’s event equipped with an invaluable understanding of the tools, techniques and processes required within their own businesses to catapult them from good to world class material solutions providers.”
Corus has recently increased its investment in the £30 million Steelpark facility – incorporating the Automotive Service Centre and its dedicated laser welding business, Autolaser Technologies – by adding a £250,000 blanking line to help meet the increasing supply-chain demand. The site already boasts a comprehensive line-up of dedicated automotive processing facilities, including a 600-tonne large-bed pressing blanking line. In addition, the Autolaser Technologies site was the first facility in Europe to have the capability to manufacture production volumes of advanced, second-generation, non-linear laser-welded blanks, which have been specified by BMW MINI and Jaguar.
Note to Editors:
Corus is an international metals company supplying material solutions for automotive, construction, engineering and packaging industries with manufacturing facilities and sales offices throughout the world.
Ends
Corus Automotive media enquiries:
Rob Palmer +44 1582 763255 rpalmer@automotivepr.com
Marco Ferrari +44 1582 763259 mferrari@automotivepr.com
Corus sales and marketing enquiries:
Lisa Benbow +44 1902 484 053 lisa.benbow@corusgroup.com
