Effects of Digitalization in Steel Industry : Economic Impacts & Investment Model

Abstract: The awareness and interest for digitalization have increased tremendously during recent years. However, many companies are struggling to identify the economic benefits and often face long payback time and large initial investment costs. This study aims to assess the potential economic effects from digitalization projects in the steel production industry. The study begins by elucidating central concept like, digitization, digitalization, digital transform and the link between digitalization and automation. Furthermore, the study identifies effects of digitization at production level from an internal efficiency perspective, based on existing literature. On this basis, an investment tool for digitization projects has been developed, consisting of three different analyzes; a level of automation analysis, a quantitative analysis and a qualitative analysis. To continue, the investment model has been applied to a potential investment of a smart automatic crane. The results from all three analyses provided positive results and incentives to initiate the project. As a result of poor data collection and rigid data, only one effect could be accounted for in the quantitative analysis, which generated a net present value of nearly 12 MSEK over a tenyear period. The most critical parameter proved to be the timing of initiating the project.