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Innovations

ThyssenKrupp's competitiveness and the long-term success of the Company depend to a high degree on innovative products and processes. Our annual Innovation Contest helps further improve the climate for innovation in the Group and promote the translation of ideas into successful products and services. Of the 61 entries in this year's contest, the prize-winning projects stood out not only for their high level of innovativeness but also for their outstanding market potential.

First prize went to an international development team for its design of a new crusher. The project involves a fully mobile crawler-mounted crusher with a downstream conveyor system, replacing conventional truck transportation direct from the mine face. A first system of this type has been operating successfully since 2007 in an open pit coal mine in China under extreme production conditions. Dispensing with truck transportation reduces operating costs by around a third and also lowers CO2 emissions, thus contributing to climate protection. There is market potential for these fully mobile crushers in all open pit mining operations where large volumes need to be mined and transported, e.g. in oil sands mining in Canada.

The new stainless steel NIROSTA® 4640 was awarded second place in the contest. This innovative material is alloyed with a new combination of chromium, nickel, manganese, copper and nitrogen and displays the same good properties as the long-established grade NIROSTA® 4301. By reducing the amount of cost-intensive nickel, the new material – which is used e.g. in household appliances, kitchen equipment and in the capital goods industry – offers a low-cost alternative which is already enjoying a high level of market acceptance.

Third place went to an innovative process which for the first time allows the high-quality hot-dip coating of high-strength multiphase steels. Consecutive oxidation and reduction processes avoid the undesirable formation of oxides on the surface caused by the increased alloy content of these steels. Multiphase steels coated by this new process have great potential for automotive lightweighting and reduce CO2 emissions from motor vehicles. The new coating process also significantly reduces production costs.

A new Groupwide Innovation Contest – the tenth in successive years – will be held in 2009.