The one thing that becomes clear at the locations of thyssenkrupp Steel is that digital transformation is an open-ended process. A process that innovators can initiate, but the implementation of which depends on the attitude and willingness to change of each individual employee. Getting the employees on board, sharing knowledge with them and dispelling their reservations are the most important tasks in every solutions-oriented digital project of thyssenkrupp Steel. Lars Bode from the Business Unit Automotive remembers the presentation of smartform^® on a tablet, one of the first Augmented Reality applications in the company. The innovative smartform^® process enables to produce components from ultra-high-strength steels with almost no springback. This can be depicted realistically and thus well illustrated on the tablet. “The simulation makes the exchange among experts on complex processes much easier. However, we also bring a component along, as an illustrative model, so to speak“. That makes sense - because data can be experienced, but not touched. By the time VR goggles have become established as a working tool, the machines in the rolling mills will probably have long since shared their data with the plants at other locations.

Refreshing soft drinks, hearty stews and hairspray that can withstand inclement weather – for all their differences in terms of content, these products often have one thing in common: in the supermarket, they are offered in cans made of tinplate, a thin cold-rolled steel sheet with a tin coating. You don't have to look far to find the reasons for its diverse use: Tinplate is an extremely safe packaging material, which ensures very long shelf life due to the one hundred percent protection against the effects of light and oxygen. In addition, its good processing capabilities and printability are factors in favor of the sustainable material, which can be recycled again and again in a closed material cycle.

"By means of FEA, our customers know even before processing a thinner or innovative packaging steel whether certain ideas for material reduction can also be implemented in practice," explains Ioana Weinand. As part of an overarching digitization strategy, she has actively shaped the development of FEA at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein in various roles from the very beginning. In her previous job as an engineer at the thyssenkrupp Steel site in Dortmund, the 32-year-old was part of a cross-company transfer program that focused on research into new development processes in the area of packaging steel. At thyssenkrupp Rasselstein in Andernach, she is now seamlessly continuing her work as part of a highly specialized team that aims to shape an entire industry with the Finite Element Analysis.

Dr. Manuel Köhl: "We will therefore devote even more attention to the topic of FEA in the future, because we want to be at the forefront of the further development of this innovative technology. Soon it will be impossible to imagine life without the Finite Element Analysis." The fact that the importance of FEA is increasing is also due to its versatile application possibilities. Already today, the virtual method can be applied to all can types and components. This includes aerosol can ends and bottoms, as well as twist-off closures or crown corks. Fabian Knieps, who works as a PhD student in development at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein, sees additional opportunities for the industry here: "FEA makes it possible to implement completely new product ideas and thus promotes innovation in the packaging industry. Manufacturers can be more daring and come up with more creative solutions."