Recently, the Engineering and Technology Research Institute of University of Science and Technology Beijing (hereinafter referred to as "USTB-ETRI") was invited by Jingjie Ruise to visit Chifeng Yuanlian Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yuanlian Steel") to carry out a technology empowerment activity. They provided practical and feasible suggestions on digital control of production lines, process optimization, and new product development. This event not only deepened the implementation of the industry-university-research cooperation between Jingjie Ruise and USTB-ETRI, but also injected scientific research impetus into the extension of Yuanlian Steel's industrial chain and product upgrading.
Beike Research and Development: Empowering Industrial Upgrading through Integration of Industry, Academia, and Research
As a research institute affiliated with the University of Science and Technology Beijing, which is renowned as the "cradle of steel", the University of Science and Technology Beijing Research Institute (USTBRI) has been leading the way in digital and intelligent research and advanced equipment manufacturing in recent years. USTBRI houses two national-level research centers, namely the "National Engineering Research Center for Efficient Rolling and Intelligent Manufacturing" and the "National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Equipment for Strip Steel Production". It has long been focused on major technological demands of the country and the industry, tackling key technologies in the field of metal strip processing, and cultivating high-level, multi-disciplinary talents in metallurgy, machinery, and material control. In recent years, Jingjie Ruise has been concentrating on the field of metal strip coating and plating, continuously strengthening its core R&D capabilities, and actively exploring the path of in-depth and collaborative development among industry, academia, and research. It has jointly established two innovation platforms with USTBRI, namely the "Cold Rolling Metal Strip Deep Processing Collaborative Innovation Center" and the "Joint Construction Base of the National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Equipment for Strip Steel Production". By leveraging a technology-sharing mechanism and focusing on joint research and development, the two parties have achieved breakthroughs in key technological areas such as low-carbon annealing process optimization and intelligent equipment R&D. Eventually, they have formed a full-chain service system covering technology R&D, process implementation, and equipment application, providing systematic solutions that are both targeted and operational for the transformation and upgrading of steel enterprises.
Yuanlian Steel: The Extended Industrial Chain from Hot Rolling to Cold Rolling Coating and Plating
In recent years, Yuanlian Steel has closely adhered to the national strategy for high-quality development of the steel industry and the requirements of the "dual carbon" goals. Focusing on breaking through the bottlenecks in the industry's development and enhancing the value of the industrial chain, it has continuously promoted systematic upgrades in production and operation levels, and its core competitiveness has been continuously improving. As a company that started with hot rolling, Yuanlian Steel has actively extended its industrial chain in recent years: In 2022, it invested 122.4 million yuan to build a cold rolling and galvanizing project with an annual capacity of 2 million tons; in 2023, it invested another 54 million yuan to layout a cold rolling and high-quality alloy strip annealing project with an annual capacity of 1 million tons; in 2024, it constructed hot-rolled special steel and cold rolling projects, gradually achieving a leap from "hot-rolled raw material supply" to the production of high value-added products such as "cold-hardened steel, hot-dip aluminum-magnesium steel, and cold-rolled non-oriented silicon steel". During this process, Jingjieshenshi, with its core high-temperature blast furnace gas annealing technology, has become a partner in Yuanlian Steel's transformation. The two sides have cumulatively built 13 core production lines, covering 5 galvanizing production lines, 4 galvanizing aluminum-magnesium production lines, 2 color coating production lines, and 2 vertical furnace continuous annealing production lines, and all use high-temperature blast furnace gas as fuel. This not only aligns with Yuanlian Steel's "low cost, low pollution, high quality" green production concept but also helps its products expand from the traditional building materials sector to the home appliance board sector, significantly enhancing its market competitiveness.
The core of "industry-university-research cooperation" is to ensure that scientific research results truly serve industrial needs. Xu Lei, the general manager of Jingjieruisi, stated that this time inviting Beikexin Research Institute to empower Yuanlian Steel precisely aims to achieve a precise connection between university research resources and enterprise practical demands, in order to solve the technical pain points in the production line upgrade. On one hand, Beikexin Research Institute's theoretical advantages in metallurgical processes, material properties, intelligent control, etc., provide a fundamental support for Jingjieruisi's technological research and process optimization; on the other hand, the data feedback and demand insights from Jingjieruisi in engineering practice have also pushed the university's research direction to be adjusted precisely in reverse. In the future, Jingjieruisi will continue to deepen its cooperation with Beikexin Research Institute, relying on the university's research advantages, focusing on technological innovation in the field of metal sheet coating and plating, providing more customers with solutions for upgrading the industrial chain, and driving the industry towards a green, intelligent, and high-precision direction through the dual drive of "research + practice".
