As we enter the new year, the management team is more determined than ever to ensure that ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada is a world-class company admired by all its stakeholders.
To do so, we must continue to be the best employer with our plants always in transformation by offering high quality steel, delivered in the shortest possible time, to create the greatest possible value for our customers whose needs we know well; all this to leave a sustainable and healthy legacy for future generations.
With this 2025 vision in mind, the management team and I would like to announce some changes to our current structure. We will be enhancing our efforts in areas such as the environment, technology and logistics planning.
As a result, Will Trower, Vice-President and Chief Transformation Officer, will retain his current responsibilities, but will be adding the environmental responsibility. He will lead the environment team of Eric Morissette, Director of Environment and Luc Séguin, Director of Strategic Projects. Will will hold the title of Vice-President and Head of Strategy and Environment.
Therefore, compliance with environmental standards, the reduction of our carbon footprint and the implementation of good practices to obtain the Responsible Steel label will be integrated into all our concerns, from the development of our strategy to the deployment of our various projects. This linkage between strategic and environmental services will allow for greater coherence in our value chain and will positively influence our various stakeholders.
We would like to thank Will for all his support during the 2020 and 2021 transformations.
Nadia Thibault, Director, Legal Affairs & Compliance becomes Vice-President, Legal Affairs, Compliance and Security and will now be responsible for the Security and Emergency Measures team under the leadership of Jonathan Perreault, Coordinator, Security and Emergency Measures.
She will be responsible for the protection of all our assets, including site security, emergency plans, CTPAT compliance on border controls and security systems, and insurance relations.
Other challenges for Nadia include supporting future acquisition transactions, implementing litigation services for our associated companies and providing legal advice as required.
Nadia will continue to be responsible for the management of our real estate portfolio and the management of commercial claims. We would like to highlight her achievements in mitigating commercial risks during contract negotiations in 2021. Her support and legal advice on human resources, IT security and procurement during the creation of the IMR joint venture was also essential.
We would like to thank Nadia for her valuable support in 2021.
As technology becomes omnipresent throughout the organization, there are many promising projects, and we rely on a technical team that must remain strong and we must provide effective coaching. In addition, IT is constantly evolving and ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada must anticipate transitions, recruitment, and skills development. The change management required for the implementation of these new technologies and the Lean Six Sigma methodology is therefore essential.
Louis Plante, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer will now hold the title of Vice-President and Chief Technology and Business Improvement Officer.
In the past year, Louis, along with his teams and multiple collaborators, piloted successful projects reaching up to $30M for value creation; the installation of new equipment at the Wire Rod Mill Plant; the commissioning of the first combustion chamber at the eastern steel plant for dust collectors; the implementation of actions related to cybersecurity; and the completion of the treatment of oily calamine (80,000 tons). There is still a lot of work to be done in connection with some of these advances. Also, a 4.0 audit has been completed, and a transformation governance has been put in place and will certainly benefit from more attention.
We would like to thank Louis, and his teams for all these advances.
Finally, in the interest of efficiency, consistency of end-to-end management and balance in the senior management support to all of our teams, Charles Fréchette, Vice-President and Chief Procurement Officer, will retain his current responsibilities, but will also be entrusted with planning, logistics and supply chain, which will continue to be led by Ghislain Fortin, General Manager, Planning, Logistics and Supply Chain.
We would like to take this opportunity to highlight the achievements of the procurement team over the past year. The transformation and interdepartmental joint governance projects to improve our procurement practices have generated substantial and sustainable savings. The purchasing and financial hedging strategies for natural gas supplies have also generated significant positive financial impacts. Finally, we would like to emphasize the creation of intermediary partnerships that are essential to our collaboration with major suppliers and thus support our organizational strategy.
We would like to thank Charles’ team for all of these achievements, especially in the context of a global pandemic and major supply chain disruptions. ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada did not experience any downtime thanks to the various strategies and actions taken daily by the procurement team.
We wish them all the best in their new roles, and we are confident that each of them will lead ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada to take a few more steps towards our 2025 vision.
François Perras
Chief Executive Officer