Ljubljana, Slovenia, and New York, USA — October 28th, 2025
SIJ Group, one of Europe’s leading producers of stainless and special steels, has partnered with Fero Labs, a pioneer in explainable artificial intelligence (AI) for industrial process optimisation, to accelerate the Group’s progress towards sustainable, high-performance steel production.
Innovating for Sustainable Excellence
SIJ Group has long stood out for its commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability. As Slovenia’s largest vertically integrated metallurgy, SIJ operates according to circular economy principles — manufacturing steel exclusively from recycled materials and reducing its environmental footprint across every stage of production.
The Group’s production companies SIJ Acroni and SIJ Metal Ravne, along with the parent company SIJ d.d., are ResponsibleSteel™-certified sites, demonstrating SIJ’s dedication to responsible and sustainable steelmaking.
Yet, even with world-class operations, the Group’s teams saw an opportunity to go further: to reduce variability, increase yield, and cut emissions simultaneously, without compromising quality.
“We’ve built SIJ Group on a foundation of technical expertise and a deep sense of responsibility to our customers and the environment,” said Slavko Kanalec, Chief Production, Technology and Investments Officer at SIJ Group. “But we also recognise that true leadership means continually pushing forward. We sought a solution that could help our experts turn data into daily decisions — faster, more transparently, and in support of our green transformation goals.”
From Conversation to Deployment — in Record Time
When SIJ Group began exploring AI-driven optimisation earlier this year, the team evaluated several approaches. Traditional tools provided some insights but often lacked the depth, transparency, and speed required for daily operational use.
In mid-summer, SIJ initiated discussions with Fero Labs. Within days, a fast-track pilot project was launched at the SIJ Metal Ravne mill, using Fero Labs’ software to analyse process data and reveal new opportunities for improvement.
The pilot’s impact was immediate. Fero’s explainable AI models highlighted specific adjustments that could deliver measurable benefits in quality and yield while lowering resource and energy consumption. The clarity of these results led SIJ to quickly progress to full deployment across SIJ Metal Ravne.
“SIJ Group’s speed and openness to innovation are remarkable,” said Tim Eschert, Managing Director for Europe at Fero Labs. “From the first conversations to full-scale implementation, they demonstrated exactly what makes them a leader in European steelmaking — a balance of technical excellence and forward-thinking sustainability. Together, we’re proving that higher margins and lower emissions can, and should, go hand in hand.”
Why SIJ Chose Fero Labs
SIJ’s metallurgists and process engineers were particularly drawn to Fero Labs’ unique combination of speed, transparency and usability. Unlike black-box systems, Fero’s platform provides clear, visual explanations for every model and recommendation, allowing engineers to understand why a process behaves in a certain way and how to improve it.
This explainability has made the software a natural extension of SIJ’s existing expertise — enabling experts to test hypotheses, validate improvements, and rapidly scale best practices across the mill.
“Fero Labs’ software gives our teams visibility and confidence,” added Kanalec. “It helps us uncover and act on opportunities that traditional methods would take much longer to identify. That agility is critical as we continue our transition to even more efficient and sustainable operations.”
Profitable Sustainability in Practice
For Fero Labs, the collaboration embodies its philosophy of Profitable Sustainability — enabling manufacturers to achieve higher margins and lower emissions together through AI-driven optimisation.
By empowering engineers to make data-backed decisions that simultaneously improve profitability and environmental performance, Fero Labs helps manufacturers operationalise sustainability — transforming it from a long-term vision into a measurable, daily reality.
Setting a Benchmark for the Industry
The deployment at SIJ Metal Ravne marks a significant milestone not only for the Group but also for the broader European steel industry. It demonstrates how explainable AI can seamlessly integrate with metallurgical expertise to drive efficiency, reduce waste, and accelerate the path toward green steel.
Both companies see this partnership as a model for collaboration between technology innovators and leading industrial producers. Together, SIJ Group and Fero Labs are showing that the future of steelmaking is not only greener — it’s also more profitable, agile, and transparent.
About SIJ Group
SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group is one of Europe’s leading producers of stainless and special steels and Slovenia’s largest vertically integrated metallurgy group. Committed to global and European climate goals, SIJ operates in line with circular economy principles. Its modern recycling steelworks produce steel from recycled scrap. While some pure alloying elements are added to ensure the required chemical composition, iron ore is never used. With advanced products and a dedication to continuous innovation, SIJ is a key partner in facilitating the global green transition.
About Fero Labs
Fero Labs develops explainable machine learning software that enables industrial engineers to optimize production processes in real time. By revealing actionable insights from existing data, Fero Labs helps manufacturers reduce emissions, improve quality, and increase profitability — achieving Profitable Sustainability. Headquartered in New York with operations across Europe and North America, Fero Labs works with leading manufacturers to accelerate the shift to more sustainable, data-driven production.
