SeverStal North
America’s Sergei
Kuznetsov, CFO,
and Kevin Myers,
CIO
MANAGING
IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
COMING TOGETHER AT ORACLE’S CFO SUMMIT TO TALK ABOUT
THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL BUSINESS
oday’s enterprises are experiencing change at a dra-
matic level. Although each industry and region faces its
own particular challenges, successful companies share
several key characteristics. They’ve simplified and stan-
dardized their business processes, they’re using technology to
automate those processes as much as possible, and they excel
at providing real information—not just data—throughout the
enterprise ecosystem, at all levels within the enterprise as well
as out to customers and partners. Profit spoke with two com-
panies showcased at the Oracle CFO Summit to find out how
they’re responding to change—and to learn what they see
coming in the months and years ahead.
SEVERSTAL: CREATING A TOP-FLIGHT IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Although savvy business leaders know that companies in
rapidly developing economies are finding gold in everything
from software to textiles, it’s surprising to learn that one
emerging giant has found a golden opportunity in America’s
heartland—in steelmaking.
Unlike some traditional U.S. firms that have fled the
capital-intensive steel production market, Russia’s SeverStal
is an emerging giant that’s out to redefine global steelmaking.
And it’s doing it in the heartland of American manufacturing.
Over the next three years, SeverStal North America (SNA)
expects to invest US$1 billion in modernizing its steel facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, which were originally part of
Henry Ford’s massive River Rouge manufacturing complex.
It’s an integral part of an investment and globalization strategy that is catapulting SeverStal, with more than 100,000
employees worldwide and more than $12 billion in revenues
in 2006, to the forefront of best-in-class steel producers.
“Our strategy is to create a global production platform that
can supply high-quality steel to customers, wherever they are
located,” says Sergei Kuznetsov, CFO of SNA. “Most of our
customers have operations in various parts of the world,” he
adds. “They want us to supply them with the same quality
steel in Europe, North America, and Russia.”
Steel production is a capital-intensive business, and SNA
takes a strategic approach to managing its global assets, balancing long-term investment opportunities over a 10-year
window while constantly updating its plans and assets to
respond to changing market needs.
“As the world becomes more global and dynamic, our
investments in production assets in the U.S. and other
developed markets will eventually pay off, especially after
we see the full impact of our investments in plant modern-
