Prospects and limits of shared economics principles application at steel industry plants in the context of digitalization

Digitalization of production and economic activity stimulates arising of new organization and economic mechanisms of cooperation interaction of the economy subjects. The plants of steel industry are also involved in the process. In particular, the steel corporations realize projects to implement digital mechanisms of material flows control, creation of production aggregates and processes digital doubles, integration of finance and economic activity control processes. The changes at the goods markets are expressed in the increase of competitive pressure on the goods producers, rationalization the production and economic activity, decreasing material and energy costs, as well as development new forms of cooperation interaction, in particular, economics of shared consumption, which means a collective utilization of various assets. The concept of economics of shared consumption based on application specialized digital platforms. It was successfully proved at the subjects’ interaction (at the level of physical entities) and at present is widely utilized by industrial consumers. The rationalization of consumption, diversification of supply channels, increase of existing assets returns, decrease of things in handling are the positive effects, which can make additional input into financial and economic result of production companies. An adaptation of existing models of shared economics is necessary, which are stipulated by specific goods-exchanging processes in the industry, as well as by peculiarities of consumer behavior of industrial purchasers, including those in the steel industry. For example, application of the shared economics paradigm and correspondent digital infrastructure is not recommended at the raw materials and main technological equipment supply, selling of finished products of steel industry plants, since traditional forms of long-time inter-companies coordination are more acceptable variants, as well as integration and union. At the same time outsourcing of auxiliary processes, horizontal cooperation within the frame of production clusters, as well as collective utilization nonmaterial resources in remote regime, such as joint accumulation and utilization of “big data”, production simulation at “digital plants”, purchase of software licenses, development of virtual prototypes for 3D-printing.