At NLMK Clabecq, quality and innovation are never the result of chance. They are the outcome of collective commitment. Behind every breakthrough, there are people working together with determination and care. Among them, Philippe Hernaut, Head of Quality & Production Development, plays a key role. A methodical engineer and sharp observer, Philippe is above all a team leader who, together with his colleagues, has played a pivotal role in shaping the QUARD and QUEND plates into the high-performance steels trusted today.
At the heart of industrialisation
Philippe joined Clabecq in 1998 and often says, “It feels like I’ve had several careers here.” Through all these phases, one thing has remained constant: his belief in structure and teamwork. Over the years, he has brought method and structure to development processes, making them more robust and customer-focused. Professionalising the industrialisation of QUARD and QUEND, clear milestones, approval phases, and a rigorous process logic have been implemented, as well as laying the foundation for reliable customer commitments. What gets delivered reflects what has been qualified, tested, and understood across the entire chain. This structured approach, built collaboratively, ensures that what gets delivered is what has been tested, understood, and approved across the entire production and quality chain. It’s not just engineering. It’s reliable promise-keeping.
Making QUARD and QUEND successful
Philippe’s work has been central to the growth and reputation of QUARD and QUEND. The evolution of those brands has been clearly a team effort from the start. On QUARD, the challenge was to increase wear resistance without sacrificing workability. An objective achieved through the development of QUARD PRO. On QUEND, the 1300 MPa grade was brought to life through close cooperation between metallurgy and process teams, who designed and validated a consistent industrial route.
Defining product characteristics, like toughness, bendability, impact resistance or cutting behavior, requires alignment across disciplines. Philippe has consistently worked with process engineers, lab technicians, production experts and the sales team to strike the right balance for the end user.
Turning steel into performance, from raw steel to final user
Philippe and his team don’t operate from behind closed doors. They’re on the shop floor, checking trials, analysing data, validating directly on machines. They’re also out in the field, visiting customers, understanding how the steels behave in actual applications, whether in mining buckets, dumper trucks or crane booms. “You can’t understand what they are facing from behind a desk. You have to see it on the field. There, I take time to ask questions and to observe.”
Philippe has also built strong ties with slab manufacturers, becoming the primary point of contact for driving quality improvements with upstream suppliers.
As a metallurgy passionate, the precision of his requests has often pushed them to innovate, to the benefit of both Clabecq and, down the line, to their customers.
This approach has taught him many lessons, the very ones that lead him to significant advances: better cutting behaviour, optimised quenching recipes, tighter tolerances.
inspecting the slab yard.
InThinity: the decisive phase of product validation
InThinity, NLMK Clabecq’s offering for ultra-tight thickness tolerances, represents one of the plant’s most advanced process achievements. While Philippe didn’t lead the investment project for the finishing mill, he and his team played a key role in technically validating the concept.
Their methodical checkings through different campaigns confirmed long-term consistency and defined operational safety margins. It was a team-led effort grounded in data, rigour, and hands-on validation. Today, InThinity is standard for all plates below 15 mm, a milestone made possible by shared commitment and technical discipline.
A green chapter to write
The next challenge for Philippe and his colleagues? Adapting the production routes to steel made via electric arc furnace. This includes in-depth work on scrap composition and residual elements, as the team lays the foundation for more sustainable, yet equally robust, solutions.
“Developing QUARD and QUEND has been like building a wall, brick by brick,” Philippe says. “Our next mission? Use green bricks. And build just as solid.”
Respect and engagement
What stands out most about Philippe, apart from his sense of humour, is the deep professionalism that shines through his modesty. He never claims to know better. And you’ll often hear him say: “We learn with the customer. We learn with the teams.”. He also believes in collective intelligence and transparent feedback. No surprise that his colleagues and the senior managers seek his opinion.
Through every phase, from material qualification to industrialisation, from customer trials to upstream quality work, Philippe’s contribution has been decisive. With method and modesty, he has strengthened the confidence that customers and colleagues place in our steel.
At NLMK Clabecq, this type of contribution has a name: engagement. From which we all benefit.