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Industrial Procurement

Building the Operating Layer for Steel Procurement

SteelForest helps steel companies coordinate procurement, suppliers, documents, logistics, payments, and AI workflows in one intelligent platform.

Steel companies already have the systems and relationships. SteelForest connects the work around each order so teams can move faster with a shared view.

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Our Purpose

Why SteelForest Exists

Steel powers manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, transportation, and modern industry.

Yet many critical workflows still depend on emails, spreadsheets, phone calls, and manual coordination.

SteelForest exists because operational complexity should not slow down industrial progress.

We're working directly with procurement leaders, suppliers, manufacturers, and operational teams to understand where friction exists and how technology can remove it.

Steel Trading Still Depends on Too Much Manual Work

Across the industry, many workflows still rely on fragmented communication, spreadsheets, emails, phone calls, and disconnected systems. This creates delays, inefficiencies, and unnecessary operational complexity.

Manual Coordination

Critical decisions still depend on phone calls, emails, and spreadsheets that are difficult to track and reconcile.

Fragmented Communication

Information lives across inboxes, messaging apps, and legacy systems - creating gaps and duplicated effort.

Limited Process Visibility

Teams lack a shared view of where requests, quotes, and orders stand across the procurement lifecycle.

The problem is not always a lack of technology.

The problem is friction between existing processes.

What SteelForest Is Building

Procurement Platform

RFQs, supplier management, quotations, financing, and order management.

AI Solutions

Price analysis, supplier matching, document understanding, and operational AI.

Workflow Automation

Automate procurement, sales, logistics, and internal workflows.

Operational Intelligence

Reporting, inventory intelligence, logistics visibility, and performance insight.

Built For The People Moving Steel Every Day

Steel Buyers

Procurement teams sourcing materials across mills, traders, and distributors.

Steel Suppliers

Traders and distributors managing quotations, relationships, and order flow.

Manufacturers

Production teams that depend on reliable steel supply and predictable lead times.

Supply Chain Teams

Operations leaders coordinating sourcing, logistics, and supplier performance.

What We're Learning From The Industry

These insights come directly from conversations with procurement leaders, suppliers, manufacturers, and supply chain professionals across Europe.

Procurement workflows often take longer than they should.

Manual handoffs between teams and systems add days - sometimes weeks - to processes that should be straightforward.

Supplier communication remains highly manual.

Most coordination still happens through unstructured channels, making it hard to maintain context and accountability.

Logistics visibility is still fragmented.

Once steel leaves the mill or warehouse, tracking often depends on individual follow-ups rather than shared systems.

Most teams want simpler processes, not more software.

The industry does not need another dashboard. It needs fewer steps between the people who move steel every day.

Built With The Industry, Not For The Industry

SteelForest is actively speaking with procurement leaders, suppliers, manufacturers, and supply chain professionals across Europe. Every conversation helps us understand where operational friction exists and where technology can create real value.

Procurement Leaders

CPOs, heads of procurement, and buyers shaping how steel is sourced across Europe.

Suppliers & Traders

Steel distributors and trading partners managing quotations, relationships, and order flow.

Manufacturers & Operations

Production and supply chain teams coordinating materials, logistics, and fulfillment.

Listen first.

Build second.

Founder-led

Founder-Led. Industry-Focused.

SteelForest is founded by Aric Kaji, a software engineer and AI systems builder based in Berlin.

Before SteelForest, Aric spent years building production software systems - learning that the hardest problems are rarely technical, but operational.

Aric Kaji

Aric Kaji

Founder & CEO · Berlin, Germany

Today, SteelForest is being built through direct conversations with procurement leaders, suppliers, manufacturers, and operational teams across the steel industry.

SteelForest today is founder-led. The company grows through understanding - not assumptions.

Founder Principles

  • Listen before building
  • Solve real operational problems
  • Keep tools simple and useful
  • Build trust through understanding

Founder Journey

  1. 2025

    Started SteelForest and began researching manual friction in steel trading.

  2. Customer Discovery

    Speaking with procurement leaders, sales teams, suppliers, manufacturers, and supply chain professionals.

  3. Prototype

    Built early SteelForest workflows for marketplace, financing, order tracking, AI pricing, and logistics visibility.

  4. Now

    Refining the company direction around procurement friction, workflow automation, and industry trust.

Connect with Aric

Let's Start A Conversation

Coming from LinkedIn, GITEX AI Europe, or the steel industry? Tell us where manual coordination slows your team down, and we can explore whether SteelForest or focused AI automation can help.

  • Start a conversation
  • Share a manual workflow
  • Discuss procurement or supplier operations
  • Explore AI automation
kajiaric@gmail.com

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