Production is inseparably linked with quality, since quality always plays a key role. Many of the technical articles published in this issue centre around quality. However, MPT International does not deal with quality in an abstract way, but our authors present concrete technological solutions that enable production of premium steel products by highly efficient processes. The solutions presented here refer to both, flat as well as long production. An interesting example is the production of specialty steel blooms in diameters of up to 750 mm on a continu­ous casting plant at Acciaierie Bertoli Safau in Italy. The extra­ordinary size of the products makes this a somewhat unique continuous caster. For quality reasons, until recently input stock for demanding products such as seamless tubes, railway wheels, etc. had to be produced by ingot casting. With the here presented jumbo caster, the technological limits of continuous casting have been extended, making quality production of special steel grade products of such large dimensions feasible. It is obvious that the successful replacement of ingot casting by continuous casting means a rise in productivity, and hence a possible cost advantage. Maximum yield, high plant utilization and low operating costs – these success factors are also the central topic of another technical article on long production, in this case at Sumitomo Metals Kokura in Japan. The company has introduced heavy-duty 3-roll RSB mill stands of a stronger design, enabling the production of larger-diameter SBQ bars. Through this measure, the maximum producible bar diameter has been raised from previously 100 mm to 130 mm. The challenge here was to be able to make premium products at high productivity, while retaining high flexibility with regard to the product range. The topic of quality in production runs like a thread also through the articles dealing with flat production. In this issue, MPT International features topics as wide-ranging as a new measuring system for slabs at Outukumpu in Finland, a high-precision 12¾” tube welding plant at Arvedi in Italy, a thermoflattening line for grain-oriented electrical steel at NLMK in Russia and new systems for quality monitoring, analysis and reporting. The latter close the “quality loop” in that they make quality data transparent and readily available – for management, customer support and process experts. Thus quality data become sensible. They are like the pulse of production.