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Some readers of this newsletter are waiting to start using SCS in fabrication. Other readers, namely service centers, want to make SCS the ‘feature attraction’ of their stock list of flat-rolled steels, but haven’t done so. In each case, what is standing in their way?
Distance from Red Bud, Illinois has been the obstacle. High freight cost offsets SCS’ price advantage for users at a far distance. That will change, as SCS production centers outside Red Bud start coming on line over the next few months. That’s right - SCS production is beginning its worldwide rollout.
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Chip Gerber of Layhill Processing takes a break from training on the SCS Sheet Line at TMW's Red Bud, Illinois facility.
In his 20 years in all phases of service center operations, Chip Gerber had seen a lot of new technology, but nothing like SCS. “Once I saw SCS was real, I knew it was a game changer,” he explained. “And I had to get into the game.”
He didn’t take long. Gerber purchased an SCS License and set up Layhill Processing, co-located with Olympic Metals in Loudon, Tennessee. He plans to serve the growing manufacturing base in the Southeast with his expertise and with SCS.
See www.layhillprocessing.com
for more information.
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New Stretcher-Leveled SCS Sheet Lines
We're pleased to report that three production centers for ultra-flat, stretcher-leveled SCS sheets will enter operation over the next 12 months. The first of these comes on line next month. At that time we’ll provide details on this new SCS line and its owner’s capabilities.
But today, we’re pleased to announce that Heidtman Steel Products has increased its stake in SCS and a new firm, Layhill Processing, will join forces with Olympic Metals of Loudon, Tennessee to produce stretcher-leveled SCS sheets starting in 2006.
Like the first-ever SCS Coil Line which enters production this May in Red Bud, the Heidtman SCS Sheet Line is a joint venture between Heidtman and TMW. It will be located at Heidtman’s facility in Butler, Indiana, where a mammoth RBI stretcher-leveler will be installed in August 2005 to supply area manufacturers with stress-free, laser quality sheets. As Heidtman management became convinced of SCS’ many advantages, they decided to marry a new SCS Sheet Line with this stretcher-leveled cut-to-length line. The SCS Sheet Line’s output will be 10,000 tons per month when it enters service in October, 2005.
SCS Sheets for the Southeast US
Olympic Metals installed an RBI stretcher-leveled multi-blanking line last year. That was a major investment for this 32 year old service center and fabricator located near Knoxville. While Doug Russell, President of Olympic, was also becoming more interested in SCS, he wasn’t ready to take on another capital project just yet.
Enter Layhill Processing. Chip Gerber, President of Layhill (see profile at left), knew SCS presented an opportunity to offer manufacturers a better sheet steel product and he wanted to capitalize on it. This entrepreneur set his sights on owning an SCS Sheet Line, but he lacked a facility and complementary processing equipment. What he needed is what Olympic already had.
“We developed an unusual, but logical arrangement,” states Gerber. Layhill will buy the SCS Sheet Line, install and operate it in Olympic’s facility. Layhill can then toll process material from Olympic’s stretcher-leveler line, plus material from other service centers. “Whether Layhill sells an SCS customer the benefits of stretcher-leveling or Olympic sells one of its customers on the benefits of SCS, we’ll be able to serve so that everyone wins - Olympic, Layhill, and the customers”.
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The Layhill SCS Sheet Line is expected to begin operation in February, 2006, but you don’t have to wait until then. Layhill is already a supplier of SCS sheets, ready to fill your order today.
The Heidtman/TMW and Layhill/Olympic SCS locations are the two latest, but there are many more to come. Future SCS UPDATEs will report on the next companies that commit to SCS technology and profile the new SCS centers ready to come on line. In addition, we’ve added a new page - SCS Locations - to the SCS web site, so prospective SCS customers can find and contact the production center nearest to them. SCS Locations pages uses interactive maps, (see example below) to show operating and announced SCS production sites. It also shows whether the product at a site is SCS stretcher-leveled sheets, SCS coils, or both. Clicking on active locations links you to the processor’s web site and a form for requesting information or a quote.
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The SCS Locations page shows where TMW is currently exploring new SCS production sites (white dots on the map mark these locations). Such future sites may take the form of a joint venture in which TMW invests to receive an equity stake - as with Heidtman at Butler - or a more traditional sale of SCS equipment and license rights - as with Layhill. This gives future SCS producers flexibility in how they bring SCS “to a theater near you.”
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There’s a price to having a film of oil on your steel. You may not think about it too often, but the oil is there and you’ve learned to live with it. After all, how would you keep P&O from rusting if you didn’t have the oil?
You know our answer to that question. The SCS process makes hot rolled black resist rust. In fact,
the SCS process will remove pre-existing surface rust and inhibit its return (see January 2005 SCS UPDATE).
Great, but what’s that worth? What’s the price you pay for having oil on your steel? You can put a figure on what it costs to apply oil to the strip as it comes from
the dryer on the pickling line. It’s not that much. But there are many other cost factors (not to mention aggravation factors) to consider once that oiled steel hits your fabrication shop.
We’ve listed the ones we hear about most often in this section. Here’s the interesting part. We’re going to try
to put a price tag on these factors. That’s right, just
what the oil on your steel costs you in dollars and time.
We’ll be surveying manufacturers over the next several weeks to arrive at representative cost numbers for these factors. Then we’ll be reporting the results on the SCS web site and in a future SCS UPDATE. Stay Tuned. |
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HEALTH & SAFETY COST FACTORS
- toxic fumes from welding through oil
- skin irritation from exposure to the oil
- accidents from oiled sheets slipping
out of workers’ hands |
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FABRICATION COST FACTORS
- inferior welds from welding through oil
- oil fogs the laser lens and plugs filters
- inability to double stack blanks when
lasering: oil makes parts stick together |
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MATERIAL HANDLING COST FACTORS
- destacker jams from sheets sticking
- replacing oily gloves 2 - 3 times a day
- cleaning rollers, belts, conveyors to
remove grime that comes with P&O |
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PLANT CLEANLINESS COST FACTORS
- oil gums tools, work holding, controls
- more material prep to remove oil & dirt
- more frequent wipedowns/cleanups or
have grimy work areas and machines |
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PAINTING & PREP COST FACTORS
- no oil removal from prior to painting
- reduce solvent inventory/exposure
- powder coat paint prep stages may
be eliminated/reduced with no oil
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