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National
Tube Supply Launches Expansion
National Tube Supply Co. began construction on a $4.2 million expansion
on its 25-acre site in University Park, Ill., just south of Chicago.
The company is adding 90,000 square feet of warehouse space and
3,500 square feet of office space to the east side of its existing
160,000-square-foot facility. Completion is expected in late October.
NTS
stocks hot-finished seamless carbon/alloy mechanical tubing, pipe,
drawn-over-mandrel mechanical tubing, and cold-drawn seamless carbon
tubing.
“With increasing production demands and growing needs for material
storage, a significant expansion became imperative,” explains
Gary Chess, president and CEO. “In addition to increased storage,
another big change taking place is in our tube-cutting capabilities,
both in diameter and volume.”
Four
new band saws are being added to six existing saws—three for
cutting 16-inch OD tubing and one for cutting 26-inch OD tubing.
Officials are considering adding lathe-cutting capability next year.
NTS
will also triple its upright storage system for DOM tubing in its
cantilever rack positions. “We will be much more efficient
and reliable in order filling as this change will allow us to fully
utilize our DOM order processing station,” Chess says. “By
expanding and increasing our storage capabilities in racks, we will
be able to pull every order in a matter of minutes.”
Greater
indoor storage will eliminate all outside storage of HFS tubing.
The expansion will also allow for improved temperature control.
The company is adding insulation and heat for winter control, and
a series of rooftop exhaust fans for summer ventilation.
NTS
will build an extra receiving truck lane and two shipping lanes,
doubling shipping dock capacity. One new crane was already installed,
and another outside crane has been moved indoors, making nine overhead
cranes that can dual hoist up to 10 tons each.
Chess
expects the expansion will better position NTS to pursue new customers
and markets, both from a geographic and product perspective. Regional
metals service centers use NTS as a depot for their inventories.
NTS also serves as a supplier for companies that make metal parts
for a myriad of applications. Primary markets are construction,
agricultural, mining and drilling equipment, and fluid power.
Norfolk
Iron, Steel Warehouse
Create JV Processing Firm
Norfolk Iron and Metal Co., Norfolk, Neb., and Steel Warehouse Co.,
South Bend, Ind., have formed a new joint venture company named
Steel Processing Center LLC (SPC). The enterprise began operating
in August in Rock Island, Ill., where Steel Warehouse has its Quad
Cities branch.
The
SPC flat-rolled processing line features an in-tandem flattener
and leveler to accommodate the temper-passed sheet and plate needs
of customers. The temper mill and leveling line will cut to length
steel from 0.06- to 0.50-inch thick, 22 to 72 inches wide at lengths
from 2 to 50 feet.
The
line uses a continuous double bow-tie rotary shear to provide close
tolerances, an unblemished cut and a high-quality, value-added product
for trouble-free processing.
Having
the CTL shear in line with the temper pass helps eliminates coil
memory, improves surface finish and allows for closer gauge, flatness
and shape tolerances, according to company officials.
Edgen
Acquires Alloy Pipe Distributor
Edgen Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Edgen Corp., Baton Rouge, La.,
has acquired the common stock of Western Flow Products Inc., Edmonton,
Alberta.
“We
are excited about the Western Flow acquisition and the opportunity
for geographical expansion into the Canadian marketplace,”
says Dan O’Leary, Edgen’s president and CEO. “This
acquisition brings outstanding personnel to our organization and
allows us to broaden the products available to our Canadian customers.”
Western
Flow is a specialty alloy pipe and components distributor primarily
to the oil and gas, processing and power generation industries.
The operations of Western Flow are being merged into Edgen Canada
Inc.
Red
Man Pipe Acquires Majority
of Canadian Service Center Chain
Red Man Pipe & Supply Co. has purchased the majority ownership
of Midfield Supply Ltd., a privately held corporation based in Brooks,
Alberta.
Midfield
has 44 locations in Alberta, 11 in Saskatchewan, and two in British
Columbia, all serving the energy industry in Central and Western
Canada. In addition to the Canadian locations, Midfield operates
one branch in Montana. The company will operate under the name of
Midfield Supply Company in Canada.
Craig
Ketchum, president and CEO of Red Man Pipe, says Midfield will enhance
Red Man’s strength in North America, providing energy, gas
transmission and distribution industries with its extensive product
base and experienced personnel.
Midfield
broadens the geographic base for Red Man. Its wide range of products
and services include comprehensive lines of pipe, valves, fittings
and other products used in the energy industry. The company also
manufactures process equipment and tanks, and offers installation,
reconditioning and consulting services in addition to warehousing
functions.
Schuff
Buys Kansas Fabricator
Schuff Steel Co. has purchased a steel fabrication plant and certain
other assets of Kansas City, Mo.-based Havens Steel Co. for $4.5
million in cash. The 153,600-square-foot facility in Ottawa, Kan.,
has an annual capacity of more than 30,000 tons of specialty fabricated
steel. Schuff hired more than 100 former Havens Steel employees
to work at the plant.
“The
Ottawa facility will expand Schuff’s capacity, allowing us
to better service our growing customer base, especially in the Southwest,
Colorado and southern California. The Midwest location opens up
new markets for us,” says Scott A. Schuff, president and CEO.
As
the sole qualifying bidder in a Chapter 11 auction, Schuff received
approval of the purchase July 15 from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
As part of a lease agreement previously approved by the court, Schuff
agreed to complete certain fabrication services for the Phoenix
Convention Center’s expansion project, honoring Havens Steel’s
existing contract.
Briefs
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. completed its acquisition July
5 of Chapel Steel Corp., Spring House, Pa. Reliance paid $94.2 million
in cash and assumed about $16.8 million of debt for all of the outstanding
common stock of Chapel, a privately held metal center operator founded
in 1972. Existing managers and employees remain in place, with James
R. Sutow serving as president and chief operating officer. Reliance
CEO David H. Hannah says Chapel will help Reliance broaden and strengthen
its product offerings, add new customers and fit well with existing
domestic operations.
McNichols
Co., Tampa, Fla., opened its newest—and first international—steel
service center in the Santa Catarina area of Monterrey, Mexico.
The 18,000-square-foot branch will supply hole products to industries
such as oil and gas, automotive, power generation, civil construction,
architecture, electronics, maintenance and repair and other distributors.
President Herb Goetschius says the company has had a local sales
office in Monterrey since 2003, but the new full-service facility
“will allow us to bring our inventory, fabrication services
and same-day shipping guarantee to the growing Mexican market.”
Metal
Supermarkets, Brampton, Ontario, celebrates its 20th anniversary
this year. Founded in 1985, the convenience mart-style service center
chain specializes in small-quantity orders and cut-to-order service
for all kinds of customers, even walk-ins. Since it began franchising
in 1987, Metal Supermarkets has grown to 83 locations worldwide,
with 43 stores in the United States, 28 in Canada, plus stores in
England, Scotland, Austria and the United Arab Emirates. Systemwide
sales reached $75 million in 2004. Metal Supermarkets plans to open
two corporate-owned stores in the Chicago area this year and four
to five franchised locations in the U.S. within 12 months.
United
Steelworkers Local 8782 ratified a new, three-year collective agreement
with the Nelson Steel metal processing plant owned by Samuel Manu-Tech
Inc. The agreement boosts wages by $1.75 an hour over three years,
bringing the average hourly wage to $26 by the end of the contract
period. The contract includes an improved pension base rate, increases
in short-term disability coverage and a long-term disability plan,
among other benefits.
Gibraltar
Industries’ strip steel manufacturing facility in Cleveland
is now operating on the Axiom Enterprise Resource Management System
from AXIS Computer Systems Inc., which makes ERP software solutions
for the metals industry. The plant produces cold-rolled strip steel
used in applications that demand precise widths, improved surface
conditions and tight gauge tolerances. Cleveland is the largest
of three facilities that make up Gibraltar’s Processed Metals
Group, all of which are scheduled to be live on the new system this
year.
Russel
Metals declared a dividend of Cdn 25 cents per common share, payable
Sept. 15 to shareholders of record by Aug. 9.
MAS
Industries, Wallingford, Conn., has won a $70 million, 10-year contract
to supply more than 250 marine and aviation insulation items for
Shore Immediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA)/ Fleet Industrial Supply.
The contract was awarded by DOD’s Defense Supply Center in
Columbus, Ohio. MAS will supply thermal and acoustic insulation
and related items for naval bases through government and private
shipyards from seven locations. MAS also distributes specially welded
plate, sheet and extrusion products for shipbuilding.
Douglas
Steel, a Vernon, Calif., service center, has installed a second
high-speed multi-cut blanking line from Red Bud Industries. The
60-inch-wide, 0.25-inch line consists of a coil car, uncoiler, Bradbury
hydraulic leveler with Flat Trak system, inspection table, dual-action
grip feed, expandable arbor slitter, single-point adjustable shear,
and a combination drop/strip/air flotation stacker with a pallet
loader and discharge conveyors.
Servilamina
Summit Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Queretaro, Mexico, has installed a
new single-loop Braner/Loopco coil slitting line and automatic slit-coil
packaging line. The slitting line can process 25-ton coils at 60
inches wide in material thickness from 0.25 to 0.024-inch.
The
Global Institute of Logistics recently recognized ADS Logistics,
Homewood, Ill., as the leading provider of specialist logistics
services for 2005. The institute’s research department examines
providers operating in the logistics sector and establishes its
choice of the leading third-party logistics services. This is the
first year the institute awarded a prize for a specialist. ADS focuses
on the metals industry and the expertise it has developed marks
the company out in that sector. ADS handles 5 million tons of steel
and aluminum a year, over 300,000 transport (truck, rail, water,
rail) movements and has the only temperature- and humidity-controlled,
rail-served national warehouse network. The company also offers
a proprietary software/Internet system, LoMAS, used to manage integrated
supply chains.
Standard
Metals Inc., Hartford, Conn., celebrated its 25th anniversary June
30. Founder and owner A. Stephen Buzash thanked past and current
customers, suppliers and employees for their loyalty.
Marmon/Keystone
Corp. recognized four suppliers for achieving perfect performance
for on-time delivery, zero defects and outstanding service: TEKTube
in Tulsa, Okla., Nucor Steel in Plymouth, Utah, Southland Tube Inc.
in Birmingham, Ala., and Gibson Tube in North Branch, N.J.
Formtek
Metal Forming Inc., a provider of roll forming and tooling solutions,
has acquired the operating assets of Tishken Products Co., Detroit,
which makes roll-forming machines, edge conditioning machines, strip
thickness sizing machines, carbide saw-mill machines, cutoff presses,
roll form tooling and dies. This addition expands Formtek’s
product offering, including service and aftermarket support of the
equipment.
Red
Bud Industries’ Tech Support will host a coil processing workshop
Sept. 20 at the Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel & Suites,
St. Louis, Mo., for service center shop operators. Topics include
close tolerance blanking and multi-blanking, slitting, “SCS
to Replace P&O and CRS Material,” and advances in processing
equipment. Speakers will include consultant Eric Theis, formally
of Herr-Voss, and Harold Kerns, a slitting and shearing expert.
People
Bill Bennett has resigned as senior vice president of Metals USA
Inc. and as president of the Plates & Shapes Group, but will
remain with the company as assistant to the CEO, Lourenço
Goncalves, until the company is acquired by Apollo Management later
this quarter. Joe Longo was appointed president of Plates &
Shapes-East, and David Martens was named president of Plates &
Shapes-West. Longo and Martens have each held leadership posts within
the company during the past several years and each has more than
20 years of industry experience.
H.
Wayne Ferguson, founder and president of Ferguson Metals, was named
2005 Small Business Person of the Year by the Greater Hamilton (Ohio)
Chamber of Commerce. Recipients are chosen based on their contribution
to the community and role in making Hamilton a great place to live
and work. Ferguson employs 77 people in Butler County. He sits on
the advisory board of Butler Technology Career and Development Schools.
The company sponsors community events and enrolls senior managers
in a program that helps local business leaders become familiar withlocal
government.
O’Neal Steel appointed Craig Colyer to national product manager
for aluminum and stainless steel. He will develop and coordinate
marketing and sales initiatives for all of O’Neal’s aluminum
and stainless products. Colyer has 22 years of experience in the
service center industry.
Novamerican
Steel Inc., Montreal, elected Robert Panet-Raymond to a seat on
the board of directors. He was a senior officer with the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce for 13 years.
Totten
Tubes Inc. appointed Tracy N. Totten as president, succeeding David
M. Totten, who was named chairman. Jeffrey A. Totten continues as
vice president and treasurer. Tracy Totten has been with the company
for 29 years, having served as sales manager for many years.
James
D. Cottrill has joined Marmon/Keystone Corp. as an account manager
with the Chicago (Bolingbrook) service center, calling on customers
in southeast Wisconsin. He has steel industry experience in sales,
inventory control and account management. James Kelley joined the
company as an inside salesman in the New Castle, Del., service center.
He previously held jobs in sales and customer service in the manufacturing,
facilities management and information technology sectors.
Almetals
Co., Wixom, Mich., honored employees for their service recently.
Accounting manager Jackie Sawle was recognized for 20 years; J.W.
Chain, for 10 years. Chain works in purchasing, inside sales and
as a marketing manager. Production associate Dale Shaw was also
honored for 10 years of service.
Marmon/Keystone
Corp. re-ports that 10 of its truck drivers were awarded for meeting
the requirements of the company’s Driver Safety Awareness Program
for 2004. They are Thomas Campbell, Patrick Buzzard, James Henry
and Joe Morter, all at East Butler, Pa.; Steve Holliday, Birmingham;
Craig Marsh and Chris Faulkner, Salt Lake City; Ken Gillen, Temperance,
Mich.; Dave Brower, New Castle, Del.; and Art Regalado, Los Angeles.
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