Leavitt Tube Upgrades Operations in Chicago

Leavitt Tube, a manufacturer of mechanical and structural tubing, has made a multimillion-dollar investment in several equipment upgrades at its Chicago headquarters. 

Leavitt upgraded its W80 large structural tubing mill with the purchase of a Kusakabe Quick Change Cartridge Tooling System. The system replaced both the forming and sizing sections on the 4-inch to 10-inch square structural tubing mill. The $10.3 million investment has resulted in tighter tolerances and substantially reduced changeover times, say company officials.

Leavitt also purchased and is installing a new mid-size W50 structural tubing mill with size capabilities from 1.5-inch to 4-inch square with 0.083-inch to 0.313-inch walls. The new Nakata mill is replacing two existing structural mills, a W25 and a W40, at Leavitt's Chicago location. The new mill will be operational in January.

The company also retired its No. 8 mechanical mill, to be replaced with a new mechanical mill from Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd., Osaka, Japan. The new mill has size capabilities from 0.625-inch to 3.0-inch round and 0.5-inch to 2.5-inch square with 0.049-inch to 0.120-inch walls. The mill will be operational in the first quarter. 

Additionally, the company has made a number of management changes. Mike Conces was promoted to regional manager, Joe Davy was promoted to director of business development, Pat Knutson was promoted to director of sales, Patrick Doyle was hired as a sales representative and Ryoji Nozu was hired as business coordinator.