Last updated on (June 1, 2001)
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Stamco
Slitter
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Satisfies
Rolled Steel's Precision Strip Needs
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With
its eye on the future, Rolled Steel Products Corp., Los
Angeles, has added a fourth Slitter to its line-up of
processing equipment, which also includes two cold-reduction
mills, a Tishken edger and two Herr-Voss leveling lines.
The distributor's new Stamco Slitter is just one of the
higher-technology tools the service center is using or
planning to use to put it ahead of the customer need and
evolving marketplace.
Rolled
Steel's new Stamco Slitter is equipped with a gamma ray
gauge that provides thickness readings throughout the
coil. The line is computerized, and has closed-circuit
cameras, giving the operator a complete view of the Slitter
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Among the high-tech tools being adopted is electronic mail, or
E-mail (rolledsteel.com). Rolled Steel is also working on an internet
web page; both will be used in customer communications, and to
complete sales transactions. In addition, there is also a proprietary
tagging system that will allow Rolled Steel to trace processed
steel back to master coils, the distributor says. (Presently,
the company traces slit steel back to a production order. However,
by being able to trace back to the master coil, the processor
will be able to identify more accurately the source of any customer
problems.)
While its internet additions and tagging system are still on the
horizon, Rolled Steel's new Stamco Slitter is up and running,
and already aiding customers and the day-to-day operations of
the West Coast distributor. Installed this past April, the Slitter
has improved width tolerance from + - 0.003 in.
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The
SLITTER
The advantages of the Slitter are fairly straightforward.
Steve Alperson, Rolled Steel's executive vice president,
says: "We wanted a Slitter that was going to increase
our speed, and increase our slitting precision and tolerances."
The new line has increased productivity from between 400
ft. per minute to 1,000 ft. per minute; gauge tolerance
is now well beyond the industry standard, Alperson says.
On its new Slitter, the service center can process 30%
more than the largest of its three other lines. This fact
prompts management to claim that the new Stamco Slitter
appears to have had the improvements come from a number
of factors, but mainly improved machine design and faster
automatic tool change.
Rolled
Steel's new Stamco Slitter feeds directly into the facility's
packaging line; it will soon be joined by a tagging system
that will offer precision strip customers complete traceability.
The new system will also increase the company's productivity.
It is all part of the distributor's game plan to take
advantage of the new technology.
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Slitting represents 80% of Rolled Steel's business;
about 65% of its slit material is cold-rolled. The majority of
Rolled Steel's business is in widths between 1/2 in. and 12 in.
Rolled Steel receives coils between 36 in. and 48 in. wide, slits
the material, then uses its cold-reduction mills to ensure gauge
consistency, and to temper material.
"We are aiming for a niche market rather than the commercial market,"
states George Bienefeld, Rolled Steel's director of purchasing.
"Our sheet business is relatively minimal compared to precision
strip, which is the market we're aiming for; it's the reason we
have new faster equipment." The distributor processes cold-rolled
(about 65% of its tonnage), galvanized, stainless, hot-rolled
picked and oiled, and electro-galvanized precision strip. (Rolled
Steel's on-site subsidiary E&E Steel Co. Inc., which it acquired
in 1982, is involved in "more commercial-grade galvanized sheet."
Though both companies remain separate operating units, they use
the same equipment. However, Scott Wetton, E&E galvanized product
manager, says the new Slitter will have little effect on the subsidiary's
business, because 90% of its business is in sheet product. "We
use the levelers more than anything," he adds.
Continuing on the line's capabilities, Alperson says: "We roll
a lot of our material, and we wanted to make sure that we're able
to have very close tolerance material, not only thickness, but
in width tolerances as well." Rolled Steel believes closer tolerances
will give the firm a competitive edge in the precision strip market
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The Alpersons:
A long-time
service center presence
Rolled Steel Products Corp., Los
Angeles, was founded in 1951. It was purchased in 1973
by Robert Alperson, Rolled Steel's majority owner and
president. It has been located at its present site since
1980.
According to Steve Alperson, Rolled Steel's executive
vice president, the Alperson family has been in the service
center business for over 50 years. At one time, the Alpersons
owned Affiliated Metals (founded in 1945), which has since
evolved into Precision Specialty Metals Inc., Los Angeles.
Affiliated was one of the first steel companies to install
a Sendzimir mill on the West Coast, according to Steve
Alperson. The family sold Affiliated to Alloys Unlimited/Plessey,
an electronics conglomerate, in 1969.
There
appears to be a good working relationship between father
and sons. Robert has been in the steel industry for 43
years; Steve for twenty years; Lonnie for thirteen.- K.N
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Also, quality management has been enhanced
with the new Slitter via a gamma ray thickness gauge. "We
wanted to ensure that the product that we were putting out
was being checked constantly, and that's why we opted for
the gamma ray on the Slitter. We have constant 'mic' readings
throughout the coil." The gamma ray can identify if gauge
correction is needed, and, if so, then coils are sent back
to the in-house cold-rolling mill, explains Alperson.
Other technical features of the new Slitter include: and
edge guide, and in-line shear, dual ejected Slitter heads
with off-line tooling setups to minimize downtime between
coils, and a PVC applicator arbor for its stainless products.
(The ultra-precision Slitter tooling package for the Stamco
Slitter was provided by International Knife and Saw, Inc.
(IKS), which also supplied its Windows-based SLAP-Slitter
Assembly Program-software, according to IKS.) |
The line has shim less slitting, and a 32-ft.
pit, so that we keep the coil nice and tight," adds Alperson.
"Because we put closed-circuit cameras around [the line],
the operator is in constant view of the Slitter at all times,
and can watch the strip through the entire process." (Rolled
Steel had an outside contractor install surveillance cameras
above the Slitter, on the ceiling of the warehouse.) Also,
the new Slitter is integrated with an existing packaging
line which also services Rolled Steel's other three Slitters.
The four Slitter are all in a row, and each Slitter feed
onto a turnstile, then onto the packaging line, which leads
to the packaging station. There, coils are weighed, checked,
banded, and stacked for prompt delivery.
Alperson continues: "The [Stamco] Slitter is completely
computerized; very different from our other Slitters. It
actually tells you when its ready, and, when the coil gets
down to certain outside diameter; the machine slows itself
down to a safe speed, so that the tail doesn't flip up and
damage the equipment or cause an injury. Safety was very
big concern."
Though Rolled Steel's last Slitter installation took place
in 1980, the distributor performed most of the installation
of the new $1.5-million machine itself because it felt it
has the necessary expertise, says Alperson. (Contractors,
however, were brought in to dig the looping pit, and install
high-voltage electricity at an additional cost.) The company
is also very quality conscious and wanted to have control
over the way in which the Slitter was installed, he says.
The distributor, for example, decided to install the Slitter
on the warehouse floor rather than on the stands as other
steel processors have done. By having it on one level, Steve
Alperson explains, the operator's view of the machine is
better; also, since operators are not required to walk up
and down steps, fatigue and injury are reduced. "I don't
see any reason why we would put it up stands," adds Dan
Idzell, Rolled Steel's maintenance supervisor.
Rolled Steel looked at a number of Slitter manufacturers
before settling on Stamco. "Of all the Slitters we looked
at, this was the most expensive one. So it wasn't price.
Other factors came into play-quality, value and capacity
were the greatest concerns," says Lonnie Alperson, vice
president of operations.
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Quality
and Customers
Heavily reliant on the performance of its
Slitters, Rolled Steel recognizes that need for proper training
and maintenance. Intense training played a large part in
the start up of the new Slitter. "Stamco was training here
fro over a month," states Lonnie Alperson. The distributor
and Slitter manufacturer trained key personnel, who the
trained other operators. Lonnie Alperson says most of the
trainees were already Slitter operators, so the transition
to the more sophisticated machine has not been a problem.
It takes approximately six months to train a head operator,
he adds. The company runs two shifts, five days a week.
A tour of Rolled Steel's facility reveals a spotless warehouse;
even its older equipment appears brand new though several
units are nearly 30 years old. Alperson attributes this
to proper maintenance. There are four people in the maintenance
department; they repair and maintain Rolled Steel's forklifts,
trucks, machinery and just about everything else in the
building, says Idzell. The maintenance department paints
the equipment regularly, and the company pursues a proactive
maintenance policy to minimize downtime, he adds.
Equipment is seen by the company as critical to its customer
service commitment. With just-in-time delivery a primary
focus of Rolled Steel's business, customers clearly cannot
tolerate delayed shipments due to idled machinery. "J.I.T.
delivery seems to be more important than ever," says Bienefeld.
"This new equipment enables us to make quick deliveries;
to service that basic function of a steel service center.
Our customers don't need to inventory material on their
floor. The get it when they need it. And today, quality
and service are the keys to trouble-free manufacturing." |
Rolled
Steel's offshore supply base
Rolled Steel Products Corp.'s
inventory is typically between 10,000 and 12,000 tons
of material, according to George Bienefeld, director of
purchasing. But, in early August, inventory levels were
below normal because of delayed shipments from offshore
sources, he adds. Rolled Steel buys nearly all of its
material (including stainless) from suppliers; a tour
of its warehouse reveals that the service center procures
its product from the leading offshore suppliers. However,
the distributor also buys domestically from a number of
California-based steel makers.
With most mills located in the Midwest, Bienefeld says,
geography-to some extend-drives Rolled Steel to offshore
sources. But, quality is another key consideration, he
says. "We need quality material to feed the lines. It's
just not the question of price. If we bought cheap material,
we'd have a lot of down time. In the precision-strip market,
it is necessary to begin with good, uniform primary material.
That is mostly guaranteed with the Japanese and Korean
mills.
Does purchasing material from foreign mills adversely
affect Rolled Steel's ability to service its customers
in a timely fashion? Bienefeld says no, adding that on-time
delivery can be a problem for either offshore or domestic
mills. As for the service center's subsidiary, E&E Steel
Co. Inc., it buys from domestic supplies.-K.N
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Rolled Steel customers include computer cabinet
manufacturers and companies in the hardware, door-lock,
and lighting industries, just to name a few, says Bienefeld.
Also, in stainless, the company participates in the kitchen
appliance area. (E&E customers are primarily in the HVAC
market.)
The service center ships material as far north as El Paso,
Tex., using common carrier. It uses its own fleet to ship
material as far south as San Diego, Calif., and as far north
as Santa Barbara, Calif. But, says Steve Alperson, "We're
not limited to those areas. It it our primary [geographical
service area.] But, we've shipped as far as the East Coast."
Rolled Steel sells almost exclusively to the domestic market.
Says Bienefeld: "Construction is a big factor for Rolled
Steel and E&E. Most of our customers' product ends up in
a building--a door lock, a door hinge, air conditioning,
duct work, etc. The California real estate market is rebounding.
That is the reason for being optimistic, and we hope that
[trend] continues."
Rolled Steel's Future
with loads of extra slitting capacity, toll processing may
play a larger role in Rolled Steel's future. "At this time,
we're doing very little toll processing," says Alperson.
"But we're looking at possibly doing more. We never want
to sacrifice our [service center] customers for toll processing,
but it is something that we are looking at. Production [capacity]
has increased so much, it's almost as if we put in two Slitters."
There are plenty of other things in the offing for this
forward-thinking distributor. The company owns its 125,000
sq-ft. warehouse, but is steadily outgrowing it. The plan
is to add a warehouse just for inventory storage in the
near future. (The company, which considers itself fiscally
conservative, owns surrounding property, and has 93,000
sq. ft. available expansion.)
Other than a warehouse addition, Rolled Steel is very aggressive
in using burgeoning technology such as electronic mail,
internet, and innovative computer software programs. With
a web page, a labeling system, further automation and order
processing done via internet, Rolled Steel will continue
to make it easier for companies to do business with it,
says Alperson.
As stated earlier, Rolled Steel's web page is presently
under construction; E-mail is available. The internet site
will give prospective customers a "tour" through Rolled
Steel's facility as well as information on the company's
operations and capabilities, he says. Through the internet
you will be able to send purchase orders, digital information,
complaints, comments, and inquiries, he adds; security devices
will be in place. "The internet will be a big part of the
Rolled Steel's future." The company is also planning to
integrate its processing with its computer system in order
to enable sales personnel to offer customers real-time information.
With its tagging system, the distributor will be able via
telephone, to tell customers exactly where their order is
in the processing operation, he adds. |
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George
Bienefeld:
"Our sheet business is relatively minimal compared to
precision strip, which is the market we're aiming for;
it's the reason we have new and faster equipment."
Lonnie Alperson says the new Slitter
gamma ray and the new tagging system will eventually allow
the company to document most processes performed by the
service center. "Of course, this all aligns us for ISO
9000," he states. The company is taking steps internally
to move toward ISO 9000 and QS 9000 certification. The
more steps it takes, the easier the transition will be
when it chooses to apply for certification; that could
come by the end of this year. he says. Though the service
center industry is often viewed by outsiders as stagnant
and unsophisticated, Rolled Steel is one distributor that
is embracing newer technology as a means of offering customers
alternative ways in which to do business. Its new Stamco
Slitter has improved tolerances; however, Rolled Steel
expects to improve service continuously by using various
high-tech tools.
Rolled
Steel Products' new $1.5-million Stamco slitting line
incorporates a 32-ft. looping pit to keep coils "nice
and tight".
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