New sheet leveller completes £2m investment in advanced processing at Dudley site
Tata Steel is completing an investment programme to upgrade the hot rolled strip processing capabilities at the company’s Dudley plant in the West Midlands by installing a £500,000 state-of-the-art leveller.
The new leveller – a bespoke design by industrial equipment manufacturer Heinrich Georg in conjunction with Tata Steel’s research and development team – will decoil, cut-to-length and fully flatten hot rolled steel coil in thicknesses of 3-5mm and in widths up to 2 metres. It is due to come on stream in January 2012.
The product processed by the new leveller will be used to supply premium products to Tata Steel’s lifting and excavating clients, meeting the increasingly exacting quality requirements in the manufacture of forklift truck frames, wheels, agricultural equipment, trailers and excavators.
The investment follows another by Tata Steel worth £8 million to expand capacity in quenched and tempered plate at its Clydebridge plant in Scotland – an investment that will also enhance the quality of products supplied to the lifting and excavating sector, among others.
The Georg machine will ensure precision levelling of the steel strip and, together with a flying shear that was installed last year, will cut it into predefined lengths. The investment complements the existing heavy leveller that was commissioned in 2009 and completes a production line capable of cutting material up to 12.5mm thick, with the possibility to extend this to 15mm in grades of up to 550 tensile strength. The completed line, along with associated warehousing improvements, will bring to £2 million the investment Tata Steel has made in the Dudley site in recent years.
Marketing Manager, Lifting and Excavating, Terry Bennett said: “The lifting and excavating sector has shown positive growth this year and is forecast to continue growing into next year. We’ll be facing demand for greater volumes from customers who also require products that meet exceptionally high standards. The new investment at Dudley will mean Tata Steel is best placed to meet this demand.”
Tata Steel’s Lifting & Excavating sector is the division of Tata Steel dedicated to supplying material for construction and earth moving equipment (CEME), mining, cranes and fork lift trucks.
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