rom semiconductor chip shortages to pandemic shutdowns, The Great Resignation, war in Ukraine and yet another earthquake in Japan, the supply chain has been under severe strain, dealing with one issue after another for the better part of three years.

The White House announced an information-sharing initiative March 15 to try to help address the persistent problems throughout the U.S. and international supply chain.

The Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) is conceived as a way to pilot key freight information exchanges between parts of the goods movement supply chain. FLOW includes 18 initial participants that represent private companies, trucking, warehousing and logistics firms, ports, and others. This group is working with the administration to develop a proof-of-concept information exchange to ease supply chain congestion, speed up the movement of goods and ultimately cut costs for American consumers.

ort Worth, Texas-based ECI Software Solutions talks with Modern Metals about how manufacturers can use data analysis to implement their own version of “Moneyball” and get the most out of their company—and team.

How can manufacturing intelligence help companies become more competitive?

From live-action stripe charts that show exactly what is going on at every machine and station to comparative analysis that allows managers to view actual jobs versus forecast jobs, the impact is substantial. Most shops see a minimum 15 percent increase in utilization rates after only a few weeks while some see as much as a 150 percent increase. Plus, with data analysis at their fingertips, companies can now predictively plan, making them highly competitive in the global marketplace.

The agreed-upon measures include an EU import ban on Russian steel products currently under EU safeguard measures, amounting to €3.3 billion in lost export revenue for Russia. Increased import quotas will be distributed among other non-EU countries to compensate.

IM Group has become one of the largest family owned and operated service center companies in America, having weathered 114 years during which the nation fought wars and overcame famine, plague and economic turmoil, while also seizing opportunities and helping employees, customers and the community along the way.

The private company was founded in 1908 as Norfolk Iron & Metal in Norfolk, Nebraska, and after many years of steady organic growth, Norfolk Iron & Metal purchased Metalwest (2018) and Cd’A Metals (2020). NIM Group was created last year as the parent organization for the three brands to leverage economies of scale at the corporate level and to prepare the company for additional growth.

he leaders of MidWest Materials Inc. have been dedicated to the steel industry since 1952 when Joseph Koppelman and two partners founded the company in Cleveland. “My grandfather went to night school and did accounting for various companies,” says CEO Brian Robbins. During the post-World War II era, “people were hardworking and entrepreneurial, so Joe and his family started their own company.”

Robbins’ mother, Noreen Koppelman Goldstein, moved to Cleveland in 1991 to work at MidWest as general counsel after selling steel out of her New York home for 14 years, while raising three children. MidWest Materials’ president since 1996, Goldstein continues to be involved in the day-to-day running of the business.

he management of Vorteq Coil Finishers LLC and other investors completed a buyout of the company in late November. Working with Shadowbriar Capital Partners, the company’s senior leadership acquired the business from Peninsula Pacific, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm.

“Peninsula Pacific was a great supporter of this business from 2014 to 2021,” Vorteq CEO Jim Dockey says. “They were at the natural end of their investment holding period, and it was time for them to monetize the value they held in the business. We had a great partnership with Peninsula Pacific, and our business clearly grew tremendously during those seven years.”

A place for everything…

t can be challenging to visually distinguish slightly different diameters of round metal tubing, and it creates a headache for warehouse workers when the tubes are not organized. Teinert Metals Inc. in Lubbock, Texas, had to learn that lesson the hard way, says Logan Teinert, head of operations.

“Our warehouse used to be a mess. There were items on top of items, and it was unorganized,” he says. “The sizes are real close so they look like they’re right, but when you don’t have them organized, they get mixed up so you are pulling the wrong material. It is twice the work.”

reating complex tube profiles poses challenges for even the most experienced machinist. Machine structure and capabilities, customer specifications and the ability to cut different types of materials are all considerations when machining complete or partial bevels in a tube. A software program dedicated to tube cutting applications helps operators gain control and produce complex tube profiles quickly and efficiently.

hen cutting steel profiles and girders for construction applications, end users will usually seek a band saw blade that keeps its teeth intact, minimizes burr formation and is less susceptible to vibration. Mike Masters, chief technology officer for WIKUS Saw Technology Corp. in Addison, Illinois, says the company’s Proflex M42 bimetal blade does all of that. The M42 grade of high-speed steel for the blade has a flexible alloy backing to slow material fatigue.

Although it is a universal band saw blade, the Proflex’s tooth design makes it optimal for sawing structural steel workpieces, which require overcoming the challenges of sawing with an interrupted cutting channel. For example, Masters says, when cutting a pipe, the saw blade initially moves into solid metal in which the blade is fully supported and the teeth are spread over a large section of the pipe. Soon, however, the blade passes through solid metal and starts cutting two walls separated by space. “Now you are supported by two small sections and it creates a lot of vibration,” Masters says.