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Visionaries launch, a new decade of discovery
Big data, machine intelligence guide actions and Smart engineering creates strong  magnet systems
Big data, machine intelligence guide actions and Smart engineering creates strong  magnet systems
February 2020
February2020
trend publishing metals group  Volume 76 Number 2
18
Metallurgy R&D
The latest R&D in materials, technologies, processes and sustainability launches a new decade of discovery
periodic table
service centers
Distributor navigates steep learning curve, shops the world for prime material and delivers high-quality services
Rewards of discipline
aluminum
Former steel tubing veterans find new niche in extruded parts
Another notch
Push & pull
Continuous motion
In the family
Scaling up
features
material handling
Magnetic lifting requires engineered solutions
tube & pipe
Honeycomb system brings material in and out without damage
waterjet cutting
Relying on others proved disappointing, so one shop owner installed his own cutting equipment
software solutions / erp
Analyzing, acting upon big data and machine intelligence is making dollars and sense
coil coating
Functions of powder coatings expand with efficiency gains, environmental compliance
Protect & perfect
Muqarna Mutation
February2020
trend publishing metals group  Volume 76 Number 2
75 years of serving the metals industry
periodic table
18
Metallurgy R&D
The latest R&D in materials, technologies, processes and sustainability launches a new decade of discovery
Rewards of discipline
Service Centers
Distributor navigates steep learning curve, shops the world for prime material and delivers high-quality services
Another notch
aluminum
Former steel tubing veterans find new niche in extruded parts
features
Push & pull
material handling
Magnetic lifting requires engineered solutions
Continuous motion
tube & pipe
Honeycomb system brings material in and out without damage
In the family
waterjet cutting
Relying on others proved disappointing, so one shop owner installed his own cutting equipment
Scaling up
software solutions / erp
Analyzing, acting upon big data and machine intelligence is making dollars and sense
Protect & perfect
coil coating
Functions of powder coatings expand with efficiency gains, environmental compliance
departments
Comprehensive industry coverage anytime, anywhere
The Shinjuku Miyabi Residence hotel
/aluminum
Building high-strength materials efficiently and safely
/coil
Laser center addresses a wide variety of potential manufacturing bottlenecks
/laser
Online
Features
modernmetals.com
/aluminum
The Shinjuku Miyabi Residence hotel stands out from its surroundings due to its laser-cut aluminum façade of hemp leaf patterns
modernmetals.com
/coil
Slitting, blanking and packaging lines built to supply high-strength materials efficiently and safely
modernmetals.com
/laser
Laser center addresses a wide variety of potential manufacturing bottlenecks
Man welding
Inside Baglietto’s new 140-foot aluminum superyacht
Facebook
Inside Baglietto’s new 140-foot aluminum superyacht
Photo: Baglietto
AIRLAB 3D prints stainless steel pavilion for Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay
Twitter
AIRLAB 3D prints stainless steel pavilion for Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay
ow.ly/4kNX30q7gUH
@dezeen
Photo: AIRLAB
New York balcony designed by Zaha Hadid
Instagram
#newyork #highline #architecture #ZahaHadid #balcony #steel #streameline
Corinna Petry headshot
fromtheeditor
BY corinna petry
Partners
O

ne can never overestimate the value of collaboration; this is particularly true for research and development. Our cover story this month (Page 18) highlights a few of the many R&D projects that chemists, metallurgists, engineers, physicists and digital geniuses are producing all the time, all over the world.

Potential applications are too numerous to mention but improvements in automotive light weighting, reductions in CO2 emissions during production, lowering waste output to zero, removing corrosive elements at the atomic level, and eliminating one or more steps in creating extrusions all promise leaps in metal’s technological prowess.

The collaboration is possible because universities, research centers and national laboratories are seeking answers to questions that will help bolster advances in both pure and applied science.

servicecenternews
Tube and pipe supplier Kansas City
Tube and pipe supplier joins alliance
EXLTUBE, North Kansas City, Missouri, has joined the North American Steel Alliance. The company supplies structural and mechanical tube and standard pipe products to U.S. and Canadian customers. EXLTUBE is able to ship all three products on a single truck or build railcar loads.
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tradetalk
Concast quality certification
Concast earns quality certification
Concast Metal Products Co., Birmingham, Ohio, has been AS9100:2016 certified for quality standards. The designation ensures that Concast has implemented the best possible processes to supply the quality copper bronze alloys required by the aerospace, oil and gas equipment manufacturers and other industries.
Behringer Building
Behringer celebrates 100 years
Behringer GmbH celebrated its 100th anniversary in December 2019. The history of the sawing machine producer started in 1919, when August Behringer founded a small locksmith and mechanical workshop in the village center of Kirchardt, Germany. Today, Behringer GmbH is a family business run by the grandchildren of the founder, Rolf and Christian Behringer. Most of the machines Behringer produces are exported to over 80 countries. Sales and service offices in the U.S., France, China and the United Kingdom and over 30 agencies worldwide underline the international focus.
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Eye On People
Champagne Metals hired Barrett Piller as territory manager in Glenpool, Oklahoma. Piller has almost a decade of experience in the aluminum industry.

Andrew Greiff was named president of Olympic Steel Inc., Cleveland, while he retains his existing duties as chief operating officer. As president and COO, Greiff will lead strategy for Olympic Steel’s commercial efforts, including managing sales, purchasing and operations. Greiff succeeds David Wolfort, who served as president of Olympic Steel for the past 18 years. William Zielinski assumed the role of president, in addition to his existing responsibilities as chief operating officer for Chicago Tube and Iron, an Olympic Steel subsidiary. Zielinski succeeds Donald R. McNeeley.

Bill Van Buren has joined Col-Met Engineered Finishing Solutions, Rockwell, Texas, as regional sales manager. Bill joins the Col-Met team with 41 years of experience in finishing applications and processes and will be supporting Col-Met distributors in the Southwest.

Francine Bovard, senior technical specialist with Arconic, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, will serve a three-year term on the ASTM International board of directors. Bovard has been with Arconic for 28 years, having previously served as a technical specialist with Alcoa and a technician with Sandia National Laboratory. An ASTM International member since 2013, Bovard is a member of the committees on light materials and alloys (B07), fatigue and fracture (E08), additive manufacturing (F42), corrosion of metals (G01), and the joint ASTM/NACE committee on corrosion.

The board of directors of Specialty Steel Works Inc. Hammond, Indiana, appointed current president and COO Michael Salamon, as CEO and president. He succeeds Joel Hawthorne, who had been serving as CEO since the company emerged from bankruptcy last year.

Troy Kreter has joined Central Tube & Bar, Conway Arkansas, as a territory manager. He brings over 20 years of fabricated tubing sales and expertise to CTB’s Midwest customer base.

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newproducts
Force software solutions
Force software solutions are now interchangeable
A flexible selection architecture enables the range of Starrett force and material testing software programs to be compatible with its different test frame series. This interchangeable system architecture increases application versatility, providing users a wider range of solution options from basic to advanced, for their specific force and material testing needs. Starrett L2, S2, L2 Plus, and L3 software are compatible and interchangeable with all Starrett Frame/Stands Series (FMM, FMS, FMD, MMS, MMD). In addition, Starrett L1 and S1 software is compatible with FMM Series Frames.
L.S. Starrett Co., Athol, Massachusetts, 978/249-3551, www.starrett.com.

Tube forming machine, punch table combined

The E-Shape is a compact, all-electric CNC tube end forming machine with a punch table that works horizontally—eliminating interference from overhead structures. Set up for 10 processing stations, the E-Shape can be freely equipped with ram stations, rotary and/or cutting tools, enabling users to configure the machine in a way that best meets their job needs. Offering 10 tons of force, the E-Shape yields quality complex shapes and end forming in thick-walled materials or stainless steel. It can perform tapering, flaring, closing, facing, cutting and more to produce repeatable end forms, finish and quality.
BLM Group USA, Wixom, Michigan, 248/560-0080, www.blmgroup.com.
Tube forming machine
Tube forming machine

Tube forming machine, punch table combined

The E-Shape is a compact, all-electric CNC tube end forming machine with a punch table that works horizontally—eliminating interference from overhead structures. Set up for 10 processing stations, the E-Shape can be freely equipped with ram stations, rotary and/or cutting tools, enabling users to configure the machine in a way that best meets their job needs. Offering 10 tons of force, the E-Shape yields quality complex shapes and end forming in thick-walled materials or stainless steel. It can perform tapering, flaring, closing, facing, cutting and more to produce repeatable end forms, finish and quality.
BLM Group USA, Wixom, Michigan, 248/560-0080, www.blmgroup.com.
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Search more than 2,000 companies in over 1,000 product categories
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MetallurgyR&D
Visionaries

THE LATEST R&D IN MATERIALS, TECHNOLOGIES, PROCESSES AND SUSTAINABILITY LAUNCHES A NEW DECADE OF DISCOVERY

BY Corinna Petry
W

orldwide, metals producers partner with universities and national laboratories to explore everything from artificial intelligence, big data, the reduction of harmful pollutants during production, preventing corrosion on a nanoscale, shaping material on a microstructure level and producing ductile material from powder.

All these efforts, it is hoped, will make metals stronger, lighter, cleaner, more efficient and longer lasting while creating jobs and a safer environment for workers and consumers. Potential applications are too numerous to mention, but Modern Metals has selected nine of the latest developments to highlight.

servicecenters
CEO Randy Horvat, left, and President Jeff Haas migrated CME from secondary to prime materials.
Rewards of discipline
Distributor navigates steep learning curve, shops the world for prime material and delivers high-quality services
BY Corinna Petry
C

leveland Metal Exchange, now CME, has grown and developed through twists and turns over its 26 years of existence as a metals distributor.

When the company launched in 1994, it was “buying secondary material and selling it to manufacturers that were able to use material with defects,” says CME Chief Executive Officer Randy Horvat.

Over time, the secondary market shifted and the company adapted, changing its business model to buying mill direct, then processing and selling prime material. Simultaneously, Cleveland Metal Exchange grew from having a regional footprint to having a national one, which is why the owners are rebranding the company as CME.

aluminum
Richardson Metals ships all across the United States and Canada and to the southern border for export to Mexico.
Another notch
Former steel tubing veterans find new niche in extruded parts
BY Corinna Petry
R

ick Werner and John Tassone have 50-plus years of combined experience in the steel industry, and in tube production specifically. Werner was president of Independence Tube Corp., while Tassone was the general manager of sales and marketing. They were part of the management team that helped grow the company by over 400 percent, so it became the second largest structural tube company in the United States.

After Nucor purchased Independence Tube in 2016, Werner and Tassone were soon staying home collecting payments under employment contracts. But each wanted something more, so they formed a limited liability company (Xcite Manufacturing) and began looking for opportunities allowed by their noncompete agreements.

After examining several opportunities, they came across a company in Colorado Springs called Richardson Metals Inc. and purchased its assets in September 2018. They kept both the trade name and all of the non-retiring employees.

materialhandling
Walker Magnetics’ designs are capable of lifting any size and shape steel product.
Push & pull
Magnetic lifting requires engineered solutions
BY Lauren Duensing
T

he business of manufacturing and moving metals is challenging and often dangerous. Industrial magnets can help improve operations’ efficiency and safety by streamlining processes, protecting workers and preventing damage to materials.

Walker Magnetics, Windsor, Connecticut, has been designing and manufacturing industrial magnetic products for over 120 years and provides custom solutions to lifting, material handling, workholding and separation applications for the metals supply chain from mills to service centers, foundries to fabricators and everything in between.

Solid systems
Safety is always the first concern when selecting a magnetic lifting device; however, factors such as type of steel alloy; dimensions, shape and weight of the material being lifted; and environmental concerns each must be evaluated.
tube&pipe
Custom-designed warehouses allow for easy access to products of all shapes and sizes.
Continuous motion
BY Lauren Duensing
T

ailored warehouse automation plays an important role in a profitable business. Every warehouse’s storage needs are different, so attempting to stack products into a one-size-fits-all system typically isn’t the best choice for long-term organization and productivity.

David Veldung, president of Fehr Warehouse Solutions, says that a typical concern he hears from companies who are researching a custom warehouse system is regarding the investment cost.

“We can help with determining the ROI for such a system, which typically is about three years. Also, the integrating from the software side into the existing ERP or MRP software often is a concern—but is not a problem for us. We evaluate material flow as well as conduct analyses to determine the optimum storage size,” he says.

waterjetcutting
Owner Matt Shaug of JetCut Manufacturing with 10 gauge 316 stainless steel sanitary process tanks equipped with internal agitators.
In the family
Relying on others proved disappointing, so one shop owner installed his own cutting equipment
BY GRETCHEN SALOIS
M

att Shaug has been around the fabrication shop for as long as he can remember. His father, Jerry Shaug, started Shaug Construction nearly 30 years ago and brought his son to work from a young age. “I was pretty much born into the fabrication world,” says current owner Matt Shaug.

The Denair, California, company provides onsite aseptic welding and fabrication for food and beverage equipment makers. The work ranges from simple process tanks to complex evaporators.

Shaug previously used plasma cutting but found that neither his workers nor his customers wanted to deal with the cleanup and less-than-perfect accuracy. After moving away from plasma cutting, Shaug found that farming out waterjet cutting resulted in less than desirable finishes.

software solutions / erp

Workers on the production floor can view the pace of their activities in real time.
Scaling up
Analyzing, acting upon big data and machine intelligence is making dollars and sense
BY corinna petry
E

veryone has heard about big data’s terminology and promise and can guess what it might mean to harness the intelligence that is lying around on the shop floor, at the sales desk, and even outside the company, among vendors and customers. It’s perhaps a fear that they won’t see an obvious ROI that keeps smaller and midsize metals suppliers and manufacturers from pulling the trigger on acquiring enterprise resource planning tools that would make their operations hum.

Matt Heerey, president of the manufacturing division of ECI Software Solutions, Fort Worth, Texas, has been working with small and midsize manufacturers for many years.

Often, he says, “metal fab shops come to us, and their only access to data is paper, routers, Quickbooks and an Excel spreadsheet. We help them to migrate from those systems to an ERP solution.” With this software tool, “we uncover and capture data from all aspects of an operation and create reports, which is common. But we now also put dashboards in offices and shop floors, giving everyone the ability to see what’s going on in real time and to make decisions accordingly. Many job shops didn’t have that ability historically.”

coilcoating

Internet server cabinets are among the products that can be powder coated.
Protect & Perfect
Functions of powder coatings expand with efficiency gains, environmental compliance
BY corinna petry
Powder coatings, especially those developed by giants such as PPG, have consistently gained adherents as the manufacturing technology becomes greener, saves steps in processing, limits waste and prevents pollution, and makes products long lasting.

Shelley Verdun, business manager for powder coatings within PPG’s Industrial Coatings division, is a chemist and a 32-year veteran of the 137-year-old Pittsburgh-based company. The division handles various market segments such as electrical equipment and appliances, automotive underbody components, and office furnishings.

One of the first advantages of powder that PPG discusses with potential customers, including coil coaters, is that such coatings offer a low cost of entry to the market, compared with liquid coatings.

All of Trend Publishing titles
All of Trend Publishing titles

partingshot

Muqarna Mutation
Tokyo, Japan
Zurich-based architect and programmer Michael Hansmeyer recently premiered his latest project “Muqarna Mutation” at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. For a “Future and the Arts” exhibition, the museum curators commissioned Muqarna Mutation, which is an algorithmically designed, robotically fabricated, 6-m-wide muqarna (elaborate ornamental vaultings). “Muqarna Mutation” re-analyzes historical muqarna archetypes and explores how, in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, computation and robotic fabrication can bring the splendor of such a rule-based geometric art into the future. A selective subdivision algorithm generates hundreds of thousands of tiles set among dozens of tiers to create an extravagant ornamental transition from column to ceiling. Robots refine and ennoble a mass-produced industrial product—aluminum profiles—into an elaborate structural ensemble: 15,000 individual aluminum tubes are suspended from a robotically milled, tiered base.
Photo: Kioku Keizo, Mori Art Museum
ModernMetals
President/Publisher Michael D’Alexander
Editorial
Editor-in-Chief
Corinna Petry
Senior Editor
Gretchen Salois
Senior Editor
Lynn Stanley
Senior Contributing Editor
J. Neiland Pennington
Contributing Editor
Lauren Duensing
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Modern Metals® (ISSN 0026-8127, USPS 357-640) February 2020, Vol. 76, No. 2 is a registered trademark of Trend Publishing Inc. Modern Metals® is published 11 times a year by Trend Publishing Inc., with its publishing office lo­cated at 123 W. Madison St., Suite 950, Chicago, Illinois 60602, 312/654-2300; fax 312/654-2323. Michael J. D’Alexander, President, Trend Publishing Inc. Copyright 2020 by Trend Publishing Inc. All rights reserved under the United States, International, and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—mechanical, photocopying, electronic recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Trend Publishing Inc. This publication is sent free of charge to qualified subscribers. Single copies $14. Paid subscriptions in the U.S. $125/year. Canada, $145/year. Foreign subscriptions, $180/year surface mail and $260/year air mail. If interested in a free subscription go to www.modernmetals.com to see if you qualify. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Metals® c/o Creative Data Services, Inc., 440 Quadrangle Drive Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Printed in the USA.
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