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Cover Story
Navigating twists and turns of an unprecedented market
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September 2021
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The New Force In Coil Coating | Vorteqcoil.com
september 2021
trend publishing metals group Volume 77Number 08
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serving metal service centers, fabricators and OEM/end users since 1945
Canal Dock Boathouse, New Haven, Connecticut
architecture
Insulated metal panels prove to be three solutions in one product, saving builders time, complications and cash
Logo
serving metal service centers, fabricators and OEM/end users since 1945
Canal Dock Boathouse, New Haven, Connecticut
Features
service centers
Trusted suppliers, niche market and a transactional business model help one distributor navigate twists and turns
Inside of wearhouse
Inside of wearhouse
service centers
Trusted suppliers, niche market and a transactional business model help one distributor navigate twists and turns
Building
software
Creating a system that can operate a vast and complex distribution network that runs 24/7 is not for the faint of heart
Machines
coil processing
Accuracy, dependability are built into every custom component
Metal
tube & pipe
Growth puts tube producer on pace to log another successful year
Graving
waterjet
Waterjet machines help fabricators get back to business
MODERNMETALS.COM typography
 The Scroll is a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Arabic scrolls
/ steel
Processing equipment engineers take theories into working reality
/ spotlight
Joseph Savariego, president, Delta Steel Technologies, discusses the continued advancement of coil processing equipment—from flatness to automation
/ facetime
Online
Features
Made of 72 tonnes of steel and 240 tonnes of concrete foundations, The Scroll is a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Arabic scrolls
Processing equipment engineers take theories into working reality
Joseph Savariego, president, Delta Steel Technologies, discusses the continued advancement of coil processing equipment—from flatness to automation
#socialmedia typography
Wutopia Lab wraps “cloudy” bookstore in China with white perforated aluminum
Facebook
Wutopia Lab wraps “cloudy” bookstore in China with white perforated aluminum
Photo: CreatAR Images
Hyundai Steel Mill to recycle oyster and shellfish waste
Twitter
Hyundai Steel Mill to recycle oyster and shellfish waste
ow.ly/542830rOw2y
@ KoreaSavvy
Workers pouring molten #aluminum at the Century Electric Co. #foundry, back in 1932
Instagram
Workers pouring molten #aluminum at the Century Electric Co. #foundry, back in 1932
Photo: W.C. Persons via @penntoolco
Corinna Petry headshot
From the Editor
By Corinna Petry
#BRIDGELOVE
A

dvocates for metals consumption issued statements of strong support after the Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which was to be reviewed by the U.S. House of Representatives during the last days of August.

“We applaud the Senate for advancing this bipartisan legislation that will spur economic growth and job creation throughout the country,” says Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Frank Goodwin
guest editorial
By Dr. Frank Goodwin, Galvanized Autobody Partnership
Ford Electric Mustang
Photo: Ford Motor Co.
From T to EV
As the electric car market grows, so does the industry’s reliance on galvanized steel
S

teel was an integral component when Henry Ford’s first Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908. Fast forward 113 years and steel remains a key ingredient in the production of today’s “horseless carriages.”

Automotive design and manufacturing technologies have changed dramatically over that timeframe. What hasn’t changed is automakers’ reliance on steel to get the job done on highways, byways and dirt roads.

Mike Womack
guest editorial
By Mike Womack, New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program Inc.
No collars, just careers
Stop job shaming and celebrate critical skills
B

lue collar” is a term I despise. My collar was blue the day I wrote this article, and I work behind a desk. I know a welder who makes nearly double my salary. Categorizing career paths by the color of one’s collar is irrelevant and demeaning. Forget about the collars, focus on the career, and stop stigmatizing a critical function in society.

For decades, students have been steered away from industrial work. Manufacturing was painted as dangerous, dark, dirty, or only for those that couldn’t make it through a four-year college. If this misinformation campaign wasn’t so rampant, the $1.7 trillion in U.S. student debt might be a bit lower.

HOT SHEET
Service center
MATERIAL COSTS
Service centers foresee high prices holding
During quarterly earnings phone calls with shareholders and analysts, executives of four publicly held metals distribution chains were bullish on the strength of demand from most consuming end markets. Combined with supply chain issues—such as longer lead times from producers—they expect sustainability in pricing over the next six to nine months.

“Price increases on carbon products continue to climb as lead times remain extended. LME aluminum [prices] continued to rise into the third quarter on strong global demand against tightening supply conditions,” said Ryerson Holding Corp. COO Mike Burbach.

Architecture
with a deadline of under 10 months, kingspan panels allowed for quick installation.
Flexible Façades
Insulated metal panels prove to be three solutions in one product, saving builders time, complications and cash
By Corinna Petry
V

ersatility and ease of use are two of the highest attributes found in metals, so metals are often chosen for both the structural components and outer finishes of high-profile building projects.

Florida-based Kingspan Insulated Panels North America has developed a line of products that has gained favor with award-winning architects in the United States and Canada. Some recent projects for which Kingspan has supplied solutions include a professional soccer stadium and team training facility; a manufacturing facility for a maker of explosives used in oilfield applications; a multifunctional civic center; and a clean, bright and weatherproof East Coast boathouse.

Service Centers
Positioning
Trusted suppliers, niche market and a transactional business model help one distributor navigate twists and turns
Churchill Steel Plate HQ
Churchill Steel Plate’s specialty is sourcing and processing material 6 inches thick and above.
By Corinna Petry
L

aunched in 2014 with what company President Jim Stevenson calls “the dirty dozen” employees, Churchill Steel Plate now has 50 people working two shifts to keep up with demand.

“We are a very niche business,” says Stevenson. The distributor stocks carbon and alloy steel plate from 0.25 inch through 24 inches thick, but its specialty is processing material 6 inches thick and above. Services include high-definition plasma, flame and saw cutting, furnace treatment, grinding and ultrasonic testing.

When commodity markets move into territory rarely seen in years, a curious person wonders if and how participants have prepared for the unexpected.

ERP/SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
Metal beams
Southern Steel Group surveyed its core users to establish the key functions they wanted to be able to perform with a new ERP system.
Laser
Steel manufacturing process
Metal beams
Laser
Southern Steel Group surveyed its core users to establish the key functions they wanted to be able to perform with a new ERP system.
Going live
Creating a system that can operate a vast and complex distribution network that runs 24/7 is not for the faint of heart
By Corinna Petry
S

outhern Steel Group is the largest privately owned steel supplier in Australia. It has been operating for more than 60 years and employs over 1,000 people nationwide.

“We hold a large inventory of plate, structural steel, merchant bar, pipe and rectangular hollow sections, giving us the capability to manage small- to large-scale projects and long-term supply,” says the company’s project manager, Kerrie-Anne Gatt.

“Despite its size, the Southern Steel Group is still a family business that makes excellent customer service its absolute top priority. Our agility and can-do attitude allow us to move fast to deliver accurate, just-in-time solutions to construction, engineering and manufacturing challenges,” Gatt says.

COIL PROCESSING
coil processing machine
Constant innovation
Accuracy, dependability are built into every custom component
F

or K&S Machinery Corp., Linden, New Jersey, success can be attributed to a long standing practice of getting to know the customer in order to identify their very specific needs, and being able to translate that into a component or entire processing line that meets or exceeds expectations.

All of the equipment it builds is custom, meaning that it is rare for a duplicate piece of equipment to go through its manufacturing plant.

One of K&S Machinery’s customers had a dilemma. The customer was slitting light-gauge product 60 inches wide and when they ran heavy-gauge, narrow-width material, the arbors deflected due to the increased load.

NCCA membership guide
2021 NCCA membership
Alucobond logo

3A Composites USA Inc.

721 Jetton Street, Ste. 325, Davidson, NC 28036
800/626-3365
3acompositesusa.com

Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc.

1313 Windsor Ave., Columbus, OH 43211
614/294-3361, fax: 614/421-4368
akzonobel.com/ccna

American Metals–USG Interiors

1000 Crocker Rd., Westlake, OH 44145
440/892-7335, fax: 440/892-7416
usg.com

Flack Global Metals

16435 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 200
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
216/456.0700
flackglobalmetals.com
GFG
N53 W29400 S. Corporate Cir., Sussex, WI 53089
262/372-4515, fax: 262/372-4815
gfg-peabody.com
Goldin Metals Inc.
14231 Seaway Rd., Ste. 7000
Gulfport, MS 39503-4662
228/575-7733, fax: 228/575-7759
goldinmetals.com
W. R. Grace & Co.
7500 Grace Dr., Columbia, MD 21044
410/531-4000, fax: 410/531-4367
grace.com

Old Country Mill Work

5855 Hooper Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90001
323/234-2940, fax: 323/234-6564
ocmcoil.com

PPG Industries Inc.

125 Colfax St., Springdale, PA 15144
800/258-6398, fax: 724/274-3045
ppgmetalcoatings.com

Ply Gem Inc.

2405 Campbell Rd., Sidney, OH 45365
937/497-7008
plygem.com

Precoat Metals

1310 Papin St., 3rd Fl., St. Louis, MO 63103
314/436-7010, fax: 314/436-7050
precoatmetals.com

The Shepherd Color Co.

4539 Dues Dr., P.O. Box 465627
Cincinnati, OH 45246
513/874-0714, fax: 513/874-5061
shepherdcolor.com
Tube & Pipe
Nucor added safety measures to enhance machinery lockout/tagout, fall protection, hand safety and mobile equipment incident prevention.
Nucor employee posing happily in front of steel storage
Nucor added safety measures to enhance machinery lockout/tagout, fall protection, hand safety and mobile equipment incident prevention.
Best foot forward
Growth puts tube producer on pace to log another successful year
By Lauren Duensing
D

uring a second-quarter earnings call, President and CEO Leon Topalian emphasized that Nucor Corp. is focused on becoming the world’s safest steel company. “We continue to perform well on the safety front, as we look to make 2021 our safest year ever, besting our record set just last year,” Topalian said on the July 22 call.

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic in 2020, Nucor Tubular Products recorded a profitable year, and the company is on pace for an even better year in 2021. That success is due in no small part to its focus on safety.

waterjet

Parts, ASAP

Waterjet machines help fabricators get back to business

close view of a MultiCam waterjet cutting steel nested parts
Cutting steel nested parts with a MultiCam waterjet.

By Lauren Duensing

A

s the world inches back toward normal, fabricators are finding their footing. Rashad Galloway, fabrication products manager at Texas-based MultiCam Inc., says that after reducing capacity—or even shutting down—to meet safety requirements, fabricators are “being bombarded with orders.”

To keep up, they’re turning to machinery builders like MultiCam to solve their immediate needs and accommodate future growth. Often, “they need a machine that is capable of cutting anything and everything. And the waterjet is a tool that can do that.”
New Products

FINISHING/DEBURRING

Honing tool line expanded

Osborn expanded its line of ATB Novoflex honing tools with additional abrasive grain sizes, abrasive types and diameters. The expanded offering now includes 185 new items and a total standard offering of 271 items. Available for hole diameters ranging from 0.196 inch to 8 inch, Osborn’s small-diameter ATB Novoflex tools are designed with round, abrasive silicon carbide beads fastened to the end of flexible nylon filaments providing an edge break not possible with conventional honing stones. These self-centering tools conform to the bore surface resulting in a consistent, even surface finish over the life of the tool. In addition, the long brush length is ideal for reaching into holes and crevices where other brushes cannot.

Osborn, Richmond, Indiana, 765/965-5333, osborn.com.

PARTING SHOT
Placed at the end of the pier at Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua, the 1.5-ton sculpture, The Boonji Spaceman, is the product of a collaboration between artist Brendan Murphy and collector and resort co-owner Christopher Harding. Reinforced with a steel skeleton core, the carbon fiber exterior is designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and other natural elements. A proprietary chrome finish was applied to reflect light in spectacular hues from sunrise to sunset, With engineering support by Andy Kostas, it took three days, 12 men, one crane and custom scaffolding to erect the “dancing spaceman” sculpture, which is mounted to a 5-foot-thick concrete pedestal. “The piece is a tribute to human ingenuity and resilience, and focused around my fascination with imagination,” said Murphy. “I believe the future is the one thing we’ll never run out of, and it’s up to each of us to write it.”
The Boonji Spaceman
Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua
Photo: Jaramay Aréf Photography
PARTING SHOT
The Boonji Spaceman
Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua
Placed at the end of the pier at Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua, the 1.5-ton sculpture, The Boonji Spaceman, is the product of a collaboration between artist Brendan Murphy and collector and resort co-owner Christopher Harding. Reinforced with a steel skeleton core, the carbon fiber exterior is designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and other natural elements. A proprietary chrome finish was applied to reflect light in spectacular hues from sunrise to sunset, With engineering support by Andy Kostas, it took three days, 12 men, one crane and custom scaffolding to erect the “dancing spaceman” sculpture, which is mounted to a 5-foot-thick concrete pedestal. “The piece is a tribute to human ingenuity and resilience, and focused around my fascination with imagination,” said Murphy. “I believe the future is the one thing we’ll never run out of, and it’s up to each of us to write it.”
Photo: Jaramay Aréf Photography
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
EDITORIAL OFFICES
Trend Publishing Inc.
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312/654-2300, Fax: 312/654-2323
www.modernmetals.com
pRODUCTION & Design
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VP Creative
Matt LaFleur
Digital
Digital Manager
Mark Koenig
CORPORATE
President/Publisher
Michael D’Alexander
Vice President
Jim D’Alexander
VP Finance
Wayne Krusen
Business Manager
Traci Fonville
Circulation
Bill D’Alexander
advertising sales territories
Michael D’Alexander, President/Publisher
312/654-2309, Fax: 312/654-2323
mdalexander@modernmetals.com
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rdalexander@modernmetals.com
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valerie@modernmetals.com

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tfon@modernmetals.com

Modern Metals® (ISSN 0026-8127, USPS 357-640) AUGUST 2021, Vol. 77, No. 8 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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