Agility is a term not often associated with steel producers, but this 90-year-old firm is making a future for itself by anticipating, then addressing, customer needs
October 2007 - "It's a family tradition," sings Hank Williams Jr. while performing his signature tune. John Raese, CEO of Greer Steel in Dover, Ohio, could sing a similar song, but in his case it would be about making steel instead of making trouble. The company was founded 90 years ago by Raese's grandparents, Agnes and H.C. Greer, and today is one of the nation's leading producers of cold-rolled strip steel. Maintaining that position, though, isn't easy.
"Conditions for cold-rolled strip producers have changed dramatically by improved, tighter-tolerance product coming from domestic steel mills," says Raese. He notes that some strip producers faced with this increased competition have gone out of business. Greer, on the other hand, has thrived through improved technology and enhanced value. Sure, those are just words that anybody can say--and many people do. Greer, however, has put them into practice.
"Many stampers today are demanding tighter tolerances than you typically get with sheet, certainly tighter than a lot of our competitors provide," says Raese. "Tighter tolerances are critical to high-speed stamping, and supplying those stampers has become a successful niche for us."
Greer has managed to achieve those tolerances with the aid of an ongoing capital investment program that has brought major upgrades to its mills. Its 30-inch Bliss breakdown reversing mill, for example, has recently been enhanced with the addition of an automatic gauge control (AGC) system and two gamma ray gauges, all supplied by I2S, Yale, Conn. The new AGC system, which uses a feed-forward design, interprets exit gauge and allows greater correction control. The system captures as much as 10 times more information than Greer's previous system, allowing the mill to achieve significantly greater accuracy and shape consistency.
"With this new system there will be even less part-to-part variance than before, so tool and die life will be extended and higher processing speeds will be possible," observes Raese. "Also, because the target gauge can move toward the bottom of the tolerance range, more parts per coil will be possible."
The Bliss mill has also been beefed up with a more powerful motor, boosting its horsepower from 1,000 horsepower to 1,200 horsepower. This gives Greer the option of taking larger reductions per pass or running the mill at increased speeds with the same reduction levels. The gear box was also upgraded to complement the added power.
Gauge consistency has also been increased on Greer's 20-inch mill and its 18-inch reversing mill, again with the addition of I2S AGC systems. As with the Bliss mill, the AGC permits more measurements within a coil, providing greater control and consistency. Again, the advantages for the customer include higher productivity.
Opting for world-class
If the name I2S seems to reoccur frequently in this narrative, it's no coincidence. "We commissioned I2S to come out to Greer Steel and work with us," says Raese. "They are recognized as world-class technology providers and our business plan, as well as our tradition, called for the best. We're fortunate to still have a company in the United States that can provide this sort of technology."
In addition to the AGC, the 20-inch mill's mechanical screws were replaced with 12-inch diameter hydraulic cylinders, boosting separating force to 900,000 pounds, allowing the mill to produce higher-quality surfaces. These "hydraulic screwdowns" have now been installed on all of Greer's mills.
Not content with upgrading its existing equipment, Greer has also added significant--and expensive--new capabilities. In 2004 it was a 22-inch finishing mill, again provided by I2S, that delivered a top-of-the-line finish and consistency while increasing Greer's temper capacity by 3,000 tons per month. It also enabled Greer to produce a greater diversity of roll finish.
Subsequently, new Austrian-made annealing furnaces designed to produce an exceptionally clean product were imported and installed. "We are in the process of moving to 100 percent hydrogen fuel for these furnaces, which will permit us to produce even cleaner steel," says Raese. Even before the addition of the new annealing furnaces, however, Greer was no stranger to clean product and high-quality surface finishes. Raese points to the fact that this is the last company in the United States that can still produce an appliance-grade finish--specifically, the No. 3 Best Bright.
Profitable reflections
Producing this bright, shiny strip steel is more than just a matter of nationalistic pride for the company. "There is a growing market for No. 3 Best Bright for engine covers, head lamps and other high-chrome parts on motorcycles and as an option for some of the exterior parts on the Chrysler Jeep," notes Curtis Lamar, general manager of Greer's Ferndale, Mich., service center. A section of this highly reflective steel, framed as a mirror, sits atop a filing cabinet in Lamar's office. It fools many visitors who find themselves glancing into it to check their hair.
Located within an easy drive of most of metro Detroit's auto plants and automotive suppliers, the Ferndale service center, which also does toll processing, provides slitting and cut-to-length services, and its precision edging mill delivers No. 4 rounded edges. A large portion of the 50,000-square-foot facility is given over to warehousing an ample array of standard products, assuring that orders for these products can be shipped within 48 hours, including orders as small as 500 pounds.
Other capabilities recently added at the Dover plant include a new Braner/Loopco cut-to-length line from Braner USA, Schiller Park, Ill. The servo-fed line converts 15-ton-by-30-inch-wide surface-critical coil with tensile strengths in the 120,000-pounds-per-square-inch to 140,000-pounds-per-square-inch range, in gauges from 0.025-inch through 0.220-inch, into precisely dimensioned flat blanks and does so at high rates of speed. It's equipped with a large straightener that features 17 3.5-inch-diameter chrome-plated work rolls. PLC control enables quick straightener setup, though the operator has the ability to override the PLC if he sees the need to make adjustments on the fly.
The new CTL line has a high-speed hydraulic shear capable of 60 strokes per minute. Because the shear employs cylinders rather than a pneumatic clutch and brake to drive its ram, the shearing cycle is exceptionally quiet. This also reduces the number of moving parts, boosting shear reliability.
"This new equipment provides added performance in terms of flatness control and gauge range," says Raese. "Our customers are going to get material that will run more efficiently on their lines and therefore they can expect to see increases in parts per pound and in overall productivity." The speed and reliability of the new CTL line is also helping Greer reduce lead times.
"There's an old adage," continues Raese, "you either go up or you go down, you don't stay the same. We have to go up, we have to increase the size of our markets, and being a modest-sized, family-held company in a world where our main competitors are mostly public, multinational companies presents a major challenge. We address that challenge through our dedication to service and technology."
The most recent addition to that technology is a 40-ton, top-running crane that will be installed to service the company's pickling and primary slitting departments. The crane will allow Greer to receive larger coils, thus improving efficiency from the beginning of the production line. Slated for installation this fall, the crane has a 110-foot span and was built by Zenar Corp., Oak Creek, Wis.
By the end of the first quarter of 2008 that technology will include a new $3 million hot-roll slitting line from SMS Demag Ltd., Oakville, Ontario, which will be able to process material at speeds up to 900 feet per minute. The new slitter will enhance Greer's ability to efficiently produce its traditional product line and meet the requirements of new products, such as ultra-high-strength steel.
New products
"Our customers are looking for engineered products that exhibit improved strength, formability and weight savings over conventional products," notes Raese. "To answer that need Greer has expanded its high-strength, low-alloy steel program to offer ultra-high-strength grades with minimum yield strengths as high as 150,000 pounds per square inch. The new slitter will support the processing of those products."
Those products also include 420 stainless, which was recently added to the Greer product mix. Grade 420 stainless steel, a modification of 410 stainless, has a higher carbon content to increase hardness, improve strength and give better wear resistance. Target applications are those requiring high hardness and good corrosion resistance, such as knife blades, surgical instruments, needle valves, shear blades and other applications requiring sharp-edge retention and high-strength properties.
"We looked out at the market and we saw that today there's a shortage of 420 out there, as well as a shortage of companies who can provide it, so it was obviously a good opportunity for Greer," says Raese. "Additionally, our ability to do narrow-width slitting in-house provides added value for our 420 customers."
Raese stresses that Greer's new products are developed in close consultation with its customers and with strong input from its sales staff. "Half of our sales force are metallurgical engineers. I just completed a trip to Germany and Austria studying a lot of the markets and mills over there and it's amazing how many engineers their steel companies have throughout their organizations, from rolling through sales. In this country that's still somewhat unusual, but not at Greer. Having sales folks who are also metallurgists helps customers solve problems and find new solutions. Knowledge is power." MM
By Greg Farnum, from the October 2007 issue of Modern Metals.
