Above: Norfolk Iron and Metal has installed a temper mill/cut-to-length line at its Tulsa, Oklahoma, service center.
December, 2024- It’s not often you hear of a fur trading company transmuting into an iron and scrap retailer, and then, 115 years later, into a sizable metals service center chain. Yet, that’s part of the history of Norfolk Iron & Metal (NIM). Established in 1908 in Norfolk, Nebraska, the product line was originally focused on scrap iron, wool, furs and hides. Today, Norfolk Iron & Metal buys, processes and distributes carbon, stainless and aluminum products (particularly structural plate, coil, sheet, tubing and long products) from 18 locations. Employing more than 800 people, the company serves customers in 35 states.
Richard Robinson, chairman and CEO, is the third generation of the family to run the company, with sons, Arnie Robinson and Jeff Robinson, as the fourth generation, serving as president and chief executive officer, respectively.
Among NIM’s core values are professionalism, respect, a competitive flair, continuous improvement, accountability, individual empowerment and the desire to make good decisions that are long lasting.
“We intend to continue to grow the company long into the future, and we want decisions made with that long-term horizon in mind,” Arnie Robinson says. “We want to capitalize on short-term opportunities, but never lose sight of the big picture.”
The new line, built by Butech Bliss, includes a Synergy leveler to improve the atness of cut sheets
PROCESSING CAPABILITIES
NIM has sought to become an industry leader in processing steel that is ready for fabrication upon arrival. Services include tempering, cut to-length and leveling, blanking, coil polishing, slitting, laser cutting of tubes, bending, plasma cutting, sawing, shearing and shot blasting.
The customer base includes general manufacturing, structural fabricators, agricultural equipment, heavy construction, energy, food service equipment, transportation equipment and more.
The most recent processing line that NIM installed is a Butech Bliss cut-to-length temper mill and packaging line. The line, at the Tulsa, Oklahoma, service center, became fully operational during the third quarter of 2024.
The four-high temper mill line elongates, levels and shears a wide range of material. The temper mill CTL line manages up to 5/8-inch thick Grade 50 and 1/2-inch-thick Grade 100 steel. The line accepts coils from 36 to 96 inches wide and plate lengths up to 720 inches. The Tulsa facility has two comprehensive processing lines, a waterjet cutting table, and new long-length laser cutting technology to complement the capabilities of the temper mill line.
This temper mill’s CTL section is a high production model equipped with a rotary shear. This line also showcases a Butech Bliss built Synergy leveler located after the mill to improve overall flatness of the rolled material. The temper mill eliminates stress as well as enhances the mechanical properties and surface finish of steel before it is cut to specified lengths.
STABILITY
According to NIM’s leaders, this system allows for continuous sheet processing and faster lead times for its customers. The new line in Tulsa includes an integrated storage system within the stacker, orbital wrapper and bundle builder to improve packaging efficiency.
“The end product is high-quality steel that has superior flatness and stability. It will remain stable during welding, forming or laser cutting,” Robinson says.
The Butech Bliss line replaces an antiquated corrective leveler-only line that had components from multiple coil processing equipment vendors.
Zeb Edgerly, vice president of sales and marketing for Butech Bliss, says this project was the equipment builder’s first collaboration with NIM. He says it took 24 months to design, build, install and train the NIM personnel on using the line.
“This line came with some unique challenges to be able to fit a temper mill/cut-to-length line capable of producing 60-foot-long sheets in an extremely short footprint. The line changes direction twice around the building columns.”
NIM’s operators now have the ability to feed coils to the line with one crane and remove plates with a crane in the adjacent bay, Edgerly says. “The line is also equipped with our shelf stacker, automated packaging and bundle builder ensure the line can run smoothly without having to slow down or stop due to the exit end being a bottleneck.”
The new line has the ability to manipulate every square inch of material, says Nick Flesner, director of processing.
EVERY SQUARE INCH
“With the addition of the new temper mill in Tulsa, we are excited to be able to offer memory-free material to everyone from OEMs to fab shops to laser processors,” says Nick Flesner, director of corporate processing. “This new line has the ability to manipulate every square inch of material,” he adds. “The Butech line provides redundancy for our company as its capabilities compliment an older line that served as a cornerstone of our success.”
The company’s in-house test lab, samples every coil, testing yield, tensile, elongation, etc., says Flesner. “We will fail to send you steel before we will send you steel that fails the standards requested.”
Norfolk Iron & Metal’s continuing investment into infrastructure allows the company to service areas and markets across the nation. “We believe strongly in reinvesting in our employees and facilities,” Robinson says.
LOGISTICS
NIM’s Tulsa facility is located within the Port of Catoosa on the Verdigris River, where it receives material by barge, rail and truck. All material is stored indoors. Materials are transported via a company-owned fleet with Conestoga covered trailers.These capabilities ensure that NIM provides a quality product with a short lead time.
Butech Bliss, 330/337-0000, butechbliss.com
Norfolk Iron and Metal, 800/228-8100, norfolkiron.com
