Austrian industrial solutions provider Siemens VAI reported Monday that US wire product producer Leggett & Platt Inc. has placed an order for a new coil handling system for the wire rod mill at its subsidiary, Sterling Steel LLC.
The new all-vertical coil handling system will enable the plant to accept larger billets for higher yields and greater productivity with less downtime, said Siemens. Siemens will also replace the plant's reform tub with a newer, simpler design that minimizes damage and integrates well with the new coil handling system.
The upgrade also includes an extension of the mill's existing Stelmor system which controls the cooling process for greater uniformity of rod properties and tensile strength. This extension offers Sterling more processing capability and the flexibility to run different grades of rod in the future.
The order is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.
Sterling Steel, located in Sterling, Illinois, produces approximately 490,000 nt of wire rod per year, with the majority of its rod going to Leggett's six wire mils. The company has an integrated steel works with a 400-nt electric arc furnace, two ladle treatment stations, an eight-strand continuous billet caster, and a wire rod mill.