On July 5, Austrian plantmaker Siemens VAI Metal Technologies (Siemens VAI) announced that it has won an order from Austria-based steel producer voestalpine Stahl GmbH to modernize the main drives on the hot strip mill at its Linz plant. The drive control system will be integrated into the existing automation environment and reflect the latest state of the art. Modernization work will take place in stages during short maintenance shutdowns and is due to be completed in the spring of 2013.
As a result of this modernization, voestalpine Stahl's hot strip mill will produce 4.8 million mt of hot rolled strip per annum in thicknesses ranging from 1.5 to 20 millimeters and in widths of between 700 and 1,750 millimeters.
The award of order was preceded by successful piloting of the modernization concept on one drive in the finishing mill in December 2010.