Tata Steel Europe, subsidiary of Indian steelmaking giant Tata Steel, is completing an investment progra to upgrade the hot rolled strip processing capabilities at the company's Dudley plant in the West Midlands, UK, by installing a €580,000 state-of-the-art leveller.
The new leveller - designed by industrial equipment manufacturer Heinrich Georg in conjunction with Tata Steel's research and development team - will decoil, cut-to-length and fully flatten hot rolled steel coil in thicknesses of 3-5 mm and in widths up to 2,000 mm. It is due to come on stream in January 2012.
The product processed by the new leveller will be used to supply premium products to Tata Steel's lifting and excavating clients, meeting the increasingly exacting quality requirements in the manufacture of fork lift truck frames, wheels, agricultural equipment, trailers and excavators.
The investment follows another by Tata Steel Europe worth €9.3 million to expand capacity in quenched and tempered plate at its Clydebridge plant in Scotland - an investment that will also enhance the quality of products supplied to the lifting and excavating sector, among others.
The Georg machine will ensure precision levelling of the steel strip and, together with a flying shear that was installed last year, will cut it into predefined lengths. The investment complements the existing heavy leveller that was commissioned in 2009 and completes a production line capable of cutting material up to 12.5 mm thick, with the possibility to extend this to 15 mm in grades of up to 550 tensile strength. The completed line, along with associated warehousing improvements, will bring to €2.3 million the investment Tata Steel has made in the Dudley site in recent years.