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$60 million plant in Canton makes automobile products
By Bill Lilley
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Nov 14, 2008
CANTON: There was an apparent incongruity in Timken Co.'s timing Thursday of opening a $60 million small steel-bar rolling mill that will count heavily on a slumping prime customer.
It wasn't lost on company President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Griffith.
''It might seem a strange time to open a new small steel-bar mill targeted heavily at the automotive industry,'' said Griffith at the commissioning of the 76,000-square-foot addition to the company's Harrison Steel Plant.
''But it's always been our philosophy that we invest long-term and around our customers' needs. We believe there is a great need.
''It also helps strengthen the local economy. It will add 30 direct, high-tech jobs to run the mill and the facility. The overall effect on the economy will be much greater because it will expand the economic supply base of Stark County and ultimately will affect 500 to 1,000 jobs in the area.''
Timken, still the largest producer of tapered roller bearings in the world, is banking that it can produce a 22-foot long steel bar in a diameter as small as one inch more cost-effectively and at a higher quality level than either of two foreign-owned competitor companies in North America (Republic Steel and Mac Steel). The margin of error the new equipment will produce is expected to be about four-thousandths of an inch, equal to a sheet of paper.
''We now can produce high-quality steel in a size range from 1 to 15 inches in diameter, no other steel maker in North America can offer that,'' said Steel Division President Sal Miraglia. ''And small bar steel is a more economical choice for many of our customers.''
The advantage of a small bar that is milled precisely to a manufacturer's requirement is that it saves cost in production and in waste, weight, scrap and money.
The small bar will be used extensively in the auto industry, mostly for the manufacturing of CV joints, axles, gearing and powertrain applications such as in crankshafts in Nissan and Toyota cars. It also is valuable in creating diesel fuel injectors, earth-moving equipment and aerospace equipment.
But its effectiveness, both in use and in cost, is not restricted to vehicles.
''The small bar steel we make will have relevance in other markets as well, such as energy and industrial applications,'' said Timken spokesman Jeff Dafler. ''Any industry that has a demand for high-performance steel that can tolerate extreme conditions is where Timken's sweet spot is.''
The project began in earnest in January 2007 when Timken signed a technical assistance agreement with leading Japanese steel maker Daido Steel, which was represented Thursday by Executive Vice President Kazuhito Matano and others.
Another crucial agreement came in February 2007 when Timken signed a contract with SMS Meer CmbH for the German-based company to design and build a one-of-a-kind precision sizing mill.
That was the big-ticket item in the
project. Other major equipment purchases were a 256-foot cooling bed, two abrasive saws that were designed and built in Austria along with two crucial state-of-the-art inspection pieces, a magnetic flux leakage evaluator for surface inspection and a phased array ultrasonic machine for internal inspection. The finishing area is 60,000 square feet and was installed in an existing building on the Harrison Steel Plant complex.
Steel Manufacturing Vice President Tom Moline declined to give specific costs of the individual pieces of equipment. He said that roughly $24 million was spent on fabrication and equipment in the rolling mill, which would include the precision sizing mill and cooling bed, and $8 million was spent on fabrication and equipment in the finishing line, which would include the saws and the inspection equipment. Moline said the ''engineering and heavy lifting'' parts of the process took about 18 months. The first rolled hot bar came through Sept. 26.
Moline said the small bar operation is operating at ''50 to 60 percent'' of capacity. He said it is expected to be capable of being fully operational in August 2009.
Timken expects to be able to produce high-tech 1-inch rods even more efficiently than the 150 tons an hour that is projected by the manufacturers of the equipment.
''It's the best of both worlds — we'll have higher quality and more production,'' said Charlie Parrish, principal reliability engineer. ''I think we can go to 180 to 200 tons per hour.''
Miraglia projects that Timken could produce 100,000 more tons of steel per year, which would result in an increase of 20 percent of the total capacity of the company.
That will put Timken near a milestone — 2 million tons of steel produced annually. The Faircrest plant, which was built in 1985 and handles rods from 6 inches to 15 inches in diameter, already is producing a million tons per year. The Harrison plant, which now handles rods from 1 inch to 63/4 inches in diameter, is expected to contribute nearly 850,000 more tons per year. The Harrison plant's previous capacity was 700,000 tons a year.
''We are proud that (Timken) has improved its capabilities in the world market and we are taking it to the world, instead of having the cards dealt to us,'' said Griffith. ''We have a customer pool from all corners and we can serve from Akron to Shanghai.''
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANTON: There was an apparent incongruity in Timken Co.'s timing Thursday of opening a $60 million small steel-bar rolling mill that will count heavily on a slumping prime customer.
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