Making a better world

Few manufacturing companies have a history as rich as that of Charlotte, North Carolina-based NUCOR Corporation. Its roots trace back to the earliest days of the automotive industry when Ransom E. Olds of Oldsmobile fame formed the REO Motor Company. That was in 1905, and while we won’t trace NUCOR’s proud lineage or extensive list of brand acquisitions here, suffice it to say that it is now the largest steel producer in the United States, boasting more than 300 locations and 27,000 team members.

From agriculture to infrastructure, heavy equipment to energy, NUCOR services any industry that requires high-quality, competitively-priced American steel products and related services. These include beam, plate, and sheet, as well as structural steel, decking and joists, pipe, tube, and more. NUCOR is also quite pleased to claim its position as the largest recycler of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal in North America and has made a long-term commitment to sustainability and its ongoing reduction of greenhouse gases.

Ironically, former competitors such as Bethlehem Steel once scoffed at NUCOR’s embrace of newfangled “mini-mills” and electric arc furnace technology, preferring instead to stick with traditional blast furnaces. Today, Bethlehem and other one-time giants of the steel industry are no more, while NUCOR has dozens of clean, modern steel mills and processing plants in operation across the U.S., with more coming online each year.

One of these is NUCOR Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. of Alabama. Built by Tuscaloosa Steel Corp. in 1985, it was reportedly the first U.S. steel mill to employ the more compact and efficient Steckel mill technology to produce high-quality wide plate from coil stock. The plant became a member of the NUCOR family in 2004 and today produces hot-rolled steel coil and cut-to-length plate. The plant can produce coiled steel from 3/16″ to 1″ thick and up to 102″ wide and discrete plate up to 3/4″ in thickness and 102” wide, with alloys ranging from A36 structural to high strength, low alloy (HSLA) Grade 100 steel. Much of the coil steel is processed into flat plates on Nucor’s own cut-to-length line.

Slapping the table

Since the acquisition, the Tuscaloosa plant has enjoyed numerous upgrades, the most recent in 2019 when management decided to modernize its heavy plate line. Plate finishing supervisor Alex Farinelli explained that a key part of this project was the purchase of a roller leveler, a machine that, as its name implies, uses a series of rollers to convert coil stock into flat, smooth plate prior to shearing.

“Our leveler back then was only rated to 3/4″ thick material, and as NUCOR’s product mix rose to include thicker plate and higher-strength steels, we found ourselves pushing that machine well past its capabilities,” said Farinelli. “It was definitely time for a new one.”

The selection process for such a critical piece of machinery was grueling. NUCOR sent requests for quotation (RFQs) to multiple equipment manufacturers, each of which went through numerous revisions. Months later, potential vendors were invited to come onsite and deliver their final sales pitch, an event that Farinelli and his team refer to as “Buy Day.”

“It’s almost like Shark Tank,” he said. “Each finalist gets a couple of hours to go through their proposal and explain why they have the best solution. At the end of the day, we meet internally to review everything. The project team determines which manufacturer has the right combination of product design, support and service capabilities, and, of course, price and delivery. It’s a slap the table, the decision’s been made moment, after which one of the vendors goes home with a signed contract.”

Don’t mess with Texas

Joseph Savariego was there. In fact, he was the one wearing the big grin as he left NUCOR’s facility that day and boarded a plane to Dallas, Texas. Savariego is the president of Delta Steel Technologies Inc. in nearby Irving, and as the second-generation of company leadership, he looked forward to delivering a roller leveler that would exceed his long-time customer’s expectations. He did precisely that.

Delta Steel Technologies and its 120 skilled employees pride themselves on delivering the most advanced “state of the art technologies” in coil processing equipment. These include cut-to-length lines, stretch levelers, shape correction devices, and whatever else processors like NUCOR need to convert huge steel coils into flat, precision-cut material. The company also provides a range of industrial services such as gearbox and cylinder repair, retrofitting new technology onto legacy equipment, and turnkey installation and training on their various products, as with the roller leveler that Delta Steel delivered to NUCOR in early 2022.

One of the people who helped oversee the new machine’s installation was NUCOR maintenance supervisor Justin Pate. “The commissioning was great; probably better than anything we’ve ever done here,” he said. “Since then, I’ve heard nothing compliments from the people on the floor. I’m also told it’s far easier to run than the old leveler, and that it delivers product much more quickly.”

Farinelli agreed. “I’ll give you an example. We have three primary operators for that piece of equipment. Two of them were there for the entirety of commissioning, but the guy running the graveyard shift was on vacation, so missed most of the training. Despite this, he came in the next night and produced 1,200 tons, which is around 200 tons more than average. I should also mention that the plate coming off the machine is dead flat. That’s as big of a testament as I can give for any piece of equipment. It’s been a good purchase.”

Bringing it home

As for the Made in America part of this story, it’s clear that NUCOR has checked the box, as has Delta Steel Technologies. Farinelli noted that, while not every manufacturer was a US-based company, made in America was definitely a factor in NUCOR’s decision. In addition, as with this and other such projects, partners are asked to use only domestic steel to make their equipment (preferably from NUCOR, of course). “We also tell them to notify us if they do have to purchase foreign steel and must then explain why they couldn’t find a U.S. source,” he said.

Still, Farinelli admits there are times when the only option is to go offshore. “I get it. We have equipment here that, for various reasons, came from an overseas supplier, and in most instances, it works perfectly fine. But I think one of the biggest benefits of being made in America is the ability to pick up the phone and call whenever there’s a problem or question. In NUCOR’s case, each minute of downtime on our cut-to-length line costs $3,000 in lost revenue, so uptime is obviously crucial. And when you get right down to it, I think all of us would prefer to use American manufacturers employing American workers. That’s a big part of what makes our country great and has played no small role in our ongoing relationship with Delta Steel. They’re a great company to work with.”

Al Behr, executive vice president of Plate and Structural Products at Nucor, summed it up perfectly during a recent hearing with the Congressional Steel Caucus at the U.S. Capitol, during which he discussed Nucor’s new investments and commitment to sustainability, as well as the importance of a level playing field for Nucor teammates and all American manufacturers. Said Behr, “We must all continue to fight for a global steel market where winners are determined by market forces, not by government subsidies or other non-economic factors.”