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Big River Steel Representatives Visit SMS Group in Hilchenbach, Germany
06/01/2015 - The SMS group is currently building an integrated, environment-friendly plant complex for high-grade steel products and specialty steels in the U.S.A. on the site of recently founded steel producer Big River Steel.
The annual capacity of the works will initially amount to 1.5 million tons, with the provision to be increased to three million tons in a second construction phase. Altogether, Big River Steel will be investing around 1.3 billion US dollars in the new works located in Arkansas.
A delegation of representatives of the plant operator, investors and future customers of Big River Steel already produced the works’ first steel during a visit to the SMS group in Germany as part of a plant simulation. In the SMS Test Center, experts of the SMS group have set up major components of the automation systems, complete with fully functional control cabinets, computers, control desks and the steelworks’ software. This allows them to thoroughly test these components in near-reality simulations and train the operators well ahead of the installation on site. This innovative procedure — which the SMS group calls Plug & Work — will later on markedly reduce the time to start of production.
Daniel J. Murray, Board Member of Big River Steel, was impressed: “It is most fascinating to experience the functions and capabilities of our new steelworks right at this present moment. We are now even more convinced that this modern works will set new standards in the U.S.A.”
Besides the Test Center, the delegation also visited the SMS group‘s manufacturing facilities in Hilchenbach, where the quality-critical components for this large-scale project are being manufactured. Giant, high-precision mill housings, recoilers laid out for winding tons of steel strip, the modern laser welding machine designed for joining steel strips of latest grades prior to being processed in continuous lines, etc. – the delegation members had the opportunity to inspected a great many plant components all of which will shortly be commencing their journey to the new steelworks of Big River Steel.
The project is being set up on an area covering more than 4,000 square meters. The SMS group will equip completely with proprietary plant technology and all associated electrical and automation systems. All units – from the melting plant to the finished steel strip, including all drive and hydraulic components, the entire electrical equipment and the complex automation systems – are made by the SMS group. Two highlights of the new works will be the high quality of the steel grades it will produce and the fact that it will be one of the most eco-friendly works of its kind in the U.S.A. thanks to its energy- and resource-saving production processes.
For more information on Big River Steel’s technology supplied by SMS, read the full press release at http://www.sms-group.com/en/pressdetails.php?id=1183.
A delegation of representatives of the plant operator, investors and future customers of Big River Steel already produced the works’ first steel during a visit to the SMS group in Germany as part of a plant simulation. In the SMS Test Center, experts of the SMS group have set up major components of the automation systems, complete with fully functional control cabinets, computers, control desks and the steelworks’ software. This allows them to thoroughly test these components in near-reality simulations and train the operators well ahead of the installation on site. This innovative procedure — which the SMS group calls Plug & Work — will later on markedly reduce the time to start of production.
Daniel J. Murray, Board Member of Big River Steel, was impressed: “It is most fascinating to experience the functions and capabilities of our new steelworks right at this present moment. We are now even more convinced that this modern works will set new standards in the U.S.A.”
Besides the Test Center, the delegation also visited the SMS group‘s manufacturing facilities in Hilchenbach, where the quality-critical components for this large-scale project are being manufactured. Giant, high-precision mill housings, recoilers laid out for winding tons of steel strip, the modern laser welding machine designed for joining steel strips of latest grades prior to being processed in continuous lines, etc. – the delegation members had the opportunity to inspected a great many plant components all of which will shortly be commencing their journey to the new steelworks of Big River Steel.
The project is being set up on an area covering more than 4,000 square meters. The SMS group will equip completely with proprietary plant technology and all associated electrical and automation systems. All units – from the melting plant to the finished steel strip, including all drive and hydraulic components, the entire electrical equipment and the complex automation systems – are made by the SMS group. Two highlights of the new works will be the high quality of the steel grades it will produce and the fact that it will be one of the most eco-friendly works of its kind in the U.S.A. thanks to its energy- and resource-saving production processes.
For more information on Big River Steel’s technology supplied by SMS, read the full press release at http://www.sms-group.com/en/pressdetails.php?id=1183.
SMS group is, under the roof of SMS Holding GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. Its 13,800 employees generate sales of over EUR 3,5 bn.
