Siemag to Supply Automatic Coil Transport System for Severstal NA
12/22/2008 - ABSTRACT: Siemag will supply an automatic coil transport system to Severstal North America for handling steel coils between a new galvanizing plant and a pallet conveyor system.
Severstal North America Inc. has placed an order with Siemag, a company of the SMS group, to supply an Automatic Coil Transport System (ACT®) for handling steel coils weighing up to 34 tons.
The ACT system will ensure the logistic link between a new galvanizing plant and the pallet conveyor system that is also to be supplied by Siemag. The transport vehicles feature a special patent-protected load-suspension system that makes it possible to handle loads directly at the pallet transport and production machinery.
Highly modern laser technology allows the vehicles to navigate fully automatically, with commands received by radio from a centralized master computer. Using sophisticated safety equipment, the vehicles can move at a maximum speed of 1.0 meter/second over the plant’s normal transport paths without requiring a safety barrier.
The new transport vehicles will be powered by a standard battery that is removed for charging after eight hours' service and then replaced by a fully charged battery at an automatic battery-replacement station.
The state-of-the-art transport system completes Severstal’s comprehensive modernization and extension of the existing production facilities for high-quality steels. The company plans to start production with the new machinery in spring 2010.
SMS group is, under the roof of the holding SMS GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It consists of the two Business Areas SMS Demag and SMS Meer, which jointly form SMS metallurgy. In 2007, some 8,000 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 3.0 bn.
Siemag GmbH supplies logistics systems for hot and cold rolling mills processing steel and nonferrous metals. It also specializes in packaging lines for coils and sheet/plate pack as well as high-pressure grinding systems for blooms, billets and slabs.