SMS group is award winner in the corporate competition “NRW - Wirtschaft im Wandel” (NRW – Economy on the Move). This makes SMS group rank among the outstanding eleven companies that, in an exemplary way, stand for the structural change of Germany’s federal state North Rhine-Westphalia towards a strong future business location.

Correct mill stand geometry is essential for effective and accurate gauge control, strip/plate quality and maintenance of the mill and its associated parts, like bearings, chocks, hydraulic clamps, bending and balancing systems as well as gauge control systems.

SMS group has put into operation the 31.5/34-MN high-speed open-die forging press at forging company Gustav Grimm Edelstahlwerk GmbH & CO. KG based in Remscheid, Germany. Demolition of the old and assembly of the new press, including the subsequent acceptance tests, were successfully completed during a construction phase of just under eleven weeks.

By end of February, Primetals Technologies received an order for the installation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for Gerdau’s integrated plant melt shop in Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The new solution will replace an existing system, which offers only limited upgrade options after several years of operation. The project will be executed by Primetals Technologies in cooperation with PSI Metals, thus combining leading automation, metallurgical and software know-how in the steel industry.

Primetals Technologies recently received another order for a subscription license for its software for process optimization (Level 2) of continuous casting plants. This was the third order in recent months for a service offering as yet unmatched anywhere in the steel industry.

A steelmaker based in Poland is saving nearly €3 million per year after switching to NSK’s sealed-clean KVS bearings in its roll mill. Such has been the superior performance of these four-row tapered roller bearings that the company has adopted this solution for all of its tandem cold mills.