Timken Company Completes $60 Million Expansion Project

The Timken Company (Canton, OH) has opened a new $60 million small-bar rolling mill, reports Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, TX). Timken's Harrison Steel Plant in Canton, OH, was chosen as the location for this expansion. Timken joined forces with Daido Steel America LLC (Schaumburg, IL), a subsidiary of Daido Steel Company Limited (Nagoya, Japan), to design and build this plant. Daido Steel is well known for their experience and know-how in the manufacturing of special quality small-bar steel.

The small-bar mill will allow the plant to produce steel bars as small as 1 in diameter. The application for the product will cover a wide range of industries, including use in power transmission and friction management applications. In addition to the automotive manufacturing markets, this high-performance steel will be able to meet the needs of a variety of clients in the bearing, industrial, energy and distribution segments across the country.

SMS Demag LLC of Pittsburgh, PA, was part of the team designing and supplying equipment. The company provided expertise in the field of rolling-mill technology and has been in the U.S. since 1921, developing, designing, and building machinery and plants for the steel and aluminum industries. SMS Demag AG (Dusseldorf, Germany) is the parent company of SMS Demag LLC.

The expansion was announced in January 2007 and moved steadily through the myriad of steps needed to be completed. Early site preparation and the construction of a 76,000 sq ft building began in mid-2007. The mill has a production capacity of approximately 2 million tons per year. To enhance and support the new capacity, additional finishing and inspection capabilities have been added.

The small-bar mill is expected to fill a new and diverse market in steel products, allowing Timken to expand into more varied markets.

www.timken.com