A large North American supplier of refractory products and services is responding to domestic steelmakers’ increased capacity and solving their refractory challenges through several new initiatives.
Mirroring its steel customers’ investments to boost production capabilities and upgrade facilities, HarbisonWalker International (HWI) is investing to increase capacity by 25 percent in 2019 at key steel refractory facilities. In fact, approximately one-half of HWI’s capital investment dollars will have a direct positive impact on its steel industry customers. Much of the investment will be at its White Cloud, Michigan facility, which manufactures refractory products primarily for steelmakers.
This is the latest in a series of capital investments that HWI has made at White Cloud over the past three years. In 2018, HWI integrated new equipment and technologies to modernize the facility.
The 2019 investment includes expansion to accommodate new warehouse and shipping space, which is being constructed with American-made steel. Additional manufacturing space will house new production technologies, including a new brick press and packaging line, manufacturing technologies that improve production efficiency and worker safety.
“The improvements will further optimize production, product quality, and delivery efficiencies for our steel customers,” said Carol R. Jackson, Chairman and CEO, HarbisonWalker International. “The new press and warehouse increase our capacity to supply our industry-leading products including mag carbon brick for steel ladles, electric arc furnaces (EAF), and basic oxygen furnaces (BOF). The new packaging line allows for increased handling safety and provides quality control benefits associated with our product.”
One year after announcing its plan to significantly invest in monolithic refractories manufacturing, HWI built and opened a new, state-of-the-art facility in South Point, Ohio in 2018. It is North America’s most technologically advanced refractories plant and one of the top globally. Featuring state-of-the-art processes and technology, the South Point plant is now fully operational and supplying steel industry products.
In addition to physical expansion and technology integration in its plants, HWI is evolving the refractory industry for the 21st century by taking a holistic approach to advancing its use of data. HWI is aggressively initiating programs to help customers transition numerous decision-making processes from experienced-based to data-based, through use of various sensor and data acquisition systems, for instance.
Through the expertise of its team and strategic partnerships with industry leaders, HWI is employing sensor technologies, such as infrared cameras, and also utilizing three-dimensional laser measurement to make digital twins of physical assets. These technologies, along with ‘edge’ software that can access datasets from various plant level sources, are helping HWI develop tools to increase product campaign life and improve worker safety. Performance data will also benefit future generations of HWI products.
The outcomes for steelmakers include closer collaboration for customized products and continuous improvement, optimizing throughput and analytical insights to find even more significant cost savings.
“HWI is working to transform data into process improvements and business intelligence that help steel industry customers work safer and smarter, with even better tools for knowledge sharing,” noted Jackson. “Combining our digital transformation with HWI’s proven products and the industry-leading expertise of our field services team, we’re effectively positioned to deliver for our steel customers today and in the future as our industries evolve together.”
HWI has also recently innovated and patented new functional product solutions that are helping steel customers further reduce downtime and increase performance. These solutions allow for faster, easier installation with improved ergonomics.
In addition to its products, HWI also provides around-the-clock support from the most extensive service team in the U.S. and offers dedicated iron and steel application specialists who provide highly customized solutions.
