The Future is Forming

For daily news updates about steel and the international steel industry, you may want to look at Steel Guru.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 9:47 AM | Permalink |
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The 45th Annual "Metallurgists’ Day" was celebrated in India on January 10, as reported by Steel Guru.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 9:40 AM | Permalink |
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The SeverCorr and US Steel videos highlight two steelmaking approaches: a minimill that uses an electric arc furnace (SeverCorr) and a blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace at an integrated mill (US Steel).
The Novelis video mainly describes the company, and contains some aluminum rolling information.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 3:14 PM | Permalink |
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As reported by MEPS, the 2007 global steel output is estimated to be 1.350 billion metric tons, an 8% increase over the 1.249 billion metric tons produced in 2006. The 1 billionth metric ton is projected to have been produced on September 27, 2007, the 270th day of the year. This is about 7.5 weeks earlier than in 2005. Furthermore, MEPS projects the worldwide output in 2011 to be 1.6 billion metric tons, with 60% of this increase coming from China. To produce this much steel, it is estimated that China will need to import more than half of its iron ore demand. Wonder what that means for raw materials costs???

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 8:03 PM | Permalink |
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With a recently completed blast furnace repair, POSCO now has an annual capacity of 33 million metric tons, making it the world’s second largest steelmaker behind ArcelorMittal (117 million metric tons) and just ahead of Nippon Steel at 32.7 million metric tons. -- from Steel Guru

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 4:26 PM | Permalink |
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Reuters reports that ThyssenKrupp will provide Hyundai Steel with a range of steel-making technologies from blast furnaces to hot-rolled steel products. Also, Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Motor Group have agreed to buy more steel products from ThyssenKrupp for its U.S. and European auto plants. After their first blast-furnace mill comes on line in 2011, Hyundai Steel will have a capacity of 8 million metric tons.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 4:20 PM | Permalink |
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USA Today ran a story yesterday that raises the question of what makes a car “American”?

Consider, for example, that according to the article and related table, vehicles made exclusively in Canada are the Chrysler 300 and Pacifica, Ford Edge and Crown Victoria, Chevy Impala and Equinox, Acura MDX, Lexus RX350, and the Honda Ridgeline.

Vehicles made exclusively in Mexico include the Ford Fusion, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chevy HHR, VW Beetle, and the Nissan Sentra. (All small cars – coincidence?)

And those made only in the USA include the Mazda 6, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Saab 9-7X, Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan Altima and Titan, Toyota Avalon and Sienna, and the Acura TL. Most of the Accords and Camrys sold in the US are made in the US, with imports from Japan coming in due to product demand and local capacity constraints.

Does it need to be a US based company, like GM or Ford? Or does Chrysler count, even though they are the US division of a German company (at least for now)? What about “Honda of America Mfg., Inc.” or "Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc.", both US-based divisions of Japanese companies? Does it need to be a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, like Honda and Toyota? Do the profits from the vehicle need to "stay in this country" for it to count as an American car? Should the wages paid to the US employees in manufacturing, sales, R&D, etc., count? Would this make the Toyota Camry more "American" than the Chevy HHR? What about the Chevy Aveo, which is made in South Korea? Is a company like Volvo "American" because it is owned by Ford? What about Saab, since it is owned by GM, and one of their vehicles is made in Ohio - just like the Accord?

Should we consider the impact of oil usage from national security and environmental perspectives? Does that make it more "American" to drive a Chevy HHR (23 MPG city/30 MPG highway - made in Mexico) or a PT Cruiser (21/26MPG, also made in Mexico) or a Toyota Prius (60/51, made in Japan)? Does your answer change if it was a Toyota Camry Hybrid (40/38, made in Kentucky)?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these issues - all different shades of grey.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 2:56 PM | Permalink |
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The 2007 Great Designs in Steel Seminar was held on March 7 in Livonia, MI, with over 1700 people in attendance. This seminar, sponsored by AISI and held annually since 2002, is billed as “the premier forum for the latest trends and applications in automotive steel technologies.”

AISI continues to raise the bar, as this was another excellent day of presentations, exhibits, and informal meetings. In addition to displays on steel fuel tanks, steel wheels, and laser welded blanks, there were teardowns highlighting the high strength steel parts contained on the BMW X5, Chrysler Sebring, and the IMPACT truck.

Over the next few postings, I’m going to give the highlights of some of the presentations. But the theme is clear: Advanced high-strength steels (like dual phase and TRIP steels) are being used now in selected applications, and are being increasingly specified in future vehicles to capitalize on their potential for weight savings, cost savings, and safety.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 2:45 PM | Permalink |
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 206, which addresses Door Locks and Door Retention Components. The new regulations, which go into effect on September 1, 2009, will require among other things, a second latch on minivan sliding doors. The ruling said that automakers expect "major structural modifications" will be needed to B-Pillars and doors in order to comply.

In conjunction to these structural changes, look for increased use of advanced high-strength steels like dual phase (DP), transformation induced plasticity (TRIP), complex phase (CP) and hot-stamped boron steels. Combined processes like the hot forming of tailor rolled blanks for B-pillars may be more widely utilized.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 11:09 AM | Permalink |
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Great Designs in Steel is the premier forum for the latest trends and applications in automotive steel technologies. This all-day, four-track program features more than 35 technical presentations on advanced high-strength steels (like dual phase and TRIP steels), automotive safety and manufacturing technologies. It is scheduled for March 7, 2007, in Livonia, MI.

Talks are scheduled to be given by GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, BMW, US Steel, Mittal Steel, Severstal, Noble, TWB, Powerlasers, as well as several Tier 1/2 stampers and tool designers/builders. For the complete program, click here.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 3:37 PM | Permalink |
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With the help of Steve from Steel Strip, I've incorporated two search engines into this blog. Both are community-built engines, where the users help refine the search results. In the Swicki, the more popular search terms are listed in a bigger size. To learn more about swickis in general, click here.

Thanks, Steve!

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 9:24 PM | Permalink |
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Ask a Basher!
http://www.butlersheetmetal.com/tinbasherblog/2006/12/28/ask-a-basher-1/trackback/

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 4:29 PM | Permalink |
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If the last paragraph in the second article below is really the case, then maybe we should be doing more to encourage higher education for all.

Talent Availability Rather Than Labor Cost Seen Driving Offshoring
Low-cost labor is no longer the most important factor in decisions on moving work offshore; access to qualified workers is, contends a Duke University/Booz Allen Hamilton study released on Oct. 31. Indeed, indicates the study, companies are increasingly moving product design, R&D, and other relatively sophisticated operations to China, India and other places offshore primarily because they can provide the highly skilled engineers and science workers who are in short supply in the U.S. and Europe.
Nearly three-fourths of the 530 US and European companies surveyed that are establishing or expanding product development offshore said "access to qualified personnel" was the most important driver of their offshoring strategies. Almost 70% said site selection was based on the availability of qualified workers.

Skilled worker shortage hurts U.S.
The biggest problem with job growth right now isn't too few new jobs. It's too few skilled workers. Many economists and labor market experts say that job growth and the economy overall would be significantly stronger if employers could find the skilled workers they really need.
"I'm hearing across the board, across industries, companies indicating they can't exploit market opportunity because they can't find people with the right skills," said Jeff Summer, an executive at Deloitte Consulting who leads the firm's management practice. He said that there's virtually no long-term unemployment for skilled workers.
Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Private Client Services, said employers are constantly citing the inability to find the workers they need as one of their top problems, if not their biggest worry.
Businesses "feel there's real (unmet) demand out there," he said, adding that "economic growth would be faster" if there wasn't this tight supply of workers.
Economists are forecasting that overall the unemployment rate in December stayed at 4.5 percent. But the rate for college-educated workers was just 1.8 percent in November, near the rate for that group in 1998 and 1999, when the economy was white-hot. The lowest rate for college grads on record was 1.5 percent in three months during 2000.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 4:19 PM | Permalink |
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The International Iron & Steel Institute just released Version 3 of the AHSS Application Guidelines. This 131 page document covers the formability and joining issues that you might encounter when processing these grades, and ways to address them.

If you need help digesting the plethora of information, that's what we do at Engineering Quality Solutions.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 4:55 PM | Permalink |
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This is the title of an article that appears today on IndustryWeek.com.

Once a full account is taken of unit labor costs output per worker across economies, the advantage is narrowed:
Mexico: No competitive advantage if productivity is factored in. Mexico's total wage costs were 11% of the average U.S. level in 2002. But because Mexican workers produce 10 times less than Americans per hour, the unit labor costs came out nearly the same.

Poland: Competitive disadvantage: industrial workers earn about 13% of the average U.S. salary but their unit labor costs come out much higher at 73%.

India and China: Competitive advantage: Total wage cost at less than 3% of the level paid to U.S. workers in manufacturing. Even with lower worker productivity factored in, unit labor costs in India and China are on average 80% lower than those in the United States.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 2:39 PM | Permalink |
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An article from September 27 states that there are eight 10-million ton iron and steel plants, seventeen 5-million ton plants and more than thirty 3-million-ton plants in China.

As a point of reference, in 1999, the United States had two 10-million ton iron and steel companies and five 5-million ton companies (most having multiple production plants), while Canada had two 3-million ton companies.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 2:34 PM | Permalink |
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According to an article today…

“…GM's top six shareholders own the majority of company stock. One of those shareholders is Southeastern Asset Management, managers of the Longleaf Partners funds in Memphis, Tennessee. GM is held in the flagship Longleaf Partners Fund, while Renault is in the Longleaf Partners International Fund…”

And from an article yesterday…

European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co. (EADS), which is 30 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG, owns 80 percent of Airbus SA, whose main competitor is Boeing. The CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane division is taking over as CEO of Ford Motor Company.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 1:31 PM | Permalink |
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As reported by MEPS, and highlighted by SteelOnTheNet, the 2006 global steel output is estimated to be 1.215 billion metric tons. The 1 billionth metric ton is projected to be produced on October 27, 2006, the 300th day of the year. This is 23 days sooner than in 2005, where the billionth metric ton was produced around November 19. Like Christmas sales starting earlier and earlier each year, pretty soon we will reach the milestone at the end of the summer.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 10:07 AM | Permalink |
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THE WEIGHT OF STEEL WHEELS BENEFITS FROM THE USE OF NEW HIGH-STRENGTH STEELS
A study funded by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) presents some examples of wheels where the steel version was comparable in weight to their cast aluminum counterparts, with the same styling and visual appeal, yet had increased durability and were less prone to damage and leaking. In the examples cited, the rims are made from either bainitic or HSLA steel, with the disks being made from DP 350Y/600T steel.

Of course, there are plenty of examples where aluminum is and should be the material of choice based on properties needed balanced against cost. However, this decision should be made on a case-by-case basis, where the optimized products and processing are considered and compared. In the case of wheels, the steel grades considered should include the conventional and advanced high strength steels (like HSLA, bainitic, DP, etc.) rather than just mild steels.

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 11:45 AM | Permalink |
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RFID tags are being used to track a growing number of products. WalMart expects 600 of their suppliers to have RFID tags all pallets and cases shipped to every store by early 2007. This will aid in replenishing goods when they are out of stock, and reduce inventory. According to the WalMart website, by the end of 2005, more than 200,000 tagged pallets and more than 8.5 million tagged cases had been received. (Privacy rights activists worry that Wheaties boxes will be tracked to your house, but that's another debate.)

In our industry, one application is to aid in the tracking of stamped parts through to final assembly. There are times when a steel or stamping defect isn't caught until after assembly and sometimes even paint. An RFID chip would record the details of every processing step (or could be linked to a larger database), which would aid in seeing if other parts processed at the same time are also at risk. This would allow the problem part to be traced back to the incoming coil.

As great at this might sound, there is also a big potential downside. The antenna component of these RFID tags are made of either copper or aluminum. If copper antennae are used on RFID tags placed on steel products (car, washing machine, drum, etc.), the resultant end-of-life scrap may not be useable in future steelmaking because of the negative effects that copper has on properties. (Integrated mills typically use around 25% scrap in their furnace charge, while mini-mills use 100% scrap.) This problem does not affect aluminum-based RFID tags.

"Radio-frequency tracking tags pose recycling challenge"
www.GovExec.com; August 7, 2006

"Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags: Copper Content Detrimental to Recycling"
www.steel.org; April 2006

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 11:06 AM | Permalink |
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