Aluminum mill rises up to satisfy U.S. service center needs
Above: Texarkana Aluminum’s new cold mill will double the company’s rolling and finishing capacity
May 2023- Aluminum mill rises up to satisfy U.S. service center needs
The term deep bench means that when one team is playing, many qualified substitutes are sitting on the bench who can be called on to play any time. When a company has a deep bench, it means it, too, is ready to win. Texarkana Aluminum is a mere few weeks from coming up to bat with a second aluminum sheet mill and finishing complex.
Ian Smith, chief operating officer for the company, says the second facility will add 150,000 metric tons of aluminum flat-rolled product capacity to the Texarkana operation, which doubles its existing capacity.
Owned by master distributor Ta Chen International Inc., Long Beach, California, Texarkana Aluminum initially began planning the expansion in autumn 2020, working with machinery builders to secure the equipment and with contractors on construction of a 220,000-square-foot facility.
“We will begin cold commissioning of the mill by mid-June. The annealing furnaces will be started up before that,” Smith says. “The expansion is a full rolling manufacturing entity that doubles our overall capacity.”
HISTORY
Large demand swings, uncertain and extended supply chains and pricing fluctuations witnessed in the years prior to the pandemic had already set the stage for an investment case in the U.S. for parent company Ta Chen International, according to Smith. Then, when U.S. trade policy changed in 2018, Ta Chen sought to invest in U.S. manufacturing as part of a trend to reshore production.
“Everything we produce flows through the Ta Chen organization. Ta Chen’s sales into the U.S. market are sizable,” Smith says. In the early years of the company’s expansion into aluminum products, a great deal of supply came from overseas.
The Bradbury tension leveling and edge trim finishing line includes integrated Lamiflex automated packaging stations
The company installed six annealing furnaces built by CEC in Kennesaw, Georgia
“The first phase of our build-out of U.S. aluminum manufacturing footprint was initiated when Ta Chen saw an opportunity to acquire an idled facility in Texas. Immediately after acquiring the mill, Ta Chen rebuilt and started up the 150,000 metric ton facility, rebranding it as Texarkana Aluminum.
“Texarkana produces about 50 percent of Ta Chen’s aluminum sales. With this expansion, Ta Chen will supply most of its common alloy product domestically. The new cold mill will satisfy that demand,” continues Smith, who notes that the company sells exclusively to service centers.
“A lot of these service centers purchase from Ta Chen, with products shipped directly from the mill to the service center. The balance of the route to market is through depots, located throughout the U.S. As the mill reaches full capacity, it will fulfill service center orders and replenish the depots. Aluminum is now the biggest share of the business,” says Smith.
The higher aluminum capacity is meant to support Ta Chen’s 19 distribution hubs, nine of which are large depots. These include locations in Los Angeles, Seattle, Pleasant Prairie (748,000 square feet), Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, New Jersey, Lakeland, Florida, and Montreal.
EQUIPMENT
The culmination of multiple collaborative project teams from machinery builders in the U.S. and Europe will bring a new sheet rolling and finishing operation onstream during the third quarter of this year. Smith says the second facility will add 150,000 metric tons of aluminum flat-rolled product capacity to the Texarkana operation. “We anticipate commissioning the new mill in the second half of 2023 and should be able to run at full capacity in less than a year,” he says.
Texarkana Aluminum’s second facility includes a four-high cold rolling mill from Mino SpA in Italy; six annealing furnaces from CEC in Kennesaw, Georgia; and a Bradbury tension leveling and edge trim finishing line with integrated Lamiflex automated packaging stations. In addition, the company installed a Hercules work roll grinder to deal with the load the new mill will place on the roll shop.
“Two of the annealing furnaces have the capability to process material up to 72 inches wide. Up until now, Texarkana Aluminum has not supplied 72-inch-wide coil into the market. Ta Chen had to buy that from other mills. Now we are able to produce a full range of specifications at Texarkana,” Smith says. The Mino cold mill has fully integrated coil preparation, banding, marking, transferring and surface quality monitoring system. Work rolls and back-up rolls are hydraulically stabilized against horizontal movement. The Bradbury leveling line has online flatness measurement and real-time feedback to the module for flatness adjustments during coil processing.
The new Bradbury Group leveler cassettes
a view of the huge bay
Smith says this new facility includes automation in many areas. “Significant advances in coil handling and packaging are notable in this investment, including coil movement to and from the cold mill, to the annealers and to the leveling line will be by autonomous cranes. The automation system for the cranes is supplied by CareGo and the coil bay area has been mapped and indexed to maximize storage and coil handling efficiency. The crane knows where every coil is and can be scheduled for processing. It’s less strenuous and inventory tracking is very accurate.” By using automated cranes, “we are trying to limit the risk factors in human-machine interactions. Safety is a driving force and technology helps to eliminate risks to our people,” Smith emphasizes. “The Lamiflex integrated packing line will consist of two stations with two robots each. We ship coils throughout the U.S. and the consistency from robotic wrappers will further improve the protection of the coils shipped, particularly during winter.”
PRODUCT SPECS
Typical offerings from the second mill will include existing alloys—5052, 3003, 3004, 1100—in gauges from 0.032 through 0.250 inch, and widths from 30 through 72 inches. The new mill will be capable of rolling gauges down to 0.0055 inch, however, “the lowest gauges required by the market that we supply range down to 0.02 inch,” Smith says. Ta Chen is a focused supplier to the service center industry, and this product range “will follow the requirements of our service center customers.” Those customers typically sell to manufacturers of transportation equipment, durable goods, heavy machinery, electrical equipment, and the building and construction market.
JOBS AND COMMUNITY
The success of the startup as Texarkana Aluminum can to a large part be contributed to the experience of the workforce. Many employees who were laid off when the original mill was idled in 2009 returned and are eager to see the company succeed, Smith says. Texarkana Aluminum is also working to develop young talent. ”The state-of-the-art equipment installed in the new sheet rolling facility requires new skills, so we are working with local colleges to develop internship programs and recruit from this talent pool,” Smith notes, “In effect, we are building a community of aluminum production skills in Texarkana. We are proud of our contribution to re-establish manufacturing capability in the U.S. The U.S. aluminum flat-rolled product market needs it; globally disrupted trade flows necessitates it; and the communities in North East Texas benefit from our investment in people.” The mill currently employs around 400 people, which will increase to around 460 when the expansion is fully operational. Doug Bowers, city administrator of Nash, says the Ta Chen/Texarkana Aluminum investment has been transformative and welcome. “Over 868,000 square feet of new factory, warehouse and distribution buildings have been constructed and future projects suggest even more will take place,” he comments. “Texarkana Aluminum has created over 400 new jobs and has become one of the most desirable places to work in manufacturing. Additionally, other business within our area have the direct benefit of providing support service and products required in the production processes at Texarkana Aluminum. Texarkana Aluminum has made great effort in employing local support businesses as community partners.”
Ta Chen International Inc., 800/652-0003, http://tachen.com/
Texarkana Aluminum, 903/832.8471, http://texarkanaaluminum.com/
