BILSTEIN GROUP’s Globally Unique Wide Rolling Concept to begin output in October

Drawing on the group’s experience with wide rolling at its US facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the new production site will complete an international global network that pushes the boundaries of what has been possible historically, both in terms of material widths and the digitisation of the value chain. Cold rolled steel will now be available in widths that greatly exceed the current global standard of 650mm, offering unrivalled potential to improve processes, while strategic investments in quality control technology will ensure BILSTEIN’s impeccable standards are met with each customer order.

Marc T. Oehler, CEO and shareholder of the BILSTEIN GROUP, comments: “With the completion of one of the most modern reverse rolling mills at its core and with the commissioning of a new advanced slitting line, the Hagen-Hohenlimburg facility will provide a massive technological boost for the entire BILSTEIN GROUP across all production processes – including internal logistics and annealing, which have been highly automated thanks to investments made in recent years.”

“Advanced technology has been a focal point of this project – one of the most important in the group’s history – and cutting edge plant systems, enabling a very high degree of automation, open up considerable opportunities for our customers, especially in the field of digitisation. Going forward, a large amount of additional data will be available for the entire production process via technology such as advanced digital rolling assistants, which can be used to drive further quality improvements and to increase economic efficiency,” added Michael Ullrich, CTO of the BILSTEIN GROUP.

As at BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL in the USA, the new systems are designed for processing broadband up to 1,350mm for use across a wide variety of applications, in the automotive sector and for the processing industry. This will enable further process optimisation in production, making the BILSTEIN GROUP unique in the world market for cold-rolled strip steel. The current challenges facing the industry underline the importance of these measures, and BILSTEIN’s ability to create opportunities for its customers from various industries will be significantly enhanced as a result of this initiative.

BILSTEIN GROUP will be exhibiting at BLECHEXPO from 5-8 November 2019 at the Messe Stuttgart. For further information or to arrange an interview with a BILSTEIN executive at the show, please contact shariq.sharif@finnpartners.com.