TPT November 2020

I NDUS T RY

Teamwork achieves a notewor thy goal for Fives despite global disruption

FIVES, a global industrial engi- neering group, together with Steel Dynamics Columbus LLC (SDI), the most modern mini- mill in the US, has successfully produced the first coil with a new continuous galvanising line (CGL #3) in Mississippi, USA. According to Fives, the first prime coil was produced in July this year in the middle of

team managed a dynamic set of complexities stemming from supply chain constrains to travel restrictions to challenging site erection conditions,” said Kevin Bertermann, vice president of sales & marketing – North America, steel business line, Fives. In December 2018, Fives was awarded a supply contract for a galvanising line at the existing SDI Columbus plant. The new CGL with a production capacity of 400,000 tons per year is designed to diversify SDI’s product portfolio. The scope includes the design and supply of entry and exit coil handling, degreasing, horizontal annealing furnace, cooling, skin-pass mill, strip leveller, strip inspection sections and automation. Fives www.fivesgroup.com

The first coil was produced in July this year during lockdown

a challenging COVID-19 environment. The project involved equipment delivery from several countries experiencing different forms of lockdown, namely France, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico and the USA. “Our team persevered and, using a strong work ethic and stringent policies to prevent COVID-19, we achieved a positive result safely,” said Jeff Roach, galvanising/paint manager at SDI. “We worked together 24/7, including

remote expert assistance to achieve this goal. For example, we programmed the annealing furnace remotely from Europe with local support. This success could not be achieved without close cooperation from the team on-site,” added Anthony le Blan, project manager at Fives DMS, a Fives subsidiary in France. “Success is achieved through teamwork. Operating in the COVID-19 situation offers unique challenges. The

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NOVEMBER 2020