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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Kloeckner Metals Flat Rolled Group Relocates Operations To University Park, Illinois

02/13/2017
After nineteen years operating out of a 100-year-old building on the southside of Chicago, Kloeckner Metals Flat Rolled Group reported it has expanded and moved into a brand new 106,000 sq. ft. facility in University Park, Illinois.

Russ Delaney, Kloeckner Flat Rolled Group President said, "We are very excited by the opportunity that this significant investment in our new University Park, Illinois location provides. We are now positioned to serve the largest metals market in North America with highly-customized supply chain solutions for Kloeckner Metal's value-added products that include, carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum."

“We have implemented a major digitalization of our supply chain strategy through the use of state-of-the-art equipment, processing capabilities, extensive technical support resources and the broadest and deepest product range available,” he added.

Tony Munno, Flat Rolled Group General Manager, added, "This move is the first phase in a planned strategy to differentiate ourselves from our competition, take advantage of a strong steel, aluminum and stainless steel market, and bring more value-added services to our existing and potential customers. We have moved past being perceived as just a flat rolled steel distributor and service center. This multi-million-dollar investment is not just brick and mortar. We are adding new processing equipment and rebuilding and remanufacturing existing ones to add the latest in controls and software to insure close tolerance, cut-to-length work is maintained. “

“Additional crane capacity now permits us to handle mill coils up to 60,000 lbs. which we were previously unable to do. The new plant's location is next to a railroad siding so we can receive material right off rail cars to allow us to provide the processing capability required for big steel mills,” he explained. "As the metals market continues to change and shift, we must have the foresight and flexibility to be a valued supplier that can not only have the systems in place to operate in the world of supply chain management, but also have the manufacturing capacity and capability to meet the necessary capacity requirements. Our new facility, with the capability to be doubled in size, will be the solution to many a customer's needs, well into the future."

Vince Colorito, Kloeckner Metals Flat Rolled Group, Vice President of Sales for the Central Region, adds, "Over 90% of our business in the Central Region here in the Chicago area is basically contract work. Yes, we continue to service our agricultural, construction, mining, railway and automotive markets, but we are also targeting a wide array of non-ferrous metal products like aluminum and stainless steel that are used heavily in the architectural, food equipment and appliance industries. For that reason, we have added additional capabilities for pre-paint and other coatings. Kloeckner Metals signed exclusive agreements to provide PVD (physical vapor deposition) coated stainless steel, adding tremendous flexibility and creative options to the building, equipment and component design teams of our customers. We are focusing on taking advantage of the current trends towards the use of light gage pre-painted materials and we have directed some of the new investment in capital equipment at University Park towards those targets."

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