Used to offload 8 trucks in a day – now can offload between 20 and 26 trucks, depending on the material being offloaded.

Engineering steel merchant and value-added processing company Special Steels is growing its operations by moving into a larger building to accommodate increased business needs, like more production capacity, storage space and employee headcount.

“These are all relevant but more importantly we looked at how we had our various processing departments setup and how material flow was hampering our efficiencies and ultimately our productivity. Regardless of the size of your business, continuous improvement in efficiencies and productivity is essential to enhancing gross profits and maintaining competitiveness. Productivity on the shop floor depends on a combination of efficient employees, equipment and processes. Continuous improvement in all of these areas involves examining the current practices in place and making adjustments to systems, employee training and even the equipment we use to process material,” explains Byron Ferguson, Special Steels’ Managing Director.

Engineering steel merchant and value-added processing company Special Steels is growing its operations by moving into a larger building to accommodate increased business needs, like more production capacity, storage space and employee headcount

Space limitations on growing the business
“However, one of the main factors why we wanted to move is the space limitations that we had. We had been experiencing relatively decent growth and we had plans to grow even more, not only with the existing equipment that we have but also investing in new equipment, either to complement existing equipment and expand capacity and to increase capabilities.”

“We had purchased three oxy-fuel machines for our profiling department that have been lying in storage. We could not instal them because we had no space for them. We also needed to increase capacity and capability with new technology in the laser cutting department. Again not enough floor space to do this.”

“This space limitation had other knock-on effects such as limiting us to the amount of stock that we could store. This put pressure on suppliers with deliveries and we had to have long, forward thinking planning actions. Not ideal for us.”

Options
“Our options included moving to a larger facility, building a new and larger building from the ground up, or expanding our current structure. There was no room to expand and besides that we were operating from three different buildings and building from scratch was too expensive. Fortunately, we found a facility in Roodekop, Germiston, Gauteng, which suites our needs perfectly.”

At the previous facility in Wadeville there were plenty of pain points that disrupted material workflow, whether it was receiving material, storing it, processing it and then collection. The new facility in Roodekop, Germiston, Gauteng increased the company’s working footprint to 22 000m² from 8 000m²

One of the main factors why the management of Special Steels wanted to move was the space limitations that they had which did not allow for expansion in capacity and capabilities as well as storage of material

“We increased our working footprint to 22 000m² from 8 000m² and we are now all under one roof. The building had been used as storage for a freight company so there were not any unnecessary structures on the floor that would hinder work flow – only the girders that support the roof structure and can accommodate the overhead cranes that we need.”

“At our previous facility in Wadeville there were plenty of pain points that disrupted material workflow, whether it was receiving material, storing it, processing it and then collection. The number of lost rands and wasted labour hours that result from a lack of organisation can be surprising. One sure fire way to enhance productivity in any environment is to ensure that there is a well-organised place for everything, from materials to machines and documents. When organising your work area as part of continuous improvement, think about the layout of your processing equipment and tools and whether they currently maximise efficiency. If not, consider rearranging your manufacturing floor to create a smoother workflow.”

New building
“The new building has afforded us this opportunity – a greenfield situation on the shop floor. All material receiving now comes in one side of the building and is unloaded at the designated bay and the delivery truck leaves via the other side of the building. Likewise with collection. The trucks move seamlessly from one side to the other and in between load the process material. There is no reversing or getting in the way of each other or having to wait for a missing driver. In other words, we have dedicated entry and exit gates, storage and holding areas and collection.”

“This has done wonders for our efficiencies of material handling and of course material processing. In Wadeville we could offload a maximum of eight trucks in a 24-hour period and receiving was under pressure due to space and storage constraints. Now in that same period we can offload between 20 and 26 trucks, depending on the material being offloaded, trucks that have arrived from the port of Durban. All our material is imported.”

A new DNE 15kW fiber laser that has a bed size of 10 metres long and a width of 2.4 metres was installed before the actual move took place

Special Steels have purchased a Bystronic ByBend Smart 300 press brake that has a bending length of 3 100mm and a force of 300 tons

“The processing departments – normal and deep-hole drilling, facing and centring, normal and robotic welding, laser cutting, press brake bending, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting, tapping and bevelling – all have their dedicated areas and there is plenty of room for expansion. Additional services include hardness testing, ultrasonic testing, heat treatment, lab services and logistics.”

“Besides moving all our overhead cranes from our previous facility, we have also added new ones. We are now up to 27 cranes with the largest one having a capability of lifting 25 tons. All of the low to high carbon and alloy steels that we process are round bar, hollow bar and plate. Many start off in a large and heavy format so need the tonnage in the cranes. They are also a tremendous asset in material flow.”

New equipment
“We have had a few additions during our move to Roodekop. One of the major ones is the new DNE 15kW fiber laser that has a bed size of 10 metres long and a width of 2.4 metres. It was actually the first machine to be installed in the new facility. We purchased it because there is an increased demand in laser processing and we also needed bigger capacity. Our first laser purchase was an Amada CO2 optic laser that has a cutting capability of up to 25mm thickness. This is still in operation. With the DNE we can now cut up to 40mm of mild steel. This purchase has enhanced our capacity and capability substantially.”

Storage space for processed material has increased dramatically

Bystronic ByBend Smart 300 press brake
“We have also purchased a Bystronic ByBend Smart 300 press brake that has a bending length of 3 100mm and a force of 300 tons. This is the first press brake that we have acquired and is part of our strategy to diversify with material processing offerings.”

Expansion to profiling department
“And then there is our profiling department, which has been expanded significantly. A few years back we had the opportunity to purchase three Messer oxy-fuel machines that Trident Steel were selling.”

“These machines have a six metre bridge, which is large for this type of machine.”

“We have had them retrofitted and they are now fully operational adding to our capacity in the department, which also includes a Messer Plasma (high-definition) machine that has a cutting capability of 20mm to 45mm thickness and our two existing Messer oxy-fuel cutting machines that have a capability of 20mm to 300mm thickness, all with 3 metre bridges.”

The processing departments – normal and deep-hole drilling, facing and centring, normal and robotic welding, laser cutting, press brake bending, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting, tapping and bevelling – all have their dedicated areas and there is plenty of room for expansion

The move
“We had a good few months to plan and prepare for the many logistical challenges. We did the move in the month of December 2024. Before moving we had a complete revamp of the administration accommodation and did some alterations as well. The move also gave us an opportunity to enhance our systems on the administration side. One noticeable introduction is the face recognition security system.”

“With more space, you can experiment with new products, services, and production methods without disrupting your existing operations. But for us it was more important that we get our material flow optimal. With this in place your efficiencies will increase. Our staff have always been productive and are even more so now. And we are busy employing more. Our capacity and capabilities have increased and it is very positive to see the orders increasing. A very positive development for our industry.”

For further details contact Special Steels on TEL: 011 865 4939 or visit www.specialsteels.co.za