Kloeckner Metals, Flat Rolled Group, Moves To New Larger Facility In University Park, Illinois

UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill., Feb. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After nineteen years operating out of a 100-year-old building on the south side of Chicago, Kloeckner Metals Flat Rolled Group has expanded and moved into a brand new 106,000 sq. ft. facility in University Park, Illinois (www.kloecknermetals.com). Russ Delaney, Kloeckner Flat Rolled Group President says, "We are very excited by the opportunity that this significant investment in our new University Park, IL 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." 

Tony Munno, Flat Rolled Group General Manager, further explains, "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."

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."

Munno concludes, "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."

About Kloeckner Metals
Kloeckner Metals is the North American subsidiary of Kloeckner & Co SE. Kloeckner Metals Corporation is the third largest metal distribution company in North America. The core business of Kloeckner Metals is the warehousing, processing and distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals. Thousands of customers are supplied from 55 distribution locations by about 2,500 employees. The company had sales of approximately $4 billion in 2016.

About Klöckner & Co
Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent distributor of steel and metal products and one of the leading steel service center companies in the European and American markets combined. The core business of Klöckner & Co is the warehousing and distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals as well as the operation of steel service centers. Based on the Group's distribution and service network, more than 160,000 customers are supplied through 230 locations in 15 countries. Currently, Klöckner & Co employs approximately 10,000 employees. The Group had sales of around $7 billion in 2016.

The shares of Klöckner & co SE are admitted to trading on the regulated market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with further post-admission obligations. Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the MDAX® Index of Deutsche Börse.

SOURCE Kloeckner Metals

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