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Latrobe Specialty Steel Wins AMM Best Operational Improvement Award
Jun. 25, 2010 Latrobe Specialty Steel’s VIM-VAR expansion won American Metal Market’s inaugural Award for Excellence for Best Operational Improvement.
This is the second award Latrobe Specialty Steel has received this year for its VIM-VAR expansion.
The project was evaluated and selected to receive the award by AIST’s Project and Construction Management Technology Committee.
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Latrobe Specialty partnered with Consarc (Rancocas, N.J.) and Continental Design and Management Group (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to complete the project, with a scope that included installation of one of the world’s largest Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) furnaces as well as several Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR) furnaces starting.
The company started construction in mid-December 2007, excavating 40 feet below ground before building a 65,000-square-foot building at an elevation of 100 feet above ground. As soon as the roof was partially completed, assembly of the 30-ton VIM was started using a modified design-and-build technique to overcome the elements and a compressed schedule. The company processed its first heat using the new equipment in September 2008.
Latrobe Specialty produces and sells VIM-VAR steel for a wide range of critical applications. The company undertook the expansion in response to growing demands for high quality vacuum melted steels from the American military, as well as from many commercial aerospace, power generation and petroleum exploration customers. Through the expansion, the company tripled capacity for vacuum melted steel, which reduced the lead times for these products from approximately 72 weeks to 20 weeks.
The award was presented to the company during the AMM Steel Success Strategies Conference in New York City. Other finalists for the award included AK Steel Corp. and ArcelorMittal SA.
Latrobe Specialty Steel, in business in Latrobe, Pa., since 1913, has been supplying the aerospace, defense, power generation, oil and gas exploration, and industrial sectors since 1958. The firm employs approximately 800 people.