Curving Steel Members Over the Holidays

The holidays provide opportunities and challenges for Bender/Rollers, companies that specialize in curving steel members:  angles, bars, beams, tees, tube and pipe as well as steel plate and steel sheet.

The challenges include a reduced number of working days, less availability of shipping resources, a reduced workforce as associates take vacation days, and even time taken away from production for, say, a well-deserved holiday luncheon.  The sales force sometimes forgets to allow extra days when setting delivery dates.  Customers sometimes forget that they have limited receiving days.  Steel suppliers also have a reduced number of workdays during the holidays, so there can be delays in receiving or raw material.  Adjustments up and down the supply chain have to be made.  Bender/Rollers that have the capability to provide quick turn-around times–even during the holidays–cater to industries that need these services.

There are other opportunities for Bender/Rollers during the holidays.  Curved steel is often required when facilities are shut down over the holidays for repairs.  Steel mills, for example, might require the installation of new–or the repair of old–steel ductwork.  Also the ladles used in steel production often have to be replaced with curved angle iron.  Dust collection systems in many industries require new steel cylinders, ductwork, elbows and angle rings.  And beams curved the “easy way” (against the weak axis) can be installed as trolley rail.  This work usually involves much stricter lead times as it needs to be completed before the company returns to full production.

Even during the holidays then, there can be considerable steel fabrication activity that occurs partly because of the reduced work hours and partly because companies schedule maintenance and repairs during this period.  Close coordination between the office, shop and steel supplier is required to meet the needs of a Bender/Roller’s customer.