How "HIGHSL Panel-Flat That Stays Flat" Stretcher Leveled Sheet & Plate Came to the Marketplace

<div class="_all_wplink_OWCXuSBQ_cc">Back in 2010 at High Steel Service Center, we were confronted with the need to replace our aging cut-to-length line, so we surveyed our customers to find out what their needs and concerns were. At the same time we also had been closely monitoring emerging trends in our industry.</div> <p><strong>Flatness problems are the number one issue for laser processors and sheet &amp; plate fabricators</strong></p> <p>What we learned was that the number one issue customers identified was the need to eliminate internal stresses to provide panel flat material that remains flat after processing. This was becoming the minimum expectation for original equipment manufacturers and metal fabricators that have laser processors, plasma burners, water jet machines, turret presses or that provided bending, forming, welding and finished product assembly.</p> <p>We visited non-competing service centers in the Mid-West that had stretcher levelers for the past 5 to 10 years, and those centers confirmed it had in fact become the price of admission to the market place and a conditional requirement for anyone assigning a high priority to the elimination of internal stresses to provide material that remained flat after processing. We discovered this capability also had become a requirement in other parts of the United States and around the world</p> <p><strong>Our commitment to providing the best solution</strong></p> <p>Our company decided to invest the required $10 million to support our customer’s profitable growth by providing for them a cost-driven solution that would also differentiate High Steel Service Center from any other service center in their geographic footprint. Today we are the only service center north of Tennessee, east of Cleveland, and south of Ontario with a Red Bud Industries stretcher leveler — and the only service center in the United States with the combination of technology that is fully operational that includes two in-line Bradbury roller levelers, one of which has their advanced e-Drive technology.</p> <p>Our new line can process a thickness range of .060 through .500 thick up to 72″ wide by 480″ lengths. Contact us if you’d like to discuss this capability further, or feel free to comment here on our blog.</p>