Turning and moving heated primary material

As part of its steel production operations, the high-grade structural steel specialist Stahl Judenburg, a GMH Gruppe company, is using a high-tech facility that is the only one of its kind in the world. This facility improves operational safety at the company. At the rolling line, it replaces the need for manual turning and moving of the primary material, which reaches temperatures of 1,150 degrees Celsius. “In the past, that frequently led to safety risks for our employees, who can now focus on making quality improvements in other areas,” explains Thomas Krenn, CEO of Steel Processing at GMH Gruppe, and Managing Director at the Judenburg site. “At the moment, the facility still has prototype status. Working with a Swedish partner, we intend to further optimise it in order to become even more effective in steel processing in future.”

Investing in the future

This new automation technology at Stahl Judenburg is just one of the company’s strategic investments. Around €30 million has been spent on upgrading the plant since 2010 – a positive signal and an indicator of the steel industry’s bright future.