The Steel Abrasives business defines the highs and lows of European Manufacturing over recent years, with its wide range of applications including automotive, structural steel, foundry and forge operations amongst other less obvious processes such as granite cutting and road and rail surface preparation.
One company has bucked the trend, showing impressive year-on-year growth and an ever-extending export order book: Ervin AMASTEEL continues to grow using the simple model of saving the customer’s process costs: Right Specification + Best Performing Product = Less product consumed/less electricity consumed/faster line speed/ reduced surface coating costs.
This approach has been so successful that Ervin has now taken the bold step to increase its capacity significantly. The current plant at Tipton, UK is to be supplemented by a brand new plant in Germany, at a time when other manufacturers are closing their plants.
The new 10,000m2 Glaubitz steel abrasives production facility, near Dresden, has risen from a green field site to the topping out ceremony in just six months.
In July, Ervin invited a number of key customers and officials to witness the celebration of the completion of this latest phase of the new development. Saxony’s Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich, U.S. Consul General Mark J. Powell, Mayor of Glaubitz Lutz Thiemig and numerous other guests were invited to the ceremony by John E. Pearson, President of Ervin Industries, and the future plant manager Mike Schwartz.
First production remains on schedule for trials end-2013 followed by production in the first quarter of 2014. The €30 million investment in the East German location will initially create 36 new jobs. Later, the workforce will be expanded to 70 and by 2020 to 90 employees.
The result will be a Company with the capacity to support a wider geographical range of customers, and the right products and people to ensure that manufacturing gets the job done efficiently and effectively.
Ervin AMASTEEL abrasive is the global product of choice for leading steel, automotive and aerospace industries, for the removal of scale and rust, and for use in granite cutting operations.
Ervin Industries has three plants in the U.S. where they are the leading provider in this sector. Europe is currently supplied from a facility in Tipton, UK. Now Glaubitz will supply Central and Eastern European regions, adding a further annual production capability of approx. 60,000t.of material.
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, Ervin Industries maintains AMASTEEL manufacturing facilities in Tipton, UK; Adrian, MI and Butler, PA USA; AMACHROME stainless steel in Sprockhövel, Germany; and AMACAST stainless steel and speciality powders at Ervin Technologies in Tecumseh, MI USA.
For pictures or further information please contact Ian Cooper (icooper@ervinindustries.com)
