Plate Products:
Innovation brings high quality steel

Plate is plate, what more can you do with it? If the Sparrows Point Division is to be a beacon of light for plate customers, then the product and its quality and service can be continuously improved. That's exactly what we are doing today.

Rolled plate steel traditionally is somewhat thicker at the center than at the edges. To compensate for this, more steel is used and sold to make sure a plate meets thickness specifications. By changing rolling practices, our employees came up with a new product called "precise weight" plate, which is of uniform thickness edge-to-edge. These plates meet specifications without being heavier than necessary, a great benefit to shipbuilders whose customers prefer to carry extra tonnage in cargo rather than in the ship itself.

This new product was made possible when the 160-inch plate mill was modernized and automated with the installation of automatic gauge controls and computer process controls. New shearing equipment was also added. With this multi-million-dollar investment, and with continuously cast steel slabs as the feedstock, plates from Sparrows Point are the best ever.

Customer service is also the best ever. Just-in-time service has meant 100% on-time deliveries and greatly reduced inventories for one of our biggest plate customers and long-term partner. This customer leaves several flat-bed truck bodies at Sparrows Point to be loaded as needed. Their driver returns an empty flat-bed and picks up a full one. The new delivery method has made our customer more cost-competitive and earned the division additional plate business.

This is one of many ways Sparrows Point has improved its reliability and service for customers. Another was the installation of the new plate depot where customers can pick up plates within 72 hours.

Our plate products, some 500,000 tons annually, can be found today wherever strength and durability are needed. Plate steel is the essential component of bridges, rail cars, ships and heavy machinery. Or, it is the transmission pipe that moves millions of gallons of oil or gas across a continent. Plate girders are the backbone of large buildings. As Sparrows Point employees, we are proud to be working with our plate customers who are building our huge infrastructure and helping to improve the lives of Americans.

Plate Depot Is Popular

A new depot is fulfilling the needs of Sparrows Point plate customers who want quick service. Customers can order standard size/grade plates and pick them up in just 72 hours.

Seeing a need for maximum product reliability, availability, quality and handling efficiency, Sparrows Point employees established the plate depot in an unused production facility that was once part of the former rod mill. The depot's location - away from mill traffic and with easier access to the interstate highways - is ideal.

The advantages of the new depot have made it popular with customers and truckers alike. By 1996, one year after the depot opened for business, monthly sales had doubled and were continuing to grow.