Sheet processors which hot-form components can now order certain input material as blanks from thyssenkrupp Steel, Kallanish understands from a press release.
From its Duisburg steelmaking operations, tk Steel delivers manganese boron steel as blanks in the shape ordered by the customers. “There has been a high demand for this service; it is attractive for the carmakers as well as for their suppliers,” says Matthias Berens, product manager at tk Steel Europe. It saves customers one processing step as well as the disposal of scrap that normally accrues in the process, he explains.
In this service tk Steel is working together with the group’s distribution unit thyssenkrupp Schulte, which specialises in serving supply chains. tk Steel delivers the steel as coil to tk Schulte, which takes over the further cutting, shaping, logistics, and the recycling of scrap. The company did not confirm whether the service is confined only to manganese boron steels.
This type of steel offer high strength with good formability, the steelmaker says on its website. This enables weight savings in the use of strength-relevant structural and safety components in the automotive industry. Typical applications for manganese boron steels include bumper bars, side impact intrusion beams, pillars or body reinforcements.