Though 2020 presented the world with many challenges, Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc. was able to persevere and make capital investments into new machinery.
A huge highlight to cap off the year was the unveiling of their new high-tech 20 Hill Rolling Mill at their Wallingford, CT location, where precision strip and foil for over 160 alloys of stainless steel, nickel, titanium, and other special metals are cold rolled. This new rolling mill is one of the world’s most advanced pieces of precision metal rolling equipment, allowing Ulbrich to further enhance the quality of their material in all the critical markets they serve.
With this additional capacity, Ulbrich can provide an even higher level of service, enabling them to support more significant new product development business for the future.
The mill can handle a wide range of thicknesses and has a technically advanced automatic gauge control and shape control system to closely monitor real-time variations of thickness and flatness throughout the length of each coil that gets rolled. An investment like this significantly improves their ability to give customers the highest quality and most precise engineered strip with some of the tightest tolerances in the industry.
Development Partnership Initiative for Manufacturing Innovation Research & Development
The installation of this new Rolling Mill is in line with Ulbrich’s continuous improvement initiatives, as well as their customer-focused development partnership strategy. Launched in 2020, The Ulbrich Development Partnership acts as an extension of your team, giving customers access to over 20 process, product, and quality metallurgists, each with expertise and skills to find what is best suited for a customer’s unique raw material needs.
New product development starts with great ideas and greater risks, and with Ulbrich’s advanced development partnership initiative, customers can minimize those risks through working with a highly experienced team of individualized experts eager to assist in developing custom material solutions designed to meet your manufacturing needs and help you push the limits of innovation.
Ulbrich’s resource of metallurgists provides unparalleled access to the knowledge and capabilities necessary to achieve the best results. Additionally, Ulbrich development partnership provides local support with field representatives who act as a guidance resource throughout the partnership journey.
The benefits of a development partnership with Ulbrich are immeasurable. Your experience with a development partnership begins with a consultation with a product specialist to discuss your project scope, including the material and application requirements.
Using the specification as a guideline, Ulbrich will process customized material in R+D quantities for initial evaluation, so you can make the necessary evaluations. Based on feedback of the initial trial order, Ulbrich’s product team will work with you to confirm final specifications. A unique part number will be created, ensuring the material is processed the same way every time. Finally, Ulbrich will bring your product to market with their industry-leading commitment to quality.
Upholding Quality Standards and Achieving New Certifications
All Ulbrich domestic and international facilities are quality certified and operate in accordance with many standards such as AMS, ASTM, NADCAP, and often even more demanding customer specifications. More recently, Ulbrich Specialty Strip Mill (USSM), located in Wallingford, CT, and home of the new 20 High Rolling Mill, was awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification; the International Organization for Standardization’s protocol for meeting specific requirements for an effective environmental management system.
The full process took nearly a year to complete and entailed a thorough inspection of environmental performance, procedures, employee interviews, management commitment, and continuous improvement. Ulbrich was audited in the beginning of 2021 and passed with zero findings. This qualification is credited to rigorous environmental practices, as well as a deep understanding and practical execution of the ISO standard.
Ulbrich’s commitment to environmental responsibility and maintaining high standards for such has been and continues to be an ongoing effort in the forefront of their minds.
About Ulbrich
Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc., is a fourth-generation family owned and operated business with 11 locations in five countries across North America, Asia and Europe. As a precision re-roller and distributor of stainless steels and special metals, Ulbrich is a capability-driven company, offering a wide range of products and solutions across multiple industries such as medical, automotive, aerospace, electronics, power generation, industrial, oil & gas, consumer, and solar. With nearly a century of experience, the company has the knowledge and capabilities necessary to fulfill the material requirements for your demanding applications.
These new endeavors celebrate and demonstrate the strong, long-term commitment of the Ulbrich Family to the company, their employees, customers, community and other key stakeholders.
Learn more at www.ulbrich.com.
