Supplier spotlight
and structural steel beams, angle stock and channel stock etc.), which are used across many industries and sectors i.e., construction, rail, energy, oil and gas, automotive etc. However, because rolls operate in steel and copper mills’ harsh and demanding environments, they are subject to high wear, thermal stress and mechanical fatigue. As a consequence, they need to be replaced regularly to maintain product quality and consistency, and ensure that the mills hit their own production targets and customer deadlines. Bowers & Jones This is where Bowers & Jones, with its “Keeping Mills Rolling” corporate strap-line, comes into its own. Established in 1954, the company’s knowledge of metal forming processes is second to none. With almost 70 years’ experience of designing and manufacturing high-precision rolls for steel mill customers involved in the production of steel tubes, pipes, rails and sections, and rolls and wheels for customers producing copper rods and wires, the company works closely with all customers to design and manufacture bespoke and tailored replacement roll tooling and equipment. Bowers & Jones’ success is built on its considerable know-how and expertise, and the care and attention it brings to roll design, the quality of roll material selected and machined, and the methods of manufacture adopted: all are critical to a roll’s performance and to its life span. The company works in partnership, and collaboratively, with its customers and can design, manufacture and test (via simulation) roll tooling for customers’ new products, as well as helping improve established and existing product lines. The bottom line is that Bowers & Jones’ roll
aluminium bronzes and PM grades).
The rolls are first roughed-out on the Puma GT 3100L before being sent out for Heat Treatment to a number of hand-picked preferred suppliers, and is a process carefully managed by Bowers & Jones. After treatment, parts are returned and are then finish-machined back on the Puma, and if required, undergo secondary surface treatments – coatings, plating, shot peening, nitriding etc., before being dispatched. Cycle times vary depending on the size of each roll and the required profiles and features to be machined. Larger and more complex rolls can involve more than 20+ hours machining time (roughing and finishing operations combined). Rolls: use and application Rolls are performance-critical components. They are also consumable items. They are used in metal forming processes to enable metal stock (i.e., steel) to pass through one or more pairs of rolls, located on stands, in order to reduce the materials’ thickness, making it uniform and consistent and, where required, give the rolled material additional mechanical and application-specific properties required by the ultimate end-user. The rolls are used to process the material into different products (i.e., bar stock, rails
Machinery & Manufacturing 42
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