February 2025 Volume 7

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: HOW CHARTER STEEL’S VISION POWERS SBQ SUCCESS By Jon Knight and Amber Bonacci INDUSTRY NEWS

This careful, deliberate approach meant turning down early opportunities, but it also ensured that the product would meet the high standards required for tight hard enability control, fatigue resistance and superior surface quality. Navigating Change and Overcoming Challenges in a New Capability Building on the Cleveland mill’s existing capabilities, the team faced the unique challenge of running both coil and SBQ bar in a single mill. This required a signifi cant reimagining of production schedules to optimize time and efficiency, especially during changeovers. With a goal of rolling every size within a four-week cycle, the challenge was both complex and ambi tious. Furthermore, despite having experience in producing high-quality, clean steel, SBQ presents more complex needs than coil. SBQ necessitates tighter tolerances, supe rior surface finishes and advanced equip ment to meet the demands of high-stress applications. To meet these needs, a signifi cant investment was required. The facility needed to be retrofitted to ensure each process consistently delivered the high quality SBQ products customers depend on. Navigating these hurdles while learning to operate the newly retrofitted Cleveland facility and refining processes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of difficulty. Yet, the team’s unwavering trust in one another, paired with their commitment to excellence, allowed everyone to turn every challenge into an opportunity. Each obstacle became a puzzle to solve, and by staying focused on the goal, Charter Steel successfully added this new capability to their operations.

D riven by a relentless commitment to innovation, Charter Steel embarked on their next phase of strategic growth by adding Special Bar Quality (SBQ) steel to their capabilities—an expansion that would evolve into a defining chapter for the team. By focusing on long-term opportunities and staying at the forefront of steelmaking, Charter Steel continues to pave the way for future success and transformative progress. With demand growing for precision-crafted materials to support critical industries, Charter Steel saw a chance to help fill this need. With investments into state-of-the-art technology, a commitment to perfecting processes and a focus on teamwork, the company has completely transformed its operations. Today, Charter Steel’s journey into SBQ steel stands as a testament to the team’s ability to adapt, innovate and lead—driving progress in a sector that demands precision and consistency, even in the face of extraordinary chal lenges. Taking the First Step with a Commitment to Quality Charter Steel’s move into Special Bar Quality steel was a natural evolution rooted in decades of expertise. Since 2006, the Cleveland campus has specialized in producing high-quality billet for coil markets, such as cold heading and bearings. These capabilities laid the foundation for Charter Steel’s success in SBQ—a steel prized for its durability and performance in critical applications like gears, axles and other high-stress components used in a variety of applications, from automotive to aerospace. In 2016, the decision was made to grow into this area, and by 2019 the first SBQ bar was rolled. However, rather than rushing to market, the team chose to take a methodical approach, testing and perfecting the product in-house before taking on external orders.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2025 76