Tata Steel is transforming its 150-acre Corby steel tube making site in the East Midlands which produces vital products for everything from sports stadium and iconic skyscrapers — including the Shard in London — to hospital beds and renewable green energy schemes around the world. The Corby facility produces steel tube products from steel sourced from Tata’s Port Talbot works.
Manufacturing processes will now be brought closer together as part of the £25 million scheme which is being paid for in part with the sale of land freed up by the changes as well as savings from operational improvements.
Sandip Biswas, chairman of Tata Steel UK Ltd, said: “Steel is an essential part of the UK’s plans to decarbonise for the future. We need to ensure we are able to make and supply the products in the UK which will help transition to a net-zero future.”
Gary Blackman, Tata Steel Corby works manager, said: “The programme is essential to ensuring a sustainable future for our site and generations of steel workers to come. It will enable us to reconfigure our operations and achieve the highest levels of operational efficiency.”
The two-year investment project will see the creation of a single high-tech warehouse, the relocation and upgrading of the important rectangular hollow section (RHS) processing line and the cold mill (CFM) which will result in improved efficiency and reduced energy consumption.
Sustainability is at the core of the improvements with material from old concrete floors being recycled on site to help create the sub-base for the warehouse which is now under contstruction.
Project leader Nigel Chudley said: “We are creating a single site warehouse within the East Works, which will allow the closure of the South warehouse. Significant work is ongoing to prepare the ground for the installation of a racked warehouse solution.
“Over the last couple of weeks the team have been working with our contractors to break ground, which is the first element of a 14-week programme to prepare the flooring which will support 18,000 tonnes of finished tube product.”
The new warehousing system will bring significant advantages to the current system – enabling the Tubes operation to rotate stock much more efficiently and reduce stock losses.
Commenting on the landmark programme Coenraad Spaans, Tata Steel operational director tubes, concluded: “The programme will map out a sustainable future for the Corby site and lay the foundations for future growth.”