New online steel-cutting service

Steelblanks is a new business that has been created to meet the demand from engineering companies, metal users and the general public seeking smaller sheets of steel. A sister company of Nottingham-based Lasershape Ltd, it offers solutions for anyone who does not need a full-size sheet of material but wants a next-day delivery service. Ordering is undertaken on-line.

At Lasershape, a specialist in laser profiling and water-jet cutting, material off-cuts and remnants are a common by-product of every-day operations. The issues of cost and the environment demand a responsible solution to the issue. While normal industry practice is to use a scrap-recycling company, Steelblanks presents an alternative that is beneficial for all concerned, as company director Tim Leam highlights: “There are many engineering companies out there that only need a small piece of material to make a handful of brackets, for example. The unnecessary expenditure and effort of buying a full sheet, storing what’s left — and possibly never using it — can now be averted.”

Visitors to the company’s Web site (www.steelblanks.co.uk)simply create an account, place the items they want in a shopping basket and check out. Orders placed by 10am will be delivered the following day; and because the whole process is UPS linked, customers can track their orders.”