The Plate Rolling Technology Committee (PRTC) met Sept. 16–17 in Suffolk, Va. The committee chair, Robert Cousins of Nucor Steel–Hertford County, hosted the meeting and opened it by thanking everyone for attending. Tony Gamboni of Nucor volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The attendees were asked to introduce themselves. The committee selected abstracts for AISTech 2009. The abstracts were organized into two sessions: one on Tuesday morning and the other Tuesday afternoon. The session titles and session chairs were also selected. The session chair responsibilities were reviewed. The PRTC will also hold a committee meeting on Tuesday during AISTech 2009. Mr. Cousins was given the task of proposing the plate mill benchmarking format. Then each attendee gave a summary of their safety status and programs. The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10–11, 2009, and will be hosted by Evraz Oregon Steel Mill in Portland, Ore.

The Plate Rolling Operating Committee (PROC) met at AISTech 2008 on May 6. The committee chair, Drew Poshard of IPSCO Steel–Mobile, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their time and participation. Mr. Poshard asked everyone to introduce themselves, and then discussed the plan for integrating the AISI and AIST committees. The PROC was renamed the Plate Rolling Technology Committee (PRTC). The committee was reminded to nominate candidates for the Norm Hodgson Award, which was established to recognize outstanding contributions and/or enhancements to plate production and is presented every other year. The election of officers took place, with Robert Cousins of Nucor Steel–Hertford County being elected as chair, Rich Smith of ArcelorMittal as vice chair, and Miles Brittain of Evraz Oregon Steel–Portland as papers chair. The committee then revised their mission statement to read, “To promote advancement in safe plate rolling and quality practices, operating technologies and processing through information exchange.” The benchmarking questionnaire is nearly complete; Mr. Cousins will take the lead to finalize it. Charlie Romberger of ArcelorMittal presented Mr. Poshard with a plaque for his exceptional service and dedication as committee chair for 2007–2008. The next PRTC meeting is scheduled for Sept. 16–17, 2008, and will be hosted by the ArcelorMittal Coatesville/Conchohocken plants. Two full days are being scheduled, with round table discussions, a plant tour and supplier presentations planned. Visit www.aist.org for the most up-to-date details.

March 5-6 , 2008 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee (PROC) met March 5–6 in Baytown, Texas. The committee chair, Drew Poshard of IPSCO Steel–Mobile, opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. Dan Elwood of ArcelorMittal volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The committee welcomed the first-time attendees: Chalapathy Devarakonda and Sanjay Gadi of JSW Steel USA, George Arvai of NSK Corp., and Charles Mellus of Bloom Engineering. Some time was spent discussing the status of the AISI/AIST committee integration. The committee discussed possible nominations for the 2009 Norm Hodgson Award. The PROC mission statement was also discussed, and no changes were made. The benchmarking format was then discussed and will be decided upon at the next meeting. Eric Thokar (Danieli Wean United), Charlie Bender and George Arvai (NSK), Neb Uzelac (NDT Systems & Services) and Chuck Mellus (Bloom Engineering) made various presentations highlighting their respective products and services. Dan Meinzen and other JSW personnel conducted a tour of their plate facility. The next meeting was held on May 5 during AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Visit the PROC section of www.aist.org for further information.

October 23-24 , 2007 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee (PROC) met at ArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor facility Oct. 23–24, 2007. The committee chair, Drew Poshard of IPSCO Steel – Mobile, opened the meeting and welcomed the first-time attendees: Fred Leaf of ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor; Emin Ermin, Paul Horning and Pranay Patel of ArcelorMittal Coatesville; and Bill Taylor of Claymont Steel. The papers chair, Charlie Romberger, led the process of selecting papers for a Tuesday afternoon session at AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh. Dan Elwood of ArcelorMittal and Charlie Bender of NSK agreed to be session chairs for this session. The topic of benchmarking was discussed. A subcommittee including the vice chair, Robert Cousins of Nucor Steel–Hertford County, Mr. Romberger and Mr. Elwood will collectively finalize a questionnaire for the collection of the data. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to a round table discussion, with each member commenting on safety, operations and capital projects of their respective plants. The committee would like to thank Mr. Elwood and Bob Spangler of ArcelorMittal for the tour of the 160-inch plate mill. The next meeting is scheduled for February 2008.

May 7, 2007 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee (PROC) met at AISTech 2007 in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 7. Dan Elwood of ArcelorMittal – Burns Harbor, the chair of this committee, welcomed everyone to the meeting and to AISTech 2007. The first ever “Norm Hodgson Award” was presented by Mr. Elwood to Norm Hodgson in recognition of his overall efforts in plate rolling technology and in establishing the AIST Plate Rolling Operating Committee in the 1990s. Officers for 2007–2008 were elected: Drew Poshard of IPSCO Steel (Alabama) Inc. is the new chair, Robert Cousins of Nucor Steel–Hertford County is the new vice chair, and Charlie Romberger of ArcelorMittal Research is the new papers chair. The PROC reviewed its mission statement: “To promote advancement in plate rolling practices, operating technologies and processing through information exchange.” The members agreed that this statement still served the purpose of the committee. Mr. Elwood agreed to be the point person on a benchmarking activity to foster information exchange, the key element of the committee’s mission. A round table discussion was then held, with each member contributing on safety, operations and capital improvements. A plaque was presented to Dan Elwood in recognition and appreciation of his work as the chair of the PROC. The next PROC meeting will be hosted by ArcelorMittal at the Coatesville/Conshohocken plant.

February 14-15, 2007 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee (PROC) met in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 14–15, 2007. Drew Poshard of IPSCO Steel (Alabama) Inc., the committee’s papers chair, hosted the tour on the 14th and also chaired the meeting, since Dan Elwood of Mittal Steel USA – Burns Harbor, committee chair, could not attend due to weather conditions. Each individual in attendance gave a small presentation about his/her company’s safety record in 2006, as well as some of the projects being worked on now. This gave each attendee an excellent opportunity to boast about his/her mill, as well as get some helpful suggestions from the other committee members. The committee used the afternoon to tour IPSCO Steel’s plate mill. The tour was very informative. The committee thanks Drew Poshard for the hospitality that he and all the IPSCO employees showed during the tour. The morning of the second day was a great chance to review the tour of the IPSCO mill and ask any additional questions. The next meeting of the PROC will be Monday, May 7 at AISTech 2007 in Indianapolis, Ind.

September 19, 2006 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee met at Nucor Steel–Hertford County in Cofield, N.C., on Sept. 19. The committee chose papers for the plate rolling session at AISTech 2007. Members participated in round table discussions on safety, operations and capital projects. The committee agreed to propose an AIST award to recognize safety related to plate mills and, if available, a second award for an outstanding paper or contribution. Nucor Steel–Hertford provided a tour of their facility, which included the melting, casting, and rolling and finishing operations. The committee met the following morning to continue discussions on capital projects and other outstanding topics of interest. The committee thanks Tony Gamboni, Robert Cousins and Nucor Steel–Hertford for their efforts and hospitality in providing an excellent tour and beneficial meeting.

May 3, 2006 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee held a lunch meeting on May 3 in conjunction with AISTech 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio. After a review of the Plate Rolling–sponsored technical sessions at AISTech, the members held elections for the next term of committee officers. The committee also discussed the development of a template to be used to benchmark plate mill facilities and practices. The benchmarking would be used to initiate round table discussions at future Plate Rolling Operating Committee meetings. The last item covered was the potential sponsorship by the Plate Rolling Operating Committee of a Rolling and Finishing Technology Division award. The next meeting for the committee will be held in the fall of 2006.

January 24, 2006 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee gathered in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Jan. 24, 2006. The committee finalized the PROC-sponsored program for AISTech 2006. The plate rolling technical session will be held on Wednesday morning, May 3. There will also be a joint session with the Sheet Rolling and Process and Product Metallurgy Operating Committees on Wednesday afternoon. The committee discussed establishing a standard for benchmarking North American plate facilities, with the intent to expand this worldwide. Members participated in round table discussions on safety, operations and capital projects. The committee agreed to propose an AIST award to recognize safety and production related to plate mills. Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa provided a tour of their facility, which included the melting, casting, and rolling and finishing operations. The committee would like to thank Jim Yerkes and Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa for their efforts and hospitality in providing an excellent tour and beneficial meeting. The next PROC meeting is scheduled for May 3 at AISTech in Cleveland, Ohio.

August 24, 2005 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee held their fall meeting on Aug. 24 in Regina, Sask., Canada. The committee discussed AISTech 2006 and the available abstracts for technical sessions. Members discussed aspects of safety, capital projects, operations and enhancements with respect to their companies’ mills. The committee discussed benchmarking criteria and venues for North American plate mill facilities. IPSCO Saskatchewan Inc. invited the committee to tour their facilities. The Plate Rolling Operating Committee would like to thank Dave Evans and IPSCO for their hospitality. The next meeting is scheduled for January 2006 and will include a tour of Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa.

May 11, 2005 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee organized at AISTech 2005 on Wednesday, May 11. The members discussed benchmarking practices and presented brief reviews of their current operations. The committee will reconvene in August to tour IPSCO Saskatchewan Inc. in Regina, Sask., Canada.

March 9, 2005 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee met on March 9 at Oregon Steel Mills, Portland, Ore. The committee held elections for the 2005–2006 Operating Committee officers. Dan Elwood was nominated Chair, Brian Vaill was nominated Vice Chair and Drew Poshard was nominated Papers Chair. All three nominations were unanimously passed by the committee. The AISTech 2005 technical sessions were reviewed, and it was confirmed that the committee will host the Wednesday afternoon Plate Rolling Session on May 11. Members discussed recent safety, production and capital projects with their respective companies and concluded the meeting with a tour of Oregon Steel Mills. The next meeting is scheduled for May 11 at AISTech 2005.

July 20, 2004 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee met at ISG Burns Harbor in Chesterton, Ind., on July 20 to conduct their second meeting of the year and to tour the 160-inch plate mill of ISG. The meeting began with introductions by all the attendees and a welcoming statement from the ISG Burns Harbor plate mill personnel. Topics of the meeting included increasing membership participation, establishing a mission statement, benchmarking aspects of the plate industry, and the final status of the Plate Rolling technical sessions at AISTech 2004. The meeting ended with a question-and-answer period regarding the ISG Burns Harbor tour and a round table discussion about current events in the plate industry. The committee will meet at AISTech 2004 on Thursday, Sept. 16.

May 4, 2004 - The Plate Rolling Operating Committee assembled May 4 at Nucor Steel in Hertford, N.C., for its initial meeting. The committee discussed the new AIST organization and the guidelines set forth for the Operating Committees. Members reviewed technical sessions for AISTech, nominated session chairs and outlined the structure for presenters. Round table discussions then commenced, with benchmarking as the focus. Nucor Steel provided a presentation followed by a complete tour of the facility. The committee planned to hold its next meeting at ISG Burns Harbor, Ind., in mid-July.