Past AIST Committee Activities

Current Activities

The Specialty Alloy & Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) met on Wednesday, May 5 at AISTech 2010, with 15 members in attendance. Mark Suer reviewed the 2010 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics. The SAFTC mission statement was reviewed and approved as is. Each committee member was challenged to enlist at least one AIST member to this committee during 2010. Elections of SAFTC officers for 2010–2011 resulted in Dennis Rodal being elected as chair, Mark Rodney as vice chair, Andy Pinskey as papers chair, Mark Suer as membership chair, and Allen Chan as education chair. The next Specialty Steelmaking Seminar will be in October 2011. Allen Chan will try to maintain the presenter format from 2009. Michael Strelbisky, AIST BOD representative, and Reinhard Fandrich, VDEh representative, discussed the possibility of participating in the next training seminar. Mr. Strelbisky and Mr. Fandrich will contact Mr. Chan regarding presentation topics. The next SAFTC meeting will be at AIST headquarters on Sept. 21. Two tours are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22 at Kalco Metals and ATI Powder Metals.

The Specialty Alloy & Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) met in Franklin, Pa., on March 24. There were eight committee members in attendance. Safety round table discussions involved a review of the Steel Industry Fatality Statistics for 2009 and 2010, along with three-year graphs highlighting the “reason” and “type” of fatalities that occurred. An article from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) was distributed that noted 2009 was the safest year ever for the nation’s freight railroads. SAFTC members discussed work practices and safety procedures that have worked. The committee reviewed the full paper session that was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at AISTech 2010. John Middleton and Mark Rodney are active members of the SAFTC who were making a presentation. Mike Sullivan suggested all SAFTC members contact specialty steelmaking producers, asking them to submit papers for AISTech 2011 detailing existing projects being completed. Dennis Rodal revised the SAFTC’s topics for the 2011 Call for Papers, to encourage both producer and supplier/vendor companies to submit papers.

The SAFTC officer rotation for the 2010–2011 term will be as follows: Dennis Rodal, chair; Mark Rodney, vice chair; Andy Pinskey, papers chair; Mark Suer, membership chair; and Allen Chan, education chair. The 2011 Specialty Steelmaking Training Seminar is scheduled for Oct. 17–20, 2011, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Allen Chan will confirm the successful presenter lineup that was offered in 2009. The committee toured Electralloy and Greenville Metals on Thursday, March 25.

The Specialty Alloy & Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) met in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Oct. 19, 2009, before the Specialty Steelmaking Seminar. Mark Suer, SAFTC chair, welcomed the 11 committee members in attendance. Allen Chan, education chair, volunteered to take meeting minutes. MS&T’09 and the AIST Leadership Development Conference were discussed. The SAFTC was represented at the Leadership Development Conference in November by Danielle Baird from Latrobe Specialty Steel. A safety round table discussion began with a review of the 2009 Steel Industry Fatality Statistics prepared by the Safety & Health Technology Committee. RFID technology, in which tags are used to identify an employee’s location to help warn or even interlock moving equipment in a high-traffic area, is being investigated by the Material Handling Technology Committee as well as the Packaging, Shipping & Transportation Methods Technology Committee. Many of the accidents listed are crushing/striking accidents that can happen anywhere. Idled operations and reduced capacity schedules have created a stronger need for retraining programs and cross-training, as employees are doing work they have never have done before. A Latrobe Specialty Steel employee was burned while arcing. Corrective action now calls for CarbonX undergarments to be part of the individual’s PPE to help avoid another burn accident. A near-miss at Special Metals involved a drop crane block incident. No one was injured, but crane preventive maintenance has increased to eliminate a future incident of this kind. Praxair discussed a fatality in which an experienced manager did not follow the proper safety procedures. Safety guidelines or standard operating procedures must be followed each and every time, without exception. Mike Sullivan stressed that employees need to believe management cares about their safety (not going through the motions) and that an accident could happen to them at any time. Andy Pinskey, SAFTC past chair, mentioned that most plants do not offer a location for a vendor/supplier to change into proper PPE. Jim Korn stated that any vendor/supplier must be aware of the environment they’re about to enter and follow every rule cited. Mark Rodney, SAFTC papers chair, discussed abstracts submitted for AISTech 2010. The SAFTC has scheduled six papers for Tuesday afternoon’s session. Additional papers could complete the Tuesday morning session. The next SAFTC meeting will be held March 24–25, 2010, at AIST headquarters with two tours in the Pittsburgh area.

The Specialty Alloy & Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) met on Tuesday, May 5 at AISTech 2009. There were eight SAFTC members in attendance. Andy Pinskey, chair, reviewed the AISTech sessions and encouraged committee members to solicit papers for AISTech 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Pinskey provided an update for the Specialty Steelmaking Training Conference scheduled for Oct. 19–22, 2009, at the Hyatt Pittsburgh International Airport, with Latrobe Specialty Steel as the host plant. A conference call was scheduled for June 10, where Allen Chan, education chair, reviewed the committee’s training seminar agenda. The following individuals were elected as SAFTC officers for 2009–2010: Mark Suer, chair; Dennis Rodal, vice chair; Mark Rodney, papers chair; and Jim Korn, membership chair. The SAFTC mission statement was reviewed and revised to read as follows: “To serve and provide members producing Stainless Steel, Specialty Alloy Steel, and Foundry Operations a forum for technical information exchange between Producers and Suppliers involved in these specialty markets. Technical presentations, plant tours, and member networking will promote process advancements, cost-effective practices, and Safe Operating Procedures.” Collaborative efforts will be made with the Steel Founder’s Society of America and Management Science Associates Inc. (MSA) to increase committee participation. Mr. Pinskey was presented with a plaque for his dedication and involvement with the SAFTC.

The Specialty Alloy and Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) held a conference call on March 5. Andy Pinskey, committee chair, welcomed the 11 members participating in this call. Current SAFTC membership stands at 76 members. AISTech 2009 registration was discussed, along with the SAFTC technical sessions being reduced from two sessions to one. The SAFTC technical session will take place Tuesday morning, May 5, followed by the SAFTC meeting at noon. Session chairs Ian Masterson, Jim Korn and Mark Suer were confirmed. Raymond Monroe discussed the current status of the foundry market. U.S. foundry capacity has been reduced by 30%. Stainless steel producers have seen a reduction of 15–20% in operations. Current low commodity pricing has hurt future bookings in the specialty steelmaking markets. Mr. Munroe volunteered to contact the American Foundry Association in hopes of increasing their participation in the SAFTC. Allen Chan, SAFTC education chair, reviewed the 2009 Specialty Steelmaking Training Conference, scheduled for Oct. 19–22, 2009, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Latrobe Spe-cialty Steel Co. will serve as the host plant, offering a tour of their facilities on Oct. 22. Confirmed training conference presenters are: Allen Chan, Praxair Inc.; Fred Rine, FDR Safety; Dennis Rodal, ELG Metals; Jeremy Jones, Worley Parsons; David Kundrat, SGL Carbon; Larry Wolfe, Carmeuse Lime; Ruth Engel, consultant; and Mark Suer, Special Metals Corp. Training conference topics will be specialty steelmaking melting, scrap recoveries and segregation, lime practices, slag influences, foundry applications, and alloy specifics. SAFTC officer nominations were accepted for 2009–2010. Steve Lukes was nominated to become chair, Dennis Rodal was nominated as vice chair, Mark Suer as papers chair and Jim Korn as membership Chair. Allen Chan was nominated to retain his education chair position. These nominations will be voted on at the SAFTC meeting during AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo.

The Specialty Alloy and Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC) met in Homestead, Pa., on Sept. 24–25. Dennis Rodal, tour host and SAFTC papers chair, presented “A Warm Home for Metals” at ELG Metals’ McKeesport Plant. This facility has been in operation for 36 years. Current scrap yard inventory has a value of $40 million. ELG Metals maintains a 30% worldwide market share for alloy scrap sales. Mr. Rodal will make this presentation at AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo. The SAFTC will schedule a Specialty Training Conference entitled “Stainless and Specialty Alloy Melting, Refining and Solidification” in Pittsburgh, Pa., in October 2009. Confirmed presenters to date are Allen Chan of Praxair Inc., Mark Suer of Special Metals Corp., and Mr. Rodal of ELG Metals. The 2009 Call for Papers resulted in eight papers being selected for an SAFTC session at AISTech 2009. The committee emphasized the importance that each future meeting revolve around a plant tour of a producer or supplier facility. SAFTC membership is at 68 members, with 12% committee member participation. It is hoped that future plant tour sites will increase member participation. Committee chair Andy Pinskey, of Holland Manufacturing, thanked ELG Metals for hosting the dinner during this meeting and providing valuable insight into alloy scrap values.

The Specialty Alloy and Foundry Operating Committee (SAFOC) met at AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh on May 7. Allen Chan reviewed the AIST/AISI integration progress. The new committee name is the Specialty Alloy and Foundry Technology Committee (SAFTC). Membership stood at 69 members, and the committee’s roster was updated by Mark Suer and Pat Philbin. The election of 2008–2009 officers took place. Andy Pinskey of Holland Mfg. was elected as chair, Steven Lukes of Carpenter Specialty Alloys as vice chair, Dennis Rodal of ELG Metals Inc. as papers chair, and Mark Suer of Special Metals Corp. as members chair. Two sessions at AISTech 2008 showed strong attendance, though there were three cancellations. The next meeting site will be a tour of ELG Metals Inc. near Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sept. 24–25. For winter 2009, Jim Korn will investigate touring Carmeuse Long View in Alabama or Strasberg/Winchester in Virginia. The 2009 Call for Papers was issued, and a teleconference is to take place in August regarding paper selection. Mr. Chan was presented with a plaque for his outstanding work as committee chair for 2007–2008.