.gif?width=220&height=220&mediaprotectionhash=27a2c7b682a980edd98804d5ef3ab0afa2e746bbcbde7192e62ce4a3fe797500&ext=.gif)
Steel Company Forges Ahead with New Plant in Chicago's South Side
01/25/2013 - A. Finkl & Sons is phasing out operations at its longtime Lincoln Park-area site and firing up new, more efficient furnaces on East 93rd Street in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports.
A. Finkl & Sons is phasing out operations at its longtime Lincoln Park-area site and firing up new, more efficient furnaces on East 93rd Street in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The new factory, equipped with the latest technology, improved production lines, better access to transportation and its own electric substation, will enable Finkl to boost its production fivefold to a half-million tons of steel a year.
"It's a huge step forward for Finkl," said John Guliana, the company's vice president of engineering and planning, explaining that workers will operate machines by pressing buttons on computer monitors. In contrast, the North Side plant, laid out over 22 acres separated by city streets, depended on manual labor, people working "with shovels and things like that," he said. Space was so tight that recycled metals and finished product sat out in the open.
So far, Finkl has spent more than $180 million on equipping buildings on the 53-acre South Side site that will house the melt, forge and machining shops, and offices as well as recycled metals and finished product. The new site is making steel and executives say it will handle 100 percent of production by the end of the year…
Click here to continue reading this article from the Chicago Tribune.
