In the hot, harsh and dangerous business of metals manufacturing, your equipment and consumables need to be durable, rugged and genuinely long-lasting.

The “heavy” industry is key to the success of many industries such as automotive, construction and beyond. Tracking metals throughout the various production stages is key to the efficiency of modern-day steel mills and foundries
From the inner smelting phase to alloying and then casting or rolling, metals need to be tracked and identified at each stage of production.
It’s important that labels or tags used to identify these metals are robust and durable. Equally, the printers used in steel industry labeling must be rugged.

• High-temperature manufacture
  The hot-rolling process associated with casting or converting semi-cast products such as slabs, blooms or billets to sheet metals requires traceability of these valuable materials at every stage of the process.
  Application environment:
  
  Hot extruded/hot rolled wire, rods, coils, sheets and reinforcing bars
  High temperatures up to 200°C
  Exposure to oils and abrasives
• Cold-temperature manufacture
  Prior to rolling and/or shaping, steel products are labelled for traceability throughout the production process. Likewise, second-stage products require item-level visibility.
  Although the manufacturing process does not feature extreme temperature conditions, the exposure of materials to dust and dirt is very high. Consequently, labels or tags applied to products need to adhere well and give excellent print quality. They must withstand the conditions of manufacture and remain legible in storage.
  Application environment:
  Cold rolled coils, sheets, tubes and wire
  No extremes of temperature but reliable, legible labels are required
  Prolonged label life for staging, storage and transit
  Extreme Conditions
  The cleaning or “picking” process within steel and metals manufacture requires any surface impurities or oxidisation on rolls, blooms or billets to be removed. This descaling process is achieved by using acid baths or coarse engineering abrasives. Sometimes this requires the onward use of an oil film to protect against future oxidisation.
  
  All of these elements create a hostile environment for printed items such as location and tracking tags and labels.
  When labels or tags are applied prior to the cleaning process, the must be able to withstand the extreme conditions and prolonged exposure to aggressive chemicals.
  
  

• • Exposure to acids
  • Exposure to oils
  • Exposure to industrial abrasives
  • High-grade metal and components
  • Exposure to dust, dirt and temperature extremes
  • Reliable, legible labels are required