The New Zealand Stainless Fraternity
19 Oct 2022
It is nearly a decade since Industrial Tube entered the stainless market through the purchase of machinery and stock from Stainless Tube Mill in 2013.
Reflecting on our journey, Industrial Tube has achieved a huge amount, and there has been a lot of progress that we are delighted to share with the wider NZ Stainless Steel Development Association (NZSSDA) community.
Initially, we operated the stainless mills in Auckland, and then in 2014, added a purpose-built extension for the new stainless plant to our existing facility in Hamilton.
Once the Auckland machinery refurbishment was completed and functioning, we installed a second polisher and added a larger mill from STM Australia. This enabled us to produce 5, 6 & 8-inch tube. It took a considerable effort to get this mill to AS1528 standard. Whilst this was happening other secondary equipment including straighteners, presses, and an annealing oven was installed.
In 2017, the mill team turned their focus to efficiency, adjusting the plant to enable the production of regular sizes and lengths of tube up to 24 metres (depending on the size, polishing up to 12 metres), which we continue to offer.
Most recently, we commissioned an internal polisher for the larger sizes of tube, which was designed and built by our internal engineering team. Combined with our BLM LT7 3D tube laser cutter, we are now able to produce almost any requirement in the market. We are seeing real benefits from this, recently being awarded two large contracts for stainless steel components, involving several of our processing solutions.
Throughout our journey, we have strived for quality, and at times we have had to supply replacement products when we missed the mark. We have always stood by our service promise, which is the basis of our business philosophy, and are grateful that our long-term suppliers Acerinox (Bahru) and Thyssenkrupp operate with a similar ethos.
As a member of the NZSSDA, we are astounded by the readiness of the members to help each other; it certainly reinforces the kiwi way of helping – not hindering – the New Zealand stainless fraternity.
The NZSSDA is an organisation that goes out of its way to provide a strong voice for New Zealand manufacturers – their advocacy work concerning the Australian Stainless-Steel Standards was a great example of this.
Although the NZSSDA membership base is currently relatively small, several thousand businesses are using stainless steel, and there is significant potential for the membership to grow.
The team at Industrial Tube would like to thank everyone, including our staff, who have supported us and contributed to our journey over the past decade. We are in the stainless tube business for the long haul and will continue to offer all merchants and customers the same Industrial Tube high-quality product and service we are renowned for.