Fabrication, refurbishment and engineered solutions provider DCD Venco helped prevent further delays on the Blast Furnace N5 reline project at steel giant ArcelorMittal South Africa’s (AMSA’s) Newcastle Works facility in KwaZulu-Natal, in August last year, after it remanufactured a new 45-m-long, 82-t furnace downcomer in 14 days to replace the damaged unit.

The highly efficient and low-cost Newcastle Works operation is the country’s top supplier of profile products and is rated among the lowest steel billet cash-cost producers in the world.

AMSA reports that the downcomer was damaged during a scheduled installation project that formed part of the furnace reline project in August 2014.

AMSA area project manager Bez Bezuidenhout states that the company cannot afford any downtime on such a high-profile operation, which is why DCD Venco was commissioned to urgently fabricate a new downcomer at Blast Furnace 5 within 14 days.

“A downcomer is essentially a large pipe used to lead hot gases from the top of a blast furnace downward to the gas cleaning plant. The existing one scheduled for installation had been damaged beyond repair. This could have caused an additional delay of 20 days; however, DCD Venco did an outstanding job in minimising downtime by completing this large job in just 14 days,” says Bezuidenhout.

DCD Venco GM Willem Mare reveals that the company worked around-the-clock to ensure that the urgent deadlines were successfully met.

“Working closely with our sister companies in Vereeniging and Boksburg, we were able to source all the relevant machinery, capacity and skills sets in highly competitive times and I am exceptionally proud that the team achieved this outstanding end result. “This is proof that DCD is able to pool resources to meet customer expectations,” he asserts.

Despite the urgent nature of the project, Bezuidenhout indicates that there was no “corner-cutting” and that DCD Venco maintained the highest standards of quality, excellence and professionalism. “The teams worked long hours and weekends to ensure that even the most minor manufacturing defects were avoided during such a time-sensitive production schedule.”

Bezuidenhout further points out that this value-added service and commitment is appreciated not only at Newcastle Works, but also across the ArcelorMittal Group.

“DCD Venco forms an integral part of Newcastle’s industry and has proven to be a trusted and reliable supplier to our local and national operations for more than 30 years. I therefore anticipate this long-standing and mutually beneficial partnership to grow from strength to strength in the foreseeable future,” he concludes.