In-house Plate Rolling Slashes Lead Times at Joe White Tank

To stay competitive in the fast-paced oil and gas sector, Joe White Tank Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, made a strategic move: bringing plate rolling operations in-house. Previously reliant on external suppliers for rolled cylinders, the pressure vessel and tank fabricator often faced extended lead times—especially during industry booms—making it difficult to meet customer demand for large-scale refrigeration and piping projects.

By installing a Faccin HAV-3145 three-roll plate rolling machine, JWT gained control over a critical production step. The machine’s capability to roll plates up to 120 inches wide allows for precise fabrication of a broad range of cylinders and thick-walled cones. Key features such as electronic parallelism, centralized lubrication, and a Siemens numeric control system further streamline the process.

Since the integration, the company has significantly reduced delivery times, improved production flexibility, and even capitalized on high-margin rush jobs that would have been impossible without in-house rolling. Vice President Jeff Yurtin estimates the machine will pay for itself within months—thanks to faster turnaround, better material utilization, and the ability to fabricate custom components on demand.

“It’s not just about processing more steel—it’s about unlocking opportunities we couldn’t reach before,” Yurtin said.