World’s fastest tube mills for the US market

Zekelman Industries, one of the largest independent steel tube manufacturers in North America, was looking to increase production, save energy and enhance safety to stay competitive in the domestic market.

Drawing on its technical expertise and capabilities, Fives designed and delivered four OTO tube mills that represent a world record in production.

Record- breaking speed

The high- speed OTO tube mills from Fives are capable of producing tubular products at a record- breaking speed of 900 feet per minute. The mills process tube and pipe from 18 mm to 130 mm in diameter for a wide range of applications, from conduit to solar panels and construction, in both the U.S. and Mexico. “Our goal was to increase the overall efficiency of our plant in Rochelle, Illinois to achieve the fastest possible production in the shortest possible time, as well as to reduce manual intervention to almost zero in order to utilize our personnel for more skilled and productive tasks within the company. Our long- standing relationship with Fives led us to choose their high- speed OTO tube mill technology with fully integrated automation to reach our goal,” says John Chatterton, Group Technical President at Zekelman Industries.

Technological developments

“We are proud that we have been able to combine our high- quality, high- performance equipment with breakthrough technology designs that have enabled Zekelman Industries to set a production record in the manufacture of such tubes. Thanks to our dedicated team of engineers and technicians, the 4 tube mills were commissioned in December 2023, just one and a half years after the order was placed, which was a
challenge in itself,” adds Luca Cagnolati, Sales & Marketing Director at Fives OTO , a Fives subsidiary specialized in tube mills.
Fives has been a market leader for OTO welded tube mills over 40 years, having delivered more than 1,200 installations worldwide.