Visions - Fall 2013 - (Page 8)

TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS Arkansas Steel Associates " A rkansas Steel Associates is Sumitomo Corporation of America's exclusive supplier of tie plates for railroads in North America," stated Tatsuro "Teddy" Shiraishi Product Manager in Steel and Non-Ferrous Metal Group's headquarters in Sumitomo Corporation of America's (SCOA) Chicago Office. SCOA, Sumitomo Corporation (SC) and Yamoto Kogyo acquired the company in 1989, with the structure of the business partnership being a 50% ownership by Yamato Kogyo, 30% by Sumitomo Corporation and 20% by SCOA. The Newport, Arkansas-based company was previously named Razorback Steel; the company's current steel production output of 300,000 net tons (NT) of tie plates and billets per year breaks down to 250,000NT of tie plates and 50,000NT of other products per year, and a worker increase of double the amount of employees since its opening. Kenji "Ken" Iijima, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Steel & Non-Ferrous Metal Group: Tadashi "Tad" Inami, President of Arkansas Steel Associates (ASA); Kazuhiro Takeuchi, President and CEO of SCOA and GM for the Americas; Toshinori "Ted" Nakanishi, Former President of ASA: Tatsuro "Teddy" Shiraishi, Product Manager. Arkansas Steel supports infrastructure creation and repair from the rail side through its product supply stream that includes tie plates as one of the key components for the nation's railway track. The connection between Arkansas Steel and SCOA's Steel & Non-Ferrous Metals Group works to SCOA's advantage in the rail business because railways companies will often consolidate and purchase tie plates and rail from the same company. The processes that take place in the company's melt shop include taking steel scrap and melting it into liquid form by heating it up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes about 48 minutes to transform this scrap into molten steel, and then shaped into steel billets. The steel billets then go to the rolling mill where they become specific parts, including tie plates for rails. Most recently, Arkansas Steel earned the 2012 President's Award at the SC Americas' Group Companies Meeting, given for outstanding achievement in product sales. Shiraishi is very optimistic that the current business will be maintained and continue to grow in the future. "If possible, we plan to keep supplying tie plates forever," he said, only half-joking, "with the best quality and price." 8 v i s i o n s F a l l 2 0 1 3 Example of rail and tie plate

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Fall 2013

Visions - Fall 2013
Contents
What is Infrastructure?
Interview with GM of Steel Group
Rail Supply Business
FOCUS: Union Pacific and Canadian National Ra
FOCUS: Arkansas Steel Associates
Structural Business
Interview with GM of Machinery & Power Business Group
Rail Systems Business
Automotive Business
FOCUS: New Mazda Plant
Aerospace Business
Renewable and Conventional Power Business
FOCUS: Desert Sunlight
Construction Equipment Business
Logistics Business
Corporate Social Responsibility - Clean Water Projects
The View from Washington

Visions - Fall 2013