MATERIAL HANDLING
SERVICE CENTER
GETS NEW SET
OF WHEELS
Custom sideloader
handles tube, pipe,
obstacles
By Eric Lundin, Editor
LONG gone are the days when a service center could buy in bulk from a mill,
sell in small quantities to fabricators and
OEMs, and make enough money to stay
in business. These days survival hinges
on value-added services, and the more a
company can offer, the better. Tioga Pipe
Supply Co. Inc., Easton, Pa., knows this,
so it also offers blasting, cutting, beveling, and threading.
Quality testing, either on-site or by
outside testing services, includes positive material identification (PMI),
chemical analysis, and metallography;
ultrasonic testing (UT), magnetic particle (MP) testing, liquid penetrant (LP)
testing, X-ray, and photomicrographs;
and mechanical tests—hydrostatic,
impact, and hardness testing, as well as
bending and flattening evaluations.
When the order is ready to be pack-
aged, Tioga provides end-capping,
wrapping, shrink wrapping; boxing,
crating, and palletizing; military-speci-fication packaging and preservation;
and export packaging. It also offers
same-day shipping via ground, air, or
ocean.
It serves many industries, providing
tube and pipe that run the gamut from
common carbon steel and stainless
steels to increasingly specialized items
such as nickel alloys, power boiler tube,
tubular products that meet military
specifications (MIL-P, MIL-T, and MIL-DTL), and tube for nuclear power
specifications for U.S. and international
customers (ASME Section III, U.S.
NRC 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, ANSI
N45.2, ASME NQA-1, and CSA
CAN3-Z299).
The company has 150,000 sq. ft.
of indoor space and 10 acres of outdoor
space, with 25,000 sq. ft. for value-added capabilities. Inevitably, it moves
many products several times, from
one of its storage areas to its
value-added area to its testing area to
its shipping dock.
“When you’re in the service center
business, you’re in the material handling business,” said Operations
Manager Richard Crowley.
MATERIAL IN MOTION
Moving material from place to place
doesn’t add value to a product, so it
must be done as quickly and efficiently
as possible. For Tioga, this is more critical now than ever; anticipating a busy
year, the company has been adding
inventory for months.
“We’re doing a large inventory build
