Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
Encyclopedia
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau Gmbh & Co. (VAI) was an engineering, equipment and construction company based in Linz, Austria and had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. The company began as a unit of Voest-Alpine
in 1956 and was taken over by Siemens AG
in 2005; the unit is now Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH.
, began as the plant building operation of Voest-Alpine
but became a separate operation in 1956. As of 1997, VAI had about 4000 employees, had 100 orders totalling $3 billion, and had completed 620 projects in 80 countries. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 percent of the stock in VAI's parent VATech. In September 1999, VAI completed its acquisition of the Norwegian
-owned Kvaerner A.S.A.
metals equipment group, including operations in France
, Spain
, Italy
, Germany
, China
, India
and Great Britain
. This ranked as the most beneficial of several acquisitions preceding the company's most difficult year; in 2001, the steel industry worldwide experienced a downturn due to lower prices, though continuous casting
(for which VAI was the world's top company) continued its success, especially in China
. VAI reduced its six business areas to four: Iron & Steelmaking (the largest); Rolling & Processing; Automation, and Metallurgical Services.
VAI subsidiary Voest-Alpine Industries Inc. had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. In 1999, Voest-Alpine Industries, part of VA Tech North America, moved all its Pittsburgh operations to Southpointe
in Washington County
. At the time, the company had just taken over Kværner A.S.A.'s
metals equipment group. Voest-Alpine Industries also operated in Eastlake, Ohio
and Benton Harbor, Michigan
. The metals automation division of Voest-Alpine Industries relocated from Eastlake to Southpointe in 2002.
As of 1999, Voest-Alpine Industries owned 49 percent of Fuchs Systems Inc. (Fuchs Systemtechnik GmbH), a German-based manufacturer of electric arc furnace
s and other equipment for manufacturing steel, with plants in Mexico
and Salisbury, North Carolina
. Although the company laid off 59 employees in Salisbury, Fuchs was "the market leader", and the parent companies intended to keep Fuchs in business. The layoffs resulted from an economic crisis in Asia
, as well as lower demand for American steel resulting from the low import prices. However, the Asian market was returning by 1999, and Europe
and South America
were also possible new markets. In May 2001, however, Fuchs closed the Salisbury plant, its only American facility, because half the customers were bankrupt
or close to it. 230 worked there in 1996. In 2001, Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau purchased the remaining shares of Fuchs Systems, which became VAI Fuchs and added VAI Technometal.
Also in 2001, VAI's continuous casting operation added a casting and rolling
mill for ultra-wide medium thickness slabs for IPSCO Steel in Mobile, Alabama
, with what were believed to be the world's largest one-piece cast mill housings at 350 tons.
In 2003, VAI subsidiary Voest-Alpine Services & Technologies Corp. became majority owner of Steel Related Technology of Blytheville, Arkansas
.
After the Siemens purchase of VA Technologie AG completed in July 2005, VAI became Siemens VAI, a subsidiary of Siemens AG
. Siemens VAI was later called Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH & Co. and also referred to as VAI Group; created from VAI and Siemens electrical engineering and automation businesses, it is now a division in the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group. Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services also includes Voest-Alpine Services and Technologies (VAST). Both Siemens units operate from the Pittsburgh area. VAST provides mill maintenance services to steel and aluminum manufacturers from eleven locations: Baltimore, Maryland; North East, Maryland
; New London, Ohio
; Milan, Ohio
; Benton Harbor, Michigan
; Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
; Blytheville, Arkansas
; Charleston, South Carolina
; Decatur, Alabama
; and Erie, Pennsylvania
in the United States and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
in Canada
.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. The company began as a unit of Voest-Alpine
Voestalpine
Voestalpine AG is an international steel company based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries....
in 1956 and was taken over by Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
in 2005; the unit is now Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH.
History
VAI, whose parent company was VA Technologie AGVA Tech Wabag
VA Tech Wabag GmbH is a multinational company with dual headquarters in Chennai, India and Vienna, Austria.Founded in 1924, the company is the largest in the world specializing in water treatment for municipal and industrial users. The company has completed a total of 6000 projects.-Wabag:In 1924,...
, began as the plant building operation of Voest-Alpine
Voestalpine
Voestalpine AG is an international steel company based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries....
but became a separate operation in 1956. As of 1997, VAI had about 4000 employees, had 100 orders totalling $3 billion, and had completed 620 projects in 80 countries. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 percent of the stock in VAI's parent VATech. In September 1999, VAI completed its acquisition of the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
-owned Kvaerner A.S.A.
Kværner
Kværner was a Norway-based engineering and construction services company in existence between 1853 and 2005 when it was merged with Aker ASA. The Kværner name was used in the subsidiary Aker Kværner until April 3, 2008 when it changed name to Aker Solutions. Kværner re-emerged on 6...
metals equipment group, including operations in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. This ranked as the most beneficial of several acquisitions preceding the company's most difficult year; in 2001, the steel industry worldwide experienced a downturn due to lower prices, though continuous casting
Continuous casting
Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form...
(for which VAI was the world's top company) continued its success, especially in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. VAI reduced its six business areas to four: Iron & Steelmaking (the largest); Rolling & Processing; Automation, and Metallurgical Services.
VAI subsidiary Voest-Alpine Industries Inc. had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. In 1999, Voest-Alpine Industries, part of VA Tech North America, moved all its Pittsburgh operations to Southpointe
Southpointe (Cecil, Pennsylvania)
Southpointe is a suburban business park located in Cecil Township near Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh. It is home to many corporations, including Fortune 500 members CONSOL Energy and Mylan....
in Washington County
Washington County, Pennsylvania
-Government and politics:As of November 2008, there are 152,534 registered voters in Washington County .* Democratic: 89,027 * Republican: 49,025 * Other Parties: 14,482...
. At the time, the company had just taken over Kværner A.S.A.'s
Kværner
Kværner was a Norway-based engineering and construction services company in existence between 1853 and 2005 when it was merged with Aker ASA. The Kværner name was used in the subsidiary Aker Kværner until April 3, 2008 when it changed name to Aker Solutions. Kværner re-emerged on 6...
metals equipment group. Voest-Alpine Industries also operated in Eastlake, Ohio
Eastlake, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,255 people, 8,055 households, and 5,557 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,166.5 people per square mile . There were 8,310 housing units at an average density of 1,299.1 per square mile...
and Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo. The population was 10,038 at the 2010 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
. The metals automation division of Voest-Alpine Industries relocated from Eastlake to Southpointe in 2002.
As of 1999, Voest-Alpine Industries owned 49 percent of Fuchs Systems Inc. (Fuchs Systemtechnik GmbH), a German-based manufacturer of electric arc furnace
Electric arc furnace
An electric arc furnace is a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc.Arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking...
s and other equipment for manufacturing steel, with plants in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Salisbury, North Carolina
Salisbury, North Carolina
Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...
. Although the company laid off 59 employees in Salisbury, Fuchs was "the market leader", and the parent companies intended to keep Fuchs in business. The layoffs resulted from an economic crisis in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, as well as lower demand for American steel resulting from the low import prices. However, the Asian market was returning by 1999, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
were also possible new markets. In May 2001, however, Fuchs closed the Salisbury plant, its only American facility, because half the customers were bankrupt
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
or close to it. 230 worked there in 1996. In 2001, Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau purchased the remaining shares of Fuchs Systems, which became VAI Fuchs and added VAI Technometal.
Also in 2001, VAI's continuous casting operation added a casting and rolling
Rolling (metalworking)
In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through a pair of rolls. Rolling is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. If the temperature of the metal is above its recrystallization temperature, then the process is termed as hot rolling...
mill for ultra-wide medium thickness slabs for IPSCO Steel in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, with what were believed to be the world's largest one-piece cast mill housings at 350 tons.
In 2003, VAI subsidiary Voest-Alpine Services & Technologies Corp. became majority owner of Steel Related Technology of Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville is the largest city in and one of the two county seats of Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 15,620 at the 2010 census....
.
After the Siemens purchase of VA Technologie AG completed in July 2005, VAI became Siemens VAI, a subsidiary of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
. Siemens VAI was later called Siemens VAI Metals Technologies GmbH & Co. and also referred to as VAI Group; created from VAI and Siemens electrical engineering and automation businesses, it is now a division in the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group. Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services also includes Voest-Alpine Services and Technologies (VAST). Both Siemens units operate from the Pittsburgh area. VAST provides mill maintenance services to steel and aluminum manufacturers from eleven locations: Baltimore, Maryland; North East, Maryland
North East, Maryland
North East is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,733 at the 2000 census.-History:The Turkey Point Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002...
; New London, Ohio
New London, Ohio
New London is a village in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,696 at the 2000 census.The village motto, "The Right Place at the Right Time" was chosen in the late twentieth century by former Mayor Dorothy Sholes....
; Milan, Ohio
Milan, Ohio
Milan is a village in Erie and Huron counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 1,445 at the 2000 census.The Erie County portion of Milan is part of the Sandusky Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Huron County portion is part of the Norwalk Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History...
; Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo. The population was 10,038 at the 2010 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
; Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Bethel Park is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, approximately 7 miles southwest of Pittsburgh...
; Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville is the largest city in and one of the two county seats of Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 15,620 at the 2010 census....
; Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
; Decatur, Alabama
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...
; and Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
in the United States and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.