The metal-processing industry faces several challenges affecting business profitability and sustainability.

The fourth industrial revolution – the revolution that ushered in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Services (IoS) – has come to be known as Industry 4.0. The initial goals of Industry 4.0 typically have been automation, manufacturing process improvement and productivity/production optimization. The more advanced goals are innovation and the transition to new business models and revenue sources using information technologies and services as cornerstones.

Olympic Steel Inc. opened a 120,000-square-foot metal-processing facility in Buford, Ga. The location expands the company’s southeastern region footprint, which also includes facilities in Locust, North Carolina; Winder, Ga.; and Hanceville, Ala. The Buford facility will act as the region’s primary flat-rolled fabrication hub, with metal processing anchored in the Winder facility; metal distribution in both the Winder and Hanceville locations; and pipe and tube laser fabrication and bending and welding at the company’s Chicago Tube & Iron location in Locust, N.C.

The SmartAdvisor Edge for Metals cross-section monitoring system enables both trimmed material edges in a metal processing line to be continuously monitored to detect anomalies, such as cut-to-break ratios and burrs.