Steel Products Prices North America

Zekelman Invests $30 Million in Warehouse Automation at Wheatland Tube

Written by David Schollaert

June 1, 2021

Zekelman Industries plans to build a fully automated warehouse at its Wheatland Tube facility in Warren, Ohio. The highly automated, 83,000-square-foot warehouse is scheduled to begin operating in December 2022.

The new warehouse will convey pipe from the production lines of the manufacturing facility into the warehouse storage system. From there, pipe is automatically moved out of storage to an enclosed truck loading area with minimal team interaction. The touchless product handling enabled by these automated systems will significantly increase safety and shipping capacity while eliminating product damage, the company said.

“I am proud to announce the continuation of investment in our Warren facility with a $30 million automated storage and retrieval warehouse,” said Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries. “This automation will protect the health and safety of our team, increase productivity and allow us to better serve the demands of our customers.”

Matter Automatic Warehouses is handling the engineering and construction on the project.

Wheatland Tube produces a wide range of steel tubular products, including standard steel pipe, galvanized mechanical tubing, fence framework, fire sprinkler pipe and electrical conduit. 

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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