WARREN, Ohio – Primetals Technologies announced July 20 that it has finished moving part of its manufacturing and service operations to its plant at 250 Dietz Road NE in Warren, bringing its Morgoil product line there.
Since 1929, Primetals has manufactured Morgoil oil film bearings in Worcester, Massachusetts, where they were invented by its legacy company, Morgan Construction.
Rather than move Morgoil operations to a new manufacturing facility the company is building in nearby Sutton, Massachusetts, it’s been moved to the Warren plant, which has been manufacturing and refurbishing rolling mill components for decades, says Gabriel Royo, Primetals’ vice president of metallurgical services.
“Moving the Morgoil product line to Warren puts us closer to many of our customers,” Royo explains. “With several steel plants located in the central United States, we can provide even faster response and delivery times. These customers also appreciate that we’re investing in our facilities and committing to manufacture in the United States.”
Morgoil bearings are used in more than 1,500 mills around the world, according to Royo, and are “the preferred load-carrying bearing for the metals industry. More of these bearings are used in back-up rolls for hot strip and plate mills than all other bearings combined,” he says.
“Right now, we are working on several orders that will be shipped overseas – to places like Belgium, India and Mexico,” adds Steve Bedard, general manager of the Primetals Warren plant. “We do a lot of work here in Warren that’s exported all over the world.”
Part of the 300,000-square-foot plant is now dedicated to manufacturing new Morgoil bearings. The operation will also include bearing reclamation services to restore used bearings to like-new condition.
Fifteen machines have been installed, including three brand-new, machine tools designed to reduce setup and run times.
The company has filled more than half of the 32 skilled positions needed for the expansion; but Bedard says it will be hiring more.
“We need more machinists to bring us to full capacity,” he says.
The roots for Primetals Technologies in Warren go back to 1964 when Service Guide Inc. was founded. SGI was acquired by Siemens in 2013 and then became part of a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens in 2015.
The company has operated as Primetals Technologies since then and is now fully owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners.
Pictured: At the Primetals Technologies facility in Warren, T.W. Douglas uses a polishing tool for final detail operations on a bushing for a Morgoil oil film bearing.