Customer-Driven Innovation
At PRO-TEC, continuous innovation is at the core of everything we do. Our strong customer focus drives advancements in steel technology, enabling us to collaborate closely with industry leaders. By working alongside experts at the U. S. Steel Research and Technology Center in Pennsylvania and the Automotive Center in Michigan, we refine our products and processes to meet the evolving demands of the automotive sector.
Advanced Corrosion Resistance
To provide superior corrosion resistance, PROTEC’s hot-dip galvanizing/galvannealing lines, CGL1, CGL2, and CGL3, apply precise weights of zinc coating to high-strength steel substrate to meet exacting customer specifications.
Meeting the Challenges of Tomorrow
Anticipating the demands of the 2025 CAFÉ standards, U. S. Steel and Kobe Steel recognized that automakers would need materials that reduce vehicle mass while improving safety. The companies invested in PRO-TEC’s Continuous Annealing Line (CAL), launched in 2013.
Leveraging Kobe’s process expertise, PRO-TEC’s CAL creates some of the most advanced cold-rolled, high-strength steel in the world, manipulating steel’s physical properties to enhance strength and formability. The line features a state-of-the-art annealing furnace, water quench technology for precise cooling, as well as temper rolling and tension leveling to produce superior flatness.
Expanding Capabilities with CGL3
To meet demands for GEN3 steel while also providing the ability to make all other hot-dip products, PRO-TEC’s newest line, CGL3, uses the world’s most advanced heat-treating design. CGL3 produces GEN3, GEN1+, and current GEN1 AHSS, HSS hot-dip (HD) coated materials. This broadens the material offerings to both HD coatings and CAL or CAL+EG and allows hot-dip coated higher formability Si-added steels.
GEN3 steel plays a prominent role in the industry because of its high strength and high elongation. These properties allow complex parts to be stamped easily and provide efficient load paths that absorb energy in crash situations. GEN3 steels present an opportunity to achieve both high strength and high ductility without the cost and joining problems of alternative materials. This integration reduces weight, reduces cost, and lowers the total carbon footprint of the line while taking advantage of the last 100 years of manufacturing knowledge in the automotive industry.
Sustainability and Environmental Performance
Coupled with steel’s inherent recyclability and environmental performance, PRO-TEC’s value-added steels are a material of choice for automotive markets for design flexibility and production demands.