Published 13th May, 2022 by Catherine Hill

SMS group and Taylor-Winfield Technologies have joined together in a global strategic alliance for the supply, support and service of SMS’ proprietary X-Roll®heavy gauge coil joining laser welder.

Taylor-Winfield has been given exclusive access to utilize SMS ’ 3rd generation machine design to sell and build the X-Roll® coil, joining laser welder to steel producers and line builders worldwide.

SMS and Taylor-Winfield have a combined 280 years of industry expertise – SMS in the design and integration of metallurgical plants, rolling mills, and forging plant technologies and Taylor-Winfield in the design, supply and servicing of coil joining welding machines. Together, this alliance aims to leverage the strengths of both companies to accelerate the growth of the X-Roll Laser Welder and to better serve steel producers and line builders worldwide.

“For SMS group the agreement simplifies the completion of two strategic goals. To expand our business by additional sales of our X-Roll® Laser Welder and to strengthen our service of already installed machines and all future installations,” said Markus Jaenecke, vice president of processing lines at SMS group. “The current third generation of the X-Roll® Laser Welder is a product of more than 15 years of development and operational experience. It is amongst the best laser welder machines for joining black coils, given the extreme reliability of the process.”

“This agreement represents a unique opportunity for Taylor-Winfield,” said Donnie Wells, president of Taylor-Winfield Technologies. “Not only do we gain access to the proprietary design of the X-Roll® Laser Welder, but we have also become the exclusive manufacturer and service provider for this machine. As the steel industry continues its transformation driven by advanced technology, we are excited to add the cutting-edge X-Roll®to our coil joining offerings.”

The X-Roll® is designed to join common and high strength steel grades in pickle lines, pickling line tandem cold mill (PLTCM) and other heavy gauge process lines. This laser welding system, according to SMS, overcomes variation in strip shape and presentation while offering real-time feedback that ensures the highest weld quality, all with a cycle time under 60 seconds.

“This agreement provides our customers with another option for the supply of pickle line laser coil joining welders,” said Blake Rhein, vice president of sales for Taylor-Winfield Technologies. “This perfectly complements our light gauge laser welder, the Eclipse X1. Our customers routinely come to us for state-of-the-art coil joining welding technology and our machine quality has been proven over decades.”