Abstract:
SAE 1012 is a carbon (non-alloy) steel. It is easily workable steel due to its mechanical strength, toughness, ductility, weldability, and machinability. For these reasons, it is used in final multiple applications, mainly for metal profiles and tubes. In 2019, there was a degradation of the national carbon and alloyed steel market, with losses in profitability, due to the increase in the cost of raw materials, mainly iron ore. Using the tools Brainstorming, Matrix Effort x Impact, and 5W2H, a new opportunity was envisioned and prioritized by the team. The challenge achieved was to produce cold-rolled, annealed and oiled SAE 1012 coils with quality, productivity and physical yield in nominal thicknesses ranging from 0.90 mm to 1.5 mm. A significant volume was added to the portfolio, ensuring the maintenance of production levels in the downstream process, with a time-to-market of 6 months between the idea, prototyping and product. The SAE 1012 steel process was consolidated with improvements. The product portfolio was expanded. New cold-rolled products with thicknesses between 0.9 mm and 1.5 mm were introduced and have been offered to the market in widths of 1010 mm during idle times in the electrical steel cold circuit lines. The robust process standards ensure the dimensional, shape and surface quality of the coils, in addition to the mechanical properties and microstructure appropriate to the market.