Investing in cutting-edge technology

National Tube Stockholders continually invests in new state-of-the art steel processing equipment

National Tube Stockholders’ most recent investment of over £2M has included the addition of two state-of- the-art tube lasers for profiling up to 610mm diameter tubes and sections.

As a gold sponsor and founding sponsor of Steel for Life, National Tube Stockholders (NTS) continually looks to support its customers’ growth and the overall competitiveness of the steel construction industry.

The independent, family-owned business specialises in providing the highest quality tubes and hollow sections and has now added laser profiling to the services it can offer.

Two jumbo lasers, an LT14 and an LT24, were commissioned in September and can produce ‘ready to use’ parts with weld preps, alignment marks and etching as required.

The new laser layout at National Tube Stockholders

Powered by a 4.5KW CO₂ laser source these machines can profile tubes, hollow sections and open sections up to 610mm-diameter, 500mm × 300mm RHS with a 25mm thickness with finished lengths of up to 15m. An integrated drill and tap facility, up to M16, completes the offering, which is said to ensure a high level of accuracy and tight tolerances due to the single process integration.

The five-axis cutting heads allow weld preps and complex geometries through full 3D cutting, as well as creating opportunities for new thinking in design possibilities.

To make this a reality the NTS team has been strengthened with the addition of several experienced and knowledgeable staff who bring the vital technical expertise to their sales and operations teams, including CAD/CAM specialists.

In-house 3D modelling skills and the ability to import .IFC and .STP files from Tekla complete this new service. The company says that these skills ensure that, in addition to the accuracy and repeatability of laser profiled parts, the speed of the machines make the finished components commercially competitive against conventional fabrication methods.

Located at NTS’s main site at Dalton, North Yorkshire, a newly built 11,000m² warehouse provides the space to store pre-material and profiled parts alongside the machines, as well as immediate access to over 30,000t of stock and one of the largest ranges of prime tubes and hollow sections in the country.

Commercial Director, Jonathan Sochart says: “The construction sector is very important to NTS and we identified an opportunity for a reliable provider of laser cutting services and decided to strengthen our offering for both existing and new customers.”

Known for service, NTS understands that quality matters in the steel stockholding industry. Services are important but quality is key. A knowledgeable, experienced, and hardworking team are backed up by robust and reliable management systems, certified to ISO 9001, 14001 & 45001 and now strengthened with the addition of EN 1090-1 CE Marking to Execution Class 4.

NTS is part of the Bianco Group, a group that was formed over half a century ago and today consists of over 20 companies, in 11 countries throughout Europe and North America. With group stocks of over 250,000t and over 1,000 people, the founding principles of conducting business in a fair manner, supported by the best people and the latest technologies remain the drivers of all business developments and partnerships globally.

National Tube
Stockholders and
Cleveland Steel & Tubes
is a Gold sponsor
of Steel for Life