We sat down with Sulzer Metco’s Chad Wagner, Product Line Manager- Wires, at FabTech 2011 to discuss, among other things, the company and its products.
Who is Sulzer Metco, and what is your role within the company?
Sulzer Metco is known worldwide for their powder materials, for surface technology and surface enhancement. I’ve been in this industry for over 40 years, and Sulzer’s always been there. They’ve been a standard name for a long time and a worldwide player in the industry. What I’m charged with doing is bringing wires to the forefront, to bring wires forward to stand alongside the powder business. That’s how I came in to the picture; I’ve been with the company since February, but I’ve always done business in and around Sulzer Metco.
Can you tell me a bit more about the products that you specialize in?
My product is the wire business, wire is predominantly used for thermal spray; my specialty is the twin wire arc application which is basically an arcing out of two wires in the atomized material, straight on to the surface, the base material. This technology has been around for a while but it’s been embellished over the past 35 years. The equipment to spray has gotten better, the chemistry for the wires has gotten much better, and our knowledge and basic understanding has gotten much, much better. Now it’s being recognized as a successful alternative to weld overlay and it is more budget friendly.
What kinds of materials are you using?
Right now, we’re using nickel chrome and nickel chrome moly materials. They are some of the basic standards that the industry recognizes and one of my first steps in getting Sulzer into the wire forefront is through these materials. They are widely recognized for applications worldwide, for example in boilers and in the pulp and paper business with the digesters Are you using any stainless steels? Any titanium? Yes, titanium is used in certain applications. We do have some mixed chemistries , one of our wires is titanium containing material and it is one of the wires that’s on my radar. We already have it in our portfolio and I plan to, along with several other wires, promote that for high temperature corrosion materials.
What markets is Sulzer Metco focusing on?
I’m focusing on three structures right now: pulp and paper, power generation, and infrastructure. There are some corrosion wires that we already have in our portfolio- aluminum wire, zinc wire and a combination of aluminum and zinc wire that provide good surface technology for bridges. We found that some of the bridges just absolutely have to have something done, something better than paint. And of course you can’t take that bridge down and have it galvanized. The nice thing about thermal spray with corrosion wire is that you can do it at the site, on existing bridges. It’s also more shop friendly and environmentally friendly.
What brings you to FabTech?
It’s the go-to in the industry, if you’re in this business, we’ve got the thermal spray pavilion, dedicated to just thermal spray’s, of course we’ve got the rest of the welding community here, on the other side you’ve got all the fabricators, with all the equipment for metal fabrication. If you’re anybody in wires, metal, welding, thermal spray, you want to be here. It’s a great venue What sets your company apart from other companies? We have global presence. The name opens doors. We supply quality products, we have great technical support, and the quality control, the R&D that goes into these products by far outshines the competition.
Are you targeting any new customer bases/branches of industry?
I am, in my specialty for the nickel wires and the corrosion wires. Again I go back to the power generation industry. There are several kinds of boilers, there are waste energy boilers which are the trash municipal burners, they have a different corrosion environment, and we have wires for that now. The fossil fire boilers, which you see mainly around the communities, those can be either coal fired, oil fired, or natural gas fired and each one of those fuels results in different kinds of corrosion, and we’ve got the wire material to prevent all of that.
What are you most proud of at the moment?
After this long career that I’ve had, I think I’ve finally gotten to the point in my career where the ideas that I’ve collected all these years, I can turn it into real work, real material.
Would you say that your material selection is in line with similar companies or are there any unique CRA’s that set you apart?
The materials that we produce are commonly sought after; we’ve led the way, many times, in new product development. What keeps us in the forefront is that we’re constantly developing new chemistries, new applications, new equipment, to do the application of the powders and the wires. That’s why Sulzer Metco has been a leader all these years, they put back into the business and don’t just rest on their laurels; they keep moving forward.
Sulzer Metco recently completed major expansions to its manufacturing facilities located in Germany, Canada, and the U.S. The expansion included globally implanting lean manufacturing initiatives, automating various production lines and adding advanced equipment in order to introduce new products. This expansion will allow the company to increase overall capacity and expand its portfolio of coating products and services, particularly its key powder and wire product lines, for new and existing markets.
