Bekaert, a world leader in steel wire transformation, has given British Steel wire rod an ‘A’ rating following a three-day audit of our Scunthorpe site.
The Belgian company is highly respected in a range of sectors, including the automotive industry.
Approximately 30% of all tyres globally are reinforced with Bekaert products, with significant quantities of the steel emanating from our Scunthorpe Rod Mill.
Richard Sims, British Steel Managing Director Wire Rod, said: “Bekaert are an extremely important customer so we’re delighted to receive an ‘A’ rating.
“It not only recognises the quality of our manufacturing operation and our products, but the dedication of our team.
“Our people are continually striving to improve our products and services and they should be proud they’ve been rated so highly by a major global business like Bekaert.
“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Bekaert, and to continue supplying them with the quality wire rod synonymous with the British Steel name.”
British Steel’s Scunthorpe wire rod mill employs 300 people who manufacture 750kt of wire rod per annum. The mill produces wire rod ranging in diameter between 5.5-17.0mm in 0.5mm increments which goes into a wide variety of products including bed springs and paper clips.
The wire rod British Steel supplies to Bekaert is drawn into different diameters and strengths, largely for use in the automotive industry.
A Bekaert spokesman said: “We are glad to see that British Steel, as one of the major suppliers into our European plants, is showing evidence of a robust quality management system, allowing for continuous improvement.”
The thorough process quality management system audit took place over three days and saw the Bekaert team review processes from British Steel’s blast furnaces through to wire rod rolling. It was done to the German Automotive Audit standard VDA 6.3 and saw British Steel score 94% with an ‘A’ rating.