Slitter Operator

Company Overview:

The BILSTEIN facility in Bowling Green, KY is the company’s first United States manufacturing operation and serves the automotive industry as well as, the saw and tooling industry with tailor-made steel grades. We have state-of-the-art technology and are a part of an internationally operating family owned business with a 100 plus years of steel making DNA. We strive to produce a high-quality engineered product to live up to the BILSTEIN legacy.

Position: Slitter Operator

Overview

We are presently looking for top talent to join our diverse organization. This position will exhibit process improvements that impact the bottom line in a performance driven organization. It is essential that you are transparent and lead in a collaborative way.

Duties & Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Production Team Leader, the Slitter Operator sets up, operates, maintains and monitors the slitting of cold rolled steel to specified widths and tolerances, in order to prepare the material for the final customer.

Specific duties include:

Operations/Quality

• Reading production schedules and work orders to plan the efficient sequence of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of slit materials.
• Starting conveyors to load steel coils and/or signaling crane operators to move coils to the required position.
• Positioning steel coils on the slitter, using crane, chain hoists or grabs.
• Threading the leading ends of metal coils from reels through the slitter and securing the ends on recoilers.
• Operating the slitter and monitoring process information while the product is being slit to ensure that the product achieves the desired specifications.
• Recording data form the operator screen for Quality Assurance purposes to ensure that the steel coils have attained the specified tolerances. Examining slitter knives for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sorting defective pieces according to the types of flaws.
• Cleaning and lubricating the slitter machine.
• Measuring completed slit coils to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
• Testing and adjusting slitter speeds, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.
• Installing, aligning, and securing specified, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures of the slitter, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools.
• Positioning, aligning, and securing guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct the finished product, using hand tools and measuring devices.
• Lubricating the slit material with oil.
• Adjusting controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
• Identifying and replacing defective slitter knives, ejector rings, rubbers or spacers, using hand tools.
• Adjusting the slitter head set up, using hand tools.
• Setting slitter knife tensions, penetrations, and spacing to perform prescribed cuts, using hand tools and measuring devices.
• Removing housings, feed tubes, tool holders, or other accessories to replace worn or broken parts, such as springs or bushings.
• Honing slitter knives with oilstones to remove nicks.
• Selecting, cleaning, and installing slitter knives, ejector rings, rubbers and spacers on arbors, preparing the next set up on the production schedule.
• Setting up and constructing the in line separator shafts with the appropriate separator blades to ensure the correct spacing and separation of the slit strips.
• Placing completed steel coils on conveyors, using crane, chain hoists or grabs, or signal crane operators to transport them to subsequent stations.
• Examining the finished product to ensure that the product conforms to specifications, utilizing knowledge and experience and placing and suspect coils on hold for quality control/inspection.
• Taking samples of finished steel coils for Quality Assurance testing or inspection.
• Signaling crane operators to deposit finished steel coils in storage areas.
• Printing and attaching slitting identification tags on finished product for subsequent processing and traceability.
• Reporting maintenance job orders as necessary.
• Instructing new workers in slitting set up and operation.

The fulfillment of duties involves regular communication with co-workers in the annealing and rolling departments in order to make decisions concerning production and quality requirements

Qualifications/Training:

• Education: Completion of High School or Secondary Education, AS or Technical degree with equivalent experience is preferred.
• Experience: 1-3 years experience in a manufacturing environment preferably in steel/metal manufacturing.
• Knowledge of production and processing of cold rolled steel would be an advantage.
• PC Knowledge (internet/Windows/ERP applications).
• Must be willing to work flexible shifts.
• Clear Interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills.
• Be a self-motivated team player
• Be a change agent