Steel Mill Maintenance & Millwright Servicesin Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland
Quick overview
South Shore Industrial provides millwright, equipment rebuild, laser alignment, fabrication and welding services to integrated steel mills and mini mills across Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. We support rolling mills, roll changes, caster and furnace auxiliary equipment, and baghouses, with 24/7 emergency response from our shop in Portage.
What keeps steel mill maintenance teams up at night?
Steel mills run hot, heavy and around the clock. The equipment takes a beating, and every hour a line sits idle costs real money.
Unplanned downtime
A failed drive, gearbox or table roll can stop a whole line. The fix has to be fast and it has to hold.
Tight outage windows
Roll changes and planned outages run on a clock. Work has to be scoped, staffed and staged before the line comes down.
Heat, scale and impact
Heat, mill scale, water and shock loads wear out bearings, couplings, guides and structural steel faster than anywhere else.
Aging equipment
Many mill drives and auxiliaries are decades old. OEM parts are often obsolete or come with long lead times.
Dust and emissions
Baghouses and fume systems have to keep running to protect crews and stay inside permit limits.
Contractor safety
Mills expect prequalified contractors who follow their procedures, permits and lockout rules without being chased.
Steel mill equipment we work on
- Hot strip and rolling mill stands and drives
- Work and backup rolls, chocks and roll change equipment
- Runout, table and conveyor rolls
- Gearboxes, reducers, pinion stands and couplings
- Motors, pumps and hydraulic systems
- Continuous caster auxiliary equipment
- Electric arc furnace (EAF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) auxiliary equipment
- Process water, cooling and hydraulic piping
- Baghouses, fume systems, ductwork and fans
- Crane runways, platforms and structural steel
Steel
Services for steel plants
Millwright Services
Rigging, setting, alignment, installs and outage work.
Roll Changes
Rolling mill and paper machine roll changes, planned or urgent.
Equipment Rebuilds
Gearboxes, pumps, fans and presses rebuilt to spec.
Laser Shaft Alignment
Aligned to spec, with a written report.
Equipment Retrofitting
Upgrade the equipment you have instead of replacing it.
Custom Metal Fabrication
Structural, pipe and replacement parts. Shop and field.
Baghouse & Dust Collection
Bag changeouts, pulse-jet repair, ductwork and leak checks.
24/7 Emergency Repair
Line down? Call (219) 386-1506, day or night.
What does SSI do for steel mills?
We keep the equipment that makes steel running. Our crews provide millwright services, equipment rebuilds, laser alignment, custom fabrication, welding and 24/7 emergency repair for integrated steel mills and mini mills across Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. Our Portage shop sits minutes from the lakefront mills.
The steel industry demands precision, power and reliability. Mill equipment runs hot, wet and under heavy shock loads, and most of it runs around the clock. That’s why we focus on two things: getting a failed machine back fast, and fixing the cause so it doesn’t fail again next month.
Where in the mill do you work?
We work across the hot end, the rolling mills and the systems that support them. Most of our mill work falls into a few areas.
| Area | Typical work |
|---|---|
| Hot strip and rolling mills | Roll changes, stand and drive repairs, table rolls, couplings |
| Caster auxiliaries | Drives, gearboxes, pumps, hydraulics and structural repairs |
| EAF and BOF auxiliaries | Drives, piping, fabrication and structural steel around the furnaces |
| Drives and rotating equipment | Gearbox and drive rebuilds, laser alignment |
| Dust and fume collection | Baghouse service, duct repair, fan balancing |
| Structures and piping | Fabrication, platforms, process water and hydraulic piping |
How do you support roll changes and outages?
Roll changes and outages succeed or fail in the planning. We scope the job with your maintenance team before the line comes down. Parts, fabrication and rigging are staged ahead of time, and crews are staffed for the window you have, not the one you wish you had.
During the outage, our crews handle the millwright labor, rigging, bearing and chock work, and alignment. After the restart, you get a clear record of what we found and what we did. That record makes the next outage easier to plan.
Should you rebuild, retrofit or replace mill equipment?
Rebuild or retrofit is often the better call for aging mill equipment, because it costs less and takes less time than a full replacement. Our equipment retrofitting work upgrades the parts that fail and keeps the parts that still work.
We did exactly this at a steel manufacturing facility in Gary. Aging equipment kept stalling production. We assessed it on site, fabricated custom parts in our machine shop, retrofitted the system with motor and gearbox laser alignment and process pipe changes, then tested and tuned it. The work took 3 weeks and avoided a full replacement. Read the Gary steel mill retrofit case study.
What about safety in the mill?
Safety is how the work gets done in a mill, not a box to check. We are an ISNetworld member contractor and Avetta prequalified. Every job starts with a job hazard analysis (JHA), and our crews work under lockout/tagout, confined space, hot work and fall protection programs. We follow your mill’s permits and procedures on top of our own. Read more on our safety page.
Why do mills call SSI?
Mills call us because one crew can diagnose, machine, fabricate, weld, rebuild and align without handing the job off. That means fewer vendors on site and a faster restart. We know the Region and we’re close by in Gary, Burns Harbor and East Chicago.
When a line goes down, call (219) 386-1506 any time, or see our emergency repair page. Done right the first time.
Steel FAQs
Do you work in integrated steel mills and mini mills?
Yes. We support integrated mills and mini mills across Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. Our crews handle millwright work, equipment rebuilds, laser alignment, fabrication, welding and emergency repair, and we follow each mill's safety rules, permits and contractor procedures.
Can you help with roll changes?
Yes. We support work roll and backup roll changes in rolling mills, including chock work, bearing inspection, and the rigging and millwright labor to get rolls in and out on schedule. Planning the change before the outage is what keeps it inside the window.
What caster and furnace equipment do you service?
We work on the auxiliary equipment around continuous casters, electric arc furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces. That includes drives, gearboxes, pumps, hydraulics, process piping, structural repairs and the dust and fume collection systems that serve them.
Can you rebuild obsolete mill gearboxes and drives?
Yes. We rebuild gearboxes, reducers and drives in our Portage shop. When parts are obsolete or on long lead times, our machine shop reverse-engineers and machines replacements, then we reinstall and laser-align the drive on site.
Do you work during planned outages and shutdowns?
Yes. Most of our mill work is scheduled into outages and turnarounds. We scope the job with your maintenance team ahead of time, stage parts and fabrication in advance, and staff the crew so the work fits your schedule.
Are you prequalified to work in steel mills?
We are an ISNetworld member contractor and Avetta prequalified. Our crews run a job hazard analysis on every job and work under lockout/tagout, confined space, hot work and fall protection programs.
How fast can you respond to a breakdown at a mill?
Our phone line is answered 24/7 at (219) 386-1506. Our shop is in Portage, close to the lakefront mills. Call and tell us what failed, and we will tell you how fast a crew can be on site.
Talk to us about your steel plant
Tell us what's running rough. We'll tell you how fast we can be there.