Target Steel is installing its third Braner USA Turret Head™ Slitting Line in its Vreeland (Detroit), MI, flat rolled coil processing center.  Target Steel’s latest hi-performance Braner USA Slitter is slated to processes high-strength CR, HR, and pre-painted coil to 30-tons x 72” wide in gauges from .015” through .250”.  The line is equipped with a Triple Head Turret Slitter that can change from one order to the next in one-minute, plus a precision CNC Cluster Leveler that has the ability to correct shape conditions in strip gauges from .015” through .250” at speeds to 1,000-FPM.  Complementing the Slitting Line is an Automatic Slit Coil Packaging Line that will efficiently strap, sort, and package individual coils weighing up to 15,000#.  Target Steel’s third Braner USA Slitting and Packaging System are equipped with the latest product quality, safety, and labor saving automation technology.

www.braner.com/braner/installations/80/index.html

Valentino Simone started with $250 in his bank account and now has 123 employees.
In 1988, he founded Target Steel, which now operates three facilities in southeast Michigan — Flat Rock, Riverview and Detroit. Simone’s brother, Michael, joined the company shortly after its founding and now serves as vice president of the family-owned and -operated business.

Cheryl Shelton, human resources manager at Target Steel, said the family-oriented ethos is a driving force behind the company’s success.

“Even though we continue to grow, we try to keep it like a family here,” she said. “When a family has a problem, the owners want to know. They’ll send flowers. We recognize every employee’s birthday with a card. We do employee of the month. We do a lot of things to make sure employees know they’re appreciated.”
She said the company emphasizes careers over jobs and has never had a major layoff in its 30-plus years of existence.

“We have good employees who are putting their heart and soul into this work every single day,” she said. “And we’re investing in the Downriver area.”

Sometimes an afterthought in discussions of the Motor City’s success, the Downriver region has long been home to numerous auto industry suppliers and facilities.

“We see the dedication and hard work from Downriver every day when we pull out of the parking lot,” said Heather Malone, business development manager at Target Steel. “We’re on Vreeland Road, right down the street from the (Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant), and to see the amount of employees coming in and out of that building, the expansions that they’re dedicating to that facility … for us to be a part of that is awesome.
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“For me, Downriver is the Motor City.”

Though Target Steel works with organizations in the construction and agriculture industries, Malone said the bulk of their work involves the Big Three automakers. She said it’s important for the company to stay on top of industry trends like lightweighting and electrification to meet its long-term goals.

“We want to be the No. 1 automotive service center in the Midwest,” she said. “That means being ready for electrification and mobility changes in the industry. We start hearing about the younger generation not wanting to own cars and have to look at what advances we can make technology-wise.”

Changes to components — different batteries and more aluminum, for example — are part of the equation, but there’s also a bigger picture.

“When you’ve got fewer people driving and less private ownership of vehicles, now you’ve got to figure out how things are going to change,” Malone said. “We have to stay cutting edge and make sure we’re sustainable and here for the long haul.”

Being in a community for the long haul isn’t just about what happens on the job, but also outside of it. To that end, human resources assistant Lindsay Wilcox said Target Steel makes a point of participating in local events.

“We have a social committee here at Target Steel,” she said. “We encourage people to get out of the building and spend time together.”

The company participated in Flat Rock’s trunk or treat festivities in October, adopted a local family for the holidays and donated funds to a dinner for area emergency responders.

Shelton said the company is growing, having recently completed an expansion of its Flat Rock headquarters, and wants to continue to do so.

“At the rate we’re growing, we’ll outgrow the new addition to the facility pretty soon,” she said.
Even as it continues to expand, Target Steel hopes to maintain its reputation as a family company, Malone said.

“When we get the dedication from ownership to know our jobs are secure (and) that we have good benefits and good pay, we’re willing to work 10 times harder,” she said. “It’s about taking care of the people.

“We’re not just numbers here, we’re people. I don’t think you get that at big, publicly-traded companies.”

Flat Rock, MI- Plans are coming together for the new 40,000 Sq. Ft. Addition at the Target Steel Flat Rock Corporate Headquarters. In addition the lineup of 3 slitters already in operation at the facility, there will be an addition (2) 60 Ton Cranes and a brand new 72" Braner Slitter with 10.5" arbors capable of cutting ultra-high strength steels.

​Target Steel is anticipating breaking ground in late July/ early August, with a completion estimate approximately 10 months to one year from start of construction.

Flat Rock, MI– Target Steel has purchased an additional four steel-haulers to add to our current fleet. These trucks are capable of making customer shipments all over the state of Michigan, and we have hopes to expand their reach into Ohio & Indiana in the near future.

All four trucks are Freightliners with aluminum trailers, allowing Target to haul up to 110,000 lbs in the state of Michigan and are all less than 3 years old.
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This purchase will assist Target Steel in their goal of 100% on-time delivery to all accounts. 

On November 4, 2015, Target Steel took delivery of the equipment needed to begin an 
on-site testing lab at the Flat Rock, Michigan facility. Included in the acquisition are a CNC machine for milling steel samples down into tensile bars for testing, a Rockwell machine for hardness testing, a Spectrometer for checking chemical analysis, and a tensile machine. 

Along with the new equipment brings a new employee to assist in in the start-up operation. This 
employee brings 5 years’ worth of lab experience in the metals industry. Target Steel Quality Manager, Rick Bobowski, hopes to have the A2LA accreditation of the lab completed within the next 6 months.

This new addition will allow Target Steel to provide even better service to its customers, by providing real-time chemical and mechanical testing at our facility.

Flat Rock, MI, April 27, 2015– Target Steel has recently completed the purchase of a 30 acre plot 
adjacent to the Flat Rock facility. This purchase is part of a 60,000 sq. ft. processing, warehouse &
storage area, complete with updated shipping & receiving bays. This portion of the expansion is 
expected to be completed within 6 months to year.

In addition to the added processing capabilities and storage space, Target Steel will also use this 
property for the implementation of a rail spur, allowing for loading and unloading of customer material via rail. That project has a current projection time of 2 years.

Target Steel has become a newly certified ISO/TS 16949:2009 steel service center. While Target
Steel has held an ISO certification for over 15 years, this new quality standard is something the management and employees at Target are proud of.

“I could not be more pleased with the dedication and hard work by our team here at Target,” says Target Steel Vice President, Michael Simone, “We’re looking forward to successfully building our business in 2014 and into the future. This certification will allow us to continue to provide first class service, quality and delivery.”

The certification, held by Eagle Registrations of Chicago, IL demonstrates that Target Steel has achieved and maintained quality and operating standards developed by the major automotive manufacturers. Target is committed to using the process approach with emphasis on continual improvement and communication. We practice a philosophy that is committed to quality in all action and we never settle for “good enough”. We have shown our commitment to the proven techniques of the ISO/YS 16949 standard that further enhance our ability to achieve high quality levels in the challenging automotive sector.

Today Target Steel, Inc. started digging the pit for a new 60” Braner 
Exposed Slitting Line. This line will be capable of running various grades flat roll products in gauges from .015/.187. Equipped with a duplex tension stand for processing dry & surface critical material, inline gamma technology, and a triple head, this piece of equipment will significantly increase Target Steel’s processing capabilities.

This slitting line will allow Target Steel to provide even quicker lead times for slit customers. Also, this will allow for less outside processing of Target customer material, making for better quality control over all finished products.

Target Steel, Inc. has broken ground at our Flat Rock, Michigan facility to begin the expansion of our plant and warehouse space. 

This expansion will add double our current processing facility in Flat Rock, by adding an 
additional 32,000 Square Feet. 

The addition is being constructed off of the back of our existing operation. This space will make 
way for the brand new 72” Braner Loopco slitter that will be delivered in 2012. 
The new slitter will allow for exposed slitting capability in gauges from .015” to .250”. 

This piece of equipment will put Target Steel in the ranks of some of the most competitive steel 
service centers in the Detroit area, and is expected to be operational in Q2 2012.