About Meko Metal
Meko Metal was established in 1969 in Izmir, Turkey. Today the business is a part of the KMC Group and employs almost 200 people at their 80 000 m2 production facility in Turkey. This includes an R&D department with six engineers who work on optimising Meko Metal’s processes and developing new products. Meko Metal exports its products to Africa, the EU, the Caribbean, China, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Russia, the UK, and the US.
More info: mekometal.com.tr
Magnelis® helps Meko Metal create durable profiles
Based in Turkey, Meko Metal is a leading advocate for Magnelis®, actively promoting the highly advanced coating with its global customer base. Meko Metal uses Magnelis® to create profiles and tubes which are utilised in: solar support structures; greenhouses; agricultural applications such as chicken farms; prefabricated housing; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications. To ensure that their customers can access Magnelis® quickly, Meko Metal maintains its own high stock levels of the coated steel in Turkey.
Convincing major customers
Meko Metal launched a campaign to ensure their customers are aware of the benefits of Magnelis® for their various applications. They began “by branding Magnelis® as ‘MekoMag,’” says Serkan Gürler, Vice President of the KMC Group that acquired Meko Metal about ten years ago. Working in collaboration with ArcelorMittal on co-marketing materials, Meko Metal is dedicated to sharing the advantages of Magnelis®.
Meko Metal’s efforts have seen Magnelis® being adopted by customers in many different industries. “We work with a major global company active in the construction, energy, and manufacturing industries,” says Serkan Gürler. “After eight months of tests and discussions they switched around a third of their products to Magnelis® as a trial. After seeing the benefits of this unique coating, they now request Magnelis® in most applications.”
As well as being easier to work with than hot dip galvanised material, Magnelis® offers long-term protection against corrosion in many applications. “For our customers in the solar industry, ArcelorMittal’s guarantee on Magnelis® of up to 25 years is extremely interesting,” says Serkan Gürler. “It assures them they will be able to obtain an adequate return on their investment.”
Magnelis® stocks reduce lead times
With demand for Magnelis® being very strong, Meko Metal decided to stockpile the material to ensure they can offer customers very short lead times. Meko Metal now receives coils of Magnelis® coated material directly from ArcelorMittal’s mills in Bremen, Germany; Liège, Belgium; and Avilés, Spain. “If we cannot supply Magnelis® within their deadlines, many customers will consider galvanised steel instead,” explains Serkan Gürler, “but thanks to our warehouse of material, we can offer customers just-in-time deliveries. We also provide this service for ArcelorMittal’s HyPer® high strength structural steels.”
Dedicated R&D capabilities
Another focus for the company is on research and development. Meko Metal has its own in-house tooling facility which gives the company great flexibility and accelerates its R&D activities. During 2020, Meko Metal completed a €3 million investment in a 46-station roll forming line dedicated to R&D. The line can handle material up to 4 mm thick and is used to process steels including S700MC, HyPer® grades, and the dual-phase grade DP1180.
The line is used in conjunction with Copra FA optimisation software, as Serkan Gürler explains: “The software is a great way to show customers how their designs can be realised, but they still want to handle the material. The new roll forming line enables us to provide them with real-life samples which they can use to test their own systems and products.”
Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia
Images and video:
Meko Metal
ArcelorMittal Orange Book
Meko Metal is also utilising ArcelorMittal’s Orange Book, a website dedicated to helping design engineers to reduce the weight of their structures and optimise the structural, environmental, and economic performance of profiles made with ArcelorMittal’s high strength steels.