Steel plant contract boosts Harsco's maintenance commitment

Harsco Infrastructure has won a new contract to provide scaffolding support to the 2000 acre Tata Steel plant in Scunthorpe, UK, reinforcing its commitment to industrial maintenance.

The Tata Steel plant is a major location where Harsco Metals also provides onsite metal recovery and material handling services to Tata's steelmaking operations. The contract adds significantly to Harsco's industrial maintenance sector order book and, says Harsco, "reinforces Harsco Infrastructure's increasing global focus on the industrial maintenance and infrastructure sectors. It also demonstrates the company's growing multi-discipline relationship with the Tata Group, following the announcement of other recent new orders in India."

Harsco's industrial maintenance expertise a principal factor in it winning the contract as the company was able to identify key areas in which savings could be made through increased efficiencies and reduced waste. "Our decision to move to a new work-at-height contract provider was not one that was taken lightly," said Dave Jones, Contracts Manager at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe.

Unlike traditional scaffolding arrangements (in which scaffolding providers normally charge by the hour based on how many scaffolders are provided and over what period) Harsco Infrastructure proposed a solutions-focused approach built around the project requirements. "The development of this solutions-focused approach will be a radical change but one that will save us a lot of money," said Mr Jones. "These savings, along with Harsco's best-in-industry operations standards, give me confidence that benefits across the whole site will be felt quickly."

Ivor Harrington, Harsco Executive Vice President and Harsco Infrastructure Group CEO said, "This order from one of the world's largest blue chip organisations highlights the progress that we have made in increasing our presence in the industrial and key infrastructure sectors. Our combination of experience and expertise makes us ideally placed to continue this growth and help deliver improved performance for some of the biggest players in this important market."