CHICAGO — Despite plenty of competition, Voss Industries is humming along and looking to hire more staff, the company says.

Taylor, Mich.-headquartered Voss Industries, a 100-percent toll processor, has the ability to pickle and oil 1.56 million tons of hot-rolled coil and slit 1 million tons of sheet per year at its Voss Taylor plant in Taylor and Voss Clark plant in Jeffersonville, Ind. Both plants operate around the clock, primarily servicing steel producers, service centers and automotive suppliers.

Competition is robust. Voss Industries considers its main competitors in the north to be Kenwal Steel Corp., Dearborn, Mich., and Heidtman Steel Products Inc. and Ohio Pickling & Processing, both based in Toledo, Ohio, outside sales representative Dave Detzel told AMM during a tour of the Taylor plant. "I have five pickling toll processors within 50 miles of here, and most are also service centers," he said.

Voss Clark’s nearest competitors are Louisville, Ky.-based Steel Technologies Inc. and Columbus, Ohio-based Worthington Industries Inc. The Jeffersonville location, on the Ohio River across from Louisville, was chosen due to its geographic proximity to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago.

Nonetheless, Voss Industries’ two operations—which employ more than 210 people—are staying busy and the company is looking to hire additional inside sales staff, Detzel said.

The Michigan pickle line is the first to have a mill-quality leveler, and the line can handle 52,000 to 53,000 tons of steel per month, Detzel said. The Indiana plant can process 80,000 tons per month.

The company—which is privately owned and does not disclose annual revenues—does not own any inventory but holds finished coils for customers. Turnover is typically only two weeks, Detzel said, with service centers usually picking up their coils fastest. Each coil is inventoried and identified by location, so any customer can be walked directly to their product on the floor in minutes.