Dale Godwin

Dealing with managing inventory levels at customer for various refractory materials for the melt shop in all areas. In this roll I also deal with running any new trials that are being introduced to the mill. I also put my melt shop experience in play by helping each of my accounts tackle various issues with material and problems they may be experiencing. Most recently I assisted in starting up a new facility in which we installed the ladle gate system as well as the purging. At this same facility we also obtained the SEN(submerged entry nozzle) business and have been navigating this practice with the customer. Other duties include managing on site technicians, monthly consignment reports for financials and helping M&T improve products.

I transferred to Nucor Hickman from Nucor Castrip when they decided to idle that location. While at Hickman I learned the processes of ladle wall, tundish yard, offline furnace bricking, and ladle bricking. From building a tundish with a traditional set SEN, repairing chop gates, casting new vessels, learning the reaction of each piece to various steel grades and the importance of steel containment I gathered a broad range of knowledge from my more experienced peers. While on the ladle wall I did plug changes, upper nozzle changes, plate changes, gate changes, gate maintenance and purging maintenance (flame checks, hose changes) and learned what to look for in the slag line and barrel such as rat holes or early wear rate in the brick. I also trained on the caster at Hickman. There I helped with piggy backs, samples from the tundish, mold and segment changes, pinch roll changes and down day calibrations. The caster is where I found to be the place I was most interested in learning as much as I could from my fellow teammates and where I spent a majority of my time before I departed for Vesuvius. Along with the caster I trained at the LMF on occasion and learned some of the furnace procedures and operations as well. Learning how a shop works from scrap to finished goods helped me understand the importance of each step in the process.

This was my first job in the steel industry and where I knew I’d remain involved in this working world until I decide I need to retire. In this role I was responsible for building and maintaining tundishes, TPs, and other refractory pieces related to these items (casting new vessels and lids). While I was at this particular shop I trained on the caster and in the roll shop. I learned to proficiently use over head cranes, gantry cranes, forklifts, sky lifts, man baskets, and Taylor lifts. I also learned the importance of safety and how the environment at hand is always changing. Expect the unexpected and plan accordingly. This shop was a great entry to the steel making world in a sense it was always a learning experience of what can happen, what will happen and how to approach these obstacles.