Zekelman Industries, a steel pipe and tube manufacturer known for its modular design and construction capabilities, has launched a national marketing campaign on its ability to supply steel shapes for mission-critical projects, considered a market that continues to have mills and fabricators due to the need for large steel sections for data centers, semiconductor factories, life science production complexes and pharmaceutical facilities.
The national ad campaign is being shown on prime-time TV and cable news, as well as traditional Zekelman markets such as trade publications, says Jim Marsh, who joined the company in April as executive director of mission-critical and digital infrastructure. He had previously held similar roles at Swedish machinery manufacturer Munters and Capitol Power Group.
“The relationship with the supply chain is as stressed as it is, the demand is five times greater than it was two years ago, because everything there has to be new ways of looking at supply,” Marsh said. “It’s not just about getting product. We’re talking about domestic versus import quality, global warming potential and environmental product claims, all those factors. What’s important to the end user may not be the same as what’s important to contractors and everyone else in the food chain.”
Zekelman produces a wide range of steel shapes, from jumbo hollow structural sections to conduit for electrical contractors. The ad campaign highlights that the manufacturer can source materials nationally and quickly for data centers and other high-demand projects, and can reduce the demand for on-site labor through off-site prefabrication.
“The smartest thing that can happen from a process standpoint [is prefabrication]”When you send raw materials into the field, projects today are huge, so big that you have multiple general contractors and multiple mechanical, electrical, structural contractors in the same building. The goal is to make things look the same and work the same everywhere — to have factory production to put it together and minimize the amount of field labor, and it’s the same labor. If you’re doing a factory, it’s more efficient and the quality controls and documentation are better. So that’s where this integration class came in.”
Marsh said that if contractors expect large steel sections for data center projects, hollow structural sections can be a solution.
“HSS is a lead product because one of its uses is pipe stacking,” Marsh said. “On certain floors, a deep foundation is warranted for these data centers, and that means a steel pipe stack. That’s obviously one of the first things on site. We do underground PVC conduit, as well as steel conduit, thin walls, and rigid bulkheads. We have a whole range of solutions.”
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