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Insights & Updates
Product updates, industry insights, and best practices for steel service centers and metal distributors.
The Remnant Problem: How Service Centers Lose Money on Steel They Already Own
Industry estimates suggest 3% to 8% of total inventory value sits in untracked remnants. That is real money rotting in the corner of Bay 3.
How to Reduce Energy Costs at a Steel Service Center
Energy is the fourth-largest operating cost at most service centers, after material, labor, and rent. A 15% reduction drops $30,000 to $75,000 per year to the bottom line.
How to Manage Returns and Claims at a Steel Service Center
Returns and claims are inevitable. How you process them determines whether they cost you $200 or $2,000, and whether the customer stays or leaves.
How Women Are Reshaping Leadership in Steel Distribution
The steel industry has been male-dominated for a century. The companies that are actively recruiting and developing women leaders are outperforming those that are not.
The State of Digital Transformation in Steel Distribution: 2025 Report
An honest assessment of where the steel industry stands on technology. Most service centers still run on-premise desktop software.
The Real Cost of Running Five Disconnected Systems
A typical mid-size service center runs MetalTrax for inventory, QuickBooks for accounting, Outlook for CRM, Excel for quoting, and a whiteboard for production scheduling. We calculated the hidden costs.
How Steel Service Centers Can Win Government Infrastructure Contracts
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $1.2 trillion. Service centers that understand government procurement win the business.
The Steel Service Center Nobody Sees: A Day in the Life
We follow a realistic day at a mid-size service center: the warehouse opens at 6 AM, the first truck rolls in at 6:30, and by 10 AM the rush orders start stacking up.
MTR Management: The Paperless Path to Compliance
Every piece of steel that ships needs a Mill Test Report. Most service centers manage these as paper documents stored in folder structures that make finding a specific MTR a 15-minute archaeological expedition.
The Hidden Cost of Manual Data Entry in Steel Distribution
A 25-person service center wastes 50 to 75 hours per week on manual data entry between disconnected systems. Here is the real cost.
The Vertical SaaS Revolution: What Toast, Procore, and Veeva Teach Us About Steel Software
Toast built a $15 billion company by understanding that restaurants are not retail stores. Steel distribution is next.
Why Steel Service Centers Should Stop Faxing Purchase Orders
In 2025, a surprising number of steel service centers still fax purchase orders to mills. The cost of this practice goes beyond the paper.