Inside Ryerson Centralia: Advancements in Metal Fabrication
In Focus
"If you call me and say, 'I need these parts available ASAP,' the automation at this facility will allow us to fabricate metal faster than anyone else, without question."
The facility that James Porter, general manager for Ryerson Advanced Processing, speaks of sits in Centralia, Washington, roughly midway between Seattle and Portland on the I-5 corridor. It is a state-of-the-art service center at the epicenter of integrated fabrication, featuring 214,000 square feet of advanced processing capabilities across sheet, plate, and long products.
From Centralia, Ryerson Advanced Processing supports manufacturers throughout western Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, including Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, and Portland, with metal fabrication and contract manufacturing capability under one roof.
With advances in automation, delivery times, and safety, the Centralia location is a leading example of what the metal fabrication industry can achieve through technology and experience.
Let's look around:
Why Centralia, Washington
Centralia was chosen deliberately. Ryerson consolidated its Renton operations here to sit closer to where Pacific Northwest demand is, roughly two-thirds of the region's customer base sits south of Seattle, along the I-5 spine that connects Tacoma, Olympia, Longview, Vancouver, and Portland.
For manufacturers in the region, that geography does two things. Freight time to the plant comes down, and finished parts get back on the road faster. And because the Centralia facility is one node in a network of more than 100 Ryerson locations across North America, a program that starts here can scale into additional capacity without re-qualifying a new supplier.
"If you're running operations out of Seattle, for example, you're not just sourcing as far away as Portland, you're sourcing from across the entire U.S."
"... this new system means human error is brought virtually to zero."
James Porter, Ryerson
State-Of-The-Art Processing Equipment
Porter highlights that "the automation can pick up and set down an entire 96"x240" plate. In the laser world there are automations that can pick up smaller plates, but this is the first time our cutting system partner has made a system this big."
The automation can autoload metal plate and pick up finished products simultaneously to unload. Prior to the opening of the Centralia plant, this process was handled manually using cranes. This change has brought some notable improvements to the process.
"... this new system means human error is brought virtually to zero." — James Porter, General Manager, Ryerson Advanced Processing
"The first thing is safety," Porter explains. "You're not flying plate over people's heads anymore. That's the number one thing I like. Number two, this new system means human error is brought virtually to zero. There's physical separation between what the automated system is handling and where the workers are, leading to a more efficient process that's safer and less error prone."
Technical Innovation
These broad improvements in efficiency, safety, and error-reduction are complemented by technical innovations.
Porter gives one example. "As you burn plate over time, slag builds up on the slats. Automation will time out if the slats aren't changed, it simply guarantees the highest level of quality across the board, which we love."
Innovations like these have been incorporated into virtually every step of the metal fabrication process. It's no small feat to pick up plate of this size, particularly for stainless, which can't be picked up with magnets.
"In the past you would have had to use suction cups or a similar solution that might scar the plate. The new plant uses fingers with a regular weight distribution pickup to make the process much easier."
That versatility helps ensure the Centralia plant will remain a cutting-edge metal fabricator for the long term, offering new value and productivity gains for Ryerson Advanced Processing's clients. On top of the improvements to safety and accuracy, these technical upgrades offer a state-of-the-art solution for sheet and plate laser cutting that leads to better outcomes across the board.
"Automation adds capacity into the process," says Porter. "If automation allows you to load plate in 10 minutes rather than 20, you in turn gain that many ten-minute touches throughout the day. That means more parts for the customer to meet their demand."
Drilling & Milling
The Centralia plant also adds an all-in-one solution to drilling, tapping, and plasma beveling. This state-of-the-art machine can drill and tap hole patterns in plate before burning the profile of the part out, something Porter highlights as significant.
"The accuracy is almost machine accuracy prior to burning the profile. If you do it the old school method then you burn the blank, then pick it up and take it to a machining center, which someone must program and pay an operator to run, and then finally burn the holes. This does it all at once. You don't need a machining center and a plasma op machine with two operators. It's truly all-in-one."
Able to cut a bevel and handle larger parts than previous systems, this solution creates a cost savings and productivity gain unprecedented in the wider metal fabrication industry. It's part of a broader approach that combines plasma and flame cutting with CNC machining in a single pass, eliminating a handoff that most fabricators still treat as two separate jobs.
Metal Fabrication Services for Pacific Northwest Manufacturers
Centralia is a plate and long-products powerhouse, and it connects into the full range of Ryerson Advanced Processing capabilities available to manufacturers across Washington and Oregon:
Behind those capabilities sits Ryerson's 70,000+ ready-to-ship metal SKUs, verified material traceability, and a network of more than 100 North American locations plus 500+ vetted outside processing suppliers, so material availability rarely becomes the constraint on a program.
Industries Served from Centralia
The Pacific Northwest manufacturing base has a distinct profile, and Centralia's plate and structural capability maps directly onto it:
- Aerospace and defense suppliersacross the Puget Sound corridor requiring tight-tolerance machined and laser-cut components
- Marine and shipbuildingoperations in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland needing heavy plate, beveled edges, and structural weldments
- Food processing and agricultural equipmentmanufacturers throughout the Columbia Basin and Willamette Valley
- Transportation, trailer, and heavy equipmentOEMs sourcing high-volume fabricated parts along I-5
- Construction and infrastructurefabricators requiring structural steel, rolled plate, and drilled and tapped assemblies
Ryerson Advanced Processing — Centralia, WA
Address: 3010 Harrison Ave., Centralia, WA 98531
Phone: 206-624-2300
Sales Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT
Facility Size: 214,000 sq. ft.
Service Area: Western Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the I-5 corridor from Seattle to Portland
Talk to a Fabrication Expert About Your Program
Interested in learning more about how our capabilities can become a game changer for your organization? Upload your job file and our engineering team will review your drawings, assess feasibility, and route your program to the best-fit facility, whether that's Centralia or another location in the network.
Metal Fabrication in Centralia, WA FAQs
Where is Ryerson Advanced Processing's Centralia facility located?
The facility is at 3010 Harrison Ave. in Centralia, Washington, positioned on the I-5 corridor roughly midway between Seattle and Portland. The 214,000-square-foot service center serves manufacturers throughout western Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, including Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, and Portland.
What metal fabrication services are available at the Centralia, WA facility?
Centralia offers advanced processing across sheet, plate, and long products, including automated plate laser cutting, plasma and oxyfuel cutting with beveling, and an all-in-one drilling, tapping, and plasma beveling system. Through the wider Ryerson Advanced Processing network, programs can also move into CNC machining, welding, forming, plate rolling, assembly, and surface finishing.
What makes the Centralia plant different from a standard job shop?
Two things: automation and integration. The plate handling system can load and unload a full 96" x 240" plate without a crane, which removes overhead lifting from the work area and takes human error close to zero. And the drilling, tapping, and beveling system completes operations in a single setup that would traditionally require a separate machining center and a second operator, reducing both cost and cycle time.
Does Ryerson Advanced Processing serve manufacturers outside Washington from Centralia?
Yes. Centralia is one node in a network of more than 100 Ryerson locations across North America, supported by 500+ vetted outside processing suppliers. Programs are routed to the best-fit facility for the part, the volume, and the customer's geography, so a manufacturer working with Centralia has access to continent-wide capacity without qualifying a new supplier.
Contact a metal processing expert today!
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