Billet Provider

Steel is provided in the form of metal bars called billets. The person responsible for supplying steel billets to the reheating furnace and the roller mills is called a billet provider.

Billet providers receive roll-release notes with the number, quality, and lengths of billets required for manufacturing a specific product. The required billets are then ordered by telephone and supplied to the roller mills.

Billet providers also check reports of shift mill recorders on the numbers and quality of billets unloaded, those stacked in the billet yard and those supplied to the reheating furnace during each shift. They compile stock reports indicating the tonnage of billets available in the billet yard. They receive reports on analyses from the laboratory and record this information.

Personal Requirements

reliable and responsible
communicate well in speech and writing
maintain good human relations
technical inclination
mathematical ability
physically fit

How to Enter

Schooling & School Subjects

Grade 10 Certificate or N1

What to Study

Mostly training is undertaken on the job. Candidates must progress through the following stages: billet yards man; first control driver; first heater; third roller; and finally shift mill recorder.

Candidates may register as learners with any employer in the motor trade, provided that the employer is able to provide the required training. All learners are required to complete a practical internship under the supervision of an experienced artisan. They are also obliged to attend theoretical classes during normal working hours at a TVET College. The normal period of the learnership is 4 years, but the apprentices may attain artisan status before the normal date of expiry of their contract by passing a voluntary trade test.

All learners are required to undertake a compulsory trade test, normally 1 year before the completion of their contract period, or as soon as possible before the end of their 4-year period of learnership.

Final examination: a compulsory trade test set by the Department of Labour.

For more information about qualifications and skills programmes, contact your nearest TVET College. TVET Colleges are accredited and funded by a SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) such as MerSETA or ChietaSETA. They also receive bursary funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for the NCV programme.

Employment

Such organisations as: Mittal Steel, Highveld Steel, USCO

Further Information

Research steel producing companies and find out what opportunities are available

Getting Started