the detroit mill initially consisted of a small reversing hot rolling strip mill with a slab heating furnace. the original hot strip mill was known as the "coffee grinder" from the sounds the mill would make. in 1938, the company brought online a single 4-high reversing cold reducing mill with ancillary facilities (annealing and finishing). throughout the next few years, modifications were made to the equipment and eventually, the company had the capacity to roll 108,000 net tons per year of hot rolled products and 60,000 net tons of cold rolled steel products.