Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. expands ABB conveyor components and service offering from Fort Worth

Reliance Steel expands automation offerings in Fort Worth announcement

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. is broadening its industrial systems portfolio by offering ABB’s conveyor system components and controls to manufacturers and logistics operators, the company announces from Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 17, 2026. The move positions Reliance Steel — a global high-service metals distributor — as a systems enabler for assembly, packaging and fulfillment lines that increasingly rely on automated conveyors. Reliance frames the offering as a way to boost customers’ uptime and productivity by pairing ABB’s proven contactors, soft starters and related components with its global inventory, local service teams and technical support.

Reliance Steel says the ABB portfolio helps customers tackle two persistent operational pain points: energy inefficiency and unplanned downtime. ABB’s soft starters are designed to reduce motor inrush current and mechanical stress, prolonging equipment life and cutting operating costs, while contactors enable remote or automated starting, stopping and direction control of belt drives. Reliance highlights that combining ABB’s component breadth — more than 8,500 contactor variants including three- and four-pole, NEMA-rated and harsh‑environment models — with its configuration and maintenance services helps operations meet rigorous uptime and energy targets on automated and e-commerce-driven fulfillment systems.

The company presents the agreement as a service-led distribution play rather than a simple product sale, emphasizing system integration, on-site support and spare-part availability to limit the financial impact of line stoppages. Reliance notes that unplanned downtime in conveyor-dependent operations can run from $10,000 to $500,000 per hour, a key driver for customers to adopt integrated component and service solutions that reduce mean time to repair and improve predictability of maintenance cycles.

Market context and demand drivers

Reliance Steel cites broader market trends behind its move: the global conveyor belt market is valued at $5.68 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach $7.21 billion by 2030, supported by steady expansion in industrial automation and a rapidly growing e-commerce sector. These sectors are currently sized at roughly $222.22 billion and $6.42 trillion respectively and are growing at about 7% annually.

Technical specifics and customer support

The company underlines technical compatibility with PLCs and modern control systems, enabling manual or automated operation, and stresses that its global footprint and local services help customers select, configure and maintain ABB solutions to balance energy use, uptime and profitability.