Siemens VAI Metals Technologies concluded a contract with ArcelorMittal to install an integrated Manufacturing Execution System (MES), including production planning and scheduling software, in its Galati plant in Romania.
The IT solution will enable the production of the entire plant to be planned and monitored in real time. It will also provide ArcelorMittal Galati with a basis for making continuous improvements along the entire production chain. The modular structure of the MES makes not only stage-by-stage implementation but also future expansions easier. The project will be handled jointly with Quintiq, an advanced planning & scheduling software company, and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
Galvanizing line at ArcelorMittal Galati in Romania
The MES solution to be used at ArcelorMittal Galati is based on the Simatic IT Production Suite, complemented by industry-specific Simetal MES program libraries and a standard Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) solution from Quintiq. The Simatic IT Unilab laboratory information management system will be used for quality management, and Simetal Siloc for stockyard management.
The integrated Manufacturing Execution System ensures an all-embracing data flow from workshop level through operational control to management level. This allows all movements of intermediate and finished products to be scheduled, controlled and checked. This increases transparency, and enables the business management to make decisions based on reliable data. The Quintiq Company Planner and Schedulers module supports the assignment of the individual production orders to production steps while controlling the inventory and available capacity for melt, casting, the hot rolling mill, the cold rolling mill and the plate mill. This substantially improves the reliability of deliveries, the lead-time, the service to clients and reduces stock. It also ensures optimum usage of plant and raw materials, and that machines are only released for maintenance when this will not affect current orders. This increases both productivity and availability.
The data collected by the MES for any production step can be called in real time at all times, and can be aggregated for key performance indicators (KPIs). This information can be used to make detailed analyses of the performance of individual parts of the plant and downtimes. In this way, the system provides the basis for continuous improvements along the entire production chain.
ArcelorMittal Galați, one of the most important steel producers in Romania, produces heavy plates as well as hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized strip. This integrated production location comprises sinter plants, blast furnaces, an LD steel works, continuous slab casters, a hot and a plate rolling mill, as well as a cold rolling mill and a galvanizing line. The company produces steel for various applications such as shipbuilding and pipeline construction as well as for the construction and automotive industries in Romania and abroad.
Not only flexible, high-availability production plants but also integrated information and data management are becoming ever more important in the iron and steel industry. With its MES platform and industry-specific libraries, Siemens provides solutions for monitoring, controlling and continuously improving the entire process chain – from the delivery of the raw materials through to the fully packed, finished products. The goal is to control the production more quickly and flexibly while at the same time maintaining high product quality and reducing the consumption of energy and raw materials.