Smart manufacturing
Smart manufacturing does not just mean having a steel-producing smart factory. It is a significant transformation in the way we source raw materials, manufacture, and market our products through horizontal and vertical supply chain integration – and it is profoundly customer-focused.
This change is not a one-step process as there are obvious challenges of trust and data security to overcome between diverse parties in the supply chain. There are a number of examples of early adopters within the steel industry; especially in vertical integration within business segments where building blocks of smart factories are being put together. Below are a few examples.Logistics:
- Real-time tracking of supplies and orders assisted through GPS, RFID, LiFi (indoor & outdoor accurate positioning);
- Dynamic management of in-process inventory, consumables and spares.
Product quality systems:
- Modelling of material and surface characteristics for local process control resulting in optimum quality;
- Computer Aided Quality Control (CAQC) with 100% testing, inspection and storage of data related to hot-rolled coils minimising claims and cost of potential quality issues;
- Intelligent grading of coils and rerouting of coils within production lines to find best match with customer orders reducing rejects and optimising yield;
- Operational research (Big Data analytics) of process data related to coil segments for fault tracking and process efficiency;
- Real-time dynamic line scheduling and adjustment of process parameters with Artificial Intelligence (BIOMIMIC + Parallel Computing) in rolling and finishing.
Predictive maintenance:
- Predictive Asset Maintenance increasing up-time assisted by advance warnings of failures.
- Remote assistance of maintenance teams with smart glasses.
Process control and safety:
- Dynamic real-time analysis and control of blast furnace process parameters using sonic, laser and radar visualisation;
- Sensors detect harmful stray gases, noises and temperatures, and notify operators of threats;
- Advanced fully-automated BOF from charging to tapping;
- Networked platforms of assets such as blast furnaces where process experts can see every operation in real-time and collaborate with each other;
- Use of drone technology for inspection of areas that are difficult to reach in the plant and surveying and planning of mining operations.
More examples of digitisation in the steel industry can be found in the Our Stories section of mommado.com.