Industry 4.0 – Smart Factory at ArcelorMittal

At ArcelorMittal’s Bremen plant, the efficiency and flexibility of production are enhanced through the integration of IT systems and manufacturing equipment, the self-organization of these systems, and the implementation of a scheduling system.

Customer Benefits

A modern architecture for the emerging IT landscape ensures the investment’s future viability. OHB Digital Services provides support through consulting on agile software development as well as development and integration.

Topic:

Software Development

Customer:

ArcelorMittal Bremen GmbH

Links:

https://germany.arcelormittal.com

Improving Production Scheduling with SASKIA

A key step is the implementation of the SASKIA production scheduling system. For a long time, manually planned production runs were the norm. In the future, the scheduling of production equipment will be largely automated. This will involve algorithms that can utilize equipment capacity even more efficiently. This is achieved primarily by linking the physical properties of materials with production costs and equipment constraints. This results in greater flexibility and efficiency in production. Another advantage of the solution is that it provides a shared view for planners as well as for the production control center. The transparency created in this way enables everyone to make the right decisions together at any time. A high degree of configurability allows the system to be continuously improved and expanded in a modular fashion following successful implementation.

AMBus Integration Platform

Production planning, the material database, the MRP system, manufacturing equipment, and other systems are integrated via an integration platform developed in-house by ArcelorMittal Bremen, known as AMBus (ArcelorMittal Bremen Bus). Because the systems are loosely coupled via AMBus, changes and enhancements can be implemented easily. This outstanding scalability has been demonstrated time and again through the gradual integration of additional IT systems and production facilities, such as the packaging line for hot-rolled black coils.

Packaging line for hot-rolled black coils

To enable more flexible production across the entire network of facilities, previously separate processes must be consolidated. This is currently evident in the consolidation of the packaging of hot-rolled black coils into a new facility specifically designed for this purpose. In the future, as part of the HRC Logistics project, these hot coils will be strapped with a thicker packaging band. This will make the entire packaging process safer and significantly reduce the previously high labor costs associated with packaging the coils.

Crane automation

Automation also plays a major role in warehouse management at the Bremen site. In particular, crane movements are set to be further automated in the future. The standardization of processes across plant areas allows ArcelorMittal Bremen to use proprietary software that first replaces existing systems and subsequently enables a smarter use of automation tools.

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