Six Weeks: Cold Mill Engineering to First Coil

摘要

In late September 2013, Primetals Technologies was contacted by a domestic cold mill facility to assist in achieving a tight time critical automation modernization project only weeks before its November implementation. The key project goal was to replace a nearly 20 year-old level 1 technological control system for a critical single-stand aluminum cold mill due to equipment obsolescence. The primary constraint was that this modernization was to take place during the course of a previously planned 10-day mechanical outage for the reconditioning of the existing gearboxes. Coming out of this outage, the new automation had to be in place and produce first marketable coil as quickly as possible. In fact, it was paramount that the time from outage-end to first coil and then regular production be minimized. Normally, a cold mill automation package with hardware ready for commissioning is a deliverable with a timeframe measured in months, not weeks-making this a very strenuous request. Thanks to the design and flexibility of a technological product designed specifically for cold mills, Primetals Technologies was able to answer this customer's critical call for help: In only 6 weeks, the new automation system was engineered, installed and the first coil achieved.