Hot Mill Utilizes System Simulation Study

摘要

Simulation technology provides an excellent tool for analysis of a system's scope prior to commitment of funding for hardware and software. One company employing this tool is U.S. Steel, as it planned a significant renovation of its hot mill facility at Gary in northwest Indiana. U.S. Steel is utilizing a project implementation methodology called Design for Start-Up (DFSU), developed by Daxus Corp., a Pittsburgh-based systems integration company experienced in steel processes and machinery. Specifically, the project involves a material handling system that processes produced coils and delivers them to an intermediate storage location. The purpose of DFSU in this and other cases is to focus on benefits attainment, which requires a thorough understanding of a system's requirements. The U.S. Steel simulation project began with an analysis of the hot mill banding, weighing, and marking material handling system. In this system, coils from the hot mill are banded, weighed, and marked with pertinent data before being sent to the intermediate storage location, The proposed changes incorporated new machinery into the existing system. U.S. Steel also needed to develop a blueprint for routing the coils and for the process control logic of the conveyors.