Improving mill productivity and quality through automation presented at SEAISI conference
Russula presented a technical paper in the SEAISI conference, organized by the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute, on May 30 - June 2, 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. During the presentation, Daniel Sanchez, the Russula Sales Director emphasized how a long product mill can improve productivity and product quality through automation.
The fundamental purpose of automation is to improve productivity, to generate increased output by better quality and less off grade, while reducing costs.
Also highlighted in the presentation was the unique multiple-phase migration approach that Russula offers to upgrade rolling mill control systems. Phased migration allows the full system modernization to be completed in gradual steps. The old and new control systems work simultaneously to help eliminate downtime and startup risk. The control system can maintain the best of its previous functionality and leverage the best of new practices, such as alarm management, code standards, and screen improvements.
Compared to a complete control system replacement, this approach allows operations and maintenance personnel to become familiar with the new control system one process area at a time. Another important advantage to this approach is the project can be broken down into smaller parts and implemented from the OPEX yearly budget instead of CAPEX.
Southeast Asia is home to the fastest growing economies with steel demand expected to grow in the future. The conference this year was attended by the largest steel producers in the region including VNSTEEL, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, POSCO, Dragon Steel and the Tata Steel Group from both Thailand and NatSteel from Singapore.
