IBM Helps Solve Steel Industry's Complex Scheduling Problems4 August 2006
helping to minimize waste and speed up the overall production of the steel.
The most recent enhancement of the Production Design and Operations Scheduling Solution is for the melting shop area. This was developed at the IBM Global Business Solution Center in Bangalore. The new version includes an enhanced Web user interface, support for multiple platforms (Linux, AIX, Windows), and enhanced capabilities that enable it to expand easily to other industries with complex manufacturing processes, including mining, chemicals and petroleum.
With labs in the United States, China, Japan and India (among other countries), IBM has researchers in most of the leading steel manufacturing countries. This proximity gives IBM direct access to steel companies dealing with different challenges in various geographies, allowing the researchers to tap into the most complex industry problems.
For example, IBM has worked with POSCO, a major Korean steel manufacturer, to improve production capabilities by fulfilling orders more efficiently. One of the new capabilities IBM introduced to POSCO was the ability to pack multiple orders on a slab. Although this capability is effective in improving slab utilization, it made the solution more difficult from a computational and programming perspective. Still, the team met the challenge by combining expert knowledge of steel production with advanced optimization techniques to effectively increase average slab weight and reduce stock slabs and unused-slab weight, while increasing delivery performance.
For more information about this solution and the IBM Center for Business Optimization, visit www.ibm.com/services/cbo.
Media Contact: Linda Hanson 914.766.2015 hansonmu@us.ibm.com
SOURCE: IBM
Source: marketwire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Related Articles
|
