Siemens will overhaul the production system and eliminate data silos at Mintal Group, the largest maker of carbon ferrochrome in China, and one of its biggest steel producers.
High carbon ferrochrome is the base material of stainless steel. The deal with Siemens covers the build of a new ‘production management system’ (PMS), to integrate data from every layer of the business, including between its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and plant automation systems.
Control room – Siemens EVP Roland Ehrl (left), Mintal VP Zhang Guo Qiang (centre), and Siemens China Section Manager Du Wan Gu (right) at controls at Mintal
The idea is increased and simplified access to data, married with new data processing tools, will improve the performance of people and machines at its mining and manufacturing facilities in northern China.
It will also bring greater transparency to the production process, from raw ferrochrome materials through to finished steel products – for China’s stainless-steel industry.
The German company said its PMS, based on its ’minerals operation management solution’ and optimised for production of chrome ore pellets, will allow Mintal Group to close the “often-significant information gap” between planning, monitoring, execution, and logistics.
“The new PMS will provide a fast and powerful tool for improving the product manufacturing experience and production management,” it said in a statement.
“The collaborative management of equipment, personnel, materials and other resources will enable the Mintal Group to achieve a complete picture of production scheduling and control, equipment operation and maintenance cycle management, material and production quality control.”
It is the second major win for Siemens in the Chinese mining industry in a matter of days, following its deal with the YanZhou Coal Mine Company to collect and analyse data from the hoist systems at its coal mining facilities.
