Camstar and the Metals Industry

Many rolled goods plants are facing new challenges to increase production capacity without making huge investments in new equipment. The profitability and market growth must come from increasing product yield using existing resources.  The availability of live information direct from the shop floor is critical to reducing re-processing rates and increasing the production of high-quality, deliverable product.

Solution

Camstar’s Metals Edition is a comprehensive Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that delivers the live visibility and control necessary to optimize production processes across multiple unique manufacturing sites. Flexible modeling options allow the application to be quickly tailored to meet any number of individual factory requirements without software modifications, so each plant can maintain the required level of autonomy while leveraging a single MES. And configurable server-side program logic means that changes to functionality can be implemented once, and made immediately available to all users without disrupting operations.

• Increase efficiency and maximize capacity
  In casting (batch) operations and in rolling, extrusion, and treating (process) operations, better process control and access to real-time and detailed production information are the keys to raising efficiency above current levels. Metals Edition provides live visibility of equipment usage and availability, enabling manufacturers to make instant adjustments to maximize the use of existing resources. Standardized process definition and management can substantially increase first-pass yield, and make it possible to quickly increase capacity output by rolling out and scaling new and existing processes globally. Plus, integration with SCADA streamlines data collection, and reduces throughput time. The Camstar Metals Edition solution for detailed scheduling can further optimize plant operations, such as synchronizing the smelter versus caster throughput.
• Centralize change management
  InSite easily adapts to a wide range of product requirements, enabling organizations to rapidly implement new products and changes to the manufacturing process and supporting information systems. Electronically managed specifications and procedures remove human error, resulting in higher first-pass yields and less re-processing.  To meet constantly changing order requirements and priorities, manufacturing process or customer order changes can be transmitted without interrupting production.
• Ensure quality with complete traceability
  Metals Edition delivers the live work-in-process (WIP) information and comprehensive reports manufacturers need to reduce manufacturing variability while improving quality throughout the global production network. Configurable alerts and exception processes enable rapid response to manufacturing problems, and ensure consistent product quality across facilities. Tracking of complex processes with multiple units of measure, such as weight and coil and bundle count; yields from casting, rolling and extrusion; and multiple slits and cuts provides full traceability – even when material is processed multiple times or on alternate equipment. Additional product and process parameters such as oven temperatures, feed speeds, and pressures may be collected for yield and quality improvements.
• Model-based Trouble-shooting
  Metals Edition’s structured data makes it possible to quickly analyze issues, and perform root-cause correlations between quality defects and metallurgy and/or proceses. The data captured in Metals Edition is used for offline quality troubleshooting and process analysis, while the resulting solution is returned to manufacturing – closing the quality improvement loop.

Technology

Designed for multiple sites and systems, Camstar's MES is a web-based application built on a distributed Microsoft.NET™ architecture that provides for maximum flexibility and scaling. The multiple-tiered web-based system architecture is designed for high availability and system performance. The Camstar Metals Edition integration modules include connectivity solutions for APS & ERP systems, as well as shop floor automation connectors (OPC and others).

Metals Edition

Metals Edition enhances Camstar’s MES with pre-configured implementation templates and object libraries, such as metal-specific plant modeling, typical metals manufacturing transactions, as well as pre-formatted and adaptable user interfaces for generic operations such as: scrap handling, bucket loading, smelting, refining, casting, hot rolling, re-heating, annealing, cold rolling, cutting & slitting, and finishing.

Camstar Metals Edition provides optional solutions for finite scheduling (based on best-in-class Advanced Planning & Scheduling Software) and optimization models for material loads and quality trouble-shooting.