Broner Metals Solutions

Broner Metals Solutions has been selected by ThyssenKrupp Steel USA, LLC as a supplier of planning, scheduling, MES and warehouse management solutions for their major greenfield carbon steel processing plant project in Alabama, USA.

ThyssenKrupp is building new steel and stainless steel plants in the state of Alabama, with combined annual capacities of 5 million metric tonnes, and Broner is to provide its world-class planning, scheduling and MES solutions for the carbon steel processing facilities: hot strip mill, cold- and hot-rolling mills and galvanising mills, covering processes from the arrival of trucks at the slab yard to the shipping of finished products. Broner will be supplying the following standard modules: Production Planner, Production Scheduler, Schedule Editor, Material Planner, Production Management, Quality Management, Inventory Management and Equipment Management.

The Warehouse Management solution (WMS) assists in a day-to-day warehouse administration, and allows users to track any changes in stock, down to single pieces in each section of the warehouse, optimises stock location and provides a real-time overview of the warehouse. Its functionality also allows users to manage crane operations by presenting transport orders in a clearer way, and indicate direction for the driver. In all, WMS helps to reduce operation time and increase material turnover thus saving costs and resources.

Broner Production Planner and Production Scheduler perform automatic planning and scheduling of production processes for each machine in the plant, by exchanging data with Broner MES modules and SAP, taking into consideration and optimising low-level constraints such as change-over times or shift constraints, with order sequencing based on the material due to arrive at each machine, with the flexibility to replan or reschedule.

Broner Material Planner plans, allocates and identifies materials efficiently according to the current customer’s order, creates links between sales and works orders, therefore reducing inventory and increasing capacity of the plant.

Broner MES modules span all the operational management processes of dispatching, execution, tracking and data management at all levels. Production Management module monitors and logs production in real time, monitors the progress of schedule execution, tracks production and records production data; Quality Management module provides facilities to monitor and control quality throughout the production process; Inventory Management module optimises production and logistical processes by monitoring energy and consumables usage, movement of goods, storage and shipment while Equipment Management module monitors the equipment status and usage, by means of obtaining information about production performance and notifications for maintenance needs.

Broner is participating in this project in partnership with IBM who was appointed by ThyssenKrupp as its main contractor.

The project starts in May 2008, and the carbon steel plant will begin its operation in 2010.

About ThyssenKrupp

ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest technology companies, and consists of five business segments one of which is steel segment. ThyssenKrupp Steel is focused on high value-added flat carbon steel and is one of the leading producers in the world market, ranking second in Europe. With sales of approximately €10.7 billion (US$14 billion) and over 40,000 employees, the Steel segment serves customers in 80 countries.
ThyssenKrupp Steel USA will oversee the construction of the carbon steel processing facility which will be capable of producing more than 4 million metric tons of steel coils. The new facility will also include a hot strip mill which will be used primarily to process slabs from the company’s new steel mill in Brazil.