Weight Control

A steel plant with multiple work centers on multiple production routes tried to record scrap generated in different work centers by measuring the length of cutoff material. Weighing the waste was not practical due to the size and shape of the cuts. Length measurements proved imprecise, and eventually all scrap was piled up in the same place, while information on where it was generated remained hidden.

Operations management decided to install a new weighing scale to control material weight before and after exiting any work center, thereby obtaining the exact weight of scrapped material. This became cumbersome for operators, as they had to input weight in multiple places (MES, ERP, and paper sheets), leading them to use various excuses to avoid this new procedure.

By connecting the scale to the existing MES and implementing minimal modifications for the MES to forward weight information to the ERP, a simple procedure was established. Operators used a dedicated barcode scanner to provide a material tracking ID just before weighing. This eliminated most reasons to avoid the procedure, finally making it clear where and in what amount waste was generated, which enabled further optimization.