From a humble beginning at Hisar, where OP Jindal set-up the first plant in
1970, Jindal Stainless (JSL) has become Indias largest integrated stainless
steel manufacturer with a global presence in over thirty countries. The group
also has a Ferro Alloy plant at Vishakhapatnam and is constructing the worlds
largest greenfield integrated stainless steel complex in Kalinga Nagar, Orissa.
One of the core beliefs of JSL has been to break barriers between plant
floor systems and enterprise systems by implementing the best available
technologywhether it is for manufacturing processes or for organizational
management.
We have been running SAP since 2002. The plant manufacturing system was not
integrated with the ERP while process control was running separately, says Ajay
Dhir, group CIO, JSL.
Challenges
With the growth in capacity and growing number of plant systems at each
manufacturing location, JSL was looking to integrate all plant systems with
business system, ie, SAP ERP. The lack of visibility of real-time information
across locations was proving to be costly as there was no holistic view of
operations. Dealing with multiple products across locations and different
partners, suppliers and dealers only added to information chaos. A robust
database coupled with streamlined processes, connecting all locations was the
answer.
Ajay Dhir, group CIO, Jindal Stainless |
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Before the SAP MII deployment, information about sensors and devices used to
be carried through PLCs and enabled local visualization. However, this
deployment enabled process information to be transferred to a Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) server, which was further connected to a
technical database, and then fed into the integrator. Therefore, process
information was integrated with business data giving a complete view of
operations.
This essentially implies that sitting anywhere in the network, any customer
query can be answered easily. Responding to queries used to take at least a
week, which can now be done in a single day, says Dhir. At about $150,000, the
project was executed in four months and went live in May 2008.
Returns Accruing
The SAP MII solution has provided an integrated platform for doing business
with speed, flexibility and a customer-centric approach. Deploying the
state-of-the-art technology has enabled global expansion and real time
integration with JSLs manufacturing systems, eliminating inefficiencies and
reducing costs, he says.
Whether it is monitoring and control of process deviations or tracking the
source of defect to analyze customer complaints, the deployment has enabled JSL
to address business growth in a 360 degree manner. Ultimately the company has
achieved a high level of plant intelligence, giving it a significant competitive
edge.
The deployment has also enabled operation managers to plan proactively with
real-time online monitoring of manufacturing processes. Therefore the planning
cycle has been made online instead of the hybrid model used earlier. Post
deployment, operations staff can now better understand the process parameters
and compare them with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), thereby enabling
them to improve quality standards.
The deployment has also enabled real-time monitoring of manufacturing
processes, and quality and efficiency analysis based on plant data repository.
Buoyed by the success of SAP MII, JSL now plans to integrate this with coil
tracking system (used for tracking the coils lying in warehouses).
Stuti Das
stutid@cybermedia.co.in