From STEEL GRIPS online Europe Unified planning solutions for all ThyssenKrupp Nirosta stainless steel plants Oct 6, 2009 ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has successfully replaced the previous version of the planning software for the heat and caster sequence planning which had been in operation for more than ten years. ThyssenKrupp Nirosta is to unify of the planning solutions in the stainless steel plants in Germany, the USA and China. In particular, the IT investments for the ThyssenKrupp Stainless production plant to be built in Alabama in the USA are to be assured by the system proven at the German sites of Bochum and Krefeld. The systems have been operating to the customer’s complete satisfaction since May. The scheduling of the daily smelting process is supported by the PSImetals functions for advanced line sequencing. Based on the needs of the cold rolling plants, a continuous supply of the steel mill with smelting orders is achieved. Software functions such as rescheduling of a heat in case of analysis deviations, the re-feeding following the interruption of a caster sequence or the re-sorting of heats in a sequence or entire sequences in the program allow for quick reactions to short-term directives or disruptions in the steel mill operations. If needed, a simulation mode also secures the current planning status with online changes. With the update to the current version, ThyssenKrupp Nirosta would also like to take advantage of the standard functions such as multilingualism and configurability of planning rules. In the future plant-specific adjustments can be operated flexibly by the key users. The user know-how and the experiences gained at the German plants will also simplify the implementation in the American plant. © Copyright 2007 by GRIPS media