Steel Service
Centers

About Steel Service
Centers

Steel service centers look to better understand their machine utilization time and downtime. Distributing anything from plate steel, pipe, tube, or block steel, these service centers aim to turn around cut-to-size orders as quickly as possible.

Types of machines typically monitored:

  • Plasma cutters
  • Laser cutters
  • Oxy acetylene tables
  • Machining centers
  • Band & cold saws

The Challenge

To meet customer demand, steel service centers often have a wide variety of machines, including various X-Y cutting tables, cut off saws, cold saws, and even machining centers. Optimizing the use of these machines directly affects how long it can take to process orders quickly. Knowing the reasons that cause a machine to be inactive helps management determine which machines are needed to remain competitive, which should be upgraded, and which should be replaced.

ShiftWorx™ MES easily connects to the various types of machines found in the steel services environment. The many reasons for downtime, which often differ from company to company, can all be easily tracked empirically by ShiftWorx™ MES.

The Solution

ShiftWorx™ MES connects non-invasively to every machine on the shop floor, without modification to the machine or the company’s IT infrastructure. Our software tracks machine uptime and makes it simple to track machine downtime, resulting in immediate productivity increase action steps.

With the data collected, management can provide more accurate job estimates, improving their competitive advantage while increasing overall production capacity. Armed with this information, steel service centers can further refine their process and can consider adding custom scheduling and automated quoting software to be even more responsive.

  • Improve process transparency
  • Increase accuracy of estimates
  • Visualize & mitigate downtime
  • Increase production capacity
  • Identify constraints

Our Narrative Application and Steel Service Centers

Engaging the operators through our very simple, intuitive Narration tool does two things: it collects empirical downtime information that facilitates “data driven decisions” on future investments, and it engages the operators and makes them part of the solution, not the problem.

Positive operator engagement has proven to pay short term dividends with increased daily productivity, and long term dividends through higher satisfaction that results in less absenteeism and higher retention.