Dimensions

Gain from the Power of Leanof

Six Sigma MOOC
Quality
By Nilakantasrinivasan

Assignment Submission of : Abhishek Kumar

All Rights Reserved. Copyright @ 2014 Canopus Business Management Group

Product Selected : RFID based Tracking of Hot

Metal Torpedo Ladles

Hot Metal being Poured inside a Torpedo ladle

A System to Optimize Buffer Management of Hot Metal supply from the
Blast Furnaces to the Steel Making Shops ,implementing the principles of
Theory of Constraints , in an integrated Steel Plant.
RFID or Radio Frequency Identification System is an enabler to Track the
movement of ladles to achieve the objective of the system.
All Rights Reserved. Copyright @ 2014 Canopus Business Management Group

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
RFID Tags on the Torpedo Ladle
RFID readers at Key Waypoints and Weighbridges
Interfaces with Level 2 Automation and Quality Analysis systems of the Blast Furnaces
and Steel Making shops etc.
IT infrastructure and Networking for the System etc.

Dimensions of Quality

Performance

Features

Automatic Capturing of Ladle movement, Weight and data from all

interfaces.
Processing Through Dynamic Models(Algorithms) and displaying the
processed Data in suitable GUI (Graphical User Interface) .

High Availability IT Infrastructure and user friendly GUIs

RFID Tags sustain transient temperature ranging from 40 - 400 C
Several Interfaces with PLCs Load cells, Hot Metal Analysers and
production systems of Blast Furnaces and Steel Making Shops.
G.A. and Agent based software, implementing Theory of constraints and
other proprietary logistics management Algorithms.

Conformance

Reliability

Conforms to all statutory Industrial Protection, Safety, security etc. norms

for enclosure ,electronics and IT systems
Patented heat proof chamber for enclosing RFID tags
Metrics for R.O.I and Key Performance Indicators monitored daily and
found exceeding expectations.

SLA of greater than 99% with IT partners and Service providers.

BCP&DR implemented for all Active and Passive components.
All reliability parameters ,MTBR,MTBF etc. monitored, as RFID tags
prone to transient temperatures up to 400 C.
System Uptime and availability > 96% for last 6 years.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright @ 2014 Canopus Business Management Group

Dimensions of Quality
Durability

IP 67 grade enclosures for field electronics

Patented Heat proof enclosure for Tags
Redundant IT hardware (Servers , PCs) ,and Networks .
Data integrity checks built in for system data base and data from all
interfaces

SLA of >95% committed to customer departments ,met consistently

SLA of > 99% with IT Infrastructure maintenance agencies and other
vendors providing field support
Daily Management system instituted to monitor the uptime of system,
Service Level Agreements(SLA) and Key Performance indicators of the
system.
Reduced Manpower requirement by developing fully Automated /Person
less weighbridges .

Service

Experience

Aesthetics

System Integrated from off the shelf electronics and in - house design and
development of components and software
Expertise of Theory of constraints and other SPC techniques leveraged here
Proprietary and unique system ,Therefore not benchmarked.
Development team has vast experience in system integration and has
developed customized products for parent company .
Customer Delight monitored through systematic reviews and matching and
exceeding expectations
5s and TPM for regular cleaning, preventive maintenance of the field
electronics.
Ergonomic, User friendly and Well - designed screens for enabling decision
making and need to know data at various hierarchies

All Rights Reserved. Copyright @ 2014 Canopus Business Management Group