RGU_OPTImelt

The ProductAs far as material and energy consumption are concerned, the melting shop is the most cost-intensive area in foundries, steelworks and metalworks. Optimal melting process-es combined with the most cost-effective us-age of material, the reduction of post-alloying quantities and processing steps as well as short fusing times all impact on the econom-ic effi ciency of the melting shop. Effi cient support for the melting process linked with effective materials administration and suc-cessful energy management are becoming more and more signifi cant as decisive factors of success.

The considerable fl uctuations in material prices and the increasing energy costs of recent years combined with growing pricing pressure emphasize the necessity to reorga-nize processes and to use existing resources in the most effective way. In many foundries, ironworks, steelworks or metalworks, the IT-support for the melting process, in contrast to other areas of production, is still a long way from achieving its full potential.

As a sector-specifi c MES, the OPTI.melt program package, which is a further devel-opment of the ks schmelze package by ADV Schulte GmbH and is now part of the OPTI System Standard, provides continuous sup-port for the melt processW OPTI.melt delivers extensive melt pro-

cess planning for all melt and treatment steps at charge, ladle and casting levels.

W OPTI.melt delivers accurate charge com-positions and post charge compositions by optimizing the usage of materials, es-pecially expensive metals and ferroalloys,

W OPTI.melt enables preliminary costing to be carried out, calculating the require-ments for scrap, alloying materials and metals

Batching

Smelting

Consumption /processes

Integration

Actual state analysisCharge / batch

Materials

Raw materials

Re-batching

Casting report

Smelting report /evaluations

Stock /incoming stock

W Materials database with melt parame-ters and specifications;W Calculates the most cost efficient stan-dard charges and prints out a materials or charge calculation;W Updates bill of materials quantities in the relevant resource plan, taking different structural levels into account, raw castings melt ready for casting – base melt;W Various search strategies for selecting materials taking account of suitability ac-cording to current status and stock levels; W Administrates melting unit and ladle parks as well as monitoring condition, preparation and usage;W Comprehensive interaction, e.g. limi-tations and compulsory specifications for maximum and minimum quantities;

W Tracks material flows in the melting shop including liquid melt and casting as well as recording remaining quantities;W Various booking and evaluation procedures for recycled and purchased materials;W Charge and furnace occupancy coordinated with the mould and casting schedule;W Interactive support for the smelter, recording melt procedures and generating melt reports;W Up-to-date calculation of post charge mixtures with different options for achiev-ing the target composition;W Comprehensive materials cost calcu-lation including all entries required by the company controlling.

MATERIALS AND MELT

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W OPTI.melt provides online support for the smelter, reduces melt times signifi -cantly and thus increases melt capacity

W OPTI.melt reduces energy consump-tion per ton and supports energy manage-ment at the point of highest consumption, which in turn leads to considerable cost savings

W OPTI.melt starting with the calculation of an optimal charge composition, all the steps of the melting process are recorded, documented and then made available for detailed evaluation

OPTI.melt is based on a comprehensive materials database. This comprisesW the standard recipes for each melt type

and the description of the target procedure.W a link to the material test plan with the

target and maximum/minimum values for chemical compositions, mechanical prop-erties and the structure as well as melt-ing, annealing and welding instructions. This also takes the various norms and customer specifi cations into account.

W Different target values can be set up for melt and treatment steps in order to defi ne the charge and post charge calcu-lation or for the fi nal analysis after treat-ment or inoculation.

W Different mixtures of chemical ele-ments can be defi ned for different groups of materials, whereby the basis element for each group of materials can change. The rules for achieving the target values for both charge and post charge calcula-tions are defi ned for every element. These can be changed for individual materials or in the charge calculation itself.

Target and threshold values for the com-positions are defi ned in the materials test plan. The target values for the charge, post charge and fi nal composition can be defi ned for each level of treatment after treatment and inoculation.

The specifi cations and work instructions for the liquid melt are described in the resources plan. Parameters can be set here in order to give the smelter instructions during the smelt process, e.g.” measure temperature 50 min-utes after start of smelt”, or “take new sam-ple when there are deviations from the target composition”.

Integrated and continuous materials management involves tracking the mate-rial fl ows of charge and melt materials and includes logging storage locations and/or charge-related inventory management. The evaluation prices are formed by means of ERP functions. Different control parameters are provided for the charge materials accord-ing to the current status compositions, the rules for storage management and for stock withdrawals. All the master data that are re-quired for materials including the target and current status compositions are processed in a data entry screen in OPTI.melt.

The current status compositions for charge materials are ascertained according to various rules e.g. according to supplier de-tails, incoming goods checks, charge or time period. When analyses are recorded for each receipt of incoming goods, approval is car-ried out online if the agreed threshold values have been maintained.

The melting units, ladles and equipment are administered as maintenance objects. This ensures that their condition is moni-tored and orders for maintenance or delivery are triggered together with their maintenance and usage history.

The standard charges which have been cal-culated with the most cost effective material usage are documented as a resources plan and, in the form of a working plan and bill of materials, form the basis both for calculat-ing the material costs and for the material requirements calculation. W In the results of the charge calculation,

the evaluation with the calculated pric-es is compared to the current purchas-ing prices with or without depreciation. In addition to the material costs, the melt costs, energy costs and if necessary fur-ther cost types are taken into account in order to be able to calculate the manufac-turing costs. If a resources plan is imple-mented, the standard functions in RGU OPTI Product Planning are available to formulate costing surcharges.

The melt report program:W provides the smelter with comprehensive

help with all activities by means of online operator guidance, e.g. taking maximum and minimum quantities per charge or changes to the usability into account,

W tracks the material fl ow in the melting shop including the liquid melt between the melting unit and the casting and re-cords any remaining quantities,

W records the melt procedure for the charg-es and generates the charge report,

Diagram of the charge calculation Example of a charge report


W calculates quantities used for post charge with different options for achieving the tar-get composition,

W for the post alloying calculation mixed analyses from different charges can be determined taking into account the capacity of the different furnaces,

W sets up a comprehensive materials cost calculation including all necessary book-ings for the company controlling,

W incorporates current status values from analysis devices, scales etc. The analy-ses can also combine results from several measurements, e.g. wet chemical values for C and S are allocated to the spectro-meter tests.

W Standard interfaces are available for integrating OPTI.melt in other ERP/PPS systems.

The standard version of the program can be used for all alloy types, e.g. iron, steel, nick-el, cobalt and copper alloys. For cast iron materials and aluminium alloys there are special options available to take account of melting loss, gross/net amounts, salt etc.

OPTI.melt is designed for use in produc-tion. Because of its simple and clear menu structure, which is based on the OPTI system standard, the fast display of any process da-ta which it incorporates and its many expedi-ent dialog options, OPTI.melt is an essential tool for the smelter.

The comprehensive confi guration opportuni-ties provided in the OPTI standard are there to make it possible to adapt the standard templates and forms to the needs of the

Material flow in the melting shop

Special functions for the aluminium versionWhereas other charge calculation programs are only aligned to iron and steel materi-als, OPTI.melt also fully supports the spe-cialised requirements and conditions for al-uminium remelting. We have integrated the experience gained during various projects carried out at aluminium recycling works.

We would like to highlight the following special functions: W In this computer model the maximum

net quantity, the gross-net ratio, salt quantity and the capacity of the furnace with any scum restrictions are consid-ered in addition to the net target quan-tity.

W For each scrap or charge material fac-tors for 3 additives/salts can be entered in order to calculate the salt quantities required.

W Based on an order or a blanket order, a charge calculation can be entered for preliminary costing, whereby order-relat-ed restrictions and specifi cations (e.g. particular alloy specifi cations) are also possible. In the melt process the charge quantities based on the preliminary costing as well as the charge and post charge calculations are calculated ac-cording to the currently available stock.

W Stock is administered separately for each box/storage location, whereby, based on the composition upon goods receipt, the valid average compositions are shown for each storage location.

W Melt reports are generated both for melt-ing furnaces and for holding and pour-

ing furnaces including complete tracking of the material fl ows. A fi nal and event analysis can be generated for the pour-ing time period for several blocks.

W OPTI-Product Planning visualizes the product structure across the different structure levels:– base melt (e.g. barrel-vaulted

furnace)– melt ready for pouring– raw castings (blocks, bars, mould

casting/continuous casting)– rough-worked or fi nish-worked

materialW Using formulas it is possible to enter

pouring (shot) times, drawing speeds and further parameters. As there is arti-cle master data for every structure level, it is possible to administrate the liquid melt, rough-worked or fi nish-worked material as fi nal products.

W OPTI Tools Administration monitors the moulds and mould tools. Depending on the measurements specifi ed, the most suitable moulds are also selected and the usage statistics, repairs/recondition-ing, stoppages and releases, in other words the complete maintenance history of the moulds and tools, is tracked.

W All the necessary ERP functions for aluminium works are available in OPTI Sales and Purchasing:– metal accounts for each customer

with bookings for incomings and outgoings.

– pricing which takes into account scaling loss factors and the latest list prices at the time of the order or at delivery.

»The many years of cooperating with RGU GmbH convinced us that RGU is a skilful partner and that they will continue to market and develop our software well in future.«

Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Schulte, developer ks schmelze

Melt report with charge and post charge calculations


RGU GmbH

Karl-Harr-Straße 1

44263 Dortmund

Fon +49 (0) 2 31.4 19 97 0

Fax +49 (0) 2 31.4 19 97 99

[email protected]

www.rgu.de

RGU – Your partner for consulting and

programming in the foundry industry.

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user. The data collected can be transferred to word processing, table calculation and sta-tistics programmes etc.

In addition to the existing standard formulae, e.g. for calculating liquid temperature and delta-ferrite, user-specifi c calculations can be created using the integrated formula editor.

The core of the program is a charge and post charge calculation with the aim of achieving cost optimization and where different options can be considered:W With or without taking material stocks into

account. These can be processed as over-all stock or after every inward stock move-ment including the appropriate current status analysis.

W The OPTI Standard functions can be used for the planned price calculation such as taking into account the value of the metal according to price lists or depreciation factors. For the cycle evalua-tion there is an option to consider the average material price of the respective material types or from the list price of the elements to be used.

W There are a large number of search functions available as standard for the material search, which can be compa-ny specifi c or changed online. Unsuitable materials with elements which are not needed can be used in a calculation if required. Suitable materials can be searched for according to individual elements (<, >, from to).

W The usual market price rules and ERP functions are available to record inward stock movements for melt materials and to ascertain purchase prices and internal costing, in order, for example, to be able to calculate the price for ferroalloys or ferrosilicon from the price/kg content or pro rata price for each receipt of goods.

W Each material can have cycle types allo-cated to it, whereby different materials can be given the same cycle type accord-ing to the stock management. Cycles and chips can be differentiated further as required.

W There are special rules for post charge calculations. It is possible to defi ne one’s own composition. Depending on how much particular element quantities are

Standard printout of the melt report

exceeded or undershot, the most sensible target or threshold value is set as the tar-get value. In the same way the search can be limited to materials intended for the post alloying, whereby all materials are considered if a dilution is required.

W It is possible to defi ne a certain number of pieces as one order-picking-unit for charge materials.

W When the charge is fi nished the mate-rial which was withdrawn from stock is booked, the valid fi nal composition is defi ned and the charge report is printed.

Integrating OPTI.melt in the OPTI ERP/PPS-System means it is more than just a compre-hensive MES solution for the melting shop. The melt requirements and charge planning are linked with the production planning for the mould and casting processes. This also takes into account the furnace occupancy plans and alloying sequences in the melting unit including the expected fi ll levels for the melt and holding furnaces as well as the planned energy requirements in that time period.

So, for production planning in foundries, OPTI.melt considers all the necessary resources for mould and melt capacities, tools and core availability as well as product and process related requirements and para-meters which mean it is an essential tool for foundry men and smelters.


Documents

RGU_OPTImelt