LOISI: Logistics Optimization in Steel Industries

Background / Problem

To keep the production of semi-finished steel products in Europe, companies are specializing in high quality products and adaptive processes to flexibly respond to customer requests. Higher quality brings more stringent process requirements for processing, transport and storage of semi-finished products. The physical processes in steel manufacturing imply that higher quality brings disproportionately greater volatility in production due to dynamic process changes for rectification, storage places where sensible cooling processes are taking place, etc. The warehouse and transport logistic processes connect production with customer demands. In this context, the internal logistics becomes competitively crucial factor for resilient (robust, flexible, adaptive) production.

Objectives / Methods

The overall goal is to explore a decision support information system supporting resilient transport and storage processes for the steel industry producing high quality semi-finished steel products.
In LOISI first a Performance Measurement System (PMS) for resilience in the production of semi-finished steel products and the measurement of required performance indicators will be researched.
This PSM is used for the evaluation of strategies of transport and warehouse logistics. Due to the high dynamics of the processes and the complexity of the relationships between production, transportation, storage, decision makers need support in the identification and selection of optimal strategies for a given workload. Simulation models are necessary to solve problems with this dynamics and complexity for making logistics strategies comparable. By using metaheuristic optimisation methods, strategies can be optimized for resilience.
The integration of these methods will be evaluated for their usefulness in a realistic scenario. As an example for the evaluation and iterative improvement of the developed procedures and methods, the production of semi-finished steel project partner VASD envisioned for 2021 will be used.

Results / Findings

Resilience is formalized for internal logistic systems. Strategies for warehouse and transport logistics optimized for the production of semi-finished steel products. The high complexity and dynamics are addressed by simulation models, which form the basis supporting decision-makers. The models are designed to integratively and effectively provide decision support to. The approach, models and optimisation algorithms are evaluated in a realistic future scenario of VASD in 2021.