Customer Background
A leading coated steel manufacturer in Taiwan, established in 1973 as a Taiwan-Japan joint venture, headquartered in Kaohsiung. The company specializes in pickled steel coils, cold-rolled steel coils, galvanized steel coils, and aluminized zinc-coated steel coils, which are widely used in construction materials, home appliances, transportation, and IT equipment industries.
Challenges
- Insufficient Data Collection – The existing SCADA system only recorded current, tension, torque, and speed within a production timeframe but lacked detailed data for each steel coil.
- Lack of Standardization – Without detailed production parameters, the customer could not establish standardized processes or optimize production settings.
- Difficulty in Cost & Carbon Footprint Evaluation – The system could not accurately calculate the energy consumption and production cost of each steel coil, limiting the company’s ability to further reduce energy consumption.
Project Goals
- Data-Driven Production Management – Record complete production data for each steel coil and build a production database.
- Optimization of Quality & Energy Efficiency – Use data comparison to identify optimal parameter settings for high-quality, energy-efficient production.
- Standardized Process Establishment – Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and parameter settings for each product, reducing reliance on manual experience-based production.
Solution
To address the customer's needs, YATEC collaborated closely with their engineering team to gain an in-depth understanding of the production process and data requirements. YATEC enhanced the existing SCADA system with custom software, delivering:
- Comprehensive Production Traceability – The software records detailed production data for each steel coil, including speed, tension, torque, and processing time.
- Advanced Data Analysis – Integrates all production data into a database, enabling detailed comparisons and analytics to optimize parameter settings.
Results
- Precise Cost Control – The customer can accurately track electricity consumption, processing time, and production costs for each steel coil. This enables detailed cost analysis and process optimization for better cost management.
- Comprehensive Production Traceability – The system fully records key parameters such as current, tension, torque, and speed, helping the customer identify the best production parameters for high-quality output.
- Faster Quality Issue Resolution – In the event of a quality defect, the customer can compare production traceability records of normal and defective coils, quickly pinpointing the root cause and significantly reducing troubleshooting time.
Customer Feedback
Mr. Chiu, the Operations Director, stated:
"Thanks to YATEC’s data collection and big data analytics, we can now predefine the optimal process settings for high-quality products, minimizing unnecessary waste. This significantly reduces costs, testing time, and material waste, while increasing the first-pass yield of premium-grade products."