Greater transparency for your entire production process

SIMETAL MES solutions and Siemens VAI’s Manufacturing Execution System for the Metals industry ensure a seamless and transparent flow of data – vertically from the process to the corporate management level and horizontally from the delivery of raw materials to the packaged finished product. In this manner, we provide the basis for company-wide process optimization with savings of up to 30% on process costs.

Typically, production plants in the metals industry consist of more or less independent processing stations with predefined production routes for each particular grade of processed goods. However, because these different processing units are networked, a fault in a single component can negatively impact the entire production chain. Therefore, if a fault or even downtime occurs at one point in the process, production personnel must be notified quickly and with the necessary information to turn production to normal operations.

As a comprehensive MES solution for the metals industry, SIMETAL MES integrates all the functions and services customers need for sustained maximization of the plant performance. The software modules based on ISA S95 optimize all horizontal production processes, from ore and liquid metal to final material; vertically integrate the company’s information flow end-to-end, helping corporate management to make better-founded decisions; and assure maintenance and further development over the entire life cycle of your plant.

Production Management / Production Control

Everything on time – with optimum in plant utilization

SIMETAL MES production management components provide the relevant key information on the status of production, the status and location of every material unit and of all relevant resources for the entire plant environment. It includes "Production Modeling" according to ISA S95, which can accurately describe the entire production process including production rules in each production step. Material and order tracking will continuously be updated and checked using production rules.

Information Management / Process Analytics

Increasing transparency and efficiency

This Module provides reliable information on the current status of your production operation and its metrics. From predefined structures in a SQL-Database and a data warehouse, all information is extracted, processed, and made available in a format that can easily be evaluated, even by non-IT personnel. In addition to predefined standard reports provided by powerful Web Reporting Tools, the system delivers up-to-date, graphically enhanced Key Performance Indicators (PKI) for the key metrics of the production.

Quality Management

Reliable production quality along the entire production process steps

We implement modules to assess quality and develop appropriate strategies to overcome quality defects without infringing your production processes in any way. Thanks to early fault detection you can act quickly and securely to limit damage, avoiding costly returns and loss of reputation. Quality control functions are available based on flexible specification management of all production steps. Online productions rules are checking continuously, if production is running proper in the specified limits. Also a seamless integration between the modules of quality control production order management and productions scheduling is a must to ensure the best balance between plant utilization product quality and customer order due dates.

Logistics and Warehouse Management

Higher stockyard performance with full transparency

Storing and retrieving raw materials, intermediate goods, or final products take up a significant amount of the production and delivery time. Optimized stockyard logistics offer significant advantages by reducing costs and increasing the competitive edge. SIMETAL SILOC is an innovative logistics solution that has been especially designed for the iron & steel industry - it is focused on the special stockyard types in metals.

Laboratory Management (LIMS)

Ensuring accurate documentation, efficient data handling, and reliable proof of compliance with legal provisions

Our LIMS Module collects and manages all quality data in a central database and configures quality workflows and analysis in the lab and on the production line. This includes automatic validation and alarm handling for management by exception.

The standard connectors fit most existing or new lab requirements. Also metals specific workflows are predefined and includes modules for stability testing, instrument connection, equipment management, personnel qualification management, barcoding, user management, cost calculation, and reporting. This component can be delivered as part of the MES solution, but also a stand-alone installation for laboratory automation and management is possible.

Material and Quality Management

Your stockyard – the right place to create value!

The SIMINE MAQ stockyard management system is a solution that unifies material and information flows across the entire system from the sensor to the control room. At Siemens VAI we know about the importance of stockyards for your value chain. Over the years, we have built on our technological know-how to develop innovative tools such as material and order scheduling, web connection, and service support.

Production Planning

Helping you optimize your entire production chain

Our production planning solutions provide optimum capacity and production path planning based on technological plant limits, plant conditions, and scheduled availability. They also maximize production across the entire process - with the global optimum taking precedence over the local optimum. The optimized production sequences created by Production Planning also minimize set-up efforts while improving product quality. The final result: faster and more reliable planning, even in the event of fault conditions. Different Scheduling Solutions are available for typical plant types. Also overall planning functions are available, to create production orders based on new customer orders and provide ATP/CTP functions.

Maintenance and Equipment Management

The performance of a plant greatly depends on the effectiveness of its maintenance system

Our maintenance modules help to increase availability while supporting the competitiveness of your production. Its functionality ranges from maintenance planning using standardized work schedules to the initiation of maintenance orders based on defined criteria and the collection and archiving of all incurred costs and was developed especially to fulfill the technological and process needs of the metals industry. The concept of the maintenance module and the seamless integration into the MES world allows even a task split of maintenance related jobs and ERP implementations.

Energy Management Systems

Energy Transparency for Optimized Energy Flows

Energy costs alone typically account for 20 to 30% of total production costs in the iron and steel industries. A large proportion of these costs can be avoided by improved energy awareness and associated measures.

SIMETAL Energy Management System (EMS) creates the transparency required for revealing actual energy consumption. Its exceptionally efficient and flexible functions for recording consumption data, allocating energy charges, planning, and energy forecasting – as well as generating energy balances and CO₂ monitoring – can be easily integrated into existing systems. SIMETAL EMS is a modularly configurable and scalable set of combinable functions for the different automation levels and production units.

SIMETAL Energy Management System

SIMETAL Energy Management System (ger)

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Siemens VAI Metals Technologies

MES, Logistics, EMS