Advanced production planning as the core element of a supply chain

The steel industry is presented with ever fiercer competition, characterised by short delivery times coupled with ever smaller sales volumes, decreasing batch sizes and growing product diversity. The introduction of an advanced production planning and scheduling system as the central element of an internal supply chain is essential for the reduction of production costs, the improvement of product quality, production yield and plant efficiency. Such an IT instrument has to meet a wide range of different demands, as is shown by the implementation of the PPS system at Eko Stahl AG and Salzgitter AG.