On the Road to Manufacturing Excellence at the Bluescope Steel Thailand Cold Mill

by P. Padungkarn, W.Y.D. Yuen

Publisher - BlueScope Steel Thailand, BlueScope Steel Limited

Category - General Novel

Cost competitive pressure has demanded plant operators to be extremely efficient and nimble in their manufacturing practices. BlueScope Steel’s manufacturing excellence philosophy encompasses a wide range of focus areas, including product quality and delivery, equipment reliability, process and cost control, and very importantly, high performance work teams. This paper outlines the achievements of the manufacturing improvement project embarked upon at the BlueScope Steel Thailand Cold Rolling Mill, which saw a tremendous increase in the uptime and “overall equipment effectiveness” in the past 12 months. A range of topics will be covered in the paper, including the initiation of the project, the process, the team engagement, and the consideration of local culture. In the paper, it is also emphasized that the integration of technical solutions and the well-planned implementation, with consideration to work culture and strong leadership, is an essential factor in achieving successful and sustainable improvements. The achievements made in this project have lifted significantly the throughput from the Thailand Cold Mill, and ensure high quality supply of cold-rolled feed to BlueScope Steel’s expanded downstream facilities.

Please login to borrow the book.