Steel Making: Through the Years

By Jennifer Hauge

I was reading a Q&A Session recently about steel manufacturing and got to thinking about the overall progress of the steel industry since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

An important thing to note is the level of innovation in the steel industry has always been high.  The revolution began with the mass production of iron and very little of steel –as it was expensive to produce. It wasn’t until the development of the Bessemer process when steel became affordable to use on a large scale.

 As the industry expanded, other processes developed, and the birth of supply chains began. Mills were strategically located close to raw materials. Rail and water transportation allowed the material to be moved along the supply chain to be converted into finished goods. Supply chains expanded with other business developments like mini mills.

 Along with business models changing, the processing of steel went from a heavily manual, hands-on approach to using computers and even robots.  Aerospace, medical and automotive industries all found different uses for this metal.   Supply chain owners integrated lean solutions like 5S and Six Sigma for greater improvements for processor facilities, mills and end customers.

Technology:

Since the 1980s, both computers and the internet have played a large role in continuing to move manufacturing from largely manual labor to more automated and streamlined processes.

MES (manufacturing execution systems), or shop floor systems are now integrated with ERP and other supply chain functions by using barcode scanners, EDI and web portals. These systems were previously disjointed and required high amounts of paper chasing and duel entry of information. With today’s technology, It is now possible to have these systems interfaced to have computer to computer communication.

Industry Changes:

In recent years, cloud computing has continued to grow in popularity for mills, processors and service centers as a means to manage material and material data.  With cloud applications, supply chains increase their communications which are established with real-time, accurate information.

Additional advancements include the use of smart phone technology. With software apps being developed for everything under the sun, it only makes sense to add manufacturing to it. Service reps can now access the system out in the field, questions about material are answered almost instantaneously, and quality control reps can now complete reports on site for material in question.

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