Recent years have seen a significant rise in the willingness of companies to invest in digital solutions. The advantages of digitalization are plain to see: Work and production processes are more efficient, valuable resource and energy savings are made, and costs are reduced. Moroccan steel manufacturer Maghreb Steel also noticed this trend and, together with SMS digital, conducted a fact-finding mission in 2020. The results of the study will now be used to implement concrete measures in the form of digital solutions that will enable two plants to be operated more efficiently, more sustainably, and more cost-effectively.
Cost drivers can be found right along the whole value chain in every steel plant – and that includes Maghreb Steel. With an annual production capacity of around one million tons of steel, Maghreb Steel is the leading manufacturer of high-quality flat steel products in Morocco. In the production facilities in “Tit Mellil” and “Bled Solb”, these cost drivers were identified during a fact finding mission by SMS digital and will now be eliminated as part of a digitalization offensive. The aim here is to exploit the full potential of digitalization and manufacture cost-efficient, high-quality products with minimal energy input. "Maghreb has recognized the potential of digitalization and is making profitable use of it. We firmly believe that Maghreb will achieve enormous success by integrating digital solutions," says Bastian König, Project Manager at SMS digital. As a result, concrete improvement measures in the areas of predictive production, planning, quality, plant condition, energy, IT infrastructure, operative controlling and logistics were identified and are now being jointly implemented by both partners. The focus here is on Maghreb's steel making plant, the hot rolling mill, and the cold rolling mill.