KEOPS Technologies deploys a new standard aluminium smelter manufacturing execution system

KEOPS Technologies, Inc. is currently deploying a new standard aluminium MES solution for the Ma’aden/Alcoa joint venture. Encompassing the electrode, general plant, and casthouse areas, the deployed functionalities will enhance the ability of the site to manage its production. After months spent in developing a standard MES application based on Alcoa smelter and casthouse functionalities, KEOPS Technologies is presently on site, deploying process and production control applications with planning and scheduling functionalities for managing daily operations. The Ma’aden project represents specific challenges given the integration with Rolling Mill and the high quantity of daily metal production. This increases the complexity of the casthouse scheduling system that KEOPS has designed, to respond to a very short-term demand. The coordination between upstream molten metal flows from the pot line and downstream re-melted and cold scrap management from the Rolling Mill has been modeled to sequence all operations: pot tapping, trip scheduling of crucibles to the casthouse, and shipments of casthouse products to the rolling mill, while respecting quality, equipment and process constraints.

In addition, the MES tool supports managers, supervisors and engineers to optimize their business processes by providing timely information directly collected from the many equipment and systems from the Port to the Casthouse, through the Carbon and Reduction areas. Connecting to PLC and external systems—for example the LIMS—through proprietary interfaces, the KEOPS MES solution provides an integrated view of production information to support critical decision-making processes. The detailed execution plan or process data is then interfaced in two directions: either downward to the production systems with production and process parameters, or upward towards the ERP or rolling mill MES. Production information is also fed to the manufacturing infrastructure, which plant personnel can use as needed to monitor production performance and to drill down into detailed data.

The deployment is concentrated over a short period of time by taking advantage of KEOPS’ experience in Greenfield and Brownfield projects, and its agility in quickly providing a wide range of subject matter experts for each of the sectors and subsystems. KEOPS also benefits from its large library of interfaces with third-party applications, accumulated with various industry vendors during its over-30 years of experience in the aluminium industry.