Nucor Steel Stays Lean
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Background
Nucor Steel is the largest steel producer in the United States and is the nation's largest recycler. Nucor and affiliates manufacture steel products, such as carbon and alloy steel, cold finished steel, steel fasteners, metal building systems, and light-gauge steel framing. Nucor relies on thousands of pieces of capital equipment, including furnaces, mill stands and overhead cranes, across its operating facilities in nine states and they require an effective system to ensure that this equipment operates at peak efficiency.
Nucor Steel in Darlington, SC, a division of their bar mill group, has managed their maintenance with Datastream asset management software since 1990 starting with MP2 and upgrading to Datastream 7i in 2003 to further automate the management and maintenance of their capital assets. Nucor in Darlington has over 800,000 tons of output each year and with Datastream 7i, Nucor can manage maintenance, repairs, work orders, preventive maintenance and purchase requisitions through a single system. This reduces downtime and operating costs and improves efficiency.
Effective Work Order Management
With Datastream 7i, Nucor manages work orders efficiently reducing and eliminating downtime. When a piece of equipment requires attention, employees in the plant can place a work request into Datastream 7i for the repair. The work request is reviewed by a supervisor who then assigns the corresponding work order to the appropriate personnel.
That work order is then routed to the assigned worker’s inbox—the first screen they see when they open Datastream 7i. The worker can simply click the work order to view all of the details: the nature of the problem, the required equipment to make the repair and where to find that equipment. This provides them all of the information the need, including important details or special instructions, to make the repair quickly and prevent unnecessary downtime.
The Inbox allows employees of the plant to view all of the outstanding work that is relevant to them, eliminating the need to sort through long lists of work requests that are assigned to other employees. This feature greatly increases Nucor’s efficiency and helps keep workers on task.
Benefit: With an at-a-glance Inbox, work is completed in a timely, accurate manner.
Track Labor Efficiency
Nucor Steel, like many manufacturers, operates 24 hours per day. The off-shifts are typically quieter than the day shift so the crews working those hours have a different set of duties outside of scheduled maintenance that include anything from taking physical inventory to taking out the trash. By looking into Datastream 7i, the supervisor can see that these other duties have varying degrees of completion on different nights. Because labor is tracked in Datastream 7i, the off-shifts can record work orders that they complete, including unplanned work that their supervisor did not anticipate. When some of the previous evening’s assignments are not complete, the supervisor can see just how the employees spent their time. Datastream 7i provides visibility into the work that happens when supervisors are not around.
Benefit: Planned and unplanned labor is tracked in Datastream 7i.
Repair or Replace?
There comes a time when the maintenance crew has to decide to repair or replace a piece of equipment. Datastream 7i makes this easier by tracking the history of equipment from the time it is purchased through all its maintenance and repairs. A simple report allows Nucor to see how much money is spent on making repairs, the frequency of repairs, labor required, and equipment downtime. These factors help Nucor decide if it is more cost-effective in the long term to repair or replace the equipment.
Benefit: Track equipment history from cradle to grave.
Reporting Options
Datastream 7i Advanced Reporting, powered by Cognos ReportNet, allows Nucor to build custom reports to suit their exact needs. For example, prior to using Datastream 7i Advanced Reporting, Nucor used multiple reports to trace a single part. When a machine would breakdown and require a part, the technician would search for the last time that part was ordered, where the part is now, how many are in the plant, the name of the supplier, the price last paid, and so on—all from four different reports. Now, using Datastream 7i Advanced Reporting, Nucor has created a single report with all of this pertinent information. Imagine the time this saves!
Benefit: Use Datastream 7i Advanced Reporting to expedite and consolidate reporting.
Integrate with Existing Enterprise Systems
The accounting department in Darlington is comfortable with their existing financial system—so comfortable that the maintenance team would never dream of asking them to change. But they needed to make purchase order and labor information that the maintenance team entered into Datastream 7i available to the AS400 used by the AR/AP team. Nucor uses Databridge, a Datastream 7i advanced module, to integrate Datastream 7i information with the current accounting system. When a purchase order is entered into Datastream 7i, it automatically updates the AS400 so that the accounting team can easily view the original PO and match it to the appropriate invoice.
Benefit: Connect accounting and maintenance data.
Save on Inventory with Electronic Procurement
Nucor Steel in Darlington first used Datastream 7i Buy to simplify and speed up procurement but quickly found an added bonus. Datastream 7i Buy allows Nucor to submit purchase requests and receive approvals electronically, but it also ensures the use of approved suppliers. Nucor utilizes over twenty suppliers through Datastream 7i Buy—consolidating the dozens that they used in the past. By consolidating vendors, they are able to increase spend with selected suppliers and negotiate greater volume discounts.
Benefit: Electronic procurement expedites purchasing and consolidates spending.
Hosted Solution that’s Easy on IT
Datastream 7i is a fully web-architected Asset Performance Management solution. Nucor makes the most of the web capabilities by using the hosted deployment option of Datastream 7i. Datastream hosts Nucor’s installment of the software and their data at a secure facility, eliminating the need for Nucor’s IT department to manage the software or related hardware. Like all hosting customers, they receive routine daily backups and free updates to the software. As a result, Nucor saves IT labor and equipment costs and has a reliable, redundant network housing their application. And the regular data backups provide Nucor the security they need to maintain compliance with OSHA, ISO and other regulatory agencies. For example, if an inventory report is missed from a day during the year, the data from that day can be recovered in order to run the missing report. Because of the system’s web architecture, management can access the application anytime from anywhere. This means when they’re away from the office, they can still review work orders, purchase orders and other items requiring their attention.
Benefit: With Hosting, Nucor has a lower total cost of ownership.
Summary
Datastream 7i has helped Nucor Steel not only track and maintain, but optimize their capital assets by managing their maintenance, work orders, purchasing and labor through a hosted software solution. Nucor has also started populating data libraries in Datastream 7i Analytics for more detailed analysis of their maintenance and operations. Today, Nucor is able to integrate with existing enterprise systems and make critical business decisions through advanced modules, including Databridge and Datastream Advanced Reporting. With increased accuracy and efficiency in their maintenance operations, results are evident in time and cost savings now and into the future.