NLMK automated management of repairs

On Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine the project on control automation came to the end with maintenance and repair of the equipment. The implementing solution SAP ERP for TORO will make transparent repair budgets, will reduce costs for maintenance and will reduce equipment downtimes.

At the enterprises of metallurgy the equipment makes a big share in structure of fixed assets, and its idle time attracts serious losses for business. Process automation of maintenance and repair of the equipment (TORO) became the next step of Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine to creation of effective, highly profitable production. System implementation of process management of TORO at plant based on SAP was entrusted to Asteros Consulting company (enters into the Asteros group).

The project became continuation of transition of NLMK group to the new accounting system on the basis of SAP and covered more than 60 workshops of the enterprise. Its start matched the beginning of reorganization of repair services of plant and their consolidation in division – the MRO Center. Before each NLMK workshop had own budget on repair, contained the repair crew, and document management was performed in paper form. For quality improvement of planning and accounting of works and also justification and transparency of costs for their carrying out, it was decided to centralize and automate repair activity.

Consultants of Asteros Consulting together with specialists of the MRO Center created SAP base of the normative reference information in a system: its basis was formed by the reference books developed for many years by specialists of plant and also this, collected and prepared during the project by a project team. The base includes hundreds of thousands of positions: the list of objects of repair, detailed descriptions of works up to elementary technology transactions, reference books of repair crews about 30 processes including which are not entering standard functionality of SAP solutions – development of estimate documentation and integrated calendar and time planning of repairs Were, etc. automated. Using possibilities of SAP BusinessObjects, specialists of Asteros Consulting created flexible analytical service – the tool which is not requiring programming for independent formation of the analytical reporting of any form. During implementation consultants trained in work with the SAP TOPO system more than 800 employees. All works were completed within half a year.

"In a project deliverable we received the tool for control not only financial and material flows regarding repair activity, but also quality of work of each crew. In general system implementation allows us to pass from "reacting" like service to "pro-active" and to ensure, thus, stable functioning of the enterprise without accidents and idle times", – Alexey Osekov, the head of the NLMK MRO Center is sure.

"Process automation of TORO by right is considered one of the most difficult stages of implementation the ERP system. Especially if it is about such capital-intensive industries as metallurgy. In our case everything became complicated the fact that process of implementation went to time of structural reorganization. Actually the command of Asteros Consulting acted in this project both as IT and as the business consultant. And it played a huge role in a project success", – Vadim Uryas, the vice president for IT of NLMK emphasizes.

"The high involvement into process of a team of the customer at all levels: from top management to end users – allowed to resolve quickly all current issues, to avoid idle times. At the same time, despite complexity and scale of the tasks facing us, all of them were executed in time and in full", – Pyotr Lileev, the deputy manager of practice of SAP of Asteros Consulting company notes.

Now the project team works on the solution of a problem of detailed control of a technical condition of equipment. For this purpose consultants of Asteros Consulting suggested to equip crews of the MRO Center on duty with mobile devices of data collection and to provide RFID identification of the equipment. Pilot start of a system of mobile maintenance is planned for December, 2011.