Customer Case
JSL Ltd (formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd)
(India)
Key Figures
Customer Profile
15,000 tag repository for smooth
transfer of information to ERP
system; 100% integration of ERP
with Plant Floor
JSL Ltd (formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd) was established in 1970 and has since grown from an indigenous single-unit steel
plant in Hisar, India, to a multi-billion dollar, multi-national and multi-product stainless steel corporation. JSL aspires to
establish itself as one of the top 10 stainless steel producers in the world, as well as a leader in pricing, product innovation
and customer service.
At Hisar, JSL has India's only composite stainless steel plant for the manufacture of stainless steel slabs, blooms,
precision strips, blade steel, hot rolled and cold rolled coils for sale in the domestic market and for global export. The plant
at Hisar also houses a coin blanking line for the supply of coin blanks to the Indian mint, as well as mints overseas. The
plant's production capacity is currently 720,000 tonnes per annum.
Guided by the goal of achieving "operational excellence through business transformation," JSL prides itself on being a
"technology-enabled" and IT-driven organisation. Investing in technology that will optimise their operations and give their
business the competitive edge is an integral part of their corporate strategy.
Customer objectives
The Hisar cold rolling plant consists of two main production areas - a wider width cold rolling division and a special
products division. Each production area has different manufacturing lines with different processes. Equipment is handled
by different control systems located in various electrical control rooms for the control and monitoring of production
operations. The ERP system manages the areas of production planning, sales and marketing, maintenance and quality,
inventory control and production tracking, amongst others.
In order to improve product quality, the company required a solution that would connect their plant floor with their ERP
system to enable comprehensive tracking and tracing. They also found that they lacked real-time process parameter
insight into the vast amounts of production data that were being generated in order to drive any quality improvements.
JSL first sought to connect all its PLCs and SCADA systems on one standard medium (Ethernet) for communication
between the plant floor and the ERP system. It then wanted to create a strong network "backbone" to facilitate the
uninterrupted flow of data and to configure a plant-wide data repository that would seamlessly transfer data to the ERP
system.
Customer benefits
JSL is satisfied that it has achieved operational benefits through improved and more holistic analysis of process
parameters. Integration of their ERP system with the plant floor was possible via the seamless connectivity and powerful
data storage of Vijeo Historian. The solution has provided JSL with better control over their processes and visibility across
the organisation. As a result, JSL has begun to leverage a myriad of benefits related to improved Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs), including: Increased productivity; reduction in defects in end products due to improved identification
of the root causes; reduction in process variations; the establishment of SOPs for new products; and the monitoring and
control of Critical to Quality parameters.
With the newly integrated automation system in place, staff are now able to analyse production quality parameters based
on the data stored by Vijeo Historian. It assures them of a comprehensive and continuous dataflow. "By implementing
Schneider Electric's SCADA and Historian solution, we were able to meet and manage critical production operations
rather than just watching them occur," says Tarun Khulbe, VP & Chief, Cold Rolling Division. "Connecting the shop floor
and the ERP system has made complete tracking and tracing possible. We are able to deliver actionable intelligence to
quality control personnel in real time to improve quality," Mr Khulbe concludes.
Customer testimonies(Verbatim)
By implementing Schneider Electric's SCADA and Historian solution, we were able to meet and manage critical
production operations rather than just watching them occur."
Tarun Khulbe
VP & Chief
Cold Rolling Division
Implementation Methodology
Project Design
Implementation
Commissioning and Testing of the system
Training for future users
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Customer Case
Solution overview
As this was going to be the first complete plant-floor-to-ERP integration project in Indian industry, JSL required a solution
provider with a strong technical background who could integrate the highly diversified existing automation systems and
provide a durable yet flexible solution.
They turned to Schneider Electric (SE) because of our expertise in industrial automation and real-time data application
systems as well as our experience with third party hardware and software. Working closely with a team of SE engineers to
design the optimal solution and implementation for its purposes, JSL integrated its 51 PLCs into one common SCADA
platform with Vijeo Citect consisting of three servers and 5,000 tags.
Once this was completed, it implemented a Vijeo Historian solution consisting of a server with 15,000 tags to provide a
repository for the masses of data collected and facilitate the smooth and immediate transfer of information up to the
business system (ERP). Vijeo Historian utilises an industry-standard protocol (OPC DA client). It is a plant-wide historian
that collects, logs and distributes data. Together with its Microsoft SQL Server 2005 as its embedded historical data store,
Vijeo Historian bridges the gap between plant and business systems and delivers the fully integrated decision analysis
solution that JSL required.
Products & Systems
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