“Winning the ‘Best of Industry’ award highlights the significance of our Central Operation Cockpit. As production processes become increasingly automated, monitoring can become overwhelming. We developed the COC to address this challenge and to advance toward the autonomous plant,” said Hans-Juergen Zeiher, executive vice president and head of global business unit electrics and automation at Primetals Technologies. 

The COC uses AI-based assistance to give operators a full view of the entire production process. It features intuitive and ergonomic controls to make it easier for operators to access information and manage plant operations. 

With COC technology, a single operator can control multiple plant sections from one interface. All relevant information is shown on a display wall, with the ability to switch between multiple cameras throughout the mill. It also has text to speech to convert system messages into voice notifications, the company said. 

Primetals Technologies said COC implementation is in progress, with projects in China, North America and Germany currently in progress and more planned globally. There are also three showrooms where it is showcased.