The mill was originally installed by SMS group in 2009 and has since been upkept by an annual X-Pact® Service contract for automation support. This allowed the companies to plan for the replacement of obsolete or inoperative components and prevent significant downtime. Therefore, the upgrade took only eight days to complete and was seamlessly integrated into the mill’s annual maintenance schedule, the company said. 

“We were supported in this automation project by an excellent team from the SMS Automation, Digital and Service Solutions unit, who worked diligently and efficiently in such a short time to ensure a successful outcome,” said Wang Hailong, the plant director at Jingye Steel. 

The X-Pact ProBAS level 1 automation system was brought up to the latest state of the art for the roughing mill, finishing mill and hot plate leveler. They also installed X-Pact embedded controllers and a high-speed EtherCAT I/O system. The safety modules were replaced with the latest modules to enhance operational safety.

The upgrade has both open hardware and an open system platform, so it is not locked into a single vendor or protocol and allows for flexibility for later expansion and integration projects. The open platform adheres to international standards and allows for interaction with a wide range of hardware and software solutions, the company said. 

“Our goal is to maintain and expand the performance of our customers’ plants throughout their entire lifecycle. By collaborating closely with our customers, we develop integrated solutions tailored to their specific use cases,” said Christoph Stappenbeck, vice president of automation, digital and service solutions at SMS group in China. 

The company said the heavy plate mill is designed for an annual output of 2.3 million metric tons and includes steel for shipbuilding, pipelines, pressure vessels, boilers and high-strength structural applications.