ABF delivered successfully a coplex system for controling and monitoring of all slab movements in a new steel plant in Brazil . The steel plant includes a harbour, a power plant, a coke oven plant, a power metal facility, two blast furnaces, an oxygen steel works, and two continuous casting plants.

The internal logistics of the slabs from the continuous casting plants to the harbour is realised via a crane warehouse, a shipping warehouse, and a finishing line. The finishing line consists of an upstream warehouse, a scarfing shop, and a finished parts warehouse.

For the control, monitoring, and optimisation of the complex logistic processes, a warehouse management and control system is used, which, besides material tracking and warehouse management functions, also includes logistic functionalities, which make it possible to coordinate the material flow between the individually managed warehouses.

ABF was contracted to deliver and implement all systems for the monitoring of the warehouse and transport movements of the slabs from the continuous casting plants to the harbour. The contract included engineering, preparation of technical specifications, hardware supply, software development, assembly and commissioning of the systems.

Techical Solution based on LPR and GPS

Positioning for the cranes in the crane warehouse and on the finishing line as well as for the stacker truck and reach stackers in the shipping warehouse is recorded with a Local Positioning Radar System (LPR). The position is defined via the lead time measurements of radio signals. The system works to a large extent independently of environmental influences. LPR tolerates both high dust and dirt loading and a broad temperature range. LPR is resistant against mechanical impacts in the works (trepidation, blows, or shocks). Because LPR does not use wearing parts, the system does not need servicing at all.

The position of the tractor engines is determined via GPS. The GPS system consists of mobile units with two antennas each. When operating the system, the GPS World data are recorded and converted into local coordinates. Vehicles that can move both within and outside areas monitored by LPR are equipped with combined GPS/LPR receivers. The combined receivers hear whether LPR signals are detected by stationary local units. As soon as signals are detected, the combined receiver logs itself into the LPR field. Both signals are evaluated and the optimally fusioned position is supplied in local coordinates. If the LPR field lies in a GPS-shadowed area, e.g. within a covered yard, the fusion unit detects the absence of GPS data, calculates the local position based on the LPR data and transmits them accordingly.